TERRORISM REMAINS OUR BIGGEST THREAT
By M. B. Shaw
Domestic terrorism has become the defining security challenge of our time. For all the rhetoric about foreign wars and cyber-spies, the gravest dangers in the so-called free world are increasingly homegrown, plotted not in distant training camps but in back bedrooms, online forums, and disaffected communities.
A Growing, Shifting Threat
In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security is blunt: domestic violent extremism is the “single greatest terrorism-related threat” to the nation. Right-wing extremism dominates the landscape, accounting for the overwhelming majority of plots and deaths over the last decade. The Capitol riots in 2021 jolted the world into recognising the fragility of democratic institutions when tested by radicalised citizens rather than foreign armies.
Across the Atlantic, Britain has witnessed a parallel surge. While Islamist extremism still occupies much of the security services’ bandwidth, MI5 quietly confirms that far-right radicalisation is the fastest-growing case-load. Teenage arrests for plotting attacks under the banner of white supremacy are no longer rare headlines but recurring ones.
Democracy in the Crosshairs
What makes this threat so potent is not just the violence itself but its corrosive effect on trust. Democracies depend on social cohesion. Extremists seek to fracture that cohesion—pitting communities against each other, fuelling conspiracy theories, and undermining faith in governments already seen by many as self-serving. From Rochdale to Washington, distrust creates fertile soil for those who preach hatred as solution.
Lone Wolves, Organised Packs
Today’s terrorism is often carried out by “lone wolves,” individuals radicalised online, but networks are never far behind. Shadowy chatrooms and encrypted groups provide the doctrine, the encouragement, and sometimes the weapons. A young man in Yorkshire, a militia enthusiast in Michigan, a zealot in Dresden—separated by oceans yet bound by algorithms.
A Failure of Foresight
Policing has struggled to keep pace. Different agencies count incidents differently, some dismissing hate-fuelled murder as “ordinary crime,” others reluctant to admit the political currents within. The result: patchy data, skewed resources, and families left asking why warning signs were missed. Political leaders, meanwhile, tiptoe around the problem when the perpetrators resemble their own constituents.
The Local Angle
Here in Greater Manchester and across Lancashire, the conversation too often stops at the threat from abroad. Yet it was on these very streets that grooming gangs and council cover-ups once showed us how systemic failure can fuel resentment. If officials turn a blind eye again—this time to extremist cells, racial hatred, and political violence—then we risk a domestic storm far deadlier than anything imported.
The Road Ahead
Countering terrorism in 2025 demands more than surveillance cameras and new laws. It demands an honest reckoning with inequality, polarisation, and disillusionment. Security services must be resourced to meet the scale of the threat, yes, but communities must also be empowered to resist the lure of hate.
Because terrorism is not just a security problem; it is a social sickness. And until we treat it as such, terrorism will remain our biggest threat—not from “them” abroad, but from “us” at home.