Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism

Journal

Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter TerrorismJournal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism

The Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (JPICT) is a refereed journal of the Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism at Macquarie University, Sydney. The Journal is an international scholarly journal that acts as a forum for those around the world undertaking research and practice in the areas of:

  • Security studies
  • Policing
  • Intelligence
  • Counter terrorism
  • Terrorism and the media
  • Reportage of war and insurgency
  • Cyber-security and cyber-crime
  • Threats to financial security

The Journal offers national, regional and international perspectives on important areas of debate within these various fields, while addressing the practical and theoretical issues and considerations that surrounds them. It aims to balance the discussion of practical realities with debates and proposals about relevant and significant theoretical issues.

The Journal has the following major aims:
  • to publish cutting-edge and contemporary articles, reports and reviews on relevant topics with a particular focus on the intersection between the fields of policing, intelligence and counter terrorism
  • to act as an international forum for exchange and discussion
  • to illustrate the nexus between theory and its practical applications and vice versa

Editorial Correspondence: Offers of articles are welcome and should be submitted to the Managing Editor, Dr. Julian Droogan, Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, Y3A, Macquarie University, Sydney, N.S.W, 2109, Australia. Fax: +61(0)298501440; email: julian.droogan@mq.edu.au.

Submission Instructions: The Journal publishes full-length articles of approximately 6,000 words as well as relevant book reviews of between 800 and 1,500 words. The Journal also welcomes submissions providing analysis, commentary and debate on specific topics related to current practices and concepts in the areas covered by the Journal. Such contributions should be between 2,000 and 6,000 words. Responses to published articles in the form of letters or notes are also welcome.

For full submission instructions, subscription and all other information visit:www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t930212267~db=all

Editor-in-Chief
  • Associate Professor Colin Wastell, PICT, Macquarie University.
Managing Editor
  • Dr Julian Droogan, PICT, Macquarie University.
International Advisory Committee
  • Jason L Brown - National Security Director Thales Australia & New Zealand
  • Professor Rohan Gunaratna - Nanyang Technical University, Singapore
  • Associate Professor Geoffrey Hawker - Macquarie University
  • Dr Victoria Herrington - Australian Institute of Police Management
  • Professor Andrew Kakabadse, Cranfield School of Management, UK
  • Professor Natalie Klein - Macquarie University
  • Professor Arie Kruglanski - University of Maryland, USA
  • Professor Elizabeth More - Australian Catholic University
  • Adjunct Professor Graeme Morgan - Macquarie University
  • Professor Tim Prenzler - Griffith University
  • Associate Professor Kumar Ramakrishna - Nanyang Technical University, Singapore
  • Professor Rick Sarre - University of South Australia
  • Adjunct Professor Clive Williams, PICT, Macquarie University
  • Dr Caroline Ziemke-Dickens - Institute for Defense Analyses, USA
Abstracts from latest volume of the Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (JPICT)

  • Just War Theory and the War on Terror - WILLIAM CALCUTT 
    ABSTRACT:

    Almost a decade after the horrific events of September 11 it is timely to reflect on some of the lessons learned from the global 'war on terror'.  The evolution of a more sophisticated understanding of the threat posed by contemporary terrorism has cast doubt on the value and accuracy of using a war metaphor to define an effective global response.  Terrorism is fundamentally the use of intimidation and fear to force major social and political change. The willingness of terrorists to use indiscriminate force against civilians means that terrorism falls outside the scope of the international laws governing armed conflict.  In responding to terrorism with extreme (war-like) measures, there is a risk that the state could damage the social bonds that are the foundation for a cohesive, peaceful, inclusive and resilient society. 

  • Resilience and Civil Contingencies: Tensions in the North-East and North-West UK (2000-2008) - PETER ROGERS
    ABSTRACT:

    This draws on research undertaken as part of the new Security Challenges Programme covering a period between 2000 and 2008. The paper reflects on restructuring under the resilience agenda for all-hazards approaches to disaster and civil contingencies. The broad context of increased natural disasters and perceived heightening of the threat of terrorism contributed to a widespread overhaul of the formal structures of emergency planning and a shift towards integrated emergency management (IEM). However, this process of step-change towards a more resilient structure was fraught with tensions between competing interests at national, regional and local levels. This paper expands upon these tensions, explaining the national strategic platform, the regional agenda and context of civil contingencies and tensions between the push for regionalisation, and the local practice of 'blue-light' agencies in the North-East and the North-West (focused on Tyne and Wear and Greater Manchester). It concludes that despite the tensions these have been overcome to offer a more comprehensive approach to all-hazards management of disaster.
     

  • The 9/11 Commission Report and the Reframing of the 'War on Terror' as a New Type of Warfare - ROBYN TOROK
    ABSTRACT:

    As we approach the tenth anniversary of 9/11, it is vital to explore how the 'war on terror' initiated in late 2001 has been reframed as a new type of warfare, especially in light of The 9/11 Commission report (9/11CR) recommendations released in mid-2004. Conceptualising the war on terror as a form of biopolitics, it is considered a new kind of war characterised by expanded executive powers as well as a carefully crafted cultural and discursive project. Rhetoric has been an important strategy to argue a just cause as well as engender support. Practically, policies have impacted on a number of biopolitical spheres, including foreign policy that is perceived as being driven by economic liberalism in order to maintain hegemony, thus causing a degree of alienation amongst Muslim populations. In addition, there has also been an erosion of civil liberties including media freedoms in order to improve security, and much criticism of the way in which enemy combatants have been treated and tried. Much of the framework of the original war on terror has remained since the 9/11CR was introduced, with some practices undermining the ability to win the war of ideas. A move toward reframing the war on terror more in line with 9/11CR has been made in recent years with moves toward more humane treatment of combatants and a softer rhetoric. Nevertheless much more work needs to be done in both domestic and global spheres.
     

  • The Crime-Terror Continuum Revisited: A Model for the Study of Hybrid Criminal Organisations - SANTIAGO BALLINA
    ABSTRACT:
    A deeply rooted and generally accepted notion of organised crime permeates specialised literature. It builds upon the understanding of crime as an essentially non-ideological and non-political phenomenon. In contrast, organisations that do seem to incorporate an ideological component, most notably terrorist groups, are classified as the antithesis of organised crime and thus are theoretically precluded from acting motivated by profit and greed. This problem, hereby known as the 'profit versus ideology' dichotomy, is reinforced by a prevalent view of criminals as ultra-rational, profit-maximising entities operating in a market, excised from their social and cultural background. This article challenges the contention that clandestine, violent organisations can be neatly categorised according to such a rigid taxonomy, and puts into question the validity of the profit-ideology division to advance a more flexible understanding of the criminal phenomenon. In order to do so, the assumptions of the former are explored and contrasted against two case studies: the first one, La Familia (The Family), is a drug trafficking organisation which was born in the state of Michoacán (southwestern Mexico), and which, despite having emerged quite recently (2006) as an independent criminal group, has quickly become one of the most feared and widespread Mexican cartels. The second case is that of Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist organisation born in the early 1990s and which operates in the southern Philippines, specifically in the Mindanao region. A terrorist group with an Islamic agenda and a hard-line drug trafficking organisation would seem to exemplify the pristine separation between ideology and profit in the criminal world. However, as it will become clear, thinking in terms of 'pure' types places a number of conceptual constraints that hinder a comprehensive and balanced understanding of crime

Disclaimer: Views expressed in contributions to the Journal for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism. Any errors of fact are the responsibility of the authors.

The Journal for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism is published bi-annually in April and September.

ISSN 1833 5330