Release of Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) Strategic Insight No. 10/2004

ASPI today released its latest Strategic Insight: Understanding Terrorism: 20 basic facts by ASPI Program Director, Aldo Borgu.

Terrorism is a major contemporary security problem and will remain so for the foreseeable future. But as we approach the third anniversary of the attacks of September 11 and despite the fact that modern terrorism is a phenomenon that policy makers have been dealing with for at least 40 years, the concept of terrorism itself still seems little understood and much misrepresented.

In the paper Aldo Borgu presents twenty basic facts about the nature of terrorism, the threat to Australia and some of the required policy responses. These facts are in no particular order, many are interconnected, and most might seem blatantly obvious, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth restating and remembering from time to time. They include the following:

Terrorism, even in its contemporary form, is not a new phenomenon

Terrorists target us as much for what we do as who we are

Terrorism has more sophisticated aims than just killing people

The global war on terror does not compare to the Cold War

The United States has made Iraq the front line in their war on terror

In the short to medium-term the terrorist threat to Australia is more likely to originate overseas

Terrorism can’t be met primarily or even predominantly through military force

We currently lack decent measures of success against terrorism

The only way to combat terrorism is with a comprehensive long-term grand strategy.

The tragic events in Jakarta and Beslan in the past week only further confirm any number of these facts.