Counter-Terrorism Technologies [electronic resource] : A Critical Assessment  /
Lehr, Peter.author.
This book critically discusses the role of technology for counter-terrorism in general, and for securing our vulnerable open societies in particular. It is set against the backdrop of the terrorist threat posed by the combined forces of Al Qaeda and ISIS/Daesh in the foreseeable future. The book commences by illuminating current and foreseeable tactics and weapons used by these implacable enemies – weapons that may well include chemical, biological, radiological and potentially even nuclear (CBRN) devices. In a second part, it introduces technologies already available or in development that promise an increase in safety and security when it comes to the dangers posed by these terrorists. This part also includes a critical discussion of advantages and disadvantages of such technologies that are, quite often, sold as a ‘silver bullet’ approach in the fight against terrorism. Controversies such as those triggered by the abuse of millimeter wave scanners deployed at several Western European airports will demonstrate that there are costs involved with regard to human rights. The third, analytical part takes the critical discussion further by arguing that the uncritical fielding of new surveillance and control technologies in parallel with the on-going outsourcing and privatization of key services of the state could well lead to dystopias as envisaged in a rather prescient way by the so-called cyperpunk novels of the 1980s. The book concludes with the question that any liberal democracy should ask itself: how far can we go with regard to hardening our societies against terrorist threats?
Introduction: Terrorism as a Threat to Open Societies -- Part 1: Barbarians at the Gates: ‘Sinful’ Cities -- Actions: The Return of Urban Guerillas -- Reactions: The New (Para-) Military Urbanism -- Consequences: The Urban Space as a (Limited) Battlespace. Part 2: ‘Our Silicon Will Win’: The Role of Technology in Urban Counter-Terrorism -- Identification: Biometrics, or a Real-Time 'Who is Who' -- Prediction and Postdiction: Real-Time Data Mining and Data Analytics -- Detection: Scanning and 'Sniffing' Technologies -- Surveillance and Observation: The All-Seeing Eye of Big Brother -- Protection: Defensible Spaces -- Threat Displacement Instead of Threat Eradication: Come Concluding Caveats -- Part 3: Brave New Cities: The Law of Unintended Consequences -- The Quest for Silver Bullets: Implications for our Construction of Citizenship -- Archipelagos of Fear: CT Technology and the Securitization of Everyday Life -- Undemocratic Means: The Rise of the Surveillance State -- Democracy Transfigured: The Dawn of the 'Umpire State' -- Outlook: The Need for 'Critical' Critical Infrastructure Studies.
This book critically discusses the role of technology for counter-terrorism in general, and for securing our vulnerable open societies in particular. It is set against the backdrop of the terrorist threat posed by the combined forces of Al Qaeda and ISIS/Daesh in the foreseeable future. The book commences by illuminating current and foreseeable tactics and weapons used by these implacable enemies – weapons that may well include chemical, biological, radiological and potentially even nuclear (CBRN) devices. In a second part, it introduces technologies already available or in development that promise an increase in safety and security when it comes to the dangers posed by these terrorists. This part also includes a critical discussion of advantages and disadvantages of such technologies that are, quite often, sold as a ‘silver bullet’ approach in the fight against terrorism. Controversies such as those triggered by the abuse of millimeter wave scanners deployed at several Western European airports will demonstrate that there are costs involved with regard to human rights. The third, analytical part takes the critical discussion further by arguing that the uncritical fielding of new surveillance and control technologies in parallel with the on-going outsourcing and privatization of key services of the state could well lead to dystopias as envisaged in a rather prescient way by the so-called cyperpunk novels of the 1980s. The book concludes with the question that any liberal democracy should ask itself: how far can we go with regard to hardening our societies against terrorist threats?
Terrorism.
Political violence.
System safety.
Risk management.
Crime—Sociological aspects.
Terrorism and Political Violence.
Security Science and Technology.
Risk Management.
Crime and Society.