Resilience in western societies in the face of hybrid and terrorist threats

Siege of Leiden (1573-1574)
Thursday, December 14, 2017 - 18:00 to 19:00
An Foras Feasa Seminar Room, 1st Floor, Iontas Building, North Campus

Synopsis:
Warfare changed. From a violent activity performed by a distinctive group in uniforms on a demarcated battlefield it has developed into something that, in the words of Rupert Smith, is waged among the people. Violence is no longer confined to conflict areas far away, but is taken to our capitals. Terrorist attacks, fake news, interference in elections and little black men appear to be the new instruments of power politics. In reaction, western institutions such as NATO, the EU as well as national governments have come up lately with the concept of resilience. The paper presented will unpack that concept, as it was “introduced” in security studies. It will explore how resilience is applied in political discourse regarding the reaction to hybrid or terrorist threats coming from the East or the Middle Eastern and Northern African region.
 
Speaker:
Prof. Theo Brinkel is KVMO professor of Civil-military relations at Leiden University and also teaches international security studies at the Faculty of Military Science of the Netherlands Defense Academy.