Features

October 2008

Alexis Keller: Counterterrorism: Democracy's Challenge

"The word ‘terrorism', like many abstract political terms, is confusing, dangerous and indispensable. Confusing, because it means very different things to different people, and its meaning has also changed greatly over time. Dangerous, because it easily becomes an instrument of propaganda, and a means of avoiding thinking about the many forms and causes of political violence. Indispensable, because there is a real phenomenon out there that poses a threat to many societies." -- from Counterterrorism: Democracy's Challenge

Counterterrorism: Democracy's Challenge, co-edited by ICTJ board member Alexis Keller, is a multidisciplinary collection of essays that investigate terrorism and counterterrorist campaigns of the past and present, as well as the challenges such campaigns pose for democratic states. The essays explore the role of national and international law in shaping counterterrorism efforts and the difficulty of striking a balance between security concerns and individual freedoms.

The collection reflects on both the continuities and contrasts between the forms that terrorism and counterterrorism have taken historically and what we see today, stressing the importance of not overlooking the lessons to be learned from the past even as it acknowledges the specificity and indeed radical difference of the challenges that face us today. Drawing on the expertise of historians, political scientists and lawyers, this book provides a multifaceted review of the current situation informed by a strong sense of history, and serves as a timely reminder of the big and little issues that should be remembered by democratic states as they strive to cope with the ongoing threat of terrorism.

Alexis Keller is professor at the University of Geneva's Faculty of Law. He is a former fellow of Harvard University's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Kennedy School of Government. From 2002 to 2004, Dr. Keller took part in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that led to the Geneva Accord. In April 2003, he was appointed by the Swiss Foreign Minister to serve as special representative for the Middle East peace process. He held this post until January 2004. Dr. Keller is a member of several academic societies and research institutes in Europe and the United States. He has written widely on European intellectual history, legal history and legal theory.