ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines terrorism law and policy in Australia, Canada, the European Union (EU), the UK and the US and covers the main terrorist threats facing those states. It presents the study of a terrorist group that has pursued a long-standing political cause, the New Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Ireland. The term 'terrorism' can be traced to the French Revolution period of 1793-1794 where in a French dictionary the term was used in a positive sense regarding the state's systematic reign of terror. As one of the main threats facing many states around the world comes from Islamist groups, while acknowledging there are many such groups, for example Abu Sayyef in the Philippines, this chapter covers the main Islamist groups that pose such a threat including Al Qaeda, Islamic State (IS) and Al Shabaab.
