Business Confronts Terrorism: Risks and Responses

    Central banks and stock exchanges are bombed. Suicide bombers ravage cinemas, nightclubs, and theaters. Planes crash into skyscrapers and government buildings. Multiple bombs explode on commuter trains. Thousands of people are killed and injured while millions are terrorized by these attacks.
    These scenarios could be part of a future Hollywood movie. Sadly, they are representative of previous terror attacks against industry and government interests worldwide. Moreover, they are harbingers of global terror threats.
    Industry constitutes a prime target of contemporary terrorism. This timely book analyzes the threats companies face due to terrorism, industry responses to these dangers, and terrorism’s effects on conducting business in the post-9/11 environment. Dean C. Alexander details the conventional and unconventional terror capabilities facing industry. He describes the activities of terrorists in the economic system and the ways they finance their operations.
    Alexander discusses how companies can reduce terrorist threats and that corporate security can minimize political violence. He outlines the dynamics of the public-private partnership against terrorism: government aiding industry, business supporting government, and tensions between the two. He also delineates terrorism’s effects—financial, physical, and emotional—on workers and employers. He highlights the negative financial and economic consequences of terrorism. He discusses the impact of terrorism on traditional business practices and concludes with an assessment of future trends.

Dean C. Alexander serves as a consultant in the Washington, D.C., area. His professional experience includes: Director of International Business Development at Grant Thornton International (Santiago, Chile); In-House Counsel at Heron International (London, Great Britain); In-House Counsel at Bezeq Globe (Tel Aviv, Israel); Executive Director at the NAFTA Research Institute (Washington, D.C.); Financial Advisor, UBS Financial Services (Washington, D.C., area); and consultant to the World Bank, Organization of American States, and multinational companies on legal, business, and political risk issues. He has published seven books and numerous articles on business, investment, law, and terrorism. He has lectured on international business law at universities in the United States and abroad as well as on terrorism for the U.S. State Department and at industry conferences. He can be reached at contact@businessconfrontsterrorism.com.