Following the 9/11 attacks by Al-Qa'ida, President Bush declared war on terror. In the succeeding years, Western governments have struggled to find the right way to respond to the new and deadly threat posed by terrorism. With the election of President Obama the rhetoric has softened and policies have been adjusted but the underlying problems and challenges remain the same. Meanwhile, the war on terrorism in Afghanistan has been intensified. Drawing on just war teaching as developed within both Christian and Muslim traditions, this book examines whether, and how, liberal democracies can combat the new global terrorism both effectively and justly. The authors, including distinguished academics from both sides of the Atlantic, Christian and Muslim theologians, former senior civil servants and a General, deploy a wide range of experience and expertise to address one of the most difficult and pressing ethical challenges to contemporary society.
Author(s): Brian Wicker, David Fisher
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 242
City: London
Cover
Contents
Notes On Contributors
Foreword
1 Introduction: A Clash of Civilisations?
PART ONE The Role of Religion in Shaping Terrorism and the Responses to it
2 Terrorism and Islamic Theologies of Religiously-Sanctioned War
3 Challenging Al-Qa'ida's Justification of Terror
4 Challenging the Political Theology of America’s ‘War on Terror’
PART TWO Responding to the Terrorist Threat
5 Philip Bobbitt’s Terror and Consent: a Brief Critique
6 Just War and State Sovereignty
7 Terror and Pre-Emption – Can Military Pre-Emption ever be Just?
8 How Much of Our Liberties and Privacy do We Need to Give Up for Public Security?
PART THREE New Ways to Counter the Threat
9 Just Wars, Just Outcomes – Reconciling Just Outcomes in Military Intervention
10 ‘Eating Soup with a Knife’ –Counterinsurgency and Just War.
11 Going Off the Reservation into the Sanctuary–Cross-Border Counter-Terrorist Operations
12 Countering the Threat of Nuclear Terrorism
PART FOUR Afterword: Concluding Reflections
13 A Re-emphasis more than a Reply
14 Countering Terrorism Justly – Reflections Nine Years After 9/11
Bibliography
Index
