Great Britain is in a great crisis, one that gets worse with every attempt to patch things up. The global spread of technology and international links enables a rapid rise in the traffic of dangerous ideas, dangerous materials and dangerous people. An international journalist ties together the common strands that create the fuse for unquenched violence in Great Britain, culminating in a many-faceted crisis for the British state. In response to the uprisings and civil wars sweeping the globe, concerns about possible cyber attacks (State-sponsored or otherwise) on State computers, have been amplified in the media, sparking a debate as to the appropriate course of action. Now citizens understand that their own privacy has been discarded in the name of international security. Cyberspace has become the decisive arena of modern information warfare. The overwhelming picture of intrusion into people's personal lives has caused a breakdown in trust between the citizens and the State, and the State and its Allies. Five Eyes, TEMPORA, PRISM, ECHELON and the politics of the Intelligence War have shaken the public perception that their governments respect civil rights and liberties. Meanwhile the British welfare state faces threats from many quarters. The burning public frustration amounts to a national security crisis, which London addresses primarily through endless new legislation, policies, and strategies statements that create confusion rather than cohesion. Short-term fixes are not enough. Real leadership and real solutions are urgently needed.

The EU aims to continue expanding, but mistrust rules the day. Countries are spying on each other rather than sharing intelligence and cooperating to fight terrorism that threatens them all. With Brexit, the EU and Great Britain may even lose the partners they have in these efforts.The spate of recent terrorist attacks in London, Paris, Brussels and Berlin highlights the security crisis in Britain and the EU member states. The author points to weaknesses in intelligence sharing and cooperation at the law enforcement level. He shows that these shortcomings are both rooted in, and contributing to, misunderstanding and distrust among the EU member states. At the same time, these attacks showed how urgent is the need for strong and professional law enforcement across the continent. Britain and the EU member states have been engaged in an intense debate over the rise in EU immigration, which has gone hand-in-hand with an increase in organized crime including people trafficking and smuggling as well as terrorist attacks. Europe's habitual calm and reliable law and order are deteriorating, while member states wonder what they sacrificed their sovereignty for, if cooperation is so poor even in the essential area of security? Meanwhile, the UK has more CCTV cameras than anyone else, monitoring citizens day and night. Even so, notwithstanding the ubiquitous MI6, MI5, GCHQ, MENWITH HILL, and the UK police, Britain still can't prevent attacks. It needs to modernize its surveillance technology and crime prevention systems. Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016 because the project's poor performance. Its intelligence sharing mechanism was unprofessional, and the attitude of the member states towards Britain was not encouraging. The EU has experienced numerous incidents of violence and terrorism, in which civilian and government installations were targeted. Their complicated intelligence infrastructure also left a negative impact across the continent, all contributing to a deterioration in law and order.

Most discussions on electronic media and intellectual forums about the effects of globalization on national security focus on violent threats. Notwithstanding the plethora of books, journals and research papers on national and international security, there is an iota research work on issue of interconnectedness. The interconnectedness of violent threats and their mounting effect pose grave dangers to the aptitude of a state to professionally secure its territorial integrity. Technological evolution and aggrandized interlinkage of our world in general, and specifically information technology, has affected people and society in different ways. Daily life of every man and woman has become influenced by these challenges. The twenty first century appeared with different class of National Security threats. After the first decade, world leaders, research scholars, journalists, politicians, and security experts grasped that the world has become the most dangerous place. The avoidance of war was the primary objective of superpowers, but with the end of the Cold War, emergence of Takfiri Jihadism, extremism, and terrorism prompted many unmatched challenges. Home-grown extremism and radicalization continues to expose a significant threat to the National Security of the EU and Britain. The risks from state-based threats have both grown and diversified. The unmethodical and impulsive use of a military-grade nerve agent on British soil is the worse unlawful act of bioterrorists.

Focusing on four case studies, author William Beattie Smith traces the evolution of British policy from 1969-73 and depicts how easily a conflict over national identity can turn into bloodshed, grief, and horror; and how difficult it is once a serious fight has started to restore peace.In each of the case studies, Smith highlights a discrete policy followed by the British government in tackling political disorder in Northern Ireland, and examines why the policy was chosen or pursued. He outlines three broad strategic options reform, coercion, and powersharing and identifies factors influencing which of the three will be selected in practice. Focusing on policy outcomes rather than the details of the negotiating process, the author evaluates the relative importance of rational calculation, patterns of understanding, party politics, diplomatic pressures, organizational structure, and official doctrine in shaping policies and initiating radical changes. While rooted in policy analysis, the book ventures into the territory of political history and conflict studies. The author addresses issues such as the legitimacy of state authority, the vulnerability of democratic institutions to the opposition of disaffected minorities, and the tensions that exist between public order and individual rights. His conclusion derives strategic lessons from the British experience in Northern Ireland and provides guidance for policymakers confronting challenges arising from comparable cases."

The Oxford Handbook of British Politics provides the most sophisticated and up-to-date analysis of British politics to date. Essential for all those working in the area.