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Terrorist Threat (terrorist + threat)
Selected AbstractsThe police officer's terrorist dilemma: trust resilience following fatal errorsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2008Mathew P. White Suicide attacks have raised the stakes for officers deciding whether or not to shoot a suspect (,Police Officer's Terrorist Dilemma'). Despite high-profile errors we know little about how trust in the police is affected by their response to the terrorist threat. Building on a conceptualisation of lay observers as intuitive signal detection theorists, a general population sample (N,=,1153) were presented with scenarios manipulated in terms of suspect status (Armed/Unarmed), officer decision (Shoot/Not Shoot) and outcome severity (e.g. suspect armed with Bomb/Knife; police shoot suspect/suspect plus child bystander). Supporting predictions, people showed higher trust in officers who made correct decisions, reflecting good discrimination ability and who decided to shoot, reflecting an ,appropriate' response bias given the relative costs and benefits. This latter effect was moderated by (a) outcome severity, suggesting it did not simply reflect a preference for a particular type of action, and (b) preferences for a tough stance towards terrorism indexed by Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA). Despite loss of civilian life, failure to prevent minor terror attacks resulted in no loss of trust amongst people low in RWA, whereas among people high in RWA trust was positive when police erroneously shot an unarmed suspect. Relations to alternative definitions of trust and procedural justice research are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Common Threat and Common Response?GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, Issue 3 2007The European Union's Counter-Terrorism Strategy, its Problems On the basis of an analysis of the European Union's common definition of the post-9/11 terrorist threat, this article provides a critical assessment of the EU's response. The EU has arrived at a reasonably specific definition of the common threat that avoids simplistic reductions and is a response that is sufficiently multidimensional to address the different aspects , internal and external, legislative and operational, repressive and preventive , of this threat. Yet the definition is undermined by differences between national threat perceptions. The preference for instruments of cooperation and coordination rather than integration, and poor implementation are having a negative impact on the effectiveness of the common response, the legitimacy of which is also weakened by limited parliamentary and judicial control. [source] Perceptions of older people on disaster response and preparednessINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OLDER PEOPLE NURSING, Issue 1 2010BSc(Hons)Nursing, Post Grad/Dip Nurse Education, Seana Duggan RN Duggan S., Deeny P., Spelman R. & Vitale C.T. (2010) Perceptions of older people on disaster response and preparedness. International Journal of Older People Nursing5, 71,76 doi: 10.1111/j.1748-3743.2009.00203.x Most disasters occur in developing countries but in the last decade due to the increasing threat of floods, air disasters and terrorist threat, disaster response and preparedness is a growing global concern. Due to an ageing population across the world, older people now constitute a significant proportion of those at risk from disasters. This paper reports on a qualitative study carried out in Sri Lanka and in the United States where a group of older people were asked about aspects of disaster response and preparedness. The group from Sri Lanka (n = 9) who had direct experience of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami were asked how they perceived international aid relief and a group of white Caucasians from East Coast USA (n = 8) were asked about disaster preparedness. Findings indicate that both groups had similar issues albeit that they were looking at different phases of the disaster cycle and from different cultural perspectives. Both groups identified issues related to, protecting the rights of the older person and preventing loss of independence in responding and preparing for a disaster, mistrust of government and access to resources and all expressed strong feelings of self-responsibility. [source] Rings of Steel, Rings of Concrete and Rings of Confidence: Designing out Terrorism in Central London pre and post September 11thINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2004Jon CoaffeeArticle first published online: 24 FEB 200 This article is a reaction to the rapid changes many urban areas are undertaking in attempts to counter the contemporary terrorist threat since the devastating events of September 11th. The response of central London authorities both pre- and post- September 11th is used as the lens through which to view attempts to reduce the real and perceived threat of terrorist attack through the adoption of territorial approaches to security, both physical and technological, which are increasingly being utilized at ever-expanding spatial scales. It argues that this situation all too often produces a scenario of ,splintered urbanism' as security rings are thrown up around carefully selected sections of cities deemed most at risk. It further argues for a balance to be struck between competing concerns for freedom of access, mobility and other democratic freedoms, and the need for cities to adopt increasingly militarized security perspectives in their counter-terrorism efforts. Cet article présente une réaction aux rapides changements que de nombreuses zones urbaines entreprennent afin de contrer la menace terroriste actuelle depuis les ravages du 11 septembre. La réponse des autorités du centre de Londres, à la fois avant et après cette date, sert ainsi de loupe permettant d'observer les efforts de minimisation de cette menace d'agression, tant subjective que réelle. Il s'agit de démarches territoriales à l'égard de la sécurité (matérielle et technologique) appliquées de plus en plus souvent à des échelles spatiales sans cesse élargies. De cette situation, naît trop souvent un scénario ,d'urbanisme fragmenté', les anneaux de sécuritéétant jetés autour de portions soigneusement sélectionnées de villes jugées le plus en danger. L'article défend la nécessité de trouver un équilibre entre les préoccupations opposées que sont les liberté d'accès, mobilité ou autres libertés démocratiques et le besoin des villes d'adopter des perspectives sécuritaires de plus en plus militarisées dans leurs tentatives contre le terrorisme. [source] Misreading Islamist Terrorism: The "War Against Terrorism" and Just-War TheoryMETAPHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2004Joseph M. Schwartz Abstract: The Bush administration's military war on terrorism is a blunt, ineffective, and unjust response to the threat posed to innocent civilians by terrorism. Decentralized terrorist networks can only be effectively fought by international cooperation among police and intelligence agencies representing diverse nation-states, including ones with predominantly Islamic populations. The Bush administration's allegations of a global Islamist terrorist threat to the national interests of the United States misread the decentralized and complex nature of Islamist politics. Undoubtedly there exists a "combat fundamentalist" element within Islamism. But the threat posed to U.S. citizens by Islamist terrorism neither necessitates nor justifies as a response massive military invasions of other nations. Not only does the Bush administration's war on alleged "terrorist states" violate the doctrine of just war, but in addition these wars arise from a new, unilateral, imperial foreign-policy doctrine of "preventive wars." Such a doctrine will isolate the United States from international institutions and long-standing allies. The weakening of these institutions and alliances will only weaken the ability of the international community to deter terrorism. [source] Political Conservatism, Need for Cognitive Closure, and Intergroup HostilityPOLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2010Agnieszka Golec De Zavala Two studies examined the interaction of political conservatism and the need for cognitive closure in predicting aggressiveness in intergroup conflict and hostility toward outgroups. In the first study, Polish participants indicated their preference for coercive conflict strategies in the context of a real-life intergroup conflict. Only among participants who identify themselves as conservative, need for cognitive closure was positively and significantly related to preference for aggressive actions against the outgroup. In the second study, the predicted interaction was investigated in the context of the terrorist threat in Poland. The findings indicated that high in need for closure conservatives showed greater hostility against Arabs and Muslims only when they believed that Poland was under threat of terrorist attacks inspired by Islamist fundamentalism. [source] The ,New Terrorism': Revolution or Evolution?POLITICAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 2 2009Antony Field It is essential to understand the concept of the ,new terrorism', since it has fostered a paradigm shift in the way that academics, policy makers and counter-terrorism professionals conceive of the contemporary threat. Capturing the notion that there has been a revolutionary change in the nature of terrorism, it now plays a pre-eminent role in shaping counter-terrorism policy. However, despite the attractive simplicity of the concept, there are good reasons to question the assumption that the actual behaviour of terrorist groups has fundamentally altered. Indeed, an analysis of the history of terrorism shows that many of the supposed hallmarks of the ,new terrorism' have been seen in the past. As a consequence, the concept of the ,new terrorism' should be viewed with some scepticism, as it unduly exaggerates the unprecedented nature of the contemporary terrorist threat and needlessly leads policy makers to reject the relevance of historical counter-terrorism lessons. [source] The US 9/11 Commission on Border ControlPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, Issue 3 2004Article first published online: 30 SEP 200 The collapse of Europe's Communist regimes and the breakup of the Soviet Union marked the end of the "short twentieth century" and appeared to have opened up an era of accelerating globalization,increasingly free movement of goods and capital and, if not yet free movement of persons, certainly travel less hindered by bureaucratic obstacles. The threat of international terrorism, however, places a major question mark on such expectations. The magnitude of this threat was shown by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on US targets in New York and Washington. The attacks have led to greatly increased security checks on international travel and, especially in the United States, to tightened visa regulations and border controls. The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, created by the US Congress and the President in 2002, submitted its final report in July 2004. The analysis of the terrorist threat and the recommendations on how to counter it offered in this 567-page document suggest that restrictions on crossing US international borders are unlikely to be eased soon and may well be made stricter. The practical inconvenience of such measures, however, may be lessened by improvements in the technological means of identifying persons, such as through use of biological markers. Relevant passages of the 9/11 Commission Report, from Chapter 12, section 4, are reproduced below. Footnotes have been omitted. [source] Does "Smarter" Lead to Safer?INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 4 2003An Assessment of the US Border Accords with Canada, Mexico The terrorist attacks of September 11 and their immediate aftermath along the US-Canadian and US-Mexican borders focused attention on border management strategies in ways previously unimaginable. Suddenly confronted by the fact that existing systems and processes were not particularly effective either at protecting security or facilitating legitimate traffic, the United States, in conjunction with the Canadian and Mexican Governments, demonstrated an uncharacteristic willingness to reconceptualize its approach to physical borders. While initiating a series of internal policy adjustments to secure themselves against terrorist threats, the US, Canadian, and Mexican Governments also signed two bilateral agreements , the 12 December 2001 United States-Canada Smart Border Declaration and the 22 March 2002 United States-Mexico Border Partnership Agreement. These agreements represent an important development in the US's relationship with each of its North American neighbours, acknowledging not only the deep economic, social, and cultural ties, but also the new reality that the United States cannot attain the additional security it desires through unilateral actions alone. Thus, while September 11 forced a reassessment of vulnerabilities, it simultaneously provided the United States an opportunity to work more systematically with its contiguous neighbours for security benefits, a realization likely to flow into other areas where the benefits of cooperation eclipse those of unilateralism. This paper analyses the first year of the two border accords, tracking their implementation and evaluating their successes and failures. Most importantly, the paper outlines outstanding challenges, highlights steps that the governments should take to achieve additional border security and efficiency, and draws conclusions regarding factors likely to make their efforts more, or less, successful. [source] Architecting a System of Systems Responding to Maritime Domain Terrorism by Orthogonal Array ExperimentNAVAL ENGINEERS JOURNAL, Issue 1 2009THOMAS HUYNH In this work we solve the problem of architecting a conceptual, cost-effective, near-term system of systems (SoS) to respond to terrorist threats to the United States emanating from the maritime domain. The threats include a weapon of mass destruction smuggled on a container ship, a commandeered ship used as a weapon, and small boats used by terrorists to attack maritime commerce traffic and critical shore infrastructures. We formulate the problem as an assignment problem, which is then solved using the orthogonal array experiment. The optimality of the resulting SoS architecture is validated against a heuristically developed architecture and an optimal effective, but not necessarily cost-effective, architecture obtained also with the orthogonal array experiment approach. The principal results of the orthogonal array experiment method reported herein underline this successful exploratory work in architecting an SoS. This method can be extended to architecting of other systems of systems. [source] Cities and the ,War on Terror'INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2006STEPHEN GRAHAM Programmes of organized, political violence have always been legitimized and sustained through complex imaginative geographies. These tend to be characterized by stark binaries of place attachment. This article argues that the discursive construction of the Bush administration's ,war on terror' since September 11th 2001 has been deeply marked by attempts to rework imaginative geographies separating the urban places of the US ,homeland' and those Arab cities purported to be the sources of ,terrorist' threats against US national interests. On the one hand, imaginative geographies of US cities have been reworked to construct them as ,homeland' spaces which must be re-engineered to address supposed imperatives of ,national security'. On the other, Arab cities have been imaginatively constructed as little more than ,terrorist nest' targets to soak up US military firepower. Meanwhile, the article shows how both ,homeland' and ,target' cities are increasingly being treated together as a single, integrated ,battlespace' within post 9/11 US military doctrine and techno-science. The article concludes with a discussion of the central roles of urban imaginative geographies, overlaid by transnational architectures of US military technology, in sustaining the colonial territorial configurations of a hyper-militarized US Empire. [source] | ||||||||||