This article provides a reflection on the jihadist threat, the policies and actors that deal with this threat and the impact of jihadism and counterterrorism in Western Europe in the past twenty... Show moreThis article provides a reflection on the jihadist threat, the policies and actors that deal with this threat and the impact of jihadism and counterterrorism in Western Europe in the past twenty years. It describes how the threat, counterterrorism policies and their impact have developed over time and demonstrates how threat perceptions in society and the political arena have not always been aligned with the actual threat. There have been periods of disbalance between the threat and responses to it, leading to both overreactions and inflated threat descriptions and fear levels, as well as periods with limited attention that might have contributed to unpleasant surprises at a later stage. Against this backdrop, the article criticises the incident-driven approach to counterterrorism and warns against both overreactions as well as ‘jihadism fatigue’. Show less
This PhD investigates the development of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, with a particular focus on the distinction between terrorism and insurgency. The findings have been published in five peer... Show moreThis PhD investigates the development of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, with a particular focus on the distinction between terrorism and insurgency. The findings have been published in five peer-reviewed articles, and are joined by an introductory framework and a concluding chapter. The scene-setter contextualizes the problem of terrorism in Mali, describes the fragmented landscape of jihadist groups, analyzes how Tuareg separatism led to AQIM's control of northern Mali, and illustrates how shortcomings in national and local governance fueled insecurity. The second conceptual article analyzed whether AQIM should be regarded as terrorism, insurgency or organized crime, and concluded that - at the time of writing (2016) - most indicators pointed to the group following a strategy of terrorism. A treatise on methodology investigated the discrepancy between the international community's perception of Mali pre-2012 as a stable 'posterboy for democracy', while it was Mali that suffered a near-complete collapse in 2012. It concluded that a quantitative risk approach, rather than a qualitative threat approach, contributed to this misperception. The fourth article applied the first trinity from Clausewitz’s opus On War to Operation Serval, the French military operation to oust AQIM from northern Mali in 2013. Clear political goals, contingency planning, an audacious military operation combined with luck all helped France secure an initial victory against AQIM. The final article focused on potential pathways for AQIM to end, and concluded that in 2021 AQIM followed a strategy of insurgency, while much of the international response remained rooted in the paradigm of counterterrorism. Show less
After years of violating the basic principles of human rights in the name of counterterrorism, Western democracies have begun to implement extraterritorial safeguards that extend protections under... Show moreAfter years of violating the basic principles of human rights in the name of counterterrorism, Western democracies have begun to implement extraterritorial safeguards that extend protections under the Convention against Torture to foreigners abroad. The case of the UK and the development of the “Principles” in 2019, however, presents a particular puzzle to policy-making research, as it challenges traditional hypotheses regarding the opening of problem windows within the Multiple Streams Framework. Accordingly, the UK presents an interesting case in which a powerful state willingly engaged in self-restraint, despite little electoral pressure to do so and a persistently high terrorist threat. Drawing on theory-building process tracing, this paper addresses this gap using data from semi-structured interviews with British policy experts to present a refined hypothesis, which can also be applied to policy fields of little public interest and processes of foreign policy-making. Show less
From the time when the problem of people travelling to areas of conflict in Syria and Iraq became a topical issue at the end of 2012, many European countries as well as the United States have taken... Show moreFrom the time when the problem of people travelling to areas of conflict in Syria and Iraq became a topical issue at the end of 2012, many European countries as well as the United States have taken measures to prevent actual or would-be travellers and to prosecute and/or monitor returnees. This report provides an overview of measures taken, and the instances in which they are being taken, focusing on "person-specific measures". The report shows that the reviewed countries generally take similar initiatives. Nonetheless, there are significant differences in terms of political organisation, powers and legal culture. In a broader sense, this report attempts to shed light on the changing toolbox states have at their disposal as they try to face up to potentially violent, internationally operating non-state actors. Show less
Wittendorp, S.; Bont, R. de; Roy van Zuijdewijn, J.H. de; Bakker, E. 2017
This report offers an understanding of counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation policies in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Its... Show moreThis report offers an understanding of counter-terrorism and counter-radicalisation policies in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Its emphasis is on developments following the 11 September 2001 attacks, and addresses the phenomenon referred to as jihadism. The report identifies three developments: 1) the development of counterterrorism and counterradicalisation as actual policy domains, 2) increased coordination of policy and initiatives for information-sharing, 3) unclear demarcation of the policy domain. Show less
While terrorism is one of the most prominent security threats in the Western world, there is surprisingly little research that adresses the effectiveness of the instruments that are used to fight... Show moreWhile terrorism is one of the most prominent security threats in the Western world, there is surprisingly little research that adresses the effectiveness of the instruments that are used to fight it. In this doctoral dissertation national and international security expert Teun van Dongen will fill this gap by demonstrating that there is a link between the nature of a terrorist threat and the effects of the measures that are applied against it. He will outline a new way to measure coun-terterrorism effectiveness and will apply it to the counterterrorist cam_paigns against the Provisional IRA, ETA, the Weather Underground, the RAF and the jihadist movements in the UK and the Netherlands. The results show that the effect of counterterrorism measures depends to a considerable degree on the way terrorist organisations or movements are organised and on the way they interact with the population Show less
