Drones and Terrorism: Asymmetric Warfare and the Threat to Global Security

In warzones, ordinary commercially-available drones are used for extraordinary reconnaissance and information gathering. They can also be used for bombings - a drone carrying an explosive charge is potentially a powerful weapon. At the same time asymmetric warfare has become the norm - with large states increasingly fighting marginal terrorist groups in the Middle East and elsewhere. Here, Nicholas Grossman shows how we are entering the age of the drone terrorist - groups such as Hezbollah are already using them in the Middle East. Grossman will analyse the ways in which the United States, Israel and other advanced militaries use aerial drones and ground-based robots to fight non-state actors (e.g. ISIS, al Qaeda, the Iraqi and Afghan insurgencies, Hezbollah, Hamas, etc.) and how these groups, as well as individual terrorists, are utilizing less advanced commercially-available drones to fight powerful state opponents. Robotics has huge implications for the future of security, terrorism and international relations and this will be essential reading on the subject of terrorism and drone warfare.

About the Author :
Nicholas Grossman is Assistant Teaching Professor of International Relations at the University of Illinois and Editor-at-Large of Arc Digital. He is an expert on robotics, drones, terrorism, insurgency, and US foreign policy, and his writing has appeared in Arc, National Review, CNBC Opinion and elsewhere.

Review :
"Drones and Terrorism provides an important and needed analysis of the role of drones in the conflict between governments and terrorists. It is one of the only books that addresses the use of drones by these non-state actors and how their use will impact the next stage in the evolution of counter-terrorism. Grossman's research and analysis provides important evidence and arguments to the debate about the role of drones in conflict, going beyond the standard tropes of 'should' or 'should not' to what is actually happening and what to expect in the future. This book also advances our understanding of drones by discussing the next stage in the type and nature of drone warfare, and the implications this will have for conflict. His discussion incorporates how the future development of drones, including a swarm approach, will create challenges and opportunities for policy makers. This book provides academics, students, the public, and policy makers with a very well informed understanding of the future of drones and their role in the continuing fight between governments and terrorists, including how governments should respond to the technological developments in the field of drones. Drones and Terrorism moves the discussion about the use of drones forward by providing a much needed discussion of how terrorists use drones, the future of drone technology, and what both of these mean for counter-terrorism policies." --Brian Lai, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Iowa