Terrorism, Security, and Human Rights:

Scholars and policymakers disagree on the most effective way to counter transnational terrorism, generating debate on a range of questions: Do military interventions increase or decrease the recruitment capability of transnational terrorists? Should we privilege diplomacy over military force in the campaign against terror? Can counterterrorist measures be applied without violating human rights? More fundamentally, is it possible to effectively wage a war against terrorism? Grappling with these questions, Mahmood Monshipouri reviews alternative strategies for combating terrorism and makes the case for the continued relevance of international law and diplomacy as measures for severing its roots in the Middle East and elsewhere.   

Monshipouri underlines the need to redefine security to include the protection of human rights. In that context, he examines the limits of the use of force, torture, and externally imposed democratization and focuses on the conditions under which alternative counterterrorism tools can be viable. While acknowledging that there is no easy remedy to the tensions between security needs and human rights, he makes a compelling argument that the pursuit of a security template that sacrifices civil liberties is not only morally debilitating, but also politically imprudent.