Foreign visits and epistemic interactions facilitate mechanisms of social learning and professional progress in the present, just as they did centuries ago.

Ever since the emergence of modern terrorism the analogy with contagious diseases is made to understand and ‘cure’ the issue – with little attention to the dangerous consequences that accompany the metaphor.

In an attempt to choose sides between either a supranational organization of counter terrorism or returning autonomy to informal, professional networks, history helps in selecting best practices.

The introduction of new surveillance techniques often ensues without much societal debate. Yet the impact on civil liberties has been, and will continue to be, significant.

Trump’s ideas to close US borders for specific groups of immigrants proved to be of little use in the past. Instead, the country might be better off countering its actual security problems.

Secretive Okhrana practices in the past as well as present day examples illustrate how conspiracies present alternative ‘truths’ to serve specific interests.

In the wake of the frightful terrorist attacks in Paris and the subsequent manhunt in Brussels, it has once again become clear that, although security services cooperate intensively across state borders, much depends on local and national policies and approaches. Bureaucracies and policy-making institutions are relatively vast constructions within post-industrial and highly complex societies. Therefore,…

By Wouter Klem MA – The cruel bombings and cold-blooded assassinations committed by reckless anarchist terrorists formed a sharp contrast with gracious reveries of Belle Époque Europe. Not merely statesmen and royals, but also the bourgeoisie and middlemen could be hit by erupting bombs in cafés and theatres from the early 1880s onwards. In the…