The Centre of Excellence – Defence against Terrorism (COE-DAT) hosted an Advanced Research Workshop entitled “Homeland Security Organization in Defence Against Terrorism” that was conducted in Ankara from 19-20 November 2009. The workshop consisted of five sessions, with at least two experts in their field presenting information pertinent to the session topic, followed by a debate period on that topic. A total of thirteen experts from eight countries helped the forty participants from thirteen countries discuss these issues in order to facilitate awareness in NATO and affiliated countries. The articles in this book reflect those presentations and discussions.

The first session dealt with “Current Threats to Homeland Security from Terrorism” and featured a presentation on “Terrorism Today and Tomorrow: An Analysis and Projection Study” by Mr. Ercan Çitioğlu, President, International Security and Strategic Researches Center of Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul. His presentation discussed the transformation of terrorism as an instrument of state security functions through proxy wars and asymmetric threats, with this phenomenon becoming a tactical choice rather than ideology or anarchic violence activities. The second presentation of this session was “Winning Back Religion: Countering the Misuse of Scripture,” by Professor Dr. Şaban Ali Düzgün of the Ankara University School of Divinity. He spoke on the use of scripture (religious writings) in different religions and cited the danger of the use of ‘out of context quotations,’ where some so-called devout members can easily distort the very meaning of the text and thus transform scripture into a source of uproar and chaos rather than a source of peace and serenity.

The second session dealt with the topic of “Homeland Security Organization” and consisted of three presentations, each on a different jurisdiction. The first, “Homeland Security in the United States: Lessons from the American Experience,” was presented by Christopher BELLAVITA from the Center for Homeland Defense and Security, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. He discussed what it took to produce the United States homeland security enterprise and concluded that homeland security is the emergent consequence of a complex adaptive system that have implications for homeland security practitioners trying to develop a perspective. In the second presentation, Maya Sivagnanam of the British Embassy in Ankara informed the attendees of a program called “CONTEST II – The United Kingdom's Counter Terrorism Strategy.” CONTEST II is the strategy the United Kingdom drew up a for counterterrorism and extremism from both home and abroad; the strategy centers around four main work streams and aims to defeat the terrorist threat while ensuring that vulnerable communities or individuals feel included in society and do not radicalize towards violent extremism. Davide Casale of the University of Turin made the third presentation on the “Role of an International Organization in Homeland Security against Terrorism: The European Union.” In that presentation, Mr. Casale outlined the counterterrorism strategy that the EU has developed in recent years which is based on four key activities: prevent, protect, pursue and respond. As part of this strategy, the EU has created specialized EU agencies (Eurojust), redefined others (Europol), improved information exchange and judicial cooperation, and provided more effective legal tools for the fight against terrorism, such as a common European definition of terrorism and the European Arrest Warrant.

“Legal and Security Responses to Terrorism in Homeland Security” was the title of the third session where Dr. Dominika Švarc of the University of Leeds discussed “Law as a Homeland Security Tool in the Defense against Terrorism: The Universal Legal Framework for the Criminal Justice Response to Terrorism.” Her talk focused on how a strong criminal justice response, supported by the core principles of international law and human rights standards, remains the crucial tool in the global efforts to fight the scourge of terrorism. This presentation was followed by Professor Phillip Schertzing speaking on “Homeland Security Policing Against Terrorism: Tactics and Investigations” where he discussed what is often referred to as ‘high policing,’ which some have characterized as the new homeland security era and model of policing.

At the beginning for the second day of the workshop, Professor Paul Wilkinson of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism at Saint Andrews University in Scotland gave the keynote speech on “The Challenge of International Terrorism.” In his speech, Professor Wilkinson stated that terrorism is a special type of political violence that entails the deliberate use or threat of extreme violence to create a climate of fear. He added that it becomes truly transnational when it crosses the borders of numerous states. In summing up, Professor Wilkinson recommended, for many reasons, that it is vital to counter terrorism with the use of a holistic multipronged approach which develops much closer and more effective international cooperation.

“Other Threats” was the topic of the fourth session which featured three presentations. Dr. Viorel Mihăilă of the University of Bucharest spoke on “Strategic Communication: Winning and Reassuring Domestic Minds including Minorities.” He stressed that in the defense against terrorism, the importance of communicating the right message to the right people is paramount. Comparing what we have now for NATO information strategy, which communicates strategies for different operations rather than strategic communications on the defense against terrorism initiative as a whole, is not as effective as what could be done at the national level, communicating defense and security issues to support the fight against terrorism in order to get domestic support. Second, Professor Dragan Simeunovic of Belgrade University talked on the “Homegrown Terrorism as a Challenge for Homeland Security,” where he addressed the issue of homegrown terrorism by focusing on the process of radicalization that seems to be at the heart of homegrown terrorism. He concluded that Western policymakers must focus on the heart of the problem to counter this important and growing problem. Third to speak was Professor Mustafa Kibaroğlu of Bilkent University on the topic of “The Threat of Weapons of Mass Destruction to Homeland Security.” Professor Kibaroğlu opined that no state can stand alone against international terrorism without international cooperation, because for international terrorist groups who seek mass casualties, WMD is an attractive option and can be regarded as a ‘low probability, high consequence’ problem. NATO, along with other international organizations, has set up some initiatives to build cooperation and partnership in the control of proliferation of WMD.

The fifth and final session focused on “Countering Radicalization and the Psychology of Terrorism. First speaker was Professor Keith Spence of the University of Leicester, UK, who discussed “National, Homeland and Human Security: Conceptual Development, Globalization and Risk.” This presentation looked at the concept of homeland security in mainstream political discourse and the domestic policies of many NATO members and international partners. Uncertainties surrounding its development indicate that security itself is a concept in transition that is located and developed within the context of globalization and cosmopolitan risk. The final speaker was Jolene Jerard of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, speaking on the “Ideological Rehabilitation: A Necessary Component of the Counterterrorism Strategy in Singapore.” This presentation evaluated the impact and success of the counterterrorism measures initiated by Singapore against the preeminent threat of terrorism to its homeland security. Singapore has managed to put into motion one of the most rigorous counterterrorism efforts in SEA, but much of the success achieved has the seeds in the decisive and continuous efforts undertaken by the Singapore government to mitigate the constantly changing and dynamic security environment with strategic measures to counteract these potentially devastating scenarios.

The workshop was concluded with a final discussion of all topics that are reflected in the individual papers presented herewith. Without a doubt, the workshop was a total success thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the speakers and participants. COE-DAT is honored to be able to put forth this book to further the science of counterterrorism.

J.P.I.A.G. Charvat

Major (British Army)

Workshop Director