Radicalisation and Extremism that Lead to Terrorism

The stunningly visual attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York on 11 September 2001 not only resuscitated interest in the political power of terrorism and in particular of suicide attacks as one of its key forms, but also gave rise to a massive state response. Almost ten years after the attacks, the threat from violent extremism remains, although it has declined in terms of threat ratings, incidents and fatalities (Human Security Brief, 2007). According to the European Union Commission, ‘The fight against terrorism is one of the greatest challenges the Union is facing today’ (European Commission, 2008a). In the United States, the Director of National Intelligence has said that ‘Despite … successes, Al-Qaeda and its affiliates and allies remain dangerous and adaptive enemies’.1 The United Kingdom’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST (published in March 2009), concludes that ‘the most significant security threat to the people of the United Kingdom today comes from international terrorism’ (HM Government, 2009), with the British Home Secretary warning: ‘We face a terrorist threat that is at the “severe end of severe”.’2