Playing Ostrich: Lessons Learned from South Africa's Response to Terrorism (Africa Security Brief, Number 9, January 2011)

摘要

South Africa has come to occupy a central node in global terror networks in recent years. Despite growing evidence of the risks posed, South Africa has been slow to adopt and implement a more robust counterterrorism policy. Creating the political will to address this threat will require independent oversight of national intelligence efforts and an objective assessment of the terrorism risk to make counterterrorism a national priority. Terrorism constitutes a ubiquitous global threat. Getting squeezed elsewhere, Islamist militants are increasingly finding the African continent an attractive place to operate. South Africa, with its relatively developed transport, telecommunications, and commercial infrastructure, is a particular favorite. The poor state of the country's security services coupled with the ideological approach of some of its political mandarins further emasculates any robust counterterrorism initiative. Yet international practice indicates that if Pretoria does manage to find its political will, it will be able to turn back the tide of the terrorist scourge.