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It simply does not always show up in the quotation.
One of the biggest problems in the private security market is that contractors are very often selected almost exclusively on the basis of the lowest price. As though security were a simple, comparable cost rather than a critical service carrying real responsibility.
The requirement is reduced to a single phrase:
“Fill the posts.”
But security is not simply about filling posts.
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For many years, terrorism was seen as something distant. A threat associated with war zones, major capitals, military installations or highly symbolic targets.
The reality, however, is different.
Terrorism does not begin at the moment of an attack. It begins earlier.
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“Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.”
“Furthermore, I am of the opinion that Carthage must be destroyed.”
History attributes the phrase to Cato, who would conclude his speeches in the Roman Senate with it, even when the subject was something else.
For Cato, Carthage was more than an adversary. It was an unresolved strategic issue. Perhaps that is where the phrase’s real power lies.
At some point, every organisation and every management team has its own “Carthage”.
Read more: Carthago delenda est – The strategy of persistence
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When everyone is an Expert, Specialist or Advisor.
A brief look at LinkedIn is enough to see that the security sector has acquired more titles than it may be able to substantiate.
- Security Experts
- Security Specialists
- Risk Consultants
- Security Advisors
- Executive Protection Specialists
- Corporate Security Professionals
- Strategic Security Experts
And the list goes on.
The issue, of course, is not the title itself. Every professional needs a clear way to describe their work. The problem begins when the title stops describing professional reality and starts replacing it.
An impressive title can be created in seconds. Genuine professional competence takes years.
It requires experience, responsibility, mistakes, decisions, real incidents, people management and, above all, the ability to recognise a risk before it becomes an incident.
Security has another particular requirement: knowing is not enough. You must be able to put that knowledge into practice.
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When fear takes on a face.
A threat is not always imaginary. Real adversaries, conflicts and dangers do exist. Recognising a threat, however, is different from constructing an image of the enemy.
Propaganda gives fear a face, a name, a group or an ideology. It creates two camps: “Us” and “Them”. The adversary is simplified, stripped of nuance and gradually turned into an explanation for every problem.
When the enemy is overestimated or underestimated, an objective assessment of the actual risk is lost.
A common enemy rallies people together. It unites groups, justifies decisions and can become a powerful instrument of leadership and control. For this mechanism to work, the enemy does not always have to attack. It is enough to remain threatening.
Read more: Deception, propaganda and the construction of the enemy – Part 3