Terrorism, Freedom and Security: Winning without War (BCSIA Studies in International Security) Book

In Terrorism, Freedom, and Security, Philip Heymann continues the discussion of responses to terrorism that he began in his widely read Terrorism and America. He argues that diplomacy, intelligence, and international law should play a larger role than military action in our counterterrorism policy; instead of waging "war" against terrorism, the United States needs a broader range of policies. Heymann believes that many of the policies adopted since September 11--including trials before military tribunals, secret detentions, and the subcontracting of interrogation to countries where torture is routine--are at odds with American political and legal traditions and create disturbing precedents. He argues that these policies are the logical consequences of the government?s declaring its response to terrorism to be a "war"; unlike conventional wars with more or less clearly defined beginnings, ends, and enemies, the fight against terrorism is open-ended and conducted on multiple fronts against a loosely confederated international network of groups and individuals. Heymann believes that Americans should not be expected to accept apparently indefinite infringements on civil liberties and the abandonment of such constitutional principles as separation of powers and the rule of law. He argues that the United States can guard against the continuing threat of terrorism while keeping its traditional democratic values in place. We need not, he argues, turn the United States into an "intelligence state" like the former East Germany.Read More