Summary

Terrorism and national security have been in the foreground of the nation’s political landscape since the uncertain times brought on by the attacks of September 11, 2001. This collection of scholarly essays provides a chance to learn from the past by offering an analytic—and sometimes provocative—look at the inseparability of security and history. This work is divided into separate elements depicting security on the national and international levels. "Part One–The US and National Security," focuses on topics such as “Rank-And-File Rednecks: Radicalism and Union Leadership in the West Virginia Mine Wars,” among others. "Part Two–International Terrorism," looks at violence overseas, such as “Beyond Victims and Perpetrators: Women Terrorists and Their Own Stories.”

2007 ForeWord Magazine Finalist, Political Science category

Contents

• Acknowledgements
     C. Belmont Keeney and Melinda M. Hicks
• Foreword
     Jeffery H. Norwitz
• Part I - The U.S. and National Security
  • National Security: A Pretext for Repression?
       Ellen Shrecker
  • Rank-and-File Rednecks: Radicalism and Union Leadership in the West Virginia Mine Wars
       C. Belmont Keeney
  • The Overlooked Success: A Reconsideratoin of the U.S. Interventions in Mexico During the Wilson Presidency
       Mark Mulcahey
  • No More Cubas! The Lessons of Counterinsurgency
       David Lauderback
  • The Rhetoric of National Security: The George H. W. Bush Administration and the New World Order
       James DePalma
• Part II - International Terrorism
  • Beyond Victims and Perpetrators: Women Terrorists Tell Their Own Stories
       Jamie H. Trnka
  • When Do Womem Kill? Life and Death in Tsarist Russia
       Jean K. Berger
  • A Troubled Past, an Uncertain Future: Radical Islam and the Prospects for Nigeria's Stability
       Josh Arinze
  • Is terrorism Unique? A Tactical and Ideological Appraisal
       Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon

Author

C. Belmont Keeney and Melinda M. Hicks obtained the idea for Defending the Homeland when they reviewed submitted papers for the 2005 Senator Rush D. Holt History Conference at West Virginia University. While the conference produced a variety of excellent presentations, some of the scholarship stood out so much that they felt it deserved a broader audience.  Kenney is an author, historian musician, professor, and mountaineer. Hicks is a Visiting Professor of History, Marietta College, Ohio.

Reviews

"Defending the Homeland—as a whole and through its individual chapters—will be of interest to general readers and to students and academics from a range of disciplines. This book is bound to be included on many syllabi and reading lists, as well as among the sources cited in scholars’ publications."
Dr. Pete Lentini, director, Global Terrorism Research Centre, Monash University, Australia