This year's BKA Autumn Conference was held in Mainz from 18th to 19th November 2015.

After more than ten years' experience of fighting international terrorism - from the attack in the USA in 2001 up to the most recent attacks in Europe in 2015 - we can draw the following two conclusions. Firstly, the phenomenon continues to display a dynamic development throughout the world and is evident in very different societies and cultures. Secondly, in spite of all the undisputed successes we have achieved, there is still an obvious need for improved - preventative and repressive - suppression concepts.

The antecedents underlying international terrorism are diverse. The complexity of the phenomenon and its manifestations suggests that looking at the issue exclusively from a police or home affairs' perspective is inadequate if we are to fully understand the phenomenon. This is the point of departure of this year's BKA Autumn Conference. From the different perspectives of relevant actors in society - ranging from the security authorities to policymakers, the media and academia to various civil society institutions - a current outline of central questions is to be drawn up. How do these actors perceive the phenomenon from where they stand? How can we, together, better comprehend the phenomenon? Indeed, are our repressive and preventative efforts currently such that we can address these challenges effectively?

As in previous years, the Autumn Conference provides a forum which brings together national and international experts from diverse areas of society and give them an opportunity to share and exchange their thoughts on these vital questions and discuss appropriate measures. In this discourse concrete approaches and points of orientation are to be identified with a view to making co-operation between relevant social actors better and more effective. Together with you, we have searched for preventative and repressive approaches which will make it possible or easier to better address international terrorism in its regional and phenomenological diversity.