The increasing global terrorism threat presents new challenges and concerns for governments, the private sector and communities alike. There are risk-based measures that the public and private sectors should be adopting – particularly in Australia – to address the increased threat environment.
Australia and the rising threat of terrorism
There is no doubt the global terrorist threat has been rising over the past few years. The heat from this threat is being felt more intensely in Europe than in other Western countries; however, Australia is far from immune.
We are witnessing a new phase in the Western Islamist extremist terrorism threat. With successful attacks, attempts and foiled plots across the Western world reaching an all-time high in 2016 and the percentage of home-grown terrorist incidents increasing substantially from the early noughties by over three-fold, the threat to the West is a very real concern and one that is continuing to gain momentum.
Foreign fighters, returnees and home-grown terrorists
Islamic State’s (IS) so called “caliphate” in the Middle East has been shrinking for some time; however, we have seen an increase in the number of terrorist attacks as IS continues to transmit its online propaganda calling for more attacks against Western countries. As the coalition reclaims this land, there are concerns regarding the impact these returning fighters will have on the security of the respective countries they seek to settle in.
There is no doubt the Australian intelligence services are doing an excellent job of monitoring Australian nationals or dual nationals attempting to return to Australia from conflict zones. However, containing the returning fighters will not remove the threat as a majority of terrorists that have carried out attacks are resoundingly home-grown…Click HERE to read full article.
