CRITICAL COMPLEXITY: How to evaluate the management of transboundary wickedness. The case of the evaluation of the Dutch counter-terrorism strategy

Wicked problems which cross boundaries between multiple countries, policy domains, and disciplines present major challenges for evaluation, forcing researchers to study networks, chains of cause and effect, and draw on... [ view full abstract ]

Wicked problems which cross boundaries between multiple countries, policy domains, and disciplines present major challenges for evaluation, forcing researchers to study networks, chains of cause and effect, and draw on multiple scientific disciplines.

Beyond this category of cross-boundary wicked problems, however, there is another class of problems which truly transcend boundaries and present another set of challenges for evaluation. Problems such as counter-terrorism, the financial crisis, and climate change, entangle the distinction between cause and effect, the demarcation between local and global problems, and between multiple knowledge systems. They represent a class of transboundary wicked problems which are not about uncertainty or multiplicity, but about ambiguity and global immediacy.

We draw on the literature on ambiguity, complexity, wickedness and transboundary issues, to conceptualize transboundary wickedness. We then draw on our recent evaluation of the Dutch national counter-terrorism strategy to show how transboundary wicked problems can potentially be evaluated. We discuss the importance of (1) sound conceptualization, (2) flexible theorization, and (3) expressive illustration, illustrating these principles through our evaluation approach of the counterterrorism strategy in practice.

Key words: Wicked issues, transboundary wickedness, (counter)terrorism, evaluation, research principles