This paper argues that a ‘systemic’ approach can help to address the threat to public safety from Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Rather than focusing narrowly on electronic counter-measures or on the detection of disaffected groups before an incident, we have argued that security agencies should look across all stages of the IED trajectory. We, therefore, enumerate different phases from the preparation of a device through to deployment, execution and the dissemination of propaganda following an attack. These phases are then used to structure an analysis of previous incidents, borrowing a ‘lessons learned’ approach from more conventional areas of safety- engineering. The intention is that such an analysis can inform scenarios in training tools for security services and for emergency personnel. A secondary aim of our analysis is to identify patterns of attack. These represent tactics that might in the future be transferred between conflict zones in different parts of the world. A key issue in all of this work has been to address the ‘failure of imagination’ that was criticized by the 9/11 Commission and by subsequent investigations into the London bombings.
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