A Thought on Global Terrorism

The World Trade Center attack on 9/11 sent shockwaves across the globe. For the first time, the world saw the true face of terrorism. Thirteen years after the attack at the heart of American soil, terrorist groups continue their war against, not just America, but other free nations. Just recently gunmen who identified themselves as terrorists killed eleven people at the Paris newspaper Charlie Hebdo (Laurent 2015). The attack once again reminded the world of how the terrorist groups have become stronger and how our efforts remain futile. This therefore pose a question as to how to effectively control and prevent global terrorism once and for all.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines terrorism as “violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law; intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping,” (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2014). Terrorism is therefore a new kind of war and many suggests that the old rules of waging a war against another nation simply do not apply. This is in fact supported by a study on terrorist groups conducted by political scientist Seth G. Jones, and senior management scientist of RAND, Martin C. Libicki, which found that military force remains to be an ineffective way of dealing with terrorist groups. The researchers did an analysis of 648 terrorist groups, from 1968 to 2008, and found that the use of military force rarely puts an end to terrorist groups (Jones and Libicki 2008, xv).

It has been more than 10 years since President George W. Bush declared ‘war on terror’ and adapted new laws that involve open and covert military operations as well as domestic policing. After ten years, it is clear that the “war on terror” simply promoted more violence as it challenged the terrorist groups. In a study mentioned above, the most effective way of ending terrorist groups is by giving them political recognition (Jones and Libicki 2008, xv). As such, in order to prevent these groups from conducting terrorist acts, it is better to have an open dialogue with them and discuss what they want.

Groups that are religiously motivated take longer to end and the best way to deal with them is by policing and intelligence (Jones and Libicki 2008, xv). This is because religious terrorist groups are in several ways similar to cult groups in their beliefs and actions (Doughten n.d.). Thus, instead of full military force, it is better to gather intelligence, attack the key leaders and strengthen the security of one’s nation, as what Jones and Libicki suggested (2008, xv).

In controlling and preventing global terrorism there is no single solution since there are different types of terrorist groups. However, it is clear that the use of military force is not an effective way of ending the problem. The best way therefore is to address the root causes of terrorism, which are poverty, politics and religion. Alleviating poverty on regions can lessen the problems caused by the left-wing or nationalist groups and will prevent them from conducting terrorist acts. Welcoming political terrorist groups on political arena can put an end to such groups while religious tolerance will lessen acts of violence.  Terrorism will not end in a day or in a month but with these initiatives eventually, the acts of terrorism will end until the groups themselves are finally disbanded.

Works Cited

Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2014. "Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S. Code." Federal Bureau of Investigation. Accessed January 26, 2015. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism-definition.

Jones, Seth G., and Martin C. Libicki. 2008. How Terrorist Groups End Lessons for Countering al Qa'ida. Sta. Monica, CA: RAND.

Laurent, Olivier. 2015. "U.S. Receives 20,000 Copies of Charlie Hebdo." Time.com. Accessed January 26, 2015. http://time.com/topic/paris-terror-attack/.