RT Article
T1 Plan B(ruxellles): Belgian intelligence and the terrorist attacks of 2015-16
JF Terrorism and political violence
VO 32
IS 6
SP 1291
OP 1309
A1 Lasoen, Kenneth 1985-
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1831797453
AB This essay uses the official reports as well as sources from the intelligence services to provide a clearer picture of the working circumstances of the Belgian intelligence and security services and the pressure they were under to deal with the challenges posed by violent radicalisation and terrorist plots since the emergence of the foreign fighters phenomenon. It will be shown how mounting pressure from the rapidly expanding threat exacerbated the gradual exhaustion of the security services by structural issues of unaddressed organisational difficulties, and budget restrictions faced with increasing workloads. Due to the high number of foreign fighters, belated initiatives taken to assess the threat were impeded by barriers to information exchange, unclear guidance, and data overload. The failure of Belgian intelligence to detect the attack plans was more a symptom of policy failure than the underachievement of the services. A concluding section will reflect upon the inadequacy and lateness of policy responses because of a Belgian tendency to understate security.
NO Gesehen am 23.01.2023
NO Published online: 30 May 2018
K1 Terror attacks
K1 Paris
K1 Belgium
K1 Belgian intelligence
K1 Belgian counterterrorism
DO 10.1080/09546553.2018.1464445