The Effects of the Lone Wolf Attacks in Norway on the 22nd of July, 2011
The fourth largest terrorist event since the 9/11 attacks in the US occurred on the 22nd of July 2011 in the Norwegian capital Oslo and on the Norwegian island of Utøya. This extremely brutal incident, which comprised of two sequential attacks and claimed the lives of 77 people, had a profound impact on Europe and Norway. What was unique about this attack is the fact that it can be truly categorized as lone wolf terrorism. However, analysis of the current EU literature has shown that the attacks only had a negligible influence on the EU counter terrorism agenda setting and structuring, and a very limited impact on EU policy. The master thesis of Egle Venslovaite concludes through an agenda setting explanatory model that changes have been limited to the de-prioritization of radical Islam (agenda structuring), more attention to lone wolf, and tighter control of a number of chemicals (agenda setting).
Several explanations for this are possible First, this can be a result of what Filip Jasinski calls boredom and oblivion syndrome. Second, it is possible this has to do with the nature of lone wolf attacks: experts agree that there is only a limited number of tangible measures that could be added to the EU counter terrorism agenda to fight against lone wolf terrorism. A third explanation is based on the general EU counter terrorism practice: this has been saturated with new measures for over a decade, which are currently being subjected to implementation.
The master thesis comes to the conclusion that the limited alteration of the EU counter terrorism agenda can be at least partially explained by the institutional and political context. Firstly, Norway is not a member of the EU, and therefore cannot actively carry a motion to add the topic to the EU agenda (institutional context). Second, the motive of the attack focuses on the politically sensitive issue of multiculturalism and immigration. A lot of European countries have political parties that supports tighter immigration control and laws, but none of them support, or are associated with such violence. Therefore the political opinion of groups that support the anti-multiculturalism idea, while condemning the attacks, becomes a very delicate issue that potentially could lead to agenda blocking (political context).
If you want to know more about the analysis of the effects of the Norwegian lone wolf attacks, how the author worked, and have a full analysis of her conclusions, click here. You can also contact the author directly at vensegle@gmail.com.
The fourth largest terrorist event since the 9/11 attacks in the US occurred on the 22nd of July 2011 in the Norwegian capital Oslo and on the Norwegian island of Utøya. This extremely brutal incident, which comprised of two sequential attacks and claimed the lives of 77 people, had a profound impact on Europe and Norway. What was unique about this attack is the fact that it can be truly categorized as lone wolf terrorism. However, analysis of the current EU literature has shown that the attacks only had a negligible influence on the EU counter terrorism agenda setting and structuring, and a very limited impact on EU policy. The master thesis of Egle Venslovaite concludes through an agenda setting explanatory model that changes have been limited to the de-prioritization of radical Islam (agenda structuring), more attention to lone wolf, and tighter control of a number of chemicals (agenda setting).
Several explanations for this are possible First, this can be a result of what Filip Jasinski calls boredom and oblivion syndrome. Second, it is possible this has to do with the nature of lone wolf attacks: experts agree that there is only a limited number of tangible measures that could be added to the EU counter terrorism agenda to fight against lone wolf terrorism. A third explanation is based on the general EU counter terrorism practice: this has been saturated with new measures for over a decade, which are currently being subjected to implementation.
The master thesis comes to the conclusion that the limited alteration of the EU counter terrorism agenda can be at least partially explained by the institutional and political context. Firstly, Norway is not a member of the EU, and therefore cannot actively carry a motion to add the topic to the EU agenda (institutional context). Second, the motive of the attack focuses on the politically sensitive issue of multiculturalism and immigration. A lot of European countries have political parties that supports tighter immigration control and laws, but none of them support, or are associated with such violence. Therefore the political opinion of groups that support the anti-multiculturalism idea, while condemning the attacks, becomes a very delicate issue that potentially could lead to agenda blocking (political context).
If you want to know more about the analysis of the effects of the Norwegian lone wolf attacks, how the author worked, and have a full analysis of her conclusions, click here. You can also contact the author directly at vensegle@gmail.com.
