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COUNTER TERRORISM February, 2009
Today I was a visitor to the Counter Terrorism Expo in London. There were a lot of people. There were a lot of vendors. The conference talks were, as expected, commercial. However, it was still all good to see. There was a vibrancy about it, not nearly as frantic and desperate as other commercial expo's ... and so was a pleasant change.
But ... a number of things struck me as I watched the flow of people and the informative sales people.
1. innovation (mainly from active SME's and mid-range companies) is alive, thriving and so very essential.
2. Most of this innovation has a solid core of technology. Yet some of it is new technology, some tried and tested but with new application.
3. It was all fairly relaxed and (for once) non-pushy. Believe me, this was a relief - a welcome one - considering the current economic climate.
4. I'm involved in the full extent of social dynamics, including the threats and opportunities. Counter Terrorism is at the far end of the scale - much needed, but at the same time, only a small part of the overall story to deal with what will happen in the near and mid term future.
5. There is a definite undercurrent of the industrial-military complex (yes, even in Europe) with the piece by piece privatisation and commercialisation of the military, police and intelligence.
6. It was weird. I mean ... going into all that extremist orientated development, mulling around with an arm full of brochures and accompanying technical details ... and then emerging back into the "normal" world where people were mainly only concerned with their daily activities, and getting through another day.
All of this made me wonder. It was clear, from speaking to a number of the exhibitors today, that most - like the ordinary people - had very, very little view of how the world is developing. I must admit, I didn't speak with any of the potential buyers, but I wonder if they would be any different ... hence the reason for the world being in such a state. People (and especially decision makers) often talk about strategic development, etc, etc, etc. And yet how many have a view of what the world will be like in 3-5 years time? How many of their phantom strategies will be relevant? How many of these very same people will themselves be relevant? Truly, they don't have a clue - and this is the most shocking thing.
Emerging back out into the sunlight, with the thronging tourist crowds and the busy people trying to get from A2B, I can't help thinking ... if we are so smart, shouldn't we be working smarter, not harder?
Make no mistake, the many different aspects of counter terrorism is and will be very much needed. But who needs it more? The decision makers, the commerce, or the ordinary people busy with their daily tasks.
All this would be so easy to sort out. Instead ... the world is in for some difficult times. And, one of THE most difficult areas is that as the world in general experiences an increasing level of change, there will be an increasing number of disaffected people who are easy prey for extremist recruiters. All of this would be so easy to sort out.
But ... is anyone interested?
Regards
JS
If you don't understand the risks, how can you prepare? Can you afford to let the issues be blurred?
The turbulent 21st century
life isn't black and white