Bombs, Bullets, and Politicians: France’s Response to Terrorism

This often dense academic study explores the effects of terrorist actions on a number of political parties, attempting to break new ground in determining the extent to which bombings, assassinations, and similar acts can disrupt seemingly solid systems of power. It’s an interesting—though, at times, very technical—analysis of a series of data sets and hypotheses based on historical and recent terrorist acts in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and Spain. Chowanietz seeks to delve beyond scare headlines and provides vital background information and definitions of terrorism that include government-sponsored acts, which are often left out of mainstream media accounts. With a particular focus on France, where Charlie Hebdo and the Bataclan Theatre became household names for tragic reasons, he explores the conditions that might inform the choices of opposition parties to either critique the ruling powers or rally around the flag following an act of violence. Chowanietz concludes that terrorism is a fairly limited threat overall, but he remains concerned about the increasingly exponential power of such acts in a wired world. Acknowledging that this is a work in progress, he proposes that additional research in several new areas would be beneficial. The book is likely to appeal only to a limited postgraduate audience. (Dec.)