NEW YORK, May 22 (IPS) - A comprehensive new study from the Canadian research team that produced the Human Security Report in 2005 challenges the expert consensus that global terrorism is increasing.
According to the view of the latest U.S. National Intelligence Estimates, the threat of terrorism, particularly Islamic terrorism by groups like al Qaeda, grew in 2006 and 2007.
Statistical data created by three major terrorism research institutions in the U.S., including the National Counterterrorism Centre (NCTC), the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT), and the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Response to Terrorism (START), support these claims by estimating that terrorism fatalities throughout the world rose following the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The Human Security Brief, released Wednesday, says the consensus definition of terrorism is 'intentional politically motivated violence perpetrated by non-state groups against civilians and/or non-combatants'.
The Human Security Report Project analysed the trend data created by these research institutions and has found a different 'objective critical assessment' of this data. The Human Security Brief 2007 finds a 'sharp net decline' in terrorism around the world.
This positive change in the decrease of global terrorism has gone virtually unnoticed. Andrew Mack, director of the Human Security Report project, told IPS that he believes it is a question of perspective. ....
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