FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, November 16, 2007

Faculty from SU’s Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism publish Combating Terrorism: Strategies and Approaches

Syracuse University’s Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT), sponsored jointly by the Maxwell School and the College of Law, has released its first full-length book. Combating Terrorism: Strategies and Approaches, published by Congressional Quarterly Press, was co-authored by William Banks, professor of law and public administration and director of INSCT; Renee de Nevers, professor of public administration; and Mitchel Wallerstein, professor of political science and public administration and dean of the Maxwell School.

Combating Terrorism assesses the tools and tactics for dealing with terrorism, focusing on how these tools operate in the real world. Readers are encouraged to explore the reasons why terrorists might strike and what can be done to ameliorate root causes. The book also assesses the use of law enforcement and intelligence tools, the dynamics of homeland security planning and recovery with an examination of the crucial role of media, and the use of military force in countering terrorism.

"The authors are to be complimented for engaging in a very extensive and full treatment on the subject of combating terrorism," said Stephen Sloan, a terrorism expert from the University of Central Florida and Temple University. "They have very effectively utilized the existing literature to address the major subject headings associated with the study of terrorism and have identified and discussed major areas of concern for those who are interested in and, more specifically, have responsibilities for directly or indirectly meeting the challenges of preventing and responding to threats, acts and campaigns of domestic, regional and international terrorism."

The Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism is dedicated to interdisciplinary teaching, research, and public service focused on important national and global problems of security and terrorism. It was established at the College of Law in 2003 and joined by the Maxwell School during the 2004-2005 academic year. Faculty members include experts in the fields of military planning and operations, global counterterrorism and arms control policy, counter proliferation policy, diplomacy and international relations, terrorist methods and psychology, history, law and economics. INSCT garnered national attention in October when it joined with the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, Israel, to bring together a distinguished team of international scholars, legal experts, and human rights advocates for the 100th anniversary of the Hague Rules—one of the first formal steps taken to regulate combat and warfare—to re-examine the rules in light of the new realities of the 21st century.