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Foreign Policy Essay

Reassessing Belgium’s ‘Failed’ Counterterrorism Policy

Thomas Renard, Rik Coolsaet   Thu, Mar 22, 2018, 10:00 AM

Editor’s Note: Belgium has earned a bad name in counterterrorism circles, with critics charging that its security services did too little too late when it came to disrupting the Islamic State and other groups on Belgian soil. The tragic terrorist attack in Brussels two years ago, however, marked a turning point. Thomas Renard and Rik Coolsaet of Egmont detail the significant steps Belgium has taken in recent years to improve its counterterrorism capacity.

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Syria Displaced

In Big, Bad “Molenbeekistan”

Laura Dean   Mon, May 16, 2016, 2:48 PM

BRUSSELS, Belgium—As the escalator rises out of the Molenbeek subway station, the first sounds you hear are children laughing and calling out to one another. With entrances to the metro at either end of a row of townhouses, you are left with the unlikely impression of a village square. Here young children ride bicycles and teach each other to balance on hover boards. Older men play cricket, some in button-down shirts, some wearing South Asian salwar kameez. A younger boy practices bowling (that’s “pitching” in cricket) as he watches them.

Foreign Policy Essay

Rethinking Refugees

Daniel Byman   Sun, May 15, 2016, 10:34 AM

Last October, before the Islamic State’s terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, I argued that the security risks from Syrian refugees are, in general, low, but the potential ones are considerable if the crisis is handled poorly. In particular, I worried that refugees with no links to terrorists would be let into the West in a fit of generosity, but then ignored, mistreated, and marginalized over time – making them potential supporters of terrorism.

Counterterrorism

To Preempt Far Right, Europe Should Review Counterterrorism Policies

Timothy Edgar   Wed, Mar 23, 2016, 10:55 AM

The Brussels terror attacks, like the Paris attacks last year, were an assault on European values of democracy and human rights. While Brussels has a serious problem with violent extremism—it has contributed hundreds of foreign fighters to ISIL—it remains a charming city, far from the “hellhole” that you-know-who described earlier this year.

counterterrorism

Something is Going Wrong with International Counterterrorism Efforts: Quick Take After Brussels Attacks

Carrie Cordero   Tue, Mar 22, 2016, 1:03 PM

Something is going wrong with international counterterrorism efforts. It is undeniable.

The extensive, coordinated, devastating terrorist attacks in Paris in November and the Brussels attack today are indications that something is not working the way it should. No one can legitimately claim that the Brussels attacks were out of the blue. Instead, the attacks occured despite what was likely agressive and sustained international cooperation and effort in the months since the Paris attacks.

Today's attacks occured not for lack of effort; they succeeded in spite of it.

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