ROMANIAN DECISION-MAKERS IN SECURITY POLICIES’ PERCEPTION OF THE TERRORIST THREAT: ROMANIA AS A POTENTIAL TARGET FOR DAESH TERRORIST ATTACKS
ROMANIAN DECISION-MAKERS IN SECURITY POLICIES’ PERCEPTION OF THE TERRORIST THREAT: ROMANIA AS A POTENTIAL TARGET FOR DAESH TERRORIST ATTACKS

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims at analyzing the Romanian decision-makers in security policies’ perception of the Daesh terrorist organization and, particularly, of the potential effects of this organization on the Romanian national territory. In this respect, we designed a transversal qualitative research, conducted through interviews with 31 experts in security policies, 22 of which are Romanian, in order to assess their adequacy of knowledge in relation with the theoretical framework and, respectively, the perception of insiders from Middle East (political decision makers, diplomats, religious leaders, scholars, security specialists, intelligence analysts). The level of this perception assessment in very important because the decision makers in security policies need to know accurately the phenomena subjected to their own policies. Moreover, this knowledge should be neutral, not influenced by ideologies or media agenda setting. It is also very important to note whether security policies decision-makers are influenced or not by the sensationalist nature of packing information about Daesh attacks in classical or old media. In simple terms, this adequate perception of the widespread conflict in the Middle East, the escalation of the conflicts in the area over the last 40 years, the expansion and diversification of the forms in which Jihadist-Salafist terrorist organizations act are important elements in the balanced and correctly assumed position in relation with the national security policies. In a nutshell, Romania’s readiness for terrorist attacks organized by Daesh or other similar organizations depends on the level of awareness of this threat by the Romanian decision-makers in security policies. Implicitly, the evaluation of these decision-makers’ perception is one of the evaluation modalities of Romania’s preparedness in the field of combating terrorist attacks.

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