Terrorism as a global phenomenon and the globalization of encountering it

Introduction:

The phenomenon of terrorism has become the first enemy of civilized societies and a threat to the international peace and security.

Encountering terrorism grew as a matter of urgency to forestall the state of chaos that seeks to drag the world back to the dark ages.

It became obvious that terrorism is no longer the product of its own local environment, nor its dangers and threats are limited to the internal or regional affairs of a single country, as it poses an international threat that menaces the whole world.

We often find one organization with many branches scattered regionally and internationally, not to mention the solidarity and coordination between terrorist organizations; for example, we may find a terror operation taking place somewhere by a terrorist who belongs somewhere else, while an organization that lies in a third place claims responsibility over the act.

Therefore, encountering terrorism is no longer an internal affairs issue, especially with the existence of terrorist organizations across borders and all the cluster groups that exist in many countries, which threaten the international safety and security.

In this regard, we find many international initiatives that emphasize the international responsibility to encounter terrorism, most notably, what the UN issued regarding the provision of the necessary international legal framework or the adoption of anti-terrorism strategies.

In this context, hereby, the fundamental problem of studying the depth and impact of the global phenomenon of terrorism manifests itself; moreover, to what extent are these anti-terrorism strategies and techniques effective?

This problem relates to a number of sub-questions:

-          What have led to global terrorism?

-          What are the adopted anti-terrorism strategies, internationally, regionally and nationally?

In this regard, we are going to study terrorism as a global phenomenon and the globalization of encountering it through the following topics:

First: The dimensions of terrorism as a global phenomenon

As we clarified earlier, terrorism as an international phenomenon comes because of the extension of a sole organization internationally to spread steadily in many countries. The organization also adopts variant terrorist operations in various countries and continents, acquiring an international feature along with it, the matter that requires global cohesion and cooperation in the fight to eradicate this phenomenon and preserve international safety and security.

Despite that there are some organizations that extended regionally, such as the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group and heterodox Christian cult, which operates in northern Uganda[1], it also operates freely in South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

According to the definition that this study highlights, only certain organizations fit the international organizations profile, most of them are Islamists, such as Daesh, Al Qaeda, and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The dimensions that form terrorism as an international phenomenon vary; this study seeks to clarify these dimensions in order to analyze this phenomenon in order to set the suitable strategies to face it.

1- The ideological dimension:

International terrorist organizations adopts an idea that revolves around establishing a caliphate, or "mastership of the world", which mainly includes all the lands once ruled by Muslims, or of an Islamic majority, which starts at the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus, the plains of Asia, reaching to the heart of Europe.

A map set by Daesh drew the outlines of its aspired caliphate, which include 13 states in a single sprawling country that includes extensive parts of three continents and dominates about half the globe[2].

Terrorists come from both developing and developed countries to join organizations in other countries and can commit terrorist operations in other countries, all out of a religious ideological concept that does not recognize borders.

Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna in his messages stipulated Islam as a nation and a nationality; therefore, the ideological dimension can contribute to the intellectual convergence and organizational loyalty among different terrorist organizations across the world.

We often find many terrorist organizations that owes allegiance to Al Qaeda, others to Daesh and many others to the Muslim Brotherhood, which are deemed branches to the mother organization that was founded in Egypt.

The ideological dimensions of terrorist organizations and brotherhoods, which gives them an international nature, are based on various aspects, including:

 

a- The definition of the Islamic nation:

Islamist groups and organizations that seek to take over the world stem from the idea of "the nation", which surpasses geographic boundaries because they do not recognize the citizenship concept that relates to a land, a borders and a nation.

There are many evidences that the aforementioned three organizations adopts this concept; for example, the map published by Daesh, which aspires a caliphate for the Islamic nation; the same applies to Al Qaeda that seeks to establish a caliphate after eradicating Americans and Jews[3].

Moreover, the Muslim Brotherhood also does not recognize the concept of a "nation", because religion for its members is the nation and the nationality as mentioned by al-Banna. Years later, MB's seventh supreme guide Mohammed Mahdi Akef stressed the exact same concept when he said "To hell with Egypt," and "I prefer a Malaysian Muslim as president of Egypt to an Egyptian Christian Copt."[4]

b- Loyalty and enmity:

Extreme Islamist organizations and brotherhoods see the loyalty of Muslim should be towards other Muslims only, while a state of enmity should be taken against non-Muslim.

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri stressed on these principles in his book "Loyalty and Enmity: An Inherited Doctrine and a Lost Reality". The same concept is adopted by the Muslim Brotherhood, which rules loyalty towards Muslims and enmity against others. It also rejects Christian authorities in any country and encourages jihad against non-Muslims, until they convert to Islam or pay the jizyah[5] (a per capita yearly tax historically levied by Islamic states on certain non-Muslim subjects).

d- Territories of peace and war:

Terrorist Islamist organizations divide the world into two territories, namely peace and war, this can clearly be found in late MB senior member Sayyid Qutb's vision of the nation and how to world is divided. This vision sees an Islamic world filled with Muslims, or any land with Muslims, is a territory of peace that must be defended, while non-Muslim lands are deemed a territory of war and Muslims must fight them.[6]

2- International and regional interference in other countries' internal affairs:

Another dimension can be identified as the Islamist solidarity against attempts of international or regional interference in the internal affairs of countries with an Islamic majority, or countries that are labeled to be Islamic. This occurred many times in the modern age. There are many cases of international interference; however, there are certain cases that significantly affected the countries, and the whole region, that witnessed interference, to describe these countries as futile, then terrorism extended and reached many countries, including:

a-The Soviet interference in Afghanistan:

Following the Saur Revolution on 1978, and the disposal and killing of Afghanistan’s first republican president, Mohammed Daoud Khan, the pro-Soviet and communist Nur Mohammad Taraki proclaimed himself the new president. In late 1979, the Soviet interference to back the Marxist government started, thus, jihad in Afghanistan sparked, and Mujahedeen started flocking to Afghanistan from all over the globe.[7]

The CIA decided to support Afghani rebels against the Soviet Union in order to weaken it, the move which was the beginning of the Soviet Union's end; Islamists pleaded the Soviet invasions enough motivation to initiate Jihad and gather solidarity, this is how Afghanistan's multinational battalions started and how it got its international nature. It is pertinent to mention that as the foreign fighters returned to their countries, arms and branches of Al Qaeda, which later was established in Afghanistan, were formed.

b- The U.S. invasion of Iraq:

The United States and Britain used the media to justify invading and occupying Iraq in 2003, in a violation to the international law, by forming an international alliance to invade it under preventive claims of disarmament mass destruction weapons, democracy violations, or the relationship of the Iraqi regime to al Qaeda, however, these claims were never proven to be true.[8] The then British prime minister Tony Blair voiced apology for the decisions that led to the UK's involvement in the 2003 Iraq War.[9]

As the U.S. forces were preparing to start its military operation in Iraq, arms of Al Qaeda were also preparing to resist the potential U.S. occupation over Iraq, and then came jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and established Al Qaeda branch in Iraq, which was later renamed the Islamic State of Iraq.

The main reason that Islamist organizations adopted was to fight the U.S. invasion over Muslim lands and to strengthen solidarity in the Islamic world; as a result, the British and U.S. aggression over Iraq opened the door for Islamist organizations and groups to gather extremists from all over the world to defend Iraq. These militias later formed Daesh, one of the most dangerous armed organizations in history, which began extending rabidly and carried out a number of terrorist operations in many countries.

c- The U.S., Ethiopian interference in Somalia

The U.S. intervention in Somalia, also known as "Operation Restore Hope" (1992-1994), led to the gathering of leaders of emerging Islamist organizations to fight U.S. forces in Somalia.[10]

Moreover, when Ethiopia interfered in Somalia in 2007 at the request of the Somali government to maintain a firm stand against the rebels, the jihadist "Mujahideen Youth Movement", one of the most dangerous Islamist movements in Africa, emerged. May extremists joined the movement under the pretext of fighting the Christian Ethiopian occupation over Somalia and Islamic lands.

The aforementioned clarifies that foreign illegal interference or invasion over countries that are described as "Islamic" opened the door for extreme Islamist movements that emerge for the purpose of resistance and then grow into an organization with aspirations to extend and gain political powers in the name of religion. Moreover, this allowed such organizations to attract members of different nationalities, allowing more recruitments and establishments of arms and branches of these organizations in different countries.

3- The tactical and strategic dimension (Cluster organizations):

Through this dimension, terrorist groups and organizations rely on the idea of establishing branches and arms in various territories and countries, for two main reasons:

-          First: To control power in these countries, thus, gaining the ability to establish the aspired caliphate. Such branches and arms swear allegiance to the mother organization. This was clearly manifested in Daesh's map, which extends around half the globe and has a single country of 13 states.

-          Second: To guarantee an everlasting organization through extension and expansion, so that eliminating a branch somewhere does not result the elimination of the mother organization itself.

A study, entitled "Internal operation forms of secret organization", by researcher Bashir al-Wendi, shed the light on the various tactics that are used by terrorist organizations and brotherhoods to expand in a way that makes it hard to be traced or encountered. Top forms of operation include hierarchy, randomness, interconnectedness, closed circles, dichotomy and clustering, while lately terrorist organizations began following a method of terrorizing without leadership, also known as "the lone wolves".[11]

4- Strategy of spreading chaos and weakening countries:

This dimension focuses on a certain idea, which is to weaken and exhausting countries to pave the way for the establishment of weak territories that will later become parts of the caliphate.

In this regard, the U.S. strategy, known as creative chaos, meets the strategies followed by these organizations; as it supported many Islamist organizations to execute its strategies in the region, allowing it to have political and economic control; the organizations supported by the U.S. in this regard were Al Qaeda, Daesh, the Muslim Brotherhood and its arms in the region.[12]

Second: International anti-terrorism strategies:

All of these dimensions led to the creation of organizations of an international nature, in terms of either composition and elements or plotting terrorist operations far from the strongholds and arms of the organization, a strategy known as "lone wolves."

The nature of these organizations made countries set various strategies to eliminate terrorist organizations. In this regard, the study will review many examples of encountering terrorism as a global phenomenon.

1- The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy:

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy following the 9/11 attacks, it is defined as a unique global instrument to enhance national, regional and international efforts to counter terrorism.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan back then expressed what should follow the terrorist attacks:

"To defeat them, all nations of good will must join forces in a common effort encompassing every aspect of the open, free global system so wickedly exploited by the perpetrators of last week’s atrocities."

In this regard, a series of UN and UNSC resolutions supported combating terrorist activities, such as resolution 1373 (2001), which established the Security Council's Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC) to monitor state compliance with is following provisions:[13]

-          Criminalization of financing of terrorism

-          Freezing and confiscation of terrorist assets, provisional measures and confiscation

-          Refrain from providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts

-          Deny safe haven, support or finance to terrorists

-          Exchange information with other government about active terrorist organizations or operations

-          Cooperate, particularly through bilateral and multilateral arrangements and agreements, to prevent and suppress terrorist attacks and take action against perpetrators of such acts

The resolution came reaffirming further that terrorism constitute a threat to international peace and security; according to the resolution, if any country failed to comply with the minimum obligations, it would pose a threat to international peace and security and an international stand shall be taken against it in accordance with chapter VII powers.[14] It also stipulated various strategies to counter terrorism through 16 mechanisms and 38 Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Forces, including 36 task forces reporting directly to the UN.

The UN cooperates in this regard with regional and branch organizations such as the European Union, the African Union, the Arab League, the ASEAN, the Organization of American States, the ECOWAS, the IGAD, and others.

The CTC further established an information exchange network in collaboration with around 32 national, regional and international counter-terrorism centers, and determined 17 field to cooperate in; a meeting is held every two years for this purpose. Also, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute was established to assist the international community in the field of counter-terrorism and prevention of violent extremism.[15]

2- International initiatives, forming counter-terrorism alliances: The U.S. and Russian example in combating Daesh in Syria

Such international initiatives that are presented by countries, especially countries of potential superpowers out of its international responsibility, to counter terrorism, pose great significance, because it takes it upon itself to form the alliance, put the strategy to eliminate terrorist organizations. There are many initiatives that are being led by countries within the framework of international legitimacy, such as the French intervention in Mali and Central Africa, or the U.S. intervention in Somalia; hereby, we will try to explore the U.S. and Russian example in combating Daesh in Syria.

a- The U.S. strategy:

In December 2014, U.S. president Barack Obama announced a strategy to fight Daesh in Iraq and Syria, U.S. military operations were initiated on December 23, 2014 against the organization in Syria; this strategy was based on several aspects:[16]

-          First: The formation of an international alliance, led by the U.S., to launch airstrikes against Daesh with the aim to weaken and contain it, and in 2015, two military advisers were sent by the U.S. to provide advice in the fight against the organization.

-          Second: Authorizing $500 million to provide U.S. military training and equipment to moderate Syrian rebels.

-          Third: Diplomatically and politically, the U.S. adopted many UN resolutions, including 2170 and 2178 to intensify international sanctions and prevent the flow of recruitment and finance to Daesh in Syria. In 2015, the U.S. hosted a high summit on countering extremism. 

b- The Russian strategy:

On September 30, 2015, Syria officially asked Russia to support it in the war against terrorist organizations and groups in the country, especially Daesh. Within the same day, Russia's upper house of parliament authorized the Russian president to use armed forces in Syria. While in the meantime, Daesh declared the establishment of the caliphate in Iraq and Syria, the map of the caliphate spread half the globe and included parts of Russia and parts surrounding the Russian borders. Daesh also voiced keenness to liberate Chechnya and parts of the Caucasia region, in addition to thousands of Caucasian recruitments who joined the organization.[17]

All of this concerned Russia that Daesh might further expand in the territory and reach its own lands, as a result, Russia intensified control over its borders to prevent any Daesh element to sneak in.[18]

The Russian strategy launched intensified airstrikes on Daesh dens, supported Syria with the required military equipment, contained the organizations' movement especially in northern Syria, and contributed to the resolving of the crisis politically. However, there is clear contradiction between Washington and the Syrian opposition on one side and Russia on the other side regarding the future of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the matter that always foils political solutions in favour of military decisions.[19]

c- Evaluating the U.S. and Russian stands:

The Russian side made sure to make its interference legitimate and based on the demand of the Syrian legitimate government. The U.S. side, on the other hand, interfered based on an international alliance, it did not gain its legitimacy from the UN or the UNSC; despite justifications by U.S. officials, it remains illegal.

After a year since the U.S. and international alliance intervention, Daesh expanded in Syria; while the Russian intervention made the terrorist organization recede noticeably as it lost some key strongholds in Mosul, Iraq and Raqqa, Syria.

In this regard, Syrian researcher Hassan al-Hassan affirmed that there is no U.S. strategy to combat Daesh and that the Russian efforts contributed significantly in containing the organization and eliminating most of its strongholds.

Al-Hassan further said the international military intervention, led by the U.S., was formed to help Daesh survive and not to eliminate it, adding that it may have sought to curtail its activities, but not to completely eliminate its existence as a terrorist organization in Syria.[20]

2- Arab initiatives and examples in combating international terrorism:

Arab-led initiatives and examples in combating the phenomenon of terrorism vary; this study will shed the light on three Arab examples of counter-terrorism efforts.

 

a- The Saudi initiative:

In December 2015, Saudi Arabia, along with 41 countries, founded the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC). The strategic vision of the coalition focuses on coordinating and consolidating efforts at the intellectual and media levels, combating the financing of terrorism, and countering all forms of terrorism and extremism by actively contributing to international efforts.[21]

b- UAE counter-terrorism efforts:

The United Arab Emirates is considered one of the most Arab countries to adopt and set clear and comprehensive counter-terrorism strategies; it blacklisted 83 organizations and groups as terrorists, not to mention adding many individuals involved in terrorist operations to the list. The UAE strategy is based on:[22]

-          Terrorism is an international phenomenon that has no religion or nation, it threats the safety of everyone and everyone should stand united against it.

-          Any confrontation should be international and approved by the UN.

-          War on terrorism goes on until complete eradication; furthermore, it should not be limited to a certain territory.

The UAE also issued a set of counter-terrorism laws and regulations, exerted efforts to limit extremist rhetoric, formed a national anti-terrorism committee, and provided military and logistic assistance in the international war against terrorism.

The UAE took part in the fight against Daesh in Syria, Iraq and the Houthis in Iran, helped the Libyan army and authority against terrorism, supported Nigeria in combating Boko Haram, and was involved in maintaining internal stability and fighting terrorism in Somalia and Central Africa.[23]

It managed to eliminate the Muslim Brotherhood branch in the country through a series of security and legislative procedures that led to the disappearance of the branch from the UAE.[24]

Moreover, the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia cooperate in gathering financial support to a number of international counter-terrorism activities, for example, the two countries allocated $130 million for the G5, a counterterror coalition that includes Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, to fight terrorism in Sahel countries and the Sahara in Africa.[25]

b- Egyptian counter-terrorism efforts:

The Egyptian official and popular stand against counter-terrorism issues is deemed settled; former Egyptian president Mohamed Hosni Mubarak was the first to call for an international anti-terrorism conference in 1986 before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Egypt's counter-terrorism strategy is based on two bases, ass announced by Mubarak:

-          First: Chasing terrorist cells and elements to complete eradication while also tracking and eliminating terrorist financing sources through the International Financial Network.

-          Second: Locating and eliminating terrorism roots, seeking a comprehensive and fair settlement to the Palestinian case. He also invited the international community to cooperate, saying, "The sword of terrorism will reach everyone."[26]

But as the Egyptian initiative to unite international efforts to set a clear definition for terrorism and mechanisms to encounter it stumbled, designating terrorists became dependent on how satisfied is the U.S. with the country, political groups, rebels or terrorist groups in respect to its own interests. Egypt went through battles against terrorism in the 80s and 90s and managed to curb it significantly.

The 72^nd session of the UN General Assembly issued a resolution that is consistent with the Egyptian vision that was presented by Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. The resolution addressed the impacts of terrorism over human rights, stressed the right of countries to combat all forms of terrorism and protect citizens against it, and that countering terrorism is an inherited human right to live a safe life.

Therefore, the state decided to establish human rights units in every ministry to promote respect for the rights of citizens and to provide the necessary means for the full enjoyment of all civil and political rights.[27]

Egypt is currently going through a major battle against terrorism that seeks to topple the country since 2013; terrorist operations targeted military and police forces, civilians, mosques, churches and public transport to incite citizens against the state and the regime.

Egypt took a set of internal steps to combat terrorism, inside the country and over borders, by encountering infiltration attempts by terrorist elements from eastern, western and southern borders. Some other mechanisms were adopted by Egypt, such as regulating public fatwas; limiting religious rhetoric to certain requirements; dropping the nationality of individuals who were tried in cases of jeopardizing public security and order; forming the Supreme Council for Combating Terrorism to set a comprehensive anti-terrorism strategy; intensifying terror crimes sanctions, especially the promotion of extreme ideas online or incitement against security forces; and boosting security procedures, especially around churches all over Egypt.[28]

In the meantime, the Egyptian Armed Forces is carrying out the Sinai 2018, a large counter-terrorism campaign that focuses on northern and central Sinai to eliminate any possible existence of terrorist elements in the territory.

Conclusion:

After this review of dimensions of terrorism as an international phenomenon and the globalization of counter-terrorism strategies, and after admitting that the majority of international terrorist organizations, which pose an international threat, are Islamist organizations, we notice the following:

There is an international Islamic and human rights fear of any possible escalation of hatred inclinations and incitement against Muslims, which might confuses Islam as a religion with Islamist organizations that commit terrorist crimes and are often supported by powerful countries. There is an Islamic fear that his might turn into an international and western hostile against Islam and Muslims, which will lead to racist practices against Muslims of western origins or individuals coming from Muslim-majority countries, such as countries of the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

Any international counter-terrorism plans are doomed to failure without defining a clear and specific concept of terrorism first; therefore, an international counter-terrorism strategy must be set to determine the following:

1-      An international agreement regarding the definition of terrorism, which separates it from opposing, separatist, rebel and political movements.

2-      Based one point no. 1, all countries are prohibited from providing safe havens for anyone involved in the execution or incitement of terrorist operations, like how Qatar, Turkey and the UK are embracing some Muslim Brotherhood members who fled to these countries and are publicly inciting against the Egyptian state.

3-      Working on a global speech that rejects hatred, violence and discrimination, and promotes citizenship, freedom of belief and practice.

4-      Punishing any country that finances or shelters terrorists or contributes to terrorist operations inside other countries.

5-      Security and intelligence cooperation among all countries to prevent terrorist operations.

6-      Resolving outstanding problems, especially the Palestinian case, while compelling Israel and the U.S. to adhere to UN resolutions regarding this case; as leaving such cases hanging creates opportunities for more violence and counter-violence.