Counterterrorism is a group of policies that are intended to prevent terrorist acts (anti-terrorism). They aim at reducing the threat of radicalization by individuals and security conflicts with hostile government, which can lead to world instability and poverty. This broadens the range of possible threats fueled by extremism and self-interest. These policies include the prosecution, arrest, and re-encountering of radicalization narratives, before individuals commit significant acts. There have been disputes over outreach and violations of constitutional rights.
Recent research shows that counterterrorism strategies are ineffective as a means of preventing terrorist attacks. Both federal and state agencies should make more efforts to explore policy alternatives, increase threat detection, and improve response. Most of the activities currently are done outside government without much federal intervention. Experts in law enforcement indicate that local and nongovernmental threat response capabilities need immediate federal reinforcement (Jackson & Costello, 2019). These steps are unlikely to be successful despite their apparent plausibility. This is especially true for communities that have lost confidence due to failed counterterrorism efforts in the past. The first step in threat prevention must be to rebuild trust locally and scale up government activities.
Political and ethical consequences
One of the current problems facing modern reaction strategies is globalization. Individual nations as well as their relationships with other countries are at risk from terrorist acts. Even though governments have counterterrorism plans that work, their linked nature makes it difficult for them to control the threat. (Mattis (2018) It is the responsibility of members nations to coordinate actions, share information, create capacities, expand engagement, and work together in total unity to defeat this threat.
Deep moral dilemmas are at the root of terroristism as well as threat response policies. There have been many disputes over threat response, especially in relation to terrorist prevention tactics. Study after study has highlighted that counterterrorism measures can harm constitutionally protected rights. This is especially true since most of them are put in place before legislative processes (Gearon (2018); Lehr (2018); SCHAUB 2019, 2019). Another problem for stakeholders is the distinction between humanitarian pursuit and violent support programs. Previous intelligence programs have shown a particular interest in ideologically motivated violence. The terrorist prevention effort has been more favorable to Muslim communities, which has led to greater stigmatization of the region and distrust (Tan 2018, Hedenskog 2020). These fears, together with the strict anti-terrorism measures, have dramatically eroded trust in the government’s ability to protect terrorists.
Some opponents also expressed concern about government’s inability to react quickly. As indicated by the decision to reorganize current finances as opposed to developing a modern terrorist response plan, these efforts have lately been seen as insufficient (Hoadley & Lucas, 2018; Mattis, 2018). It has been difficult to develop an active threat response plan due to the number of organizations involved in coordination. This is a primary responsibility of US interstate security agency and Department of Justice.