By now, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of life, including politics, health, security and economics. Within the security sector, the contagion’s impact on terrorism and counter-terrorism practices has been swift and pronounced. In the wake of COVID-19, most terrorist groups across the ideological spectrum have intensified their online propaganda to increase recruitment and plan new attacks. This has put many governments in a catch-22 situation, having to split available enforcement and economic resources to cope with both the pandemic and the ever-evolving terrorist threat.
While jihadist militants such as the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have framed COVID-19 as divine retribution, the right-wing extremists in the West have used it to exacerbate xenophobic attitudes against non-White immigrants and communities, including calling for weaponisation of the virus against public infrastructure and law enforcement. Against this backdrop, this webinar discussed how the global terrorist landscape will evolve in the post-COVID-19 scenario as well as how the challenge of the coronavirus will impact counter-terrorism policies and practices in different parts of Southeast Asia and the world.
Catch it here on the RSISVideoCast YouTube channel:
