Terrorism Expert Louise Richardson, University of St. Andrews, on Terrorism and Counterterrorism

NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With all our expensive counterterrorism measures, such as airport security, are we really any safer than we were ten years ago on 9/11? In a provocative speech at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, Vice Chancellor Louise Richardson demolished some of the misconceptions we hold about terrorism and how to deal with it.

"It's time that we got ourselves out of this false sense of insecurity and realize that terrorism is here to stay, and that it will never pose an existential threat to this country," declared Richardson.

Terrorists operate from a position of weakness, and if we look at the risks objectively it's clear that the probability of a terrorist attack is low, she argued: "In fact, anyone outside a war zone has a 1 in 85,000 chance of being killed by a terrorist over an 80-year period."  

Another great mistake, said Richardson, was to believe that military force alone could defeat terrorism. She acknowledged that there are instances where it has worked, such as in Sri Lanka, but said that the violations to human rights were unacceptable in a democracy. In general, although military force can play an important role, examples such as Ireland and Peru show that political negotiations and old-fashioned police work are the answer.

While we hold illusions about counterterrorism, terrorists also cling to illusions of their own, Richardson remarked. They believe that they can remake the world; that democracies will cave; and that the masses will rise up to support them—all of which have been proven wrong. But while these are the dreams of terrorist leaders, their followers' goals are more modest: revenge, glory, redressing perceived wrongs, and provoking a reaction; and in these they have been more successful.  "When you have the most powerful countries in the history of the world declare war on this ramshackle bunch, you're elevating their stature to a degree of which they could have only dreamt," Richardson concluded.

Professor Richardson is a political scientist whose specialist field is the study of terrorism. Since 1989 she has served as the principal and vice chancellor of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, the third oldest university in the English-speaking world, and ranked as the third best university in the UK. Previously, Richardson served as executive dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.

Dr. Richardson's talk was held at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, as part of the U.S. Global Engagement initiative headed by Senior Fellow David Speedie. For the full audio and transcript, go to www.carnegiecouncil.org. Video highlights will be posted soon.

The Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs (www.carnegiecouncil.org), established in 1914 by Andrew Carnegie, is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing understanding of the relationship between ethics and international affairs.

SOURCE Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs