The Terrorist's Dilemma

The Terrorist's Dilemma
Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Total Pages : 350
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781400848645
ISBN-13 : 1400848644
Rating : 4/5 (644 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Terrorist's Dilemma by : Jacob N. Shapiro

Download or read book The Terrorist's Dilemma written by Jacob N. Shapiro and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-08-04 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive look at how terrorist groups organize themselves How do terrorist groups control their members? Do the tools groups use to monitor their operatives and enforce discipline create security vulnerabilities that governments can exploit? The Terrorist's Dilemma is the first book to systematically examine the great variation in how terrorist groups are structured. Employing a broad range of agency theory, historical case studies, and terrorists' own internal documents, Jacob Shapiro provocatively discusses the core managerial challenges that terrorists face and illustrates how their political goals interact with the operational environment to push them to organize in particular ways. Shapiro provides a historically informed explanation for why some groups have little hierarchy, while others resemble miniature firms, complete with line charts and written disciplinary codes. Looking at groups in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, he highlights how consistent and widespread the terrorist's dilemma--balancing the desire to maintain control with the need for secrecy--has been since the 1880s. Through an analysis of more than a hundred terrorist autobiographies he shows how prevalent bureaucracy has been, and he utilizes a cache of internal documents from al-Qa'ida in Iraq to outline why this deadly group used so much paperwork to handle its people. Tracing the strategic interaction between terrorist leaders and their operatives, Shapiro closes with a series of comparative case studies, indicating that the differences in how groups in the same conflict approach their dilemmas are consistent with an agency theory perspective. The Terrorist's Dilemma demonstrates the management constraints inherent to terrorist groups and sheds light on specific organizational details that can be exploited to more efficiently combat terrorist activity.

The Terrorist's Dilemma Related Books

The Terrorist's Dilemma
Language: en
Pages: 350
Authors: Jacob N. Shapiro
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2013-08-04 - Publisher: Princeton University Press

GET EBOOK

A comprehensive look at how terrorist groups organize themselves How do terrorist groups control their members? Do the tools groups use to monitor their operati
Counter-Terrorism
Language: en
Pages: 224
Authors: Miller, Seumas
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-07-31 - Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

GET EBOOK

This insightful book provides an analysis of the central ethical issues that have arisen in combatting global terrorism and, in particular, jihadist terrorist g
Terrorism and the Right to Resist
Language: en
Pages: 355
Authors: Christopher J. Finlay
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2015-08-07 - Publisher: Cambridge University Press

GET EBOOK

A systematic account of the right to resist oppression and of the forms of armed force it can justify.
The Dilemmas of Lenin
Language: en
Pages: 448
Authors: Tariq Ali
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-04-25 - Publisher: Verso Books

GET EBOOK

The secret life of the man who reshaped Russia Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of the October 1917 uprising, is one of the most misunderstood leaders of the twent
Kill or Capture
Language: en
Pages: 309
Authors: Daniel Klaidman
Categories: Political Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2012-06-05 - Publisher: HMH

GET EBOOK

“Divulge[s] the details of top-level deliberations—details that were almost certainly known only to the administration’s inner circle” (The Wall Street