[MUSIC] Hello. In this video, we will look at what we do not know, or know too little of. Or in other words, we will focus on unanswered questions. On and under research topics, ongoing debates and persisting challenges. Of course, I'm not the only scholar that has pointed at shortcomings in the field of terrorism studies. In week two, I quoted Magnus Ranstorp, Andrew Silke, and Alex Schmid, who have produced valuable publications on the state of the art of terrorism studies, as well as have provided criticism with regard to what has been produced since 9/11. And Alex Schmid is also one of the directors of the Terrorism Research Initiative that aims to promote research into topics that are not fashionable. And he came up with a list of 50 un and under research topics in the field of terrorism. Have a look at a list. a number of topics on this list actually closely connected to what some of you have talked about in the discussion forum. Let me give you a few examples. For instance topic number three on the list by Alex Schmid, is unwanted and unexpected side and boomerang effects, or blow back effects, of counter terrorism and ways to recognize it or to minimize it. Well think of the debate about the use of drones. Another example of an un-and-under researched topic is the one that relate to the media the internet and terrorism. How are they how do they impact each other. And what can be done about them while upholding the freedom of speech, the freedom of expression. Its number 18 on the list. And we also observed a lot of discussion about state human rights violation as part of counter terrorism policies. It's been regarded as an important, under-researched topic especially with regard to their question, how widespread is, is this and how serious is this phenomenon. And it's number 34 on the list of Alex Schmid. And then, finally, a more recent under-researched topic is related to also a more recent phenomenon, the so called Arab awakening. And it's important to look at its implications for cooperation in the field of counter terrorism and its implications in general. An important more recent topic, number 48 on the list. Personally, I hope to contribute to two under-researched topics number nine, number ten. Our topic number nine is about warning the public and responsible crisis communication prior, during, and after a terrorist attack. What are lessons learned. Well, its the focus of one of the next videos. And the same holds for topic number 10, which is about resilience. How can we strengthen public resilience. What are policies of certain states and Alex Schmid mentions Columbia Israel and the United States. But we can also learn from other countries that have been confronted with either devastating attacks or many attacks. Think of Iraq, Pakistan, India or Russia. Again, also this is a topic for the next video. But before we will focus on these two topics let me add one more to the list of un-and-under-researched topics. Issue number 51, in my eyes, should be about the gap between policy makers and academia. There is a lack of contacts. They live maybe partly in different worlds. And what are the implications of that for both the quality of research, and the quality of policy making? Well, here in the Hague, we have the International Center for Counter-Terrorism. That was partly established just, just about the main idea of bridging that particular gap. And the first director of that institute is Peter Knoope. Let's see what he has to say about the gap between policy makers and academia. Thank you Elvin. Thank you for that question. I think bridging the gap between the policy worlds and the academic worlds is really important. If the one wants to use the answers that the other one generates, if the academic world wants to respond to the real questions from the policy worlds, then bridging that gap is really important. And why there is a gap, is because they live in different dynamics, they live in different worlds. The policy world is determined by the spirit of the media, parliament, the general public that wants responses to the threats, to the attacks, to the terrorist incidents now, immediately. Or the academic world obviously has a different dynamic and a different way of responding to questions. If the one wants to understand the other, then they need to come together and get to know each other's worlds. Getting to know each other's world means living in the other world for, for sometime, coming together in the same room, in the same environment and talk to one another. And try to really feel empathy and understand what the other needs are. Translating the policy needs into academic questions is a real challenge. Policy workers, policy people don't always understand how you can translate what they need to know into a real academic researchable question. Coming together in meetings, in exchanges of personal, in exchanges of knowledge and the dynamics of each other's world is really important. >> Thank you, Peter. For more information about the International Center for Counter-Terrorism - The Hague, have a look at their website. As mentioned earlier, bridging the gap between policy makers and scholars is also very important to me. In fact, it would be my topic number 51 on an extended list of un-and-under-researched topics in the field of terrorism studies. To sum up, there are several issues in the field of terrorism and counter-terrorism that need more attention and more research, both from scholars and policy makers. And the list provided by Alex Schmid is a very useful one. Please have a close look at it. I hope it will inspire some of you when doing research on terrorism or when contributing to this course discussion forum. To conclude, I would like to stress that the list by Alex Schmid is also a good overview of persisting challenges for policy makers in the field of counter-terrorism. In the next video we will look into fear and resilience regarding terrorism.
