Counterterrorism & Homeland Security Bookshelf

Reviewed by Dr. Joshua Sinai 

The column capsule reviews 20 books. They are arranged topically by terrorism – general, radicalization into terrorism, counterterrorism/counterinsurgency, homeland/national security, and military warfare.

Terrorism – General

Andreas E. Feldman, Repertoires of Terrorism: Organizational Identity and Violence in Colombia’s Civil War (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2024), 344 pages, $140.00 [Hardcover], $35.00 [Paperback], ISBN: 978-0-2312-1375-2.

This conceptually innovative and empirically-based book examines how terrorist organizations, such as the Colombian Fuerzas Armadas Revoluicionarias de Colombia (FARC) and Ejercito de Liberacion National (ELN), conduct their anti-regime warfare and political activities amidst civil wars. In the Colombian case, the author points out, the FARC and ELN were also extensively involved in criminal activities to fund their activities, such as narco-trafficking. State terror and Government-affiliated paramilitary terrorist organizations are also examined. One of the book’s insightful findings is that “Because criminal groups are motivated by greed, they often view politics to achieve their goals,” so “the intersections and intensities of criminal and political dimensions within each organization” need to be examined (p. 216). The author is an associate professor in the Departments of Political Science and Latin American and Latino Studies and the principal investigator of the Global...