FREEDOM HAS BEEN ACHIEVED AT A HIGH COST DURING WWII AND AFTER A TIME OF PAINFUL OPPRESSION IN HALF OF EUROPE. ONLY AFTER 1989 WE CAN SAY THAT EUROPE IS ACTUALLY FREE. THIS HISTORY ALSO SHOWS THAT THERE ARE POWERS THAT USE MILITARY POWER TO THREATEN AND (IF POSSIBLE) CRUSH AND OPPRESS FREEDOM.  THIS REALITY CANNOT BE IGNORED AS IGNORING IT WILL COME AT A HEAVY COST FOR THOSE OPPRESSED.

Both the Second World War and the Cold War demonstrate that freedom needs to be defended and that military means are a sad necessity to maintain the freedom we cherish. The need for defence and security is not a necessity of the past. At the State of Europe Forum we discussed two major tensions that Europe is facing at the moment.

The first is obviously the reality of large-scale terrorism that managed to take large swathes of territory in the Middle East and operates globally to attack the free world. The second is the reality of illiberal powers in Russia and China who each vie for domination in their wider region. Both situations are forcing Europe to rethink its security strategy to defend its freedoms properly.

The first challenge for Europe however is to maintain freedom while defending it. Security measures should not go so far that personal freedoms and privacy are sacrificed. The challenge is to keep the balance between security and privacy.

Safety in Europe’s public space

Terrorism is a small problem if we compare the number of terrorism victims with other unnatural causes of death. However if we take into account the disruption of daily life and spreading of fear it is a very real problem for Europe’s internal security.

The approaches suggested by Jarno Volmer would reduce the tension between security and privacy. One of the main issues he pointed out is the lack of training of security personnel. Another is the online dimension of terrorism.

Better training of security staff is both a challenge and a solution. Much more time and money needs to be invested in this effort as well as a more holistic training program. This program would make security staff much better capable in detecting and preventing attacks as well deal better with an aftershock in the event of an attack.

To understand terrorism we need to be able to see when terrorists mark a target, do surveillance of the target, plan the attack, train for an attack and carry out the attack. Better training and much better exchange of information between layers of security staff is key to prevent attacks from happening.

What is Terrorism?  A definition

Worldwide 400 different definitions of terrorism are recognised. No definition is 100% perfect. One definition which has a broad acceptance is: the use or threatened use of violence against people or the causing of serious damage to property that disrupts daily life, with the aim of bringing about social change or influencing political decision-making.

Part of improved understanding is that security staff understands how terrorism has changed over time; that there is a new generation of homegrown terrorists not detectable with traditional techniques based on traditional profiles of terrorists. What is needed now is analyzing the behavior and psychological characteristics of a person or a particular group in order to predict or assess their behavior. What is needed is an investigative technique that identifies a behavioral pattern of an offender who has not yet been caught.

This technique needs to take today’s profile into account; if you know your enemy you can identify him. This approach should be integrated in the online efforts to prevent terrorism together with a ‘journalistic’ analysis and approach that focuses both on behavior and message.  Further key elements in the online efforts are 1) to invest in education, 2) to develop and integrate the new techniques to detect threats and 3) to use social media also to communicate openly about the threats.

Some elements of current policy and the ‘war on terror’ seem to work counterproductively. The West is fighting terrorists in certain African and Asian countries in ways that create new terrorists, groups and problems, such as drone attacks and political support for groups who don’t share western values.

Drone attacks:

• prevent putting boots on the ground. Question is only what type of military staff do you need to execute an attack.
• are carried out from a distance, far away from the theatre itself. Is the feeling of killing and taking a life, even a terrorist’s life, the same?
• Who is controlling the drone? Nowadays military staff members who are born and raised on video games. Do we distinguish between fiction and reality?

Political decision-making:

• Think about the influence of politicians who went to the Maidan Place in Kiev, Ukraine. Think about the effect. If it is not clear in The Netherlands what the goal is of the treaty with Ukraine, how is political decision-making then clear for people with a background who cannot deal with the situation?
• We go as Europe into Libya, backed by the USA, and led by France and the UK. What did we as Europe do? Attack from the sky. The tribes and rebels are left to fix the job in the wake of the Arab spring.
• No massive boots on the ground, except operations carried out by special forces.
• No proper government is installed; the country turned into chaos of tribes.
• So, are we going to accept that some of ‘our friends’ rule their country in violation of human rights, a subject we simply avoid to address?

Political decision-making is influencing our world in all areas. Not only for the upcoming year but more for decades. We have to realize this. Mr. Volmer closed with stating that a different approach to EU Foreign Policy is necessary as there is a clear connection to terrorism in Europe and events across the globe, especially in the Middle East.