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Spain and the United Kingdom have experienced similar types of political violence. Since the 1960s, both countries have suffered casualties as a result of long-standing ethno-nationalist conflicts as well as terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda–inspired groups. In spite of these similarities, the two countries display a striking variation in the attitudes to victims. In Spain, Associations of Victims of Terrorism have been highly visible and influential, whereas United Kingdom-based organizations have not captured the public's imagination and the attention of policymakers in the same way. Spanish associations of victims have been present in the public sphere and have routinely provided their opinions on counterterrorist policy and appropriate government legislation whereas this sort of political activity is difficult to trace in the United Kingdom. As a result of this puzzle, the article tries to answer the following question: Why are associations of victims of terrorism by Al Qaeda–inspired attacks more influential in Spain than in the United Kingdom? The article will argue that political and sociocultural variables account for the difference. More specifically, the article demonstrates that the experience of both ethno-nationalist and jihadist political violence has affected party systems and cultural frames differently, hence providing distinct sets of political opportunities for victims’ associations to carry out their lobbying strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

El artículo examina el papel de la Alianza Atlántica u OTAN (Organización del tratado del Atlántico Norte), a raíz de los 10 años del ataque terrorista en Nueva York el 11 de septiembre de 2011. Se da una visón histórica de la OTAN, que tras esos atentados invocó por primera vez el artículo V del Tratado de Washington, el cual pone en marcha la defensa colectiva. Se mencionan los ataques terroristas en Madrid y Londres, en 2004, y 2005, respectivamente.

Islamist militants frequently lack a talent for tradecraft. In recent attacks in Britain and Spain, terrorists made numerous mistakes: receiving traffic citations while traveling in 'enemy' territory, acting suspiciously when questioned by the police, and traveling together during missions. Militants' preference toward suicide operations restricts their ability to acquire practical experience, particularly when they lose their lives during attacks. And their unyielding devotion to their cause blinds them to opportunities to improve their operations. This is good news for counterterrorism officials. Terrorists' poor tradecraft provides alert law enforcers with critical leads they can use to identify their attackers, unravel their plots, and-sometimes-disrupt their operations before they cause additional harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Madrid and London train-bombings, perceptions of the sources of Islamic terrorism changed. The British response to domestic jihadism was to apply community-policing principles to counter-terrorism enforcement. This essay describes the origins and intentions of the community-based policing of terrorism and partnership programmes with Muslim faith organisations. Collaboration with Muslim partners has helped to build confidence within government agencies that Muslim leaders are keen to curb terrorism, but has failed to build trust among the general Muslim public. The application of community-policing principles is, it is argued, an effort to bridge steep trade-offs between effective prevention and the social and political integration of Britain's Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to explore the grand narratives that have been produced in the post 9/11 era in Europe by looking at the March 11, 2004 attacks in Madrid, and the July 7, 2005 attacks in London. The paper will posit that the random nature of the Madrid and London attacks, and the apparent lack of meaning behind the 'message' of these attacks, destabilises a fundamental and mythological narrative of the European project: that the 'new Europe' is somehow beyond politics and has entered into a Kantian 'perpetual peace'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]