Covert Contact 77: Australian Approaches to Counterterrorism

Levi West joins me for an October 2017 conversation about Australia's approach to counterterrorism. We begin with the terrorism studies program at Charles Sturt University, where academic research and practical experience come together. Levi describes teaching national security professionals to connect strategic understanding with current developments and communicate their assessments clearly.

We then examine the changing threat facing Australia. Attacks on Australians in Southeast Asia helped shape the country's counterterrorism priorities, while the rise of ISIS brought different pressures at home. The discussion considers foreign fighters, younger participants, shorter radicalization timelines, and the demands these changes place on security agencies.

Australia's legal framework is another central theme. We explore the tension between operational flexibility and civil liberties, including the difficulty of turning intelligence about activity overseas into evidence for a prosecution. Levi emphasizes the role of oversight, accountability, and professional culture in maintaining public trust.

Community relationships are just as important. We discuss the contribution of community information to disrupting plots and the limits of treating social problems primarily as security threats. Levi argues that education, employment, and opportunities for young people deserve attention in their own right. Programs framed only around preventing terrorism can undermine the trust they depend on.

The conversation closes with the wider problem of polarization and the ways extremist movements can reinforce one another's narratives. Tactical successes do not necessarily remove the ideas or grievances that sustain political violence. We consider what that means for a long-term response that protects the public without deepening the divisions terrorists seek to exploit.

The third week of episodes focused on Australian security perspectives continues with a discussion about Australia’s approach to counterterrorism with Levi West. Levi is the Director of Terrorism Studies at Charles Sturt University in Canberra.

This episode includes another short recollection from Fred Burton. Fred is the former deputy chief of counterterrorism at the Diplomatic Security Service and the author of the best-selling memoir GHOST: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent. His other works include Chasing Shadows: A Special Agent's Lifelong Hunt to Bring a Cold War Assassin to Justice and Under Fire: The Untold Story of the Attack in Benghazi.