U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Contemporary Terrorism

NCJ Number
107558
Editor(s)
W Gutteridge
Date Published
1986
Length
125 pages
Annotation
This collection of studies on terrorist activity in Western Europe addresses the principles involved in coping with terrorism, as well as specific case studies of terrorist groups active in the 1970's.
Abstract
Problems that liberal democracies face in responding to terrorism are surveyed, as are the international dimensions of contemporary terrorism. A discussion of political hostage-taking provides statistics on hostage incidents from 1970 through 1982 and describes how the incident restricts possible response options available to governments. Another paper analyzes current diplomatic immunities, as codified in the 1961 Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and considers ways in which these regulations might be tightened to combat state-sponsored terrorism. The book provides four case studies: an overview of terrorist activities by ethnic groups and imported terrorists in France; a history of the Basque separatist group, the Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA); Italy's Red Brigades and other terrorist groups from the extreme left; and West Germany's Red Army anarchists. References and index.