International Terrorism

1
International Terrorism

• What is it and how do we fight it?

2
What exactly is TERRORISM?

• There arent many terms that are more emotionally
  laden in our current political environment than
  terrorism/terrorist.
• Nations and groups want to define terrorism so
  they can exclude their own actions, but include
  those of their opponents
• Gray areas exist, but so do some clear black and
  white areas that few, if any, would question

3
Terrorism

• Involves the threat or use of violence
• involves violence that must be carried out in the
  furtherance of some broader political or social
  objective (ex mugger, not terrorist)
• Is specifically designed to have far-reaching
  psychological effects beyond the immediate
  victims. The randomness creates more fear.

4
Possible definitions

• TERRORISM IS
• The launching of reckless or indiscriminate
  attacks on civilians in order to communicate a
  message to a third party, who will invariably be
  the real enemy.
• Usually this is conducted by a subnational group
  or non-state entity(but this is controversial).

5
Terrorism or Terrorisms?

• We cant generalize about terrorism
• There are differences in terrorist groups and
  understanding these is essential for developing
  appropriate policy responses.
• Ex Irish Republican Army (IRA), AL-Qaeda,
  Hezbollah, Aum Shinrikyo all are terrorist
  groups, but very different

6
IRA (Irish Republican Army)

• Traditional terrorist group
• Movement with fairly modest political objectives
  fighting against outside domination (get Brits
  out of Northern Ireland)
• Tactics were traditional, small-scale bombings
• nationalist/separatist group
  

7
Al Qaeda The Base

• More expansive political social goals deeply
  infused with Islamic fundamentalism.
• Tactics and scale are on a totally different
  levelthe scale of the 911 attack is what made it
  different
• More groups will likely use greater levels of
  violence and unconventional methods
• Now there are more religious terrorist groups,
  1980 most were ethnic or nationalist, by 1995
  over half were religious in nature

8
Different approaches to terrorism

• These different frameworks for understanding
  terrorism imply different strategies of reaction
  as well.
• Cosmopolitan response views 9/11 as crimes
  against humanity
• Realist/Statist Response views 9/11 as an
  attack on the United States as a state and its
  people

9
Different frameworks

• Statist/Realist Response Terrorist attacks are
  acts of war and the most effective strategy for
  combating terrorism requires putting pressure on
  those states that actively support or passively
  tolerate terrorist organizations.
• Cosmopolitan/Liberal response Terrorist attack
  are criminal acts requiring an international,
  multilateral response within the context of
  international law and organizations. Long term
  strategy involves addressing root causes of
  terrorismpoverty, inequality, and discontent.

10
If we view 9/11 as acts of war

• Then we respond with the War on Terror
• But this is not a traditional war, not an armed
  conflict fought by military means between states,
  with a definite ending, etc. There will never be
  a signing of unconditional surrender in the war
  on terror.
• The War on Terror is also not purely metaphorical
  , Al Qaeda and other groups are capable of
  inflicting damage like states in war

11
Law enforcement, not military model

• 911 are crimes, not acts of warSee example of
  Oklahoma City bombing
• Terrorists are international criminal
  organizations

12
International Legal Response

• The US should have sought the establishment of an
  international tribunal with the authority to seek
  extradition or arrest and prosecution of
  terrorists.
• Refrain from unilateral or precipitous military
  action, US should hav created a unified
  international coalition with strong Islamic
  representation.
• Tribunal would be similar to the one dealing with
  former Yugoslavia.
• Intl legal and law enforcement institutions
  arent as strong or well-developed as some
  domestic ones, but threat of terrorism justifies
  strengthening them and it is necessary because
  transnational terrorism demands more intl
  cooperation
• International legal responsesbandaid after the
  fact

13
The root of the problem

• Try to understand root causes of terrorism so you
  can ameliorate or eliminate these issues
• Islamic fundamentalism..long history of Western,
  especially US support for repressive and
  authoritarian regimes in the Arab world within
  the context of a long history of Western
  hostility to Islam that dates back to crusades
• US support for Israel, Israeli treatment of the
  Palestinians, stationing of US troops in Saudi
  Arabia and now occupying Iraq.

14
Root causes

• Response to poverty and global economic
  inequality
• When people cant solve their own problems, they
  strike out irrationally, seeking foreign
  scapegoats, or collapsing into civil war over
  limited resources. This can in turn lead to a
  failed state, where terrorism might flourish.
• Feed the hands that bite us
• No justice, no peace. If justice, then peace.

15
Addressing root causes

• US should work on...providing basic health care,
  support family planning, deal with environmental
  issues like deforestation b/c overpopulation,
  poverty and political dislocation are common
  backdrops to development of terrorism, especially
  as globalization widens disparities in wealth and
  opportunity

16
Addressing root causes

• More to justice than alleviation of poverty
• More than poverty fuels terrorism... that
  profound sense of exclusion and domination at the
  domestic and international levels
• Domestically Absence of democracy and lack of
  respect for human rights foster resentment
  without possibility of nonviolent dissent...need
  some level of democratization in the Middle East
• Internationally dominance of a small handful of
  nations (esp the US) with tremendous economic,
  political and military power who wield it
  assymetrically with only a passing glance at
  multilateralism
• Reform the international and domestic
  institutions that perpetuate inequities and
  injustices.

17
Statist / Realist Rsponse

• Obviously terrorism is a crime, but it is not
  ONLY a crime, it is an act of war
• It may be a new concept of war, but it is one
  that build on and extends the classic concept,
  require a aggressive diplomatic posture.
• Krauthammerhalf-measures are for wars of
  choice, like Vietnam, where losing is an option.
  You lose and you still surviv as a nation. The
  war on terrorism is different, losing is not an
  option, it is fatal. This is no time for
  restraint, but rather righteous might.

18
Realist Strategy

• Deemphasize legal and intl organizational
  elements of antiterrorism policy, ocassionally
  useful (tracking flow of financial resources to
  terrorist organizations)
• Argue that with domestic terrorism, domestic
  agencies can combat terrorism legally and through
  law enforcement
• But international level, the parallel agencies
  and institutions arent advanced enough to fight
  terrorism. Not effective.

19
Ineffectiveness of Intl Legal Response

• After 1972 massacre by PLO of Israeli athletes at
  the olympics in Munich, UN tried to coordinate a
  set of policies to deal with international
  terrorism.
• UN couldnt even agree of a definition of
  terrorism....especally since the actions of
  national liberation movements were often seen in
  the developing world as legitimate responses to
  oppression and domination (only option for the
  weak in the face of power).

20
International Response is problematic.

• Convention Against the Taking of Hostages (1979),
  but only 97 signatories and of couse, states are
  free to withdraw.
• Interpol works to an extent, but most national
  law enforcement bodies have more intelligence and
  often wont share
• Hard to create effective international response
  in a world of sovereign states

21
Realist response to root causes argument

• Dont really know what root causes are...idea
  that poverty or inequality cause terrorism is a
  faith statement not based on compelling evidence,
  look at the terrorrist themselves...not about
  poverty, about politics of radical islam. Ex 911
  hijackers, Osama, Hezbollah, etc.

22
Realist response to root causes argument

• Even if cause is poverty and inequality, these
  arent going away any time soon, regardless of
  what we do. Threat of terrorism is NOW, in the
  present, requires a response.
• Terrorism is a manifestation of fundamental
  conflicts of interests and values (Ex
  Huntingtons Clash of Civilizations).
• Root causes people are using this arg as a
  utopian evasion of the hard task at hand

23
Realist Response

• Intractable conflict
• Not very optimistic
• Responses to terrorism must be crafted within the
  limitations of the existing state system.
• Terrorists may not be states, but terrorists,
  terrorist training facilities, and terrorist
  financial resources are all located within the
  borders of states...war against states that
  support terrorism (but what about failing
  states????)
• Last choice is regime change, replace the states
  that do support terrorism with those who dont

24
Realist Response

• admit we will never eliminate all terrorism
• Deal with terrorist orgs as threats to the
  national interest, must be defeated or deterred
• States are still critical players on the global
  level, even when it comes to controlling the
  actions of nonstate actors (ex. Terrorist orgs).

25
Intl terrorism is complicated

• The menu for policy options in fighting terrorism
  is loaded with short-term/long-term tradeoffs
• Ex Democracy in the middle East as longterm
  strategy, in short term need support of
  nondemocratic regimes
• All good things do not always come together.