State and non state terrorism

On completion of this unit the students should be able to explain the characteristics of two contemporary global crises and evaluate the effectiveness of responses to these.

Terrorism – is the threat or conduct of violent and premeditated attacks on political, economic or civilian targets with the intention of spreading fear and achieving a (usually political) goal. For example the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington in 2001.

State terrorism is violence "committed by governments and quasi-governmental agencies and personnel against perceived enemies," which can be directed against both domestic and external enemies.

The causes

Responses from key global actors

Challenges to effective solutions

One group from two of the following – state terrorism (Iran), religious groups (Al Qaeda), alternative governments, anti colonial groups, secessionist groups

What constitutes a crisis?

Traditionally the term crises implies a moment of crucial decision in the contest of immense danger, a brief period of time when one or more actors perceive a threat to their vital interests and have a very short time to react.

Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 illustrates this.

Crises heighten the threat of war as they transform the normal relations between states.

The term crises in the 21st century refer to a range of issues which threaten the security and interest of the wider global political community.

Third agenda or cross border issues – affecting a number of states at any one time and they require the joint action of the global political community and international cooperation to be resolved.

Challenge the traditional notion of security being achieve through a state maintaining the integrity of its borders and require more proactive action on the part of states to solve it.

Globalisation has increased the threat of global crises – but at the same time provides the means to solve them – through IGGS.

Negotiations between actors in the global political arena in response to a crises, most commonly concerning conflicts and natural disasters, but also economic and health crises.

When global actors work together to achieve common goals. e.g. the EU, ECB and IMF lending funds to Greece in 2010 and 2012 to prevent it defaulting on its loans and triggering a financial crisis.

Most commonly used in regards to development policies, sustainability seeks to organise states and their economies so that currents needs are meet while not jeopardising meeting the needs of future generations.

Violence used as a means of achieving one’s political objectives, commonly witness in global politics through inter state war. Traditionally perceived as an instrument of state power, violence and threatened acts of violence are increasingly used by terrorists groups as a means of achieving their objectives.

There are gaps between the aspirations of the international community to solve global crisis and their ability to do so.

Tension between state national self interest and their desire to protect their sovereignty over the collective interests of the winder international community.

Before the invention of dynamite by Alfred Nobel in the 1860s it was difficult for attackers to kill large numbers of people indiscriminately.

In the 1790s it took the resources of Robespierre’s government to round up and kill 17,000 people and turn the guillotine into the symbol of the state sanctioned policy of ‘terror’ against the enemies of the revolution.

Edmund Burke, a British politician, was the first person to use the words ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’.

Condemning the excess of the revolution he spoke of ‘those hell hounds called terrorists..let loose on the people’.

What techniques do terrorists use?

What types of groups use terrorism?

Terrorism is a global crises – turn of the 20th century there were 8 deaths of military personal for every civilian death. Now that figure has been reversed – non combatants are the targets.

Of huge concern, often expressed by US officials is threat that terrorists will find a way to deploy nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

Al Qaeda and Iran

11/09/2001 – Co ordinated hijacking of passenger jetliners targeting the heart of the USA’s political, economic and military power.

In the attack at the Khobar Petroleum Centre, four Al Qaeda militants forced their way in and shot 22 Westerners.

July 7th 2005 – Co ordinated bomb target civilians using London public transport, killing 52 and injuring 700

The near miss bombing of jetliner over Detroit - in which a would be bomber attempted mid flight to light an explosive hidden in his underwear. The jihadist, Umar Adbulmutallab was trained in Yemen.

November 2010 – A single gunman, believed to be connected with AQAP, shot 13 people in a Texas military base. Terrorism experts call this a ‘lone wolf’ scenario – and it highlights the threat that groups such as AQAP pose – as they can inspire single individuals to carry out their objectives with deadly results.

Terrorists do not limit themselves to civilian targets – economic and industrial centres of their perceived enemies may also be a target for terrorists groups, who seek to weaken their adversaries’ economies through such activities.

In 2012 a car bomb injured an Israeli diplomat’s wife in India. On the same day a similar attack was a foiled in Georgia.

In 2012 a bomb on a bus of Israeli tourists killed 6. Counter terrorism experts have identified the blast to be the work of Hezbollah, a militant Shia Islamist group, supported by Iran to the tune of $100 to $200 million annually.

Global terrorism and the threat it poses, have profoundly changed modern warfare. In the past enemy combatants were recognisable members of another state’s armed forces who wore its uniforms and fought with conventional weapons. However globalisation has broadened the geographic reach of groups that wish to harm a state through the sorts of connections that globalisation has created – technology, communications, transport and finance.

For example the 9/11 attacks were committed by 19 men from Saudi Arabia and Egypt, who learnt to fly in various parts of the world, organised the attacks in Afghanistan, Germany and the US, and received finance from at least 12 different countries, using commercial jetliners effectively as missiles to attack civilians within the US.

YEAR NO. TERRORIST INCIDENTS

2000 About 1100

2001 About 1700

2002 About 2600

2003 About 1900

2004 About 2500

2005 About 5000

2006 About 6700

A contested term –

The UN believes terrorism is “any act intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act”.

A contested term –

The UN believes terrorism is “any act intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an international organization to do or abstain from doing any act”.

The US believed this implied that a state could be a terrorist.

The terms terrorism means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non combatant targets, usually intended to influence an audience.

Terrorism – is the threat or conduct of violent and premeditated attacks on political, economic or civilian targets with the intention of spreading fear and achieving a (usually political) goal. For example the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington in 2001.

Why do groups decide to use violence to achieve their political objectives?

You need to be able to explain the causes of terrorism -

Historical – local grievances – nationalist aspirations Poverty Feeling of being oppressed and marginalised by a

generally larger & more power state or institution. Ideology – left and right wing terrorism Religion

Above terrorists share in common the belief that violence will usher in change

As Al Gore said: “another axis of evil in the world: poverty & ignorance;

disease & environmental disorder; corruption & political oppression”

Asserts that terrorism is a new threat and that it is in fact a new form of warfare.

Asymmetric warfare in which opposing groups or nations have unequal military resources, and the weaker opponent uses unconventional weapons and tactics, as terrorism, to exploit the vulnerabilities of the enemy.

All big industrial powers have advanced military capacity – terrorists cannot threaten their military superiority

But the danger of terrorism for the big powers is the security of their civilian populations as well as the stability of their economies and political systems.

Advanced industrialised economies are vulnerable to threats to their energy supplies, information systems and symbols of national pride

Most attacks use weapons which are cheap and easy to access – guns and bombs

Cost of blowing up a building or firing into a crowded market is minimal – but the cost to the object of this violence is immense

Emotional costs – lost and damaged lives

Financial costs – buildings, infrastructure, lost efficiency

9/11 cost Al Qaeda $500,000 to implement.

Compensation paid from insurance and government from people killed and businesses damaged total $38 billion.

Cost America GDP $75 billion in loses

Defence spending increased by $100 billion

Short term impact is a total of $200 billion. This is a return rate of 400,000 to 1.