Terrorism, Security, and the Threat of Counterterrorism (original) (raw)
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Between Fear and the Need of Security: Counterterrorism since 9/11
2016
Following the tragedy of 9/11 the impression we had of international terrorism changed dramatically. It became clearer that global terror organisations were deeply rooted within national societies, and counterterrorism strategies had to be reassessed as a consequence. We also learnt in investigating 9/11 that ccontemporary terrorist groups have a fluid structure which can be a real challenge for policy-makers, especially considering their use of force against civilian targets as well. Counterterrorism strategies have also implied a certain degree of encroachment on civil society which is seen as affecting life styles in ways that a few years ago could not have been thought possible. The changing nature of terrorism itself and the consequential actions taken by governments in order to tackle this issue are requesting new points of view on this subject. This paper aims to analyse policy positions on the matter, specifically the Patriot Act approved in the United States in the aftermat...
2021
The threat of so-called 'Islamic-inspired' terrorism has compelled governments to introduce measures to ostensibly protect their citizens over the last two decades. Of particular concern are domestic acts of terror, which led the Australian Government to implement a preventative criminalisation model. Concerns have been raised that Australian Muslims are unfairly targeted, as they are a 'suspect community', which increasingly leads to their alienation. The paper will use otherness theory to explain how Muslims have become a stigmatised minority, subject to increased state surveillance and public discourse that constructs them as a potential terrorist threat. It will do so by first examining whether Australian Muslims feel stigmatised in the face of intrusive police and security organisation practice under CTLs; use studies carried out across Australia and the UK to demonstrate that CTLs have had a profound impact on the identity and national sense of belonging of the Muslim community and reveal that CTLs are counterproductive if they make a particular community feel that they are under constant suspicion. The results will illustrate that many Muslims are unwilling to collaborate with authorities in relation to counter-terrorism because of this stigmatisation.
International Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, 2019
This chapter deals with terrorism and countering the terrorist threat in Germany. The main focus is on the time period between the 1960s and 2011. This time frame is related to the history of and experiences with terrorism in Germany: legislation countering terrorism was mainly enacted when the country faced a serious terrorist threat. The chapter starts with a short introduction presenting the unique institutional setting in the Federal Republic of Germany. This separation of powers plays a major role when it comes to the protection of civil liberties. The introduction is followed by a brief summary of Germany's experiences with terrorism. In the third and fourth parts of the chapter, the counterterrorist measures before and after 9/11 are presented in detail, with a special focus on the counterterrorist legislation in relation to civil liberties. The final section sums up the findings.
Terrorism, Security, and Liberty
2009
Concentrating specifically on terrorism in the United Kingdom, this dissertation seeks not to answer the question of security versus liberty, but to negate it. Using the judicial tests of necessity and proportionality, it assesses the case for the introduction of the recent counter-terrorism legislation, with comparison to existing criminal laws. It then turns to the treatment of terrorist suspects, to examine whether certain rights really are inalienable and universal, or whether exceptional circumstances determine differing prerogative. Finally, there is an examination of the everyday freedoms that terrorism legislation restricts, and an assessment of what extent the counter-terrorism measures themselves could pose a threat to democracy.
The Open Psychology Journal, 2015
This paper begins by recounting concerns, raised by various American psychologists regarding psychological consequences of US counterterrorism policies following the attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11.) Predictions made by a task force created by the American Psychological Association to consider the likely social effects of US counterterrorism policies have proved accurate. These include not only fear, but widespread crippling panic resulting from vague warnings and lack of suggested actions; discrimination, resulting from increased emphasis on in-group vs. out-group identities; hate crimes against those perceived as members of out-groups, and lack of tolerance for antiwar perspectives. Recent, increasingly radical, changes in policy, such as widespread surveillance of US citizens' actions and communications by various US agencies, have led to more dire consequences, with many now concerned that the US is at risk of becoming a police state. The combined and interactive effects of earlier and more recent changes in US counterterrorism policies have caused serious, sometimes terrible, consequences. This paper explains how these consequences have become part of a vicious circle: frightened, passive, and unable to collaborate in rational attempts to manage the threat of terrorism, citizens have not begun to consider how to prevent future instances of homegrown terrorism.
Australian and the 'War against Terrorism': Terrorism, National Security and Human Rights
2007
This paper considers whether in the 'war against terrorism' national security is eroded or strengthened by weakening or removing the human rights of the individuals who constitute the polity. It starts with the view that national security is, at its most fundamental, founded upon the security and liberty of the person from criminal and violent acts, including terrorist attacks. Such attacks, and the individuals and groups who perpetrate them, constitute a grave threat to the peace and security of nations the world over and thus endanger the security and liberty of the individuals who make up their populations. Governments are therefore compelled to use the machinery of the state to protect the nation and the individual from these attacks. However, the paper is based on another, equally important, assumption. This is that the defence of national security requires individuals to be protected from the arbitrary exercise of state power even in situations where the state claims to be acting to protect national security and individual security against grave threats such as terrorist acts. The rule of law not only protects individuals from such an exercise of state power by protecting their human rights, in so doing it also protects the peace and security of the nation from excessive and unchecked state power. But what happens when the rule of law is overturned by governments declaring that they are protecting national security from the terrorist threat? Who or what is then able to protect the individual and the nation from the state? This paper will take up these important questions by considering the implications of the anti-terrorism legislation that has been introduced in Australia since September 2001. It will also consider whether Australia's national security has been enhanced or damaged by this legislation.
Understanding Anti-Terrorism Policy: Values, Rationales and Principles
Although there has been a flurry of new anti-terrorism laws in the years since 9/11, which have had often far-reaching and significant effects, the framework which is most commonly used to explicate and evaluate these laws is widely regarded as unsatisfactory. The aim of this article is to develop an alternative framework. The article uses a number of practical examples to illustrate how the proposed frameworkâs key features open up discussion of issues of critical importance. In the absence of an entrenched bill of rights in Australia, the article also uses the framework to outline some strategies and techniques which can be utilised by those concerned to protect individuals from state overreaching.
Australia and the 'War against Terrorism': Terrorism, National Security and Human Rights
2007
This paper considers whether in the 'war against terrorism' national security is eroded or strengthened by weakening or removing the human rights of the individuals who constitute the polity. It starts with the view that national security is, at its most fundamental, founded upon the security and liberty of the person from criminal and violent acts, including terrorist attacks. Such attacks, and the individuals and groups who perpetrate them, constitute a grave threat to the peace and security of nations the world over and thus endanger the security and liberty of the individuals who make up their populations. Governments are therefore compelled to use the machinery of the state to protect the nation and the individual from these attacks. However, the paper is based on another, equally important, assumption. This is that the defence of national security requires individuals to be protected from the arbitrary exercise of state power even in situations where the state claims to be acting to protect national security and individual security against grave threats such as terrorist acts. The rule of law not only protects individuals from such an exercise of state power by protecting their human rights, in so doing it also protects the peace and security of the nation from excessive and unchecked state power. But what happens when the rule of law is overturned by governments declaring that they are protecting national security from the terrorist threat? Who or what is then able to protect the individual and the nation from the state? This paper will take up these important questions by considering the implications of the anti-terrorism legislation that has been introduced in Australia since September 2001. It will also consider whether Australia's national security has been enhanced or damaged by this legislation.
Risk, dread and the crisis of counter-terrorism security
Rosa dos Ventos, 2013
The present research explores not only the diverse definitions of terrorism but also the social conditions for the appearance of counter-terrorism. 9/11 was undoubtedly the epicenter of a new way of interpreting the risksociety. Combining empirical examples with a rich conceptual framework, our thesis is that while complete, no-gaps security may prove elusive, counterterrorism security can (and should) make people feel good about moving through public places. Last but not least, the 'representational' practices of security have become a central concern for counterterrorism thinkers in the post-9/11 world. Indeed, these authors have described these representations of security in only slightly different ways. These security methods and styles share much in common. Given the right situation, it might be argued that these authors are all describing something similar, if not the same thing. These methods are designed to mitigate fear and foster feelings of safety, certainty and security in inexpensive ways. We will conclude with two post-9/11 stories that illustrate this argument. The first story is drawn from an interview conducted with an Australian school teacher who worked for a year in a small town in Virginia. During her one year teaching assignment in 2006 and 2007 she was struck by the paradox of the everyday lives of the children she taught in this town. She marveled at their wonderful play equipment, sporting equipment and their pristine suburbs. She also marveled at how this play equipment and sporting facilities were never used.
Security and the War on Terror
2008
The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 marked a turning point in international politics, representing a new type of threat that could not easily be anticipated or prevented through state-based structures of security alone. Opening up interdisciplinary conversations between strategic, economic, ethical and legal approaches to global terrorism, this edited book recognises a fundamental issue: while major crises initially tend to reinforce old thinking and behavioural patterns, they also allow societies to challenge and overcome entrenched habits, thereby creating the foundations for a new and perhaps more peaceful future. This volume addresses the issues that are at stake in this dual process of political closure, and therefore rethinks how states can respond to terrorist threats. The contributors range from leading conceptual theorists to policy-oriented analysts, from senior academics to junior researchers. The book explores how terrorism has had a profound impact on how security is being understood and implemented, and uses a range of hitherto neglected sources of insight, such as those between political, economic, legal and ethical factors, to examine the nature and meaning of security in a rapidly changing world.