Books by Luca Trenta
Luca Trenta is an associate professor in international relations at Swansea University. His research explores secrecy, covert operations, and state-sponsored assassinations, with a primary focus on the CIA and the US government. Luca is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and of the Higher Education Academy.
“The book does two main things. Firstly, it tracks the US government involvement in assassination plots, and secondly, it looks at the politics surrounding assassinations, which to my mind include the degree of involvement of the President in decisions to kill and the language used to internally justify and publicly legitimate assassination. The turning point of the book is the 1970s, when after Congressional investigations of the intelligence community, the Ford administration published an executive order reforming the intelligence community, containing a prohibition on assassination. Some people have argued that, with the executive order, the US stopped being involved in assassinations until after 9/11. I make the argument that what changed with the executive order was not that the US stopped being involved in assassinations but that it started developing internally and—eventually—publicly a series of legal positions and political justifications to establish that what it was doing might look like assassination, but it was something else.” Read more...
The best books on State-Sponsored Assassination
Luca Trenta, International Relation
Interviews with Luca Trenta
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1
Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin America
by J. Patrice McSherry -
2
Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations
by Ronen Bergman -
3
Putin's Killers: The Kremlin and the Art of Political Assassination
by Amy Knight -
4
Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad
by Michela Wrong -
5
When States Kill: Latin America, the U.S., and Technologies of Terror
by Cecilia Menjívar & Néstor Rodríguez
The best books on State-Sponsored Assassination, recommended by Luca Trenta
The best books on State-Sponsored Assassination, recommended by Luca Trenta
Political assassinations are usually portrayed in the media as the actions of rogue states acting recklessly, outside the bounds of international law. But it is far more common than you might think, says Luca Trenta—international relations expert and the author of The President’s Kill List. Here, he recommends five books on state-sponsored assassinations and explains how different countries have justified, denied or redefined the practice.
Interviews where books by Luca Trenta were recommended
-
1
Predatory States: Operation Condor and Covert War in Latin America
by J. Patrice McSherry -
2
Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations
by Ronen Bergman -
3
Putin's Killers: The Kremlin and the Art of Political Assassination
by Amy Knight -
4
Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad
by Michela Wrong -
5
When States Kill: Latin America, the U.S., and Technologies of Terror
by Cecilia Menjívar & Néstor Rodríguez
The best books on State-Sponsored Assassination, recommended by Luca Trenta
The best books on State-Sponsored Assassination, recommended by Luca Trenta
Political assassinations are usually portrayed in the media as the actions of rogue states acting recklessly, outside the bounds of international law. But it is far more common than you might think, says Luca Trenta—international relations expert and the author of The President’s Kill List. Here, he recommends five books on state-sponsored assassinations and explains how different countries have justified, denied or redefined the practice.
