Combatting Terrorism Through Fusion Centers: Useful Lessons From Other Experiences?

摘要

European nations might consider an institutional option in their ongoing fight against terrorism. Research on intelligence reform globally indicates that certain institutional innovations to combating terrorism that may not have been seriously considered by decisionmakers in some European countries. International news reporting on the effectiveness of the intelligence services and the police in France, and even more so in Belgium, has been extremely negative. The New York Times during the Spring of 2016, following the attacks by Islamic State (IS/ISIS) on 22 March, which killed at least 32 people and injured more than 300 at the international airport and in the center of Brussels, published a series of articles demonstrating the weakness of Belgian intelligence. Its editorial of 12 April was titled "Europe's Urgent Security Challenge," and an article in The Economist of 2 April 2016 was titled "No Poirots: Belgian Police are Flummoxed by IS." What is more, most scholarly work remains extremely pessimistic about the potential for developing more effective intelligence against terrorism. Not surprisingly, intelligence and counterintelligence are topics of primary concern of the European Union (EU) and its member states. While a great deal has been published about intelligence failures, the literature on intelligence successes is rather meager. While keeping a fundamental consideration in mind, as captured in the following statement: "Those who know don't say, and those who say don't know," ample evidence is available to suggest that the intelligence agencies may not be up to the demands posed by the current terrorist threat promoted by DAESH/IS/ISIS. The attacks in San Bernardino, California, on 2 December 2015 in which 14 people were killed and 22 seriously injured, and in Orlando, Florida, on 12 June 2016 in which 49 people were killed and 53 seriously injured, make clear that no country is immune to mass deaths whether termed "terrorism," "hate crimes," or "violent extremism."