Inaugural lecture

Towards more resilience in counter-terrorism policy

Terrorist attacks are not an end in themselves, but a means of creating unrest and fear. Terrorism policies and research should focus more on managing fear and social unrest.

Author

Edwin Bakker

Date

16 March 2012

Links

Inaugural lecture of Prof. Edwin Bakker

Two sides of terrorism prevention

In those countries where people live in permanent fear of terrorism, terrorists have in fact already achieved their aim without having to undertake any action themselves. Terrorism prevention has two important aspects: to reduce the likelihood of a terrorist attack to a minimum, and to regulate the unrest and fear among the population as far as possible. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the second of these two factors. The reason for this is the growing awareness that fear and unrest can result in discrimination and polarisation, and can even lead to radicalisation and consequently more terrorism.