The triviality of terrorism

Bibliographic Data

ID12348484
AuthorsChristopher Michaelsen (St Michael's Hospital, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume66
Issue4
Pages431-449
Publication date2012-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal Of International Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1035-7718 • E-ISSN: 1465-332X
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10357718.2012.692531
OpenAlexW2017746715
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited30

This article finds that the Australian government's perception of the threat of terrorism continues to be fundamentally flawed. Suggesting that it is imperative to clearly identify the sources and targets of the terrorist threat, the article concludes that terrorism does not pose an existential or even major objective threat to Western liberal democracies like Australia. At the same time, the political and psychological sensibilities surrounding terrorism, in combination with public demands for action, may require democratic governments to respond. Any response, however, needs to be carefully calibrated to meet the requirements of proportionality and (potential) effectiveness. Keywords: AustraliacounterterrorismsecurityterrorismWhite Paper Notes 1. For the purposes of this article, it is imperative to differentiate between the threat of terrorism to stable Western democracies and the threat to states with unstable governments or failing/failed states. The article was first submitted on 19 February 2010 and accepted for publication on 10 October 2010; it was updated on 30 April 2012. 2. Similar findings were made by Olivia Jackson (Citation2008) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF Citation2001). Additional informationNotes on contributorsChristopher Michaelsen Christopher Michaelsen is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of New South Wales. Prior to joining the University of New South Wales, he served as an Adviser on Anti-Terrorism and Human Rights at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, in Warsaw, Poland

Democracy · Existentialism · Government (linguistics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Terrorism · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Law · Public Administration · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

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