Challenges for Democracies in Responding to Terrorism: A View from Canada adn Israel

The November 2015 terrorist attacks at the Bataclan concert hall and sidewalk cafés in Paris, the March 2016 bombing at the Brussels airport, and the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla. in June 2016 are just a few examples of the horror and loss of life inflicted on innocent civilians by individuals affiliated with, or supporting the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Canada is not immune: in October 2014 two ISIS-inspired attacks, one in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. and one in Ottawa, resulted in the deaths of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Cpl. Nathan Cirillo. More recently, ISIS vowed to make the month of Ramadan a bloodbath in Europe and America. Heightened awareness, attention, and concern among western democracies surround the issue of terrorism on home soil. And there are serious challenges in addressing such threats. The May 26, 2016 event in Toronto, entitled “A Global Security Conversation,” co-sponsored by The School of Public Policy and the Canadian Forces College Foundation, addressed the precarious state of affairs in the Middle East, the growth of ISIS and related groups, and analyzed some of the options for Western powers in responding to increased national security concerns among allies and other democracies. While the conversation did not focus on any one terrorist organization, clearly the current global jihadist threat is ISIS, which has supplanted al-Qaida. The gathering considered the current state of global instability as well as some key considerations for governments in formulating a sophisticated response to national security threats, such as those presented by ISIS. Although the threat of domestic terrorist attacks calls into play a country’s national security apparatus, the analysis and recommendations presented during the discussions at Canadian Forces College focused on an allied international response to jihadist-inspired terrorism rather than a discussion of domestic security responses.