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Terrorism Within Comparative International Context pp 123–148Cite as

United States

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History

The United States of America (US), the third largest country in the world, both in population1 and in size,2 was established subsequent to the American Revolutionary War and the signing of declaration of independence by 13 states along the Eastern coast of North America from British rule in 1776. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1783 the US was recognized as a new nation.3 During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the US expanded westward across North America, increasing the number of states through 1959 and the addition of its 50th state, Hawaii. In addition to the 50 states, the US has a number of dependent areas.4 The United States experienced a civil war from 1861 to 1865, during which the northern states defeated a confederacy of secessionist southern states. The current government is based on the US constitution, which was drafted by revolutionaries that had learned from their experiences with the British that governmental power in the hands of unelected officials not accountable to the people they govern can readily lead to abuses.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    US population is over 300 million; only China and India, with populations over 1 billion each, are larger.

  2. 2.

    Only Canada and Russia have more area, although all have areas that are primarily uninhabited in the Arctic circle.

  3. 3.

    “The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution.” http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/ar/14313.htm.

  4. 4.

    US dependent areas: American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Wake Island. https://http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html.

  5. 5.

    For a more in-depth understanding of the 9/11 attacks and the response by law enforcement, see Shane (2009).

  6. 6.

    BBC News: Slovak raid nets bomb uranium. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7119172.stm; BBC News: Arrests in Slovak nuclear plot – “Police in Slovakia and Hungary have arrested three people for allegedly trying to sell 1 kg (2.2 lb) of radioactive material, officials said… International agencies have repeatedly warned of the risk of radioactive material from the former Soviet Union passing into the hands of criminals or terrorists. A police raid in the Czech Republic in 1994 uncovered an attempt to sell 2.73 kg (96 ounces) of enriched uranium illegally. Police in the same year confiscated 2.97 kg (105 ounces) of enriched uranium intended for illegal sale in the Russian city of St Petersburg”. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7117758.stm.

  7. 7.

    See DeSa & McCarthy (2009).

  8. 8.

    LaFree, Dugan, Fogg, and Scott (2006).

  9. 9.

    See the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at http://www.start.umd.edu/start; DHS (2009); McGarrell, Freilich & Chermak (2007).

  10. 10.

    GAO. Combating terrorism: Law enforcement agencies lack directive to assist foreign nations to identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorists. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d07697.pdf.

  11. 11.

    US Senate (2007); National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (2002); National Intelligence Estimate (2007).

  12. 12.

    US National Intelligence Council (http://www.dni.gov/press_releases/20070717_release.pdf).

  13. 13.

    Smith et al. (2006).

  14. 14.

    Barghothi (1996).

  15. 15.

    Hoffman (1998); Schmid (2004); Schmid & Jongman (2005).

  16. 16.

    Crenshaw (1995, p. 16).

  17. 17.

    Crenshaw (2005, p. 16).

  18. 18.

    Lieberman (2009).

  19. 19.

    BBC News: 1983: Harrods bomb blast kills six. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/17/newsid_2538000/2538147.stm.

  20. 20.

    BBC News: Saddam’s Life and Times.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_iraq_timeline/html/trial_of_saddam.stm.

  21. 21.

    Saddam’s Chemical Weapons Campaign: Halabja, March 16, 1988. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/i/rls/18714.htm.

  22. 22.

    FBI (1999, p. ii).

  23. 23.

    Smith et al. (2006, p. 2).

  24. 24.

    Ibid., pp. 72–73).

  25. 25.

    Ibid., pp. 14–15).

  26. 26.

    Ibid, p. 8.

  27. 27.

    Smith et al. (2008, pp. 79–82).

  28. 28.

    Walker (2008) in Haberfeld and Cerrah (2008, p. 325).

  29. 29.

    US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Law Enforcement Statistics: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/lawenf.htm.

  30. 30.

    http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/hr_5005_enr.pdf.

  31. 31.

    http://www.dhs.gov/index.shtm.

  32. 32.

    http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/DHS_OrgChart.pdf.

  33. 33.

    http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/history/origins.htm.

  34. 34.

    http://www.fbi.gov/.

  35. 35.

    http://www.fbi.gov/terrorinfo/counterrorism/tsc.htm.

  36. 36.

    Haberfeld, King & Lieberman (2008).

  37. 37.

    Lum, Haberfeld, Fachner & Lieberman (2009); Silke (1996, 2001, 2004).

  38. 38.

    US DOJ: Terrorism 2002–2005. http://www.fbi.gov/publications/terror/terrorism2002_2005.pdf.

  39. 39.

    Cohen and Felson (1979).

  40. 40.

    Goldstein (1990).

  41. 41.

    Bittner (1990, p. 249).

  42. 42.

    Klockars (1985, p. 12).

  43. 43.

    “To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to allow grants to increase police presence, to expand and improve cooperative efforts between law enforcement agencies and members of the community to address crime and disorder problems, and otherwise to enhance public safety.” http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d103:HR03355:%7CTOM:/bss/d103query.html%7C.

  44. 44.

    Haberfeld (2002, p. 159).

  45. 45.

    JSTOR: 1829 Metropolitan Police Act. http://www.jstor.org/.

  46. 46.

    Reith (1948).

  47. 47.

    Skogan (2004).

  48. 48.

    Haberfeld (2002, pp. 160–161).

  49. 49.

    Chapman et al. (2002, p. 1).

  50. 50.

    Chapman et al. (2002, p. 1).

  51. 51.

    Lyons (2002, p. 530).

  52. 52.

    Docobo (2005), Donnermeyer (2002), Henry (2002), Murray (2005), Pelfrey (2005), Scheider and Chapman (2003), and Sloan (2002).

  53. 53.

    Smith et al. (2003, 2006). Smith (2008); Innes (2006).

  54. 54.

    Rimmer (2008, p. 39).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. City University of New York, John Jay college of Criminal Justice, 899 Tenth Ave., 10019, New York, NY, USA

    Prof M. R. Haberfeld, Prof. Dr Joseph F. King & Prof Charles Andrew Lieberman

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  1. Prof M. R. Haberfeld
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  2. Prof. Dr Joseph F. King
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  3. Prof Charles Andrew Lieberman
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Correspondence to M. R. Haberfeld .

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Haberfeld, M.R., King, J.F., Lieberman, C.A. (2009). United States. In: Terrorism Within Comparative International Context. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-88861-3_10

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