Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on Homeland and Civil Security
A Research-Based Introduction
Edited By Alexander Siedschlag
12 Trends on Security Research in Europe
Extract
12
Trends on Security Research in Europe
MICHEL F. BOSCO
Security Research in Europe—Recent Roots
Inspired by Events That Occurred in the USA
Security research in Europe developed as a reaction to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States of America.1 These events had an electroshock effect on the U.S. Administration, triggering the deepest ever restructuring of federal institutions dealing with security and the birth of the Department of Homeland Security. They also raised consciousness in Europe about the limited capacity of the nations to adapt to threat and to innovate in their response to malfunctions or intentional disruptions in their societies.2 At that time, only a handful of European Union (EU) Member States had defense-related research going on that could serve a dual purpose, but where the innovative impact on civil security was a spin-off effect of novel technologies or processes resulting from military requirements. In 2003, the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, decided to explore the feasibility of financing security research at EU level, and expressed its intention to enhance the EU’s scientific and technological capabilities for ensuring the security of European citizens.
The initiative was clearly proposed as a political response to an issue under the spotlight: the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the USA, a target to which several EU Member States felt closely associated—and thus also at risk. It was also...
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