The budget and resources that have been dedicated to combatting terrorism this century are staggering. But has it worked?

In this episode, George Miller talks to Leonie B. Jackson, author of 'What is Counterterrorism for?', about the exceptional measures that states have taken in recent decades – such as detention without trial and targeted killing – in reaction to terrorist threats which they often portray as existential. When the terrorist spectacularly demonstrates that the state has failed to protect its citizens, Leonie explains, there’s an all-too-familiar recourse on the part of the state to put its response on a military footing.

Leonie B Jackson is a Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Northumbria University and an editor of the journal Critical Studies on Terrorism.

Find out more about the book at: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/trade/what-is-counterterrorism-for

The full transcript of the podcast is available here: https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2024/11/12/podcast-the-problem-with-counterterrorism/

Timestamps:

01:15 - How did 9/11 and its aftermath play a role in your thinking about terrorism?

02:24 - What was it that drew you to the field of counterterrorism in particular?

06:48 - What are counterterrorism's animating questions or its concerns?

08:03 - When did counterterrorism actually come on the agenda as something which merits very serious scrutiny?

11:58 - What are the problems with the power counterterrorism grants?

18:01 - How important is it to actually look at what works and what doesn't work within the field of counterterrorism? 

21:38 - Do you see a great variety of counterterrorism approaches?

24:35 - Do you think there's a public readiness to tolerate if not to embrace the things which have been done in the name of counterterrorism, especially in the last quarter of a century? 

28:20 - Is there some way of reaching beyond the academic community and advancing this argument?

Intro music:

Cold by yoitrax | @yoitrax

Music promoted by www.free-stock-music.com 

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