1 option
Terrorism : the self-fulfilling prophecy / Joseba Zulaika.
LIBRA HV6431 .Z853 2009
Available from offsite location
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Zulaika, Joseba.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Terrorism--Prevention.
- Terrorism.
- Terrorism--Government policy.
- War on Terrorism, 2001-2009.
- Discourse analysis.
- Physical Description:
- x, 275 pages ; 24 cm
- Place of Publication:
- Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2009.
- Summary:
- In counterterrorism circles, the standard response to questions about the possibility of future attacks is the terse one-liner "Not if, but when." This mantra supposedly conveys a no-nonsense approach to the problem, but, as Joseba Zulaika argues in Terrorism, it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. By distorting reality to fit their own worldview, the architects of the War on Terror prompt the behavior they seek to prevent-a twisted logic that has already played out horrifically in Iraq. In short, Zulaika contends, counter-terrorism has become pivotal in promoting terrorism.
- Exploring the blind spots of counterterrorist doctrine, Zulaika takes readers on a remarkable intellectual journey. He contrasts the psychological insight of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood with The 9/11 Commission Report, plumbs the mindset of terrorists in works by Orianna Fallaci and Jean Genet, maps the continuities between the cold war and the fight against terrorism, and analyzes the case of a Basque terrorist who tried to return to civilian life. Zulaika's argument is powerful and inventive, packed with insights and ideas that provide a new and sophisticated perspective on the War on Terror.
- Contents:
- Rethinking the war on terror
- Writing counterterrorism : the betrayal of the public intellectual
- Who's afraid of Truman Capote : writers versus counterterrorists
- The terrorist as lover : read my terrorist desire
- Eros, terror, and suicide : life against death
- Antigone, the terrorist : the passage à l'acte that traverses the subject's fantasy
- The cold war is dead, long live terrorism
- Dr. Strangelove meets the terrorist : on political madness
- 9/11 and the Iraq War as self-fulfilling prophecies
- The passion for ignorance and its catch-22.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN:
- 9780226994154
- 9780226994161
- 0226994155
- 0226994163
- OCLC:
- 317777900
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.