Counter-Terrorism in New Europe

In recent years the nature of terrorism has changed dramatically and has taken on a new combination of characteristics. The fight against this terrorism has become a global concern and central issue of international government policies. Counter-terrorism policies have transformed all around the world, and the importance states place on certain aspects of their counter-terrorist measures vary considerably. There is no agreement on how best to fight terrorism. Within the European Union (EU) this disagreement is the most visible, with some countries supporting the United States in their military fight against terrorism, while other strongly oppose it. This paper will focus on five of the ten new EU members that joined in 2004 (Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Malta) and review some of their existing counter-terrorism measures. In doing so the paper will examine the strengths and weaknesses of each individual state’s policy and highlight some of the general trends and patterns among them

The Problems of Evaluating Counter-Terrorism

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 security policies aimed at combating terrorist threats have been implemented all around the world. Governments and experts emphasize that this ‘new terrorism’ requires totally new means of fighting it. As a result new counter-terrorism is spreading and seems to be appearing everywhere. But how do we know if any of the policies intended to tackle terrorism are really working? How can we measure the effectiveness of these measures? Governments and officials point to the number of incidences, arrested and killed terrorists or the amounts of terrorist financing that has been confiscated as an indicator, while academia often refers to more sophisticated equations involving time series in risk management and cost-benefit calculations. Although, these rationalist approaches appear straightforward and seem to provide the quantified data required for the measurement of the success of these policies, there seems to be an error in the measure of terror! This paper will provide a critique of the existing rationalist methods of assessing the effectiveness of counter-terrorism and is predominantly aimed at highlighting their weaknesses as well as introducing the need for further research into additional and alternative ways of evaluating counter-terrorism.Tras los atentados terroristas del 11 de septiembre de 2001, se han llevado a cabo en todo el mundo políticas para combatir las amenazas terroristas. Los gobiernos y los expertos resaltan que este “nuevo terrorismo” requiere medios totalmente nuevos para combatirlo. En consecuencia, el nuevo contraterrorismo se está extendiendo y parece estar apareciendo en todas partes. Pero ¿como sabemos si estas políticas orientadas a combatir el terrorismo están funcionando realmente? ¿Cómo medir la eficacia de estas medidas? Los gobiernos y los funcionarios utilizan como indicador el numero de incidentes, de terroristas detenidos o muertos o las cantidades de dinero destinado a la financiación de los terroristas que se han confiscado; mientras que los académicos emplean frecuentemente ecuaciones mas sofisticadas, con series temporales de gestión de riesgos y cálculos coste-beneficio. Aunque estos enfoques racionalistas parecen claros y aparentan proporcionar los datos cuantitativos necesarios para medir el éxito de estas políticas, ¡parece haber un error en la medida del terror! Este artículo aporta una crítica de los métodos racionalistas existentes para evaluar la eficacia del contraterrorismo, y pretende ante todo resaltar sus debilidades así como presentar la necesidad de nuevas investigaciones sobre métodos adicionales y alternativos para evaluar el contraterrorismo

Counter-(T)error

Traditionally immigrants have been made responsible for a rise in a country’s crime rate, a state’s employment market or a nation’s cultural identity. However, since the events of 9/11 immigrants have evolved into a new kind of security concern. As a result of the terrorist attacks in 2001 by nineteen foreigners, the issue of immigration has become a central aspect in counter-terrorism as nations around the world scrambled to implement policies in reaction to the unprecedented situation. However, one has to question the validity and effectiveness of using immigration measures in the fight against terrorism. Is there an error in current counter-terror policies? The paper will critically discuss whether immigration policies are a useful means of addressing the global threat of terrorism