Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: non-state groups

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  Ghost Wars

  The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001

  by Steve Coll

  To what extent did America’s best intelligence analysts grasp the rising threat of Islamist radicalism? Who tried to stop bin Laden and why did they fail? Comprehensively and for the first time, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Steve Coll recounts the history of the covert wars in Afghanistan that fueled Islamic militancy and sowed the seeds of the September 11 attacks. Based on scrupulous research and... (more)
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  Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization

  by John Robb

  "For my money, John Robb, a former Air Force officer and tech guru, is the futurists' futurist." — Slate The counterterrorism expert John Robb reveals how the same technology that has enabled globalization also allows terrorists and criminals to join forces against larger adversaries with relative ease and to carry out small, inexpensive actions—like sabotaging an oil pipeline—that generate a huge... (more)
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  Buda's Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb

  by Mike Davis

  This brief history of the car bomb traces the political development of this most influential weapon of terror and resistance. On a September day in 1920, an angry Italian anarchist named Mario Buda exploded a horse-drawn wagon filled with dynamite and iron scrap near New York's Wall Street, killing 40 people. Since Buda's prototype the car bomb has evolved into a "poor man's air force," a generic weapon of mass... (more)
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  The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence

  by Martin Meredith

  Fifty years ago, as Europe's colonial powers withdrew, Africa moved with enormous hope and fervor toward democracy and economic independence. Today, most African countries are effectively bankrupt, prone to civil strife, subject to dictatorial rule, weighed down by debt, and heavily dependent on Western assistance for survival. What went wrong? Focusing on the key personalities, events and themes of the... (more)
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  A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962 (New York Review Books Classics)

  by Alistair Horne

  The Algerian War lasted from 1954 to 1962. It brought down six French governments, led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic, returned de Gaulle to power, and came close to provoking a civil war on French soil. More than a million Muslim Algerians died in the conflict and as many European settlers were driven into exile. Above all, the war was marked by an unholy marriage of revolutionary terror and repressive... (more)
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  Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw

  by Mark Bowden

  A tour de force of investigative journalism-this is the story of the violent rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, the head of the Colombian Medellin cocaine cartel. Escobar's criminal empire held a nation of thirty million hostage in a reign of terror that would only end with his death. In an intense, up-close account, award-winning journalist Mark Bowden exposes details never before revealed about the U.S.-led covert... (more)
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  The Mantle of the Prophet

  by Roy P. Mottahedeh

  First printed fifteen years ago, Roy Mottahedeh's intriguing vista upon Iranian society and the lives of those who lived through the revolution remains as relevant today as it was then. The story of a young mullah growing up in the ancient and sacred city of Qom, this is not just a fascinating study of life in post-Khomeini Iran, but a striking survey of Muslim, Persian, and Shi'ite culture from the Middle Ages to... (more)
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  Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror

  by Robert Young Pelton

  Robert Young Pelton first became aware of the phenomenon of hired guns in the War on Terror when he met a covert team of contractors on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border in the fall of 2003. Pelton soon embarked on a globe-spanning odyssey to penetrate and understand this shadowy world, ultimately delivering stunning insights into the way private soldiers are used. Enter a blood-soaked world of South African... (more)
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  Planet of Slums

  by Mike Davis

  Celebrated urban theorist lifts the lid on the effects of a global explosion of disenfranchised slum-dwellers. According to the United Nations, more than one billion people now live in the slums of the cities of the South. In this brilliant and ambitious book, Mike Davis explores the future of a radically unequal and explosively unstable urban world. From the sprawling barricadas of Lima to the garbage hills... (more)
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  Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill

  by Jessica Stern

  For four years, Jessica Stern interviewed extremist members of three religions around the world: Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Traveling extensively—to refugee camps in Lebanon, to religious schools in Pakistan, to prisons in Amman, Asqelon, and Pensacola—she discovered that the Islamic jihadi in the mountains of Pakistan and the Christian fundamentalist bomber in Oklahoma have much in common. Based on her vast... (more)
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  The Merger: The International Conglomerate of Organized Crime

  by Jeffrey Robinson

  A shocking, true account of a global crime network of unimaginable proportions, in which multinational criminals make alliances much like legitimate businesses, The Merger lays bare the criminal fraternity's new world order. International crime expert and best-selling author Jeffrey Robinson gives details of their subterranean activities-previously known only to international law enforcement insiders-to make... (more)
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  Hezbollah: A Short History (Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics)

  by Augustus R. Norton

  Most policymakers in the United States and Israel have it wrong. Hezbollah isn't a simple terrorist organization--nor is it likely to disappear soon. Following Israel's war against Hezbollah in the summer of 2006, the Shi'i group--which combines the functions of a militia, a social service and public works provider, and a political party--is more popular than ever in the Middle East while retaining its strong base... (more)
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  Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves

  by Adam Hochschild

  From the author of the widely acclaimed King Leopold's Ghost comes the taut, gripping account of one of the most brilliantly organized social justice campaigns in history -- the fight to free the slaves of the British Empire. In early 1787, twelve men -- a printer, a lawyer, a clergyman, and others united by their hatred of slavery -- came together in a London printing shop and began the world's first... (more)
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  A Force More Powerful: A Century of Non-Violent Conflict

  by Peter Ackerman

  This nationally-acclaimed book shows how popular movements used nonviolent action to overthrow dictators, obstruct military invaders and secure human rights in country after country, over the past century. Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall depict how nonviolent sanctions-such as protests, strikes and boycotts-separate brutal regimes from their means of control. They tell inside stories-how Danes outmaneuvered the... (more)