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Abstract

The United Kingdom and its citizens are no stranger to dealing with terrorism. From the days of Irish Republican terrorism through to the more recent Islamist terrorist threats, UK citizens have had to adapt to an evolving threat. In the same vein the UK government has had to adapt in order to counter the evolving threat and attempt to keep its citizens safe.
The UK counter-terrorism strategy (CONTEST) has been lauded as one of the leading pieces of work in the counter-terrorism sphere and the UK government are seen as one of the leaders in the taking the fight to the terrorists and attempting to counter the threats.
Through carrying out a literature based review, this under-graduate dissertation critically evaluates CONTEST and the impact the strategy has had, from its inception in 2003 to the latest publication of CONTEST in 2018. The perceived targeting of certain communities is discussed, and in particular, a focus is placed on the Prevent strand of the strategy and its implementation.
The issues with CONTEST are critically discussed and a further focus is made on the impact that prevent has had on the education sector.
The study of counter-terrorism strategies is not as easy as it may seem initially. There is an abundance of material, notably opinion, and as the CONTEST strategies have evolved over the years there has been a plethora of experts come into the field of study. There has been much criticism of CONTEST with many academics and groups opposing how the UK government have implemented their counter-terrorism strategies. What has been clear from conducting the study for this dissertation is that there are many experts out there who care passionately about counter-terrorism and there is a willingness for the UK government to get it right. However, defining exactly what constitutes a terrorist or potential terrorist has not been articulated and although it is clear that many things are right, it is also clear that the UK government may not quite be there yet.

Course: Risk and Security Management - BSc (Hons) - C1565

Date Deposited: 2020-11-25

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13623.html