CTTA-June-2020.Pdf
Editorial Note: Diffused, Chronic and Evolving Global Threat Landscape In the face of a dynamically metastasising terrorist threat, the global security landscape is evolving into one that is more diffused, chronic and dispersed, where low-to-medium level individual acts of violence are becoming commonplace. The chaotic, unpredictable ways in which terrorist events unfold, is now enjoined by new actors such as the far-right movement, with the potential to further spread across the globe. Though the propensity to react violently has increased, the favoured modus operandi remains low- end urban terrorism (stabbings, vehicular ramming and use of home-made explosive devices), mainly due to the inability of like-minded extremist groups to form organisational structures and augment their capabilities for coordinated attacks. However, the very fact that these extremist entities can form virtual communities on social media and share a bond is alarming. With this as a given, the upgrading of violent capabilities is a question of when, not if. There has been a noticeable explosion of radicalism across the ideological spectrum. Various entities linked to the far-right movement in the West, some anti-establishment groups, as well as supporters and followers of global jihadist movements, namely Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS), have actively exploited the uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and ongoing violent race protests in the US, to further their respective agendas. In short, it appears the chaos and volatility of current times, is mirrored within the global extremist-radical milieu. Against this backdrop, the present issue of the Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses (CTTA) features five articles.
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