Routledge Handbook of U.S. Counterterrorism and Irregular Warfare Operations

by Michael A. Sheehan (Editor), Erich Marquardt (Editor), Liam Collins (Editor)

This handbook comprises essays by leading scholars and practitioners on the topic of U.S. counterterrorism and irregular warfare campaigns and operations around the globe. Terrorist groups have evolved substantially since 9/11, with the Islamic State often described as a pseudo-state, a terrorist group, and insurgency all at the same time. While researchers', analysts', and policymakers’ understanding of terrorism has grown immensely over the past two decades, similar advancements in the understanding of counterterrorism lag. As such, this handbook explains why it is necessary to take a broader view of counterterrorism which can, and often does, include irregular warfare. The volume is divided into three thematic The handbook fills a gap in the traditional counterterrorism literature by its inclusion of irregular warfare and by providing analyses from academic experts as well as practitioners. It will be of much interest to students of counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, U.S. national security, military affairs, and International Relations. The Open Access version of this book, available at has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Genres: History

550 pages, Hardcover

Published July 15, 2021

About the author

Michael A. Sheehan was a former government official including Coordinator for Counterterrorism with the rank and status of Ambassador-at-Large at the United States Department of State. He was also a former military officer in the infantry and Special Forces. He was a Distinguished Chair at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York and a terrorist analyst for NBC News.