Terrorism Update for 19 November 2016 – recent publications, papers, events, conferences, news reports, and commentary from around the world on the topic of terrorism and counter-terrorism. Topics include a paper by ECFR on military operations against terrorist groups, Global Terrorism Index 2016, Middle East Institute’s Countering Violent Transnational Movements project, and more.
Paper of Counter-Terrorism Military Action – The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) has published a policy brief entitled Europe’s New Counter-Terror Wars, by Anthony Dworking, October 2016, 20 pages. The author examines recent military operations against terrorist groups by member states of the European Union (EU). He observes that these member states need to pay close attention to the risks of conducting these operations, that political action needs to match military action, and that legal precedents are at risk. He provides several recommendations for the tightening of guidelines on when military force should be used against terrorist groups like the Islamic State.
A Little History on Terrorism. Daniel Byman, a foreign policy editor of Lawfare, provides us a bit of history on terrorism over the past century. In addition, he provides a glimpse of the counter-terror campaigns employed to defeat the various types of terrorist activities. Read “Learning from Past Counterterrorism Eras”, Lawfare, November 14, 2016.
MEI’s CVTM Project. The Middle East Institute has launched (Oct 2016) it’s Countering Violent Transnational Movements project to conduct in-depth research and analysis into the region’s varied terrorist threats. It aims to propose effective policy responses. This resource should provide us with a good periodic terrorism update.
www.mei.edu/countering-terrorism
Global Terrorism Index 2016. Each year the Institute for Economics and Peace publishes a report the measures and informs us on the impact of terrorism around the world. The Global Terrorism Index 2016 is a 108-page report that covers topics such as terrorist incidents, terrorism trends in 2015, ten countries most impacted by terrorism, terrorist groups, economic impact of terrorism correlates and drivers of terrorism, and more.
Trump and Fighting Terrorism. Will Trumps campaign rhetoric about fighting terrorism become a reality (targeting families of terrorists, bringing back waterboarding, etc.)? Read more in “Fighting Terrorism in the Age of Trump”, Government Executive, November 14, 2016.
Study of Terrorists. Terrorism expert Jessica Stern – author and Boston University researcher – has been studying why terrorists do what they do for over 20 years. Read more in “Lessons From Terrorists”, BU Today Special Report, November 14, 2016.
