A possible and likely threat. Say and doing security: the Coordination Body for Threat Analysis and the structuring of the Belgian Belgian anti-terrorist field

Description

Following the Paris attacks in November 2015 for which the Islamic State claimed responsibility, Belgium was singled out as the European weak link regarding counterterrorism. However, these last few years, the federal government reinforced the judiciary and legislative arsenal to tackle terrorism. The parliamentary inquiry set up after the Brussels attacks in March 2016 has however criticized the blur around the actors and measures involved in the fight against terrorism in Belgium. The first objective of the research is thus to map these actors and initiatives. A second objective is to analyse the

position and influence of the Coordination Unit for Threat Assessment (CUTA) within the counterterrorism field to understand how it tries to ‘say’ and ‘make’ security. Drawing on the Paris School’s works and their interest for power effects and struggles within the field of security, this research examines the security professionals’ practices. To do so, we will organize semi-directives interviews with members of CUTA’s support services as well as with its experts and analysts. As terrorism will probably remain an important issue in the next few years, it is essential to understand how counterterrorism is organized and conducted on a daily basis. Also, because CUTA mimics its neighbors’ designs,the research will be enlightening to understand the European practices regarding counterterrorism.

Director(s)

DUEZ Denis, Orsini Amandine.

Keywords

Terrorism / Discourse / threat.

Research staff

THOMAS Chloé.