Written a few years after their excellent THE TERRORISTS, Dobson and Payne's COUNTERATTACK deals mainly with governmental response to the increasing sophistication of various terrorist organizations from the IRA to the PLO. Once again, the authors' knowledge of the subject shines through, and they don't shy away from the complexities and legal ramifications of various situations. The book focuses on the West's responses, with Chapter 1 giving an overview of the world situation, and a chapter each devoted to specific countries: Britain, the US, Israel, West Germany, Holland, France, Italy, and Spain. The final two chapters deal with private enterprise's response to the kidnapping of employees overseas and the problems democracies face in balancing harsh measures to combat terrorists with the civil liberties of its citizens. While the book is rather optimistic in tone, it's final chapter does acknowledge areas of concern, such as nuclear proliferation and the emergence of government-sanctioned state terror.Like their previous book, this is also an essential read. My only complaints are that this book is riddled with typographical errors and that the index is not as comprehensive as it could have been.
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