The EU and terrorism [What Think Tanks are thinking]

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

Terrorist attacks in major cities – notably in Paris, Nice, Brussels, Berlin and, most recently, Manchester – have shocked Europeans, highlighting the security challenges for open democracies that result, inter alia, from conflicts in the Middle East and Africa and religious radicalisation at home. In response, the European Union is pushing ahead with its Security Union concept to boost cooperation among member states and use synergies in combatting terrorism.

This note offers links to recent commentaries and reports from major international think tanks on terrorism in Europe and the EU’s response to it. More studies on the topic can be found in a previous edition of ‘What Think Tanks are thinking’, published in December 2016.

The crime-terrorism nexus
European Union Institute for Security Studies, April 2017

The European Union and the external dimension of security: Supporting Tunisia as a model in counter-terrorism cooperation
Euro-Mediterranean Study Commission, April 2017

Extremist construction of identity: How escalating demands for legitimacy shape and define in-group and out-group dynamics
International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague, April 2017

The strategic logic of the ‘linkage-based’ approach to combating militant Islamist propaganda: Conceptual and empirical foundations
International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague, April 2017

Are terrorists using cryptocurrencies?
Rand Corporation, April 2017

Examining the nexus between organised crime and terrorism and its implications for EU programming
International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague, April 2017

Returning foreign fighters and the reintegration imperative
United States Institute of Peace, March 2017

The challenge of jihadist radicalisation: In Europe and beyond
European Policy Centre, European Foundation for Democracy, Counter Extremism Project, March 2017

Preventing terrorism in the south
European Union Institute for Security Studies, March 2017

Can a copycat effect be observed in terrorist suicide attacks?
International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague, March 2017

Terrorism: Thematic study
Clingendael, February 2017

Public opinion survey data to measure sympathy and support for Islamist terrorism: A look at Muslim opinions on Al Qaeda and IS
International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague, February 2017

Terrorism and counterterrorism in continental Europe
Egmont, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, February 2017

Counter-radicalisation at the coalface: Lessons for Europe and beyond
Royal United Services Institute, February 2017

Situational assessment of extremist trends
Center for the Study of Democracy, February 2017

Why do we use the term ‘radicalization’?
Chatham House, February 2017

Tracking the trends and numbers: Islam, terrorism, stability, and conflict in the Middle East
Center for Strategic and International Studies, February 2017

The trouble with counter-narratives
Danish Institute for International Studies, February 2017

Humanitarian action and non-state armed groups: the international legal framework
Chatham House, February 2017

War by suicide: A statistical analysis of the Islamic State’s martyrdom industry
International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague, February 2017

Disentangling the EU foreign fighter Threat: The case for a comprehensive approach
Royal United Services Institute, February 2017

Hotels as targets of jihadist terror: An empirical analysis of the period from 1970 to 2016
Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik an der Universität Hamburg, February 2017

France vs. Jihadism: The Republic in a new age of terror
Institut français des relations internationales, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, January 2017

Lone-actor and small cell terrorist attacks: A new front in counter-terrorist finance?
Royal United Services Institute, January 2017

Terrorist threat and refugee crisis: French and German answers
Notre Europe, January 2017

Al Qaeda vs. Daech in the Sahel: What to expect?
OCP Policy Center, January 2017

Combattants terroristes étrangers: Le temps des retours
OCP Policy Center, January 2017

A strategy to counter ISIL as a trans-regional threat
Rand Corporation, January 2017

Sketch of a social ecology model for explaining home-grown terrorist radicalisation
International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague, January 2017

Eine islamische theologie europäischer prägung als integrationsinstrument im 21. Jahrhundert
Österreichische Gesellschaft für Europapolitik, January 2017

Methods of preventing and combatting terrorism in the MENA region and in the West
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, January 2017

Terrorism fails to reach its goal
Carnegie Europe, December 2016

Addressing demand in the context of trafficking in the domestic work sector: Perspectives from seven European countries
Global Center, December 2016

What does radicalisation look like? Four visualisations of socialisation into violent extremism
Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, December 2017

Administrative measures against foreign fighters: In search of limits and safeguards
International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague, December 2016

The Jihadi threat: ISIS, Al Qaeda and beyond
United States Institute of Peace, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, December 2016

Foreign terrorist fighters: Trends, dynamics and policy responses
International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, The Hague, December 2016

Read this briefing on ‘The EU and terrorism‘ in PDF.

Visit the European Parliament page on ‘The EU’s fight against terrorism‘.