The book examines the dynamic of West European terrorism and counter-terrorism as it has evolved since the late 1960s. It assesses past, present and future terrorist trends and analyzes the internal security policies that have been initiated by the member states of the European Union (EU), both singularly and collectively, to combat terrorism in Western Europe.

Throughout the book the theme of liberal democratic legitimacy and accountability is stressed, something that is brought particularly to bear on the latest EU internal security provision - the Maastricht Third Pillar. Police and security forces throughout the EU have strongly endorsed the third pillar as providing an efficient response to serious criminality in the region.

However, from a liberal democratic point of view, the Maastricht provisions raise critical questions concerning the underlying ideological rationale that appears to be guiding the EU's evolving internal security cooperation, the lack of critical public debate surrounding this coordination and the absence of any effective means to more closely control EU judicial and law enforcement action.