Paul Wilkinson (political scientist)
Academic work
Academic work
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Throughout his career, which spanned five decades that saw the rise of the [Irish Republican Army](/wiki/Provisional_Irish_Republican_Army "Provisional Irish Republican Army")'s [bombings](/wiki/List_of_bombings_during_the_Northern_Ireland_Troubles_and_peace_process "List of bombings during the Northern Ireland Troubles and peace process") to the [September 11, 2001 attacks](/wiki/September%C2%A011%2C%C2%A02001_attacks "September 11, 2001 attacks"), Wilkinson was a strong opponent of terrorism but adamant that democratic responses to it always be guided by the [rule of law](/wiki/Rule_of_law "Rule of law"). For example, he publicly opposed attempts to increase the period permitted to detain terrorism suspects without trial in the UK and condemned the [George W. Bush](/wiki/George_W._Bush "George W. Bush") administration's approach to counterterrorism, such as the [Guantánamo detention camp](/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp "Guantanamo Bay detention camp"), which he criticized as flouting "[international law](/wiki/International_law "International law") and [criminal justice](/wiki/Criminal_justice "Criminal justice")".

Indeed, he said that [liberal democracy](/wiki/Liberal_democracy "Liberal democracy") was what sparked his interest in his subject, stating that he had become "interested initially in the mid\-1960s in why terrorism had been effective in some conflicts and not others. Then, with the burgeoning of modern international terrorism in the 1970s, I became interested in the politics of democratic and international response". He appreciated it as a multi\-disciplinary and "ever\-changing" research topic that was especially rewarding because he was a part of "a small band of pioneers in this almost totally neglected field" in his early career.


How can liberal democracy be used to prevent terrorism?