The 2004 Madrid Attacks: Lessons for Counterterrorism in the European Union
Abstract
Since 9/11 attacks, the EU countries contributed to develop series of United States-led counter-terrorism activities that implied the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, none of those measures were enough to avoid M-11 attacks in Madrid. In spite of the lack of success, the military effort continued in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as important military involvement in other armed conflicts such as Libya, Mali, and Syria. Concurrently, Western governments took other measures related to homeland security, reinforcing the police and intelligence efforts. However, beyond achieving some political regime changes abroad, radical Islamist terrorism continued being one of the main threats in the EU. Attacks in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, followed the M-11 attacks and the lack of security is still a constant feeling within the European population. The fact of most of radical Islamist terrorists attacking EU countries are legal citizens in those countries, has awaken xenophobic feelings among the European population. This fact is posing a huge problem for European governments and the EU institutions. As long as military and police action have not been effective to eliminate or significantly reduce the radical Islamist threat, information has come up as a key issue in terrorism mitigation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 10, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1176607
Entities
People
- Sergio Oyon Sierra
Organizations
- Marine Corps University