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Book cover Understanding Lone Wolf Terrorism

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Criminology ((BRIEFSCRIMINOL))

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Abstract

When people are targeted by a terrorist attack, among the first questions that typically follow—apart from “why?” or “why us?”—are whether the attack could have been prevented, and what should be done in response. It is therefore no surprise that the output of counterterrorism literature has dramatically accelerated, especially since 9/11. This literature shows that a wide range of counterterrorist policies and programs have been tried over the years with mixed success, and that there are substantial dissimilarities between the counterterrorism approaches of different countries depending, among other factors, on historical factors, a country’s experiences with terrorism, and its political system and culture. As will be seen, responses to lone wolf terrorism are equally context-specific, reflecting a variety of counterterrorism and police cultures and legal traditions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Transnational lone wolf terrorism can be defined as involving terrorist activities carried out by individuals who are foreign based or whose activities transcend national boundaries. Franz Fuchs’ bomb attacks in Austria and Germany are an example of lone wolf terrorism that transcends national boundaries, as is that by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian citizen who detonated an explosive device that was attached to his body aboard a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit in 2009 (see Appendix).

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  1. School of Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Dr. Ramón Spaaij

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  1. Dr. Ramón Spaaij
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Correspondence to Ramón Spaaij .

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Spaaij, R. (2012). Responses. In: Understanding Lone Wolf Terrorism. SpringerBriefs in Criminology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2981-0_8

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