Gus Martin 
Understanding Terrorism [EPUB ebook] 
Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues

Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary exploration of domestic and international terrorism that helps students develop the knowledge and skills needed to critically assess the underlying causes of modern terrorist violence.

The
Seventh Edition includes new or expanded discussions of critical topics in terrorism, such as the evolution of right-wing extremism in Western countries, as well as analysis of recent events and updated terrorist tactics, weapons, and methods.






Included with this title:



The password-protected Instructor Resource Site (formally known as SAGE Edge) offers access to all text-specific resources, including a test bank and editable, chapter-specific Power Point® slides.

Table of Content

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Introduction and Rationale

PART I. TERRORISM: A CONCEPTUAL REVIEW

CHAPTER 1. Terrorism: First Impressions

Opening Viewpoint: The Ideology of Al-Qa’ida

First Considerations

Conceptual Considerations: Understanding Political Violence

The Past as Prologue: Historical Perspectives on Terrorism

Terrorism and Criminal Skill: Three Cases From the Modern Era

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

CHAPTER 2. The Nature of the Beast: Defining Terrorism

Opening Viewpoint: Are “Hate Crimes” Acts of Terrorism?

Understanding Extremism: The Foundation of Terrorism

Defining Terrorism: An Ongoing Debate

A Definitional Problem: Perspectives on Terrorism

The Political Violence Matrix

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

CHAPTER 3. Beginnings: The Causes of Terrorism

Opening Viewpoint: The Case of Carlos

Political Violence as Strategic Choice

Political Violence as the Fruit of Injustice

Moral Justifications for Political Violence

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

PART II. TERRORIST ENVIRONMENTS AND TYPOLOGIES

CHAPTER 4. Terror From Above: Terrorism by the State

Opening Viewpoint: State Terrorism as Domestic and Foreign Policy

The State as Terrorist: A State Terrorism Paradigm

Violence Abroad: Terrorism as Foreign Policy

Violence at Home: Terrorism as Domestic Policy

The Problem of Accountability: Monitoring State Terrorism

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

CHAPTER 5. Terror From Below: Terrorism by Dissidents

Opening Viewpoint: The Tupamaros

The Rebel as Terrorist: A Dissident Terrorism Paradigm

Warring Against the State: Antistate Dissident Terrorism

Warring Against a People: Communal Terrorism

Operational Shifts: Dissidents and the New Terrorism

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

CHAPTER 6. Violence in the Name of the Faith: Religious Terrorism

Opening Viewpoint: The Journey of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

Primary and Secondary Motives: The Idiosyncratic Quality of Religious Terrorism

Historical Cases in Point: Fighting, Dying, and Killing in the Name of the Faith

State-Sponsored Religious Terrorism in the Modern Era

Dissident Religious Terrorism in the Modern Era

The Future of Religious Terrorism

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

CHAPTER 7. Violent Ideologies: Terrorism From the Left and Right

Opening Viewpoint: Racist Skinheads as a Supportive Environment

Reactionaries and Radicals: The Classical Ideological Continuum

Left-Wing Ideologies and Activism

Class Struggle and National Liberation: The Terrorist Left

Right-Wing Activism and Extremism

Race and Order: The Terrorist Right

Violent Ideologies in the New Era of Terrorism

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

CHAPTER 8. Terrorist Spillovers: International Terrorism

Opening Viewpoint: Terrorism in the Age of Globalization

Defining International Terrorism

Globalized Revolution: Reasons for International Terrorism

Globalized Solidarity: International Terrorist Networks

The International Dimension of the New Terrorism

Postscript: The “Stateless Revolutionaries”

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

CHAPTER 9. Emerging Terrorist Environments: Gender-Selective Political Violence and Criminal Dissident Terrorism

Opening Viewpoint: ISIS Gender-Selective Terrorism

Culture and Conflict: Gender-Selected Victims of Terrorist Violence

Protecting the Enterprise: Criminal Dissident Terrorism

A Global Problem: Regional Cases of Criminal Dissident Terrorism

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

PART III. THE TERRORIST TRADE AND COUNTERTERRORISM

CHAPTER 10. Tools of the Trade: Tactics and Targets of Terrorists

Opening Viewpoint: Actionable Intelligence—Israel and the Hunt for the Engineer

The Purpose: Terrorist Objectives

The Means: Terrorist Methods

The Focus: Terrorist Targets

The Outcome: Is Terrorism Effective?

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

CHAPTER 11. The Information Battleground: Terrorist Violence and the Role of the Media

Opening Viewpoint: Media-Oriented Terror and Lebanon’s Hezbollah

Two Perspectives: The Media and Governments

Understanding the Role of the Media

A New Battleground: The War for the Information High Ground

The Public’s Right to Know: Regulating the Media

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

CHAPTER 12. The American Case: Terrorism in the United States

Opening Viewpoint: Lynching—Vigilante Communal Terrorism in the United States

An Introduction to the American Case

Background to Terrorism: Left-Wing Activism and Ideological Extremism in America

Left-Wing Terrorism in the United States

Background to Terrorism: Right-Wing Activism and Ideological Extremism in America

Right-Wing Terrorism in the United States

International Terrorism in the United States

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

CHAPTER 13. Counterterrorism: The Options

Opening Viewpoint: The Death of Osama bin Laden

Responding to Terror: The Scope of Options

Warlike Operations: Counterterrorism and the Use of Force

Operations Other Than War: Repressive Options

Operations Other Than War: Conciliatory Options

Applying the Rule of Law: Legalistic Options

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

PART IV. SECURING THE HOMELAND

CHAPTER 14. A New Era: Homeland Security

Opening Viewpoint: International Collaboration on Surveillance and Data Mining

Homeland Security in Perspective

The American Case: Homeland Security in the United States

Civil Liberties and Securing the Homeland

Chapter Summary

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

CHAPTER 15. What Next? The Future of Terrorism

Opening Viewpoint: Carnivore and the Dawn of Internet Surveillance

An Overview of Near-Term Projections

The Future of Terrorism: Terrorist Environments in the 21st Century

The Future of Terrorism: New Threats

Controlling Terrorism: Ending Terrorist Campaigns and New Challenges

Final Considerations

Chapter Summary

A Final Thought on Reform and Revolution

Key Terms and Concepts

Prominent Persons and Organizations

Recommended Readings

Appendix A: Map References

Appendix B: Prominent Persons and Organizations

Glossary of Terms

Notes

Index

About the author

Clarence Augustus “Gus” Martin is a Professor and founding Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice Administration at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he teaches courses on terrorism and extremism,   criminal law, and the criminal justice system. He has served as founding Director of the School of Public Service and Justice. He also served as Associate Vice President for Human Resources Management, Acting Associate Dean of the College of Business Administration and Public Policy, Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs, and Chair of the Department of Public Administration. He began his academic career as a member of the faculty of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, where he was an Administration of Justice professor. His current research and professional interests are terrorism and extremism, homeland security, and the administration of justice.Dr. Martin is author of several books on the subjects of terrorism and homeland security, including Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues (Sage, 2025); Terrorism and WMDs: Awareness and Response, Third Edition (with John Pichtel, CRC Press, 2025); Understanding Homeland Security (Sage, 2024); The Handbook of Homeland Security (with Scott Romaniuk and Martin Scott Catino; Routledge, 2023); Essentials of Terrorism: Concepts and Controversies (Sage, 2022); Terrorism: An International Perspective (with Fynnwin Prager; Sage, 2019); The SAGE Encyclopedia of Terrorism, Second Edition (Sage, 2011); Terrorism and Homeland Security (Sage, 2011); and The New Era of Terrorism: Selected Readings (Sage, 2004). He is also author of Juvenile Justice: Process and Systems (Sage, 2005).Prior to joining academia, Dr. Martin served as Managing Attorney for the Fair Housing Partnership of Greater Pittsburgh, where he was also director of a program created under a federal consent decree to desegregate public and assisted housing. He was also Special Counsel to the Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands on the island of St. Thomas. As Special Counsel, he occupied a personal and confidential position in the central office of the Department of Justice; sat as hearing officer for disciplinary hearings and departmental grievances; served as chair of the Drug Policy Committee; served as liaison to the intergovernmental Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee as well as to the Narcotics Strike Force; and provided daily legal and policy advice to the Attorney General. Prior to serving as Special Counsel, he was a “floor” Legislative Assistant to Congressman Charles B. Rangel of New York. As Legislative Assistant, he researched, evaluated and drafted legislation in areas of foreign policy, foreign aid, human rights, housing, education, social services, and poverty; he also drafted House floor statements,  Congressional Record inserts, press releases, and news articles; and he composed speeches, briefing materials, and legislative correspondence.Dr. Martin received his A.B. degree from Harvard College, J.D. from Duquesne University Thomas R. Kline School of Law, and Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.