Before the Next Attack: Preserving Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism

***** Before the Next Attack: Preserving Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism. By Bruce Ackerman; published by Yale University Press, yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks (Web); 240 pages; $17.

Dealing with the threat of terrorism requires action on many levels. We are often preoccupied with aviation security, the hunt for Osama bin Laden, or other “front-page” aspects of the counterterrorism fight. These efforts must, however, be considered on a more fundamental level.

Before the Next Attack: Preserving Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism is a superlative work focusing on the danger that political reactions to terrorism may infringe on the rights and liberties that are the bedrock of freedom. The author, noted academic Bruce Ackerman, argues that civil liberties are under serious attack in the wake of 9-11. While acknowledging that some temporary adjustments of the balance between freedom and security are needed, Ackerman argues that the reaction in the United States has in many ways been excessive and repressive.

Ackerman argues convincingly that as dangerous as the current threat of Islamist terrorism is, it is not the gravest challenge in U.S. history. “Though our situation is grave,” he writes, “it is not as grim as the bad old days of the Twentieth Century, when Hitler and Stalin really did threaten us with physical occupation and political takeover. We managed to maintain our liberties during those perilous times, and with some institutional imagination, we can do it again.”

Without strategic thinking, Ackerman argues, “short-term emergency responses will morph into the long-run destruction of freedom.” We may already be seeing this in some areas, as intrusions on personal liberties and freedoms slowly become accepted “facts of the new reality.”

In our zeal to confront the terrorist challenge, we must not overlook the potential dangers inherent in the policies and tactics we adopt. Before the Next Attack is required reading for all of us.

Reviewer: Mayer Nudell, CSC, is an independent consultant on crisis management, contingency planning, and related issues. He is a member of ASIS International.