AN ENDURING THREAT: EUROPE’S ISLAMIST TERROR NETWORKS THEN AND NOW Understanding domestic security is tied to overseas conflicts and removing safe havens for terrorist groups through diplomatic and military action must be part of counter-terrorism policy; •! Many of the terrorist plots detailed in the biographical profiles of the old al-Qaeda-linked network had their germination in Afghanistan, while the safe haven available to IS in Syria gave senior members the ability to plan and train for the Paris attacks. Removing these safe havens can disrupt the ability of groups to plan and carry out complex attacks, and policy-makers must be prepared to use all diplomatic and military options on the table to do so, as well as to make the case that this action will be as important in challenging terrorist networks as the smaller-scale measures working to identify those at risk of radicalisation. ! ! 4 !