Press Release Summary = The traditional processes of law enforcement are not the right basis for tackling the growing threat of global terrorism, according leading American counter terror expert, Professor John Clark of the Marshall Center for Security Studies.
Press Release Body = Professor John Clark of the Marshall Center for Security Studies also claimed that the current environment in relation to terrorism posed a range of threats on different levels, including the long standing Transatlantic Alliance.
Speaking at the Counter Terror World Conference in London, Prof Clark focused on the challenges in securing a “Transatlantic Homeland” and the threats America and Europe face from terrorism.
Looking at the methods of combating terrorism, and the balance between legislation and action and the need for civil liberties, he told delegates: “Law enforcement is predicated on the basis that we are never going to stop every crime, yet who amongst us would ever say that a certain amount of terrorism is acceptable?
“I’m concerned when we try to adhere to the tenets of law enforcement, such as evidential rules or reacting to a crime once it has been committed, when none of these tenets are derived from tackling the range of threats we face today.”
Prof Clark outlined the “new strategic environment” in relation to homeland security, based on: · uncertainty about the sources of threats leading to the potential for miscalculation and surprise, · the decline of the nation state in terms of power, prestige and influence, · the diffusion of power and the capability for violence to non-state institutions, · the rise of catastrophic terrorism, · the decline in value of partnerships and alliances. He warned that, within this environment, the close partnership between Europe and America was under threat.
“The Transatlantic Alliance was built on the perception of a common threat – that of the Soviet Union,” said Prof Clark. “But when I read the papers and listen to the public opinion polls here, I’m drawn to the conclusion that we no longer share the same common threat perception. Indeed, in Europe there seems to be a significant minority of people who hold the view that the attacks on 9/11 were somehow justified.
“I’m very concerned about the whole future of our alliance if we do not share that same threat perception.”
Prof Clark also raised the issue of the balance between civil liberties and security in this new environment, including some of the traditional rights of the individual. “We grew up in an era when the right to privacy was sacrosanct,” he told delegates. “But today we live in an era where you give up your right to privacy on a daily basis. There’s a perception to a right to privacy that’s just not there any more.
“Yet can anyone imagine that, in the foreseeable future, we will move into an era of fewer security measures?”
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2012
