Following the Christchurch attack, it has become increasingly clear that in order to fully grasp today’s realities of terrorism, it is necessary to cast the net wider; this means examining specific trends, both emerging and continuing as they manifest themselves across the ideological spectrum.
Given the adaptability, innovation and seeming resilience of terrorist movements and groups, it is often assumed that our responses to these threats are reactive rather than proactive – especially with the added uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its diffused concomitant crises. But 18 years of the Global War on Terror and a significant investment in counter-terrorism practices have provided a myriad of insights and experiences– both practically and conceptually. These can benefit the debates on how to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on terrorism dynamics and the growing threat right-wing extremism poses to liberal society.
Through PERISCOPE we therefore seek to pool expertise from across Australia and Europe as two closely connected regions. Our aim is to critically examine key developments and existing methods and initiatives, including experiences from the operational level, in order to shed light on how current perspectives and practices could be further developed to meet evolving challenges.