“A book and an unexploded bomb may lay equally motionless, but their kinetic potential is vastly different. A bomb may kill hundreds of people, but a book can change millions—think of Common Sense, Das Kapital, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or The Gulag Archipelago. To that energizing company, add Transforming Terror. This practical, inspiring book cuts through moral relativism by defining terror according to how it affects its victims. It is a luminous collection of wisdom. You’ll want many of these essays in your library forever. I needed to read it and you do, too.” -Peter Coyote, actor and author of Sleeping Where I Fall “Only an anthology could create the mosaic that would display the profound paradigm shift offered here: defining terrorism according to the experiences of the victims—unarmed civilians who are violently attacked or threatened—and not by any ideology or purpose. Each tile in the mosaic offers a catalyst to radical transformation of the calamitously increasing scale of such assaults, from suicide bombers to state terrorism, and offers real hope for a way out of the death spiral. This should be read at military academies and defense departments as well as by teachers and religious leaders.” -Deirdre English, Director, Felker Magazine Center, Graduate School of Journalism, UC Berkeley and former editor of Mother Jones “This collection of writings reveals a wealth of proposals for transforming the combustible conditions that often produce terror, as well as for the reconciliation and healing of terror’s victims. This book is not only an inspired and singular achievement, it is a courageous and bold challenge to a world too often jaded and numbed by the omnipresence of violence to consider any creative alternatives. Here is a work that couldn’t be more timely, relevant or persuasive in its call for us to transform the terror that bedevils us all, individuals and cultures alike.” - Phil Cousineau, author of Beyond Forgiveness: Reflections on Atonement and A Seat at the Table: Huston Smith in Conversation with Native Americans on Religious Freedom "This volume brings together the wisest voices of our era to reveal the prevalence of terror in our world, and its unconsidered consequences. Until a behavior has a name, it cannot be challenged. This amazing collection of wise and beautiful voices challenges our received definition of terror, and moves us a step further toward a world of peace.” - Marilyn Sewell, editor of Cries of the Spirit

Religion has been responsible for both horrific acts against humanity and some of humanity's most sublime teachings and experiences. How is this possible? From a contemporary psychoanalytic perspective, this book seeks to answer that question in terms of the psychological dynamic of idealisation. At the heart of living religion is the idealisation of everyday objects. Such idealisations provide much of the transforming power of religious experience, which is one of the positive contributions of religion to the psychological life. However, idealisation can also lead to religious fanaticism which can be very destructive. Drawing on the work of various contemporary relational theorists within psychoanalysis, this book develops a psychoanalytically informed theory of the transforming and terror-producing effects of religious experience. It discusses the question of whether or not, if idealisation is the cause of many of the destructive acts done in the name of religion, there can be vital religion without idealisation. This is the first book to address the nature of religion and its capacity to sponsor both terrorism and transformation in terms of contemporary relational psychoanalytic theory. It will be invaluable to students and practitioners of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, psychology and religious studies, and to others interested in the role of religion in the lives of individuals and societies.

Using rare field research, this book investigates whether and how talking may transform terrorist violence. Given the failings of today’s dominant counterterrorism strategy, is talking a viable policy option to transform conflicts marked by terrorist violence? This book examines the reasons why "negotiating with terrorists" is so often shunned by decision-makers and scholars as a policy response, concluding that such objections are primarily based on a realist and statist understanding of terrorism that has dominated the field so far. Based on interviews with top rebel and military commanders in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao and interviewing key actors in Northern Ireland, Terrorism, Talking and Transformation investigates how talking may contribute to the transformation of conflicts marked by terrorist violence. The result of this analysis is a theoretically grounded, empirically recognizable and emancipation oriented framework that can be used to investigate the potential of talking in transforming not only terrorist (and counterterrorist) violence, but also the underlying structural violence that often surrounds it. This book will be of much interest to students in the fields of terrorism studies, security studies, Southeast Asian studies, conflict resolution/transformation and IR in general, and of use to practitioners in the field.

This book offers the first comprehensive and critical investigation of the specific modes of risk calculation that are emerging in the so-called War on Terror. Risk and the War on Terror offers an interdisciplinary set of contributions which debate and analyze both the empirical manifestations of risk in the War on Terror and their theoretical implications. From border controls and biometrics to financial targeting and policing practice, the imperative to deploy public and private data in order to ‘connect the dots’ of terrorism risk raises important questions for social scientists and practitioners alike. How are risk technologies redeployed from commercial, environmental and policing domains to the domain of the War on Terror? How can the invocation of risk in the War on Terror be understood conceptually? Do these moves embody transformations from sovereignty to governmentality; from discipline to risk; from geopolitics to biopolitics? What are the implications of such moves for the populations that come to be designated as ‘risky’ or ‘at risk’? Where are the gaps, ambiguities and potential resistances to these practices? In contrast with previous historical moments of risk measurement, governing by risk in the War on Terror has taken on a distinctive orientation to an uncertain future. This book will be of strong interest to students and researchers of international studies, political science, geography, legal studies, criminology and sociology.

Written in Irv Yalom's inimitable story-telling style, Staring at the Sun is a profoundly encouraging approach to the universal issue of mortality. In this magisterial opus, capping a lifetime of work and personal experience, Dr. Yalom helps us recognize that the fear of death is at the heart of much of our anxiety. Such recognition is often catalyzed by an "awakening experience"—a dream, or loss (the death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job or home), illness, trauma, or aging. Once we confront our own mortality, Dr. Yalom writes, we are inspired to rearrange our priorities, communicate more deeply with those we love, appreciate more keenly the beauty of life, and increase our willingness to take the risks necessary for personal fulfillment.

Alaya has the unique creative capacity to teach using the hands and feet of our ordinary human experience to understand and come closer to secrets of the universe. Martha Harrell, M.S.N., Ph.D., Licensed Training Jungian Psychoanalyst, Biodynamic Cranio-sacral Therapist, and contributing author in Transforming Terror: Reclaiming the World Soul Alaya’s Fables takes us into the world of make-believe to discover how problems are solved from the heart. Meredith Young-Sowers, D.Div., Founder & Director, Stillpoint Foundation and School of Integrative Life Healing, Author: of The Angelic Messenger Cards These unique fables engage both right and left hemispheres, and truly invite us to reach our potential. Thank you from an inspired heart! Joyce Buckner, Ph.D. Author of Making Real Love Happen, Master Imago Therapist, and guest on the Oprah Show Alaya’s Fables offers a welcoming trail into one’s heart and soul. Enjoy and use these lovely fables as a way to explore, grow, and play with all that you are. Dee LaCrosse, Psy.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist ONE need not be the lonely number its name implies. Alaya Chadwick takes us to the “land where dreams live” to find intimacy with our inner selves. Mark W Shulkin MD, Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Clinical Assistant Professor or of Psychiatry at Drexel University College of Medicine (retired) Sunny L Shulkin LCSW, BCD, Master Trainer of Imago Relationship Therapy

This book investigates the intersection of terrorism, digital technologies and cyberspace. The evolving field of cyber-terrorism research is dominated by single-perspective, technological, political, or sociological texts. In contrast, Terrorism Online uses a multi-disciplinary framework to provide a broader introduction to debates and developments that have largely been conducted in isolation. Drawing together key academics from a range of disciplinary fields, including Computer Science, Engineering, Social Psychology, International Relations, Law and Politics, the volume focuses on three broad themes: 1) how – and why – do terrorists engage with the Internet, digital technologies and cyberspace?; 2) what threat do these various activities pose, and to whom?; 3) how might these activities be prevented, deterred or addressed? Exploring these themes, the book engages with a range of contemporary case studies and different forms of terrorism: from lone-actor terrorists and protest activities associated with ‘hacktivist’ groups to state-based terrorism. Through the book’s engagement with questions of law, politics, technology and beyond, the volume offers a holistic approach to cyberterrorism which provides a unique and invaluable contribution to this subject matter. This book will be of great interest to students of cybersecurity, security studies, terrorism and International Relations.

The intelligence failures exposed by the events of 9/11 and the missing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq have made one thing perfectly clear: change is needed in how the U.S. intelligence community operates. Transforming U.S. Intelligence argues that transforming intelligence requires as much a look to the future as to the past and a focus more on the art and practice of intelligence rather than on its bureaucratic arrangements. In fact, while the recent restructuring, including the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, may solve some problems, it has also created new ones. The authors of this volume agree that transforming policies and practices will be the most effective way to tackle future challenges facing the nation's security. This volume's contributors, who have served in intelligence agencies, the Departments of State or Defense, and the staffs of congressional oversight committees, bring their experience as insiders to bear in thoughtful and thought-provoking essays that address what such an overhaul of the system will require. In the first section, contributors discuss twenty-first-century security challenges and how the intelligence community can successfully defend U.S. national interests. The second section focuses on new technologies and modified policies that can increase the effectiveness of intelligence gathering and analysis. Finally, contributors consider management procedures that ensure the implementation of enhanced capabilities in practice. Transforming U.S. Intelligence supports the mandate of the new director of national intelligence by offering both careful analysis of existing strengths and weaknesses in U.S. intelligence and specific recommendations on how to fix its problems without harming its strengths. These recommendations, based on intimate knowledge of the way U.S. intelligence actually works, include suggestions for the creative mixing of technologies with new missions to bring about the transformation of U.S. intelligence without incurring unnecessary harm or expense. The goal is the creation of an intelligence community that can rapidly respond to developments in international politics, such as the emergence of nimble terrorist networks while reconciling national security requirements with the rights and liberties of American citizens.