The correlation between terrorism and democracy is a constant debate among legislators to create conducive environments that inhibit and prevent political violence from external actors and terrorists. It is, therefore, crucial to develop a nuanced approach to combatting exploitative regimes that tend to influence subjective perceptions based on the influence of social and political actors in governments. The western territory is characterized by significant developments in counterterrorism strategies in the twenty-first century due to emerging threats such as the 9/11, which called for a broad spectrum of countermeasures to tackle terrorism in western countries.[1] The main intention of this research is to analyze the efficacy of various states in the western hemisphere towards security tightening and broadening of surveillance as a method of mitigating of issues arising from terror attacks.
The significant effects of whistleblowing by Snowden on the various techniques of intimidation of culprits raised debate on a global platform through the media giving various viewpoints of the need for public enlightenment on the various security risks within security platforms in nations. The attacks in London in 2003 prompted the introduction of the New Labor government by Tonny Blair. Still, in line with the London attacks on 7th July 2005, there was an increasing alarm for homegrown terrorism which significantly created a significant risk to political stability.[2] The influence for this created the introduction of the CONTEST strategy, which gets aimed at prevention of radicalization with the response to ideologies, prevention of drawing individuals to terror acts and working with institutions to prevent countries from the risks of counterattacks from terror groups.
Muslims have been closely associated with the error of Islam in Britain firmly rooting to both and death in the space of inhabiting and relocation of refugees into modern Britain. Islamophobia has gotten institutionalized and with enhanced precaution on citizens, the rise in violent attacks and focus on Muslims and Islam energizing Islamophobia has raised the need for precaution against terror attacks in the UK. In this context, the racialized section of the United Kingdom has become stereotypes prominently to be a folk-devil based on the 9/11 attacks in the United States.[3] Despite the efforts put in place to provide preventive measures, there have been alarming concerns about how many correction facilities contribute to the spread of extremism calls for a more progressive approach for mitigating terrorism. Many ideologists opt for the idea of reforming the correction system to assist in preventing growth in extremism.
Prison radicalization is one major underlying driver towards radicalization, and the phenomenon provides validation for the inevitable issue surrounding prison radicalization. Radicalization gets defined as the process by which an individual adopts extreme social, political and ideological aspiration inclusive of the aggressive need for political change.[4] In the UK, radicalization gets viewed as active and vocal opposition to absolute values of the British system such as democracy, the rule of law and tolerance. Prisoner radicalization gets characterized as a double-edged sword with capabilities of triggering both positive and adverse results. For instance, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi achieved the public purpose. In this aspect, prisons are considered as universities of terror since individuals get radicalized to jihadist groups that are aggressive and inhumane.
The internet is a critical technological platform that has promoted activities of the jihadist group resulting in a ripple effect of the jihadist groups in the Middle East. The evolving doctrine of the electronic jihad platform gets considered as a key driver towards to the terrorist activities of the groups in the western diaspora.[5] In the context of individual incitement, connectivity to the internet plays a more pertinent role in creating forums for radicalizing individuals through virtual training and creation of tactical methods such as explosive manufacturing and manufacturing of assault weapons.[6] Also, through online payment platforms that are not traceable such as bitcoin, terrorism planning, and financing has gotten formalized as an approach to making progress in influencing the youths.
Law enforcement often faces complications from terrorists since they challenge the law and intelligence agencies. In this process, there is significant influence by lone actors who are, in many cases, a higher priority for counterterrorism professionals. The various prevent practitioners opt for emergency management features that minimize radicalization through motivation based on employment and criminal backgrounds.[7] Many institutions get considered to be very vulnerable based on social context, and organizations often opt for social isolation and depriving individuals of external pressures. Additionally, there is constant support from social movement theory to sensitization of individuals on the risks. Despite the keen understanding of the platforms associated with radicalization, there is need for legislation to understand the need for mobilization and mitigation of drivers that encourage terrorism. In line with the issues that arise in the process of provocation to commit terrorism, there is a need for understanding human rights and freedom of expression through understanding perpetrators and instigators of terrorism.[8] Reappraising the law will mean interpretations of breaches of the law creating much proportionality during the age of Islamism and radicalization. It is, therefore, significant to understand that terror speech is significantly influencing online action in the UK.
In conclusion, terrorism due to radicalization has been a constant threat to the social economic and political performance of states that are susceptible to attacks. The catastrophic deaths and loss of performance due to marginalized radicalization due to oppression have drastically led to the decline of nations without mitigating strategies that can combat terror. The UK can creatively provide meditative measures that can get initiated to promote the security of the natives. Counterterrorism can be a design-based approach to preventing instability through legislations and media control. Media control, social media monitoring and control of prison reforms will essentially create reforms for controlling terrorism and influencing people to ensure that radicalization is a task of the past. Terror in the UK will be mitigated through adaptive techniques utilized to ensure law platforms support secure nations.
[1] David Parker, Pearce Julia M., Lindekilde Lasse and Rogers M. Brooke, Press Coverage of Lone-actor Terrorism in the UK and Denmark: Shaping the Reactions of the Public, affected Communities and Copycat Attackers. Critical Studies on Terrorism. (2019), 110-131.
[2] Fahid Qurashi, The Prevent strategy and the UK ‘war on terror’: embedding infrastructures of surveillance in Muslim communities. (Palgrave Communications , 2018), 1-13
[3] Anneke Meyer and Poynting Scott, Ta-Ta Qatada’: Islamophobic Moral Panic and the British Tabloid Press. Media, Crime and Racism (Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018), 139-160.
[4] Julia Rushchenko, Terrorist Recruitment and Prison Radicalization: Assessing the UK experiment of ‘separation centres (European journal of criminology, 2019), 295-314.
[5] Martin Rudner, “Electronic Jihad”: The Internet as Al Qaeda’s Catalyst for Global Terror (Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 2017), 10-23.
[6] Daniel Peddell, Eyre Marie, McManus Michelle and Bonworth Jim, Influences and Vulnerabilities in Radicalised Lone-actor Terrorists: UK practitioner perspectives (International Journal of Police Science & Management, 2016), 63-76.
[7] Daniel Peddell, , Influences and Vulnerabilities in Radicalised Lone-actor Terrorists: UK practitioner perspectives, 63-76.
[8] Ian Turner, Limits to terror speech in the UK and USA: balancing freedom of expression with national security (Amicus Curiae , 2020)