A New Understanding of Terrorism: Case Studies, Trajectories and Lessons Learned

Terrorism is a complex phenomenon that cannot be understood through reading of a number of unrelated academic articles or a dry overview of the history of terrorism or the investigative techniques.

For A New Understanding of Terrorism, the Editors have chosen a different paradigm. They have selected numerous case studies from actual events that illustrate various typologies of terrorist actions, be it from a separatist, nationalist, lone-wolf individual terrorist, religious fanatics or environmentalist orientation, and they present these cases within the context of following the trajectories of the terrorist activity, the terrorist act itself and, the response to the event from the relevant authorities.

Some chapters concentrate on terrorist attacks that actually took place, others speculate about the possibilities of an attack occurring sometime in the future, such as the chapters on the Olympic Games, Aviation or Rail Security. When possibilities rather than a specific event are discussed, the authors of these chapters draw the attention of the reader towards the same direction—the reasoning, the actual event and the response that followed.

The thorough analysis of the presented case studies and the applied counter-measures will, hopefully, if not curtail then possibly at least mitigate the operational and ideological strength of terrorist groups or individual actors.

A New Understanding of Terrorism will enable the reader to make the connection between the emotional charge inherent in any terrorist activity, the cold-blooded tactics that lead to the terrorist event itself and the pragmatic and very straightforward, but at the same time very simplistically designed, strategic response that has to come from a synergy between academics, military and law enforcement brainstorming design in order to be more effective in the future.

ABOUT THE EDITORS:
M.R. (Maki) Haberfeld is a Professor of Police Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. She has worked for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in the New York Field Office, as a special consultant. Prior to that she has served in a counter-terrorist unit in the Israeli Defense Forces and she left the army at the rank of Sergeant. She was also a lieutenant in the Israel National Police. For the past eight years, Dr. Haberfeld has been involved in developing, coordinating and teaching in a special training program for the New York City Police Department, where she teaches courses in police ethics, leadership and counter-terrorism. She was also an Academic Coordinator of the Law Enforcement Executive Police Institute for the State of New York, where she taught modules on counter-terrorism response.

Agostino von Hassell is the president of The Repton Group LLC, a New York City based consulting group that deals mostly with national security issues. He has written numerous political and historical articles and is the author of two major military histories, Warriors: The United States Marine Corps and Strike Force: Marine Corps Special Operations. In 2003, he published a pictorial portrait of the United States—In Honor of America. He has taught as an adjunct professor in the graduate program of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, teaching members of the New York City Police Department in subjects such as counter-terrorism and leadership. He is a life member of the United States Marine Corps Combat Correspondents, the National Defense Industry Association,  the Association of Former Intelligence Officers and the Authors’ Guild.

Maria (Maki) Haberfeld

is a Professor of Police Science in the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Prior to coming to John Jay, she served in the Israeli Defense Forces, in a counter-terrorist unit and left the army at the rank of a Sergeant. She then joined the Israel National Police and left the force at the rank of Lieutenant. She also worked for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in the New York Field Office, as a special consultant. She holds two Bachelor of Art degrees, two Master degrees, and a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice. Her main interests and expertise are in the area of police training and professional development, with particular emphasis on: police ethics, integrity, leadership, counter-terrorism and use of force in multicultural environments. Her recent publications include a book on police training, titled Critical Issues in Police Training (2002), a co-edited book titled Contours of Police Integrity (2004) Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement, the International Volume (2005) Police Leadership (2005), a co-authored book titled Enhancing Police Integrity (2006) and a co-edited book on Comparative Policing: The Struggle for Democratization

(2007). She also recently co-authored two articles on counter-terrorist response: "Proper Proactive Training to Terrorist Presence and Operations in Friendly Urban Environments," "A Multi-Dimensional Perspective" (2007), and "Police Activities to Counter Terrorism: What We Know and What We Need to Know" (forthcoming Fall, 2008). For the past seven years (2001-2008), she has been involved in developing, coordinating and teaching in a special training program for the New York City Police Department, where she teaches courses in police ethics, leadership and counter-terrorism. Currently, she is also an Academic Coordinator of the Law Enforcement Executive Police Institute for the State of New York, where she oversees the delivery of the training modules and teaches leadership courses. She is involved in two major research studies, one on Use of Force by the Police in 10 different countries, and the other Counter-Terrorism police training response post 9/11, which also involves comparative studies of a number of countries around the world.

Agostino von Hassell spent his formative years in the United States, studying European History at Columbia University graduating with a B.A. in 1974. He then attended Columbia Journalism School, graduating with a M.S. and with honors in 1975. He wrote numerous political and historical articles for publications as diverse as The Marine Corps Gazette, Die Zeit (Germany), Naval Proceedings, Defense News, The Navy Times and others. He is the author of two major military histories, Warriors: The United States Marine Corps (published first in 1988); Strike Force: Marine Corps Special Operations. Strike Force provided a concept for a major Dale Brown novel. Warriors was also translated into Italian. He is the author – along with former Marine Herman J. Dillon – of West Point: the Bicentennial Book published in March 2002. In 2003 he published a pictorial portrait of the United States: In Honor of America. In 2006 he published Military Highlife. This is the first major book published on elegant military food in decades. Published in the fall of 2006 is An Alliance of Enemies, a book on the untold story on the secret contacts between Germany’s resistance the Abwehr and the OSS in World War II. Hassell has contributed sections to the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement (2005). He co-authored (with W. McDonald and M.R. Haberfeld) a chapter in Comparative Policing The Struggle for Democratization (2008), titled "International Cooperation in Policing: A Partial Answer to the Query?" In 2007, he coauthored and presented (with M.R. Haberfeld) an article titled "Proper Proactive Training to Terrorist Presence and Operations in Friendly Urban Environments," at the NATO Counter-Terrorism Conference in Washington, D.C. subsequently published by the NATO Science for Peace and Security Program. He has taught as adjunct professor in the graduate program of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, teaching members of the New York City Police Department in subjects such as counter-terrorism and leadership. He is a life member of the United States Marine Corps Combat Correspondents, the National Defense Industry Association, the OSS Society, the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, the American Society of Media Photographers, and the Authors’ Guild. He is now the president of The Repton Group LLC, a New York City consulting group that deals mostly with national security issues.