[MUSIC] Hello, in the previous video, I made a plea for fear management as part of counter-terrorism policies. And I also mentioned the lack of knowledge in this field. Against this backdrop my colleague [UNKNOWN] and I looked into the still limited number of handbooks and strategies that focus on how to deal with fear. before, during and after a terrorist, terrorist attack or other terrorism related incident. Well, these documents are mainly from the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands. Also some interesting materials from Denmark. And they provide us with best practices in the following three domains. First, best practices on the organisation of fear management. How do you organize that? What should governments do? Then the second category relates to communication, and the third category relates to resilience to terrorism. Regarding the organization of fear management, the key question is, how can governments and auto-relevant actors limit the impact of terrorism by reducing fear, anxiety, and intimidation? One of the most obvious and most often mentioned conclusion is that they should cooperate and coordinate. Very obvious conclusion, but again, very important. They have to cooperate and coordinate. also very important is the need to, know what the other ones are doing. have sets of protocols. And also mentioned, is the need to practice together. Was specifically mentioned in several reports and studies, is the need to establish partnerships with the public and with the media. The government should engage with the media and also very specific group that requires partnership is representatives, spokespersons of ethnic, cultural or religious minorities. The idea is that they should work together with the government and the government with them to deal with public unrest and tensions, and to make sure that an increase in fear and anxiety is prevented. Or finally fear management should include the monitoring of reactions to government measures, government performance. and ideally you do that at home, in your home country, but also abroad as many of the terrorist incidents have a international dimension. Regarding communication, the key challenge is determining the goals and content of communication. And we believe, having studied all these documents, that the starting point should be to listen to the public's concerns. While other valuable best practices and recommendations include the, to be honest to be frank and open and avoid being unnecessarily secretive. Another set of recommendations is that you communicate with compassion with concern and with empathy. Well, in case of an incident, the first hour is regarded a vital hour, the golden hour that can set the tone for the rest of the handling of the communication of the crisis. In this case, a terrorist incident. in the initial phase, it's very important to provide the public with facts. And also with advisory measures to the public. explain and clarify what's going on. And why certain measures and decisions have been taken. Confirm and deny rumours as quickly as possible. Well, despite an incomplete picture, and in most cases of terrorism-related instances there is an incomplete picture. It is important to come up with a clear and concise message of what is going on. one tone of voice is also very important. And even if there is not much to communicate you are advised to continue communicating with the public. No news is also news, and if you do not provide news. And if there is a lack of communication information, you give room to speculation by the media or by the public. Well, the authorities are also advised to be aware of the risks of an over-reaction. They should not play into the hands of terrorism. and you can do that by avoiding unneccesarily unnecesarry rhetoric or alarmist words. And it's also very important that policy makers, officials, realize that there's also a message in the physical measures they are taking. think of helicopters in the air. special arrest teams on the street. it's not just a measure. There's also a message involved in that. And you have to be aware of that. Again, explain what's going on to the public. And at the same time you have to monitor what's going on among the public. Of course, through social media you can see how they react to what you are doing. Well and the overall goal of communication should be to limit. the impact of an incidence and the normalization of society. So, the idea is to go back to business as soon as possible, back to normality as possible. But, of course, also, paying attention to aftercare and stress and emotions among the public. One of the most important recommendations on resilience is providing self-efficacy. The authorities should advise the public how they can be of help or how people can help themselves. People do not want to be mere victims or bystanders. They want to do something. They see something terrible, they want to do something. They want to be of help. For instance, by giving first aid or providing images to the police using their mobile phones. Or to join a demonstration in the days after an attack saying no to terrorism. And we've seen a number of examples of that in recent years. this could contribute to an increase of resilience and can further help to reduce the chance of excessive fear. Overreactions and tensions between different parts of society. And providing the general public with advising measures also holds for later stages of the crisis. And that brings to me to a second set of recommendations and lessons learned. this relates to care for the public. And authorities are advised not to only focus on the direct victims. the, the, the dead and wounded, but also on those who survived and who are possibly traumatized because of what they've seen and experienced. And the idea is that monitoring these indirect victims and taking care of these indirect victims is important. Also with an eye to prevent all kinds of second-order effects such as polarization, tension between groups, and the spread of fear and anxiety. And connected to this is, and mentioned earlier, that is that this can be limited by including representatives of various minorities, and, and other groups. To make agreements on their possible role, to deal with public unrest and possible tensions. These lessons learned and recommendations can be of great value to limit the possibility that terrorists get what they want. Seriously intimidating a population, and destabilizing a country. And there's, these are some of the main goal of terrorists, I believe it's very important to incorporate. fear management, impact management into general counterterrorism policies. Of course, next to the very important efforts to limit the chance of a terrorist attack as, as much as possible. Well, fortunately, in recent year, increasing attention has been paid to the organization and com, and, and practice of communication, crisis communication as well as the increase of resilience to terrorism. And hopefully a growing number of authorities will realize that if it will, if we can make it more difficult for terrorists to have an impact on society. This instrument, this terrorism can become, in the long run, a less rewarding and less effective instrument than it is today. So, what have we learned? In this video, we looked at lessons learned derived from handbooks and strategies on fear management related to terrorism. And, we looked at the organizational fear management, communication, and resilience. And in the next video, we will explore the future of terrorism, terrorism policies, and terrorism research.
