ABSTRACT
A quick look at the cases of Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States offers insights into the effectiveness—and the lack thereof—of legal initiatives in coping with terrorism. These cases were chosen to illustrate two crucial points: legal initiatives are useful, but alone are insufficient to eliminate a terrorist problem; and the use of extraordinary legal measures is not without risk, particularly to democracies. In the cases of Canada and Italy, legal initiatives were combined with efforts at social reform designed to reduce the grievances that terrorists voiced with the existing system. Totalitarian and authoritarian states often justify the suspension or severe curtailment of civil and political liberties based on a "need to secure the general welfare." The issue confronted the United Kingdom during the last three decades of the twentieth century in its struggle with terrorism in Northern Ireland. The successful use of investigative techniques to counter terrorism is of relatively recent vintage.
