Threat Management of Terrorism - Essay Example

Most of the terror outfits in recent times have an ulterior political motive and comprise a very large and complex social network. One of the key measures of counter-terrorism strategies is to disrupt these terror networks by gaining corroborative evidence against its operations and pressing for military and/ or criminal proceedings against the culprits by way of seeking intervention from international bodies such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); International Police for Cooperation against Terrorism (Interpol); and the United Nations counter-terrorism activities (Fraser, 2003; Deflem, 2004).

Risk Calculation decision-makers must take calculated risks while undertaking counter-terrorism measures. This is because most of the time, the information collected regarding terrorist activities, may result in poor judgments and hence poor decisions. Although the fact that no amount of planning and preparation on the part of counter-terrorism agencies can foretell or foresee all the terror attacks on a nation, a deterrence strategy based on defensive principles will, nonetheless, contribute significantly to restricting the extent of damage or at the most, prevent the dissipating of scarce national resources (Lebovic, 2007).

Risk calculation might not help in completely averting the attack but it does play a key role in quantifying the extent of damage to human life and property and taking pre-emptive measures to support and/or contain the aftermath. Today, due to the increasing use of technological aids and computer simulation it has become easier to calculate with accuracy, the degree, and extent of damage likely to be caused by a certain act of terror. One of the most critical aspects/aftermath of such attacks is the number of casualties and economic loss.

The risk calculation strategies prove to be highly useful in mitigating the damage through the development of counter-terrorism methods, evaluating the risk implications, and implementing crisis management strategies, in the most cost-effective manner possible (Larche, 2008; Dixon, 2007). Furthermore, strategies such as red-teaming and blue-teaming exercises which refer to the process of defining the weaknesses of a system and developing methods to mitigate the resulting vulnerabilities can be implemented as an effective countermeasure (Carter, 2002).

Reducing risk: Reducing the risks associated with terrorist attacks is perhaps one of the most crucial aspects of threat management. Thanks to the ever-increasing technological developments, reducing such risks has become easier and cost-effective, over time. One of the key strategies to ensure reducing terrorism risks is to enhance the level of security. Care must be taken to install effective special protection technology which helps in averting and detecting potential risks, particularly at places that are highly vulnerable to terror strikes and prone to such attacks.