ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the most important dimensions and components of the police aspects involved in counter-terrorism, with special emphasis on international developments and the involvement of US agencies and international cooperation. Sociologically, terrorism and counter-terrorism can be approached in terms of longstanding intellectual traditions of crime and/or deviance and the control thereof. The patterns and dynamics of counter-terrorism and related cooperation practices among police and other relevant institutions can be examined on the basis of their relative degree of bureaucratization. The governments of national states rely on a wide assortment of tools to counter the threat of terrorism as a matter of national security. Modern legal systems have responded to terrorism in terms of various aspects of law, especially criminal and constitutional law. The world of policing and related security functions has developed an ever-expanding role among the modern institutions of counter-terrorism. The forms of counter-terrorism cooperation range from unilaterally enacted international initiatives to bilateral and broader multilateral collaborative efforts.
