Terrorism and the Olympics

Book excerpt: The book aims to outline the progress, problems and challenges of delivering a safe and secure Olympics in the context of the contemporary serious and enduring terrorist threat. The enormous media profile and symbolic significance of the Olympic Games, the history of terrorists aiming to use such high-profile events to advance their cause, and Al Qaeda's aim to cause mass casualties, all have major implications for the security of London 2012. Drawing on contributions from leading academics and practitioners in the field the book will assess the current terrorist threat, particularly focusing on terrorist targeting and how the Olympics might feature in this, before addressing particular response themes such as transport security, the role of surveillance, resilient designing of Olympic sites, the role of private security, and the challenge of inter-agency coordination. The book will conclude by providing an assessment of the legacy of Olympic security to date and will discuss the anticipated issues and dilemmas of the future. This book will be of interest to students of terrorism studies, security studies, counter-terrorism and sports studies.