A briefing on the British counter-terrorism landscape is available ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games, from the think tank RUSI. The UK will witness the biggest security operation ever held, amidst an evolving terrorism threat. The Games will also mark a watershed for British security policy, with long-delayed reforms and resource cuts taking place immediately after the Games.
The UK Terrorism Analysis is a series of online briefings from the London-based Royal United Services Institute for Defence & Security Studies (RUSI), aimed at offering assessments of the threat we face and the policy options before us.
Download the first, 12-page report at www.rusi.org/ukta. The UK will witness the biggest security operation ever mounted, amidst an ever-present and evolving terrorism threat. The Games will also mark a watershed for British security policy, with long-delayed reforms and resource cuts taking place immediately after the Games.
Briefing in brief
The authorities have done a good job preparing to keep the Olympics secure; but new counter terrorism problems will persist long after the Games have closed.
Global trends will keep the incidence of international terrorism high and promote new ways for it to take effect.
Arrests and failed plots give clues to how the terrorist threat in the UK is changing.
Despite the deaths of key Al-Qa’ida figures in 2011, the terrorist threat has not diminished and will continue to dominate UK security concerns until and beyond the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The security response to the Olympic Games is unprecedented in scale, interoperability and cost.
As we move closer to the Games, we are likely to see more security activity, especially in arrests and searches.
The Olympic Games are likely to prove a major turning point in the allocation of resources for UK counter-terrorism. Successes in counter-terrorism where there are no attacks in the UK will paradoxically lead to a streamlining of counter-terrorism capabilities as the public and politicians lose the appetite for high spending.
RUSI says
The year 2012 is likely to set the scene for security policy as the terrorism threat evolves and the international environment changes. RUSI’s UK Terrorism Analysis is a series of online briefings aimed at offering assessments of the threat we face and the policy options before us.
