Reviewing approach to terrorism

F

ighting terrorism is taking a new dimension; it is becoming an open war that targets all elements of life.

This means that the entire concept of security — approach, goals, protagonists and antagonists —should be reviewed.

Terrorism started targeting civil life everywhere, putting more pressure on all aspects of life, like travelling by public transportation, or attending or performing normal cultural activities and making life more complicated.

At the same time, the fight against terrorism drains the resources of security systems and exhausts their personnel. Therefore, time might work in favour of terrorists.

In this confrontation, the act of a single individual might keep the whole security system busy, which makes the battle against terrorism very hard.

As such, it is important co-opt citizens, making them effective protagonists in the fight against terrorism — through raising their awareness and ensuring their collaboration — through building information-sharing partnerships, which can help have full control over the situation, as it is impossible for any security agency to control all aspects of civic life.

Although terrorists pose a global challenge, there are country-specific threats, which make it impossible to adopt a single approach in tackling this menace.

The threats posed to the EU internal security are minimal, but they are highly damaging.

While many Arab countries are considered a breeding place for radical ideologies, it may be illogic to deal with the source of problems in EU the way one would in these Arab countries.

However, recently, EU terrorists have moved from media campaigns to psychological war and even urban terrorist operations, so a nuanced approach is needed to deal with the problem. 

Security collaboration is important to face the risk of terrorism, but each country needs to work to make its fight against this scourge a successful model rather than just focus on cooperation slogans.

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