TRANSNATIONAL TERRORISM

Chapter 1 Managing Peace And Security: Regional And International Conflict

How can transnational terrorism be managed?

What are the impacts of terrorism?

Terrorism is a threat to all states, to all people, which can strike anytime, anywhere.
Quote by UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan in 2003.

Transnational Terrorism
What is it?  Transnational =  Terrorism =

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going beyond national boundaries or interests

the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes

 therefore, Transnational Terrorism =

(refer to TB pp 29)

Terrorists Or Freedom Fighters?

Recall the e.g.s of terrorist groups

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learnt in Sec 3

What are the main goals of these terrorist groups?  fight authority (govt)  fight stability (create fear in people)
In the case of a conflict involving nationalism issues, why do you think it matters when it comes to being labelled as the terrorists? Can the cause (objectives, goals) of any terrorist group be ever justified?

Terrorist attacks in London in 2005 .

Terrorist attacks in Madrid in 2004.

THE DAY THAT SHOOK THE WORLD

People in New York after the attacks on the World Trade Centre.

Terrorism A New Phenomenon?

Is the concept of terrorism new in todays modern context?

11.1

Terrorism agents  state agents state terror against other states terror against state  non-state agents  scale (magnitude)  scope (targets)

Changes in terrorism attacks over the years

The history of Terrorism.

STUDENT SLIDE PRESENTATION

Research on any 1 terrorist group in the world which fights for a religious cause.

STUDENT SLIDE PRESENTATION

Research on any 1 terrorist group in the world which fights for a nationalist cause.

September 11
Where, Who, Whom, What?  Where (location)  Who (victims)  Whom (culprit)  What (impacts)
New York World Trade Centre

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office workers from more than 30 countries perished Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda AlHistory  created in 1989 by Osama bin Laden

12.1

 members include Arab volunteers who had gone to Afghanistan to fight Soviet troops in the 1980s  Osama bin Ladens involvement  Al-Qaedas goals to use terrorism to remove Western influence from Muslim countries create global Islamic calliphate

Significance Of Al-Qaeda AlWhy is AQ significant? 1) Membership  multi-national network of members

12.2

 AQ sought refuge with Taliban govt (AQ as state agent?)  comprehensive training @ terrorist training camps

Some of the known terrorist groups with links to Al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda Al2) Operations  attacks across the continents  sharing of expertise, transferring of resources, conducting joint operations  increasing soft targets in operations 3) Ideology

12.2

 deliberately & effectively spread in anti-West. ctys  justification of violence for their cause  misuse and misinterpretation of religious concepts  ideology rejected by major Islamic groups

Map showing some of the places where attacks were carried out by groups associated with Al-Qaeda

We fear flying, we fear travelling, we fear certain countries, we fear certain religions, we fear certain people, we fear the shoes they wear, we fear cargo ships, imported goods, letters and parcels in fact we fear everything around us we are going to feel this fear and the consequences for a very long time.
Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, speaking at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum in 2003.

Impact Of Terrorism
Terrorism seeks to  bring about economic and social disruption  gain media prominence/ coverage for their cause  destroy key properties and lives to hurt the govt

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Refer to TB pp 35. How does terrorism provoke economic, social and political fall-out?

3 impacts  economic impact  social impact  political impact

Economic Impact
1) Economic impact  loss of life and property high insurance costs incurred US $40 billion  decline in airline businesses/ tourism people afraid of flying

13.1

e.g. in US, govt had to provide economic aid to help airlines tourist arrivals fell drastically e.g. in Bali, after 2002 bomb blast, Indo govt had to provide assistance to Balinese who had lost their livelihood

Tourists waiting to get flights out of Bali after the 2002 attack.

Economic Impact
 increase in govt spendings to cater for increased security

13.1

spendings in securing key installations and holding emergency exercises e.g. in Singapore, SCDF held Exercise Northstar V, involving 2000 personnel from 22 agencies

British police and military patrolling the airports after terrorist attacks in London.

Members of the Singapore Civil Defence Force during Exercise Northstar V.

Social Impact
2) Social impact  terrorism cause psychological stress on people  home-grown terrorists a greater area of concern

13.2

 terrorism may strain racial ties and create knee-jerk reactions

After the London incidents in July 2005, we asked ourselves whether we should do more. The threat of extremist terrorism was not going away and increasingly, we see involvement by homegrown elements. We asked ourselves, How would our people react after a terrorist attack in Singapore, especially if the perpetrators were home-grown? While we think that our good communal relations built up over the years would stand us in good stead, we also realised that this not to be taken for granted. We know that it could be difficult for communities to remain calm and avoid knee-jerk reactions after a crisis has happened. Extremist rhetoric and sensitive political developments around the world can have a bearing on our people over time. We must prepare our people to be psychologically and socially resilient.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng on the Community Engagement Programme January 2007.

Political Impact
3) Political impact

13.3

 govt has a duty to keep citizens safe from terrorism  govt to introduce intrusive legislation countering terrorism  security vs individual freedom & privacy balance? aimed at wheres the

Managing Transnational Terrorism

Efforts to curb threat of transnational terrorism 1) ASEAN effort

14.1

 ASEAN govts pledged themselves to cooperate against transnational terrorists  through information and intelligence exchange terrorist activities disrupt

 e.g. Convention on Counter-terrorism signed by ASEAN govts at annual summit in Philippines  case study: in 2002, Philippine authorities arrested JI bomb-maker based on info provided by Spore

Participants at the 12th ASEAN Summit where an anti-terrorism accord was signed.

Managing Transnational Terrorism

2) International effort  UN passed resolutions to stop terrorism  the resolutions all member states are to:

14.2

freeze the financial assets of terrorists and their supporters deny them travel and safe haven prevent terrorist recruitment and weapons supply share info and criminal prosecution

Managing Transnational Terrorism

 UN also set up a Counter-Terrorism Committee  results:

14.2
for?

more than US $200 million terrorist funding seized more than 4000 terrorist suspects arrested  limitations: terrorist able to evade security restrictions imposed by govts terrorists continue to recruit and influence people to their cause through widespread use of media (e.g. Internet)

Managing Transnational Terrorism

3) Individual effort

14.3

 everyone has a role to play to counter threat of terrorism to deny terrorist space in society  people must be clear and firm in their stand against ideas that fuel terrorism  people are to actively reject ideas of propagated by terrorists

Terrorism At A Glance
The nature of terrorism today  active in an increasingly connected world

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 not bounded by specific contexts (for e.g. religion, ethnic origin, nationality or geographical location)  tends to associate faith with terrorism  wide terrorist operatives and active recruitment via communication media  ctys will have to play a more active role to counter radical and extremist influences

What are the consequences of terrorist acts on people?

What are the consequences of terrorist acts on people? Terrorism causes people to feel unsafe when carrying out their daily activities. It may also lead to a worsening of relations between different ethnic and religious groups as some groups are perceived to sympathise with the terrorists cause. There are adverse economic consequences arising from terrorist acts. Besides the damage to property and the cost of rebuilding, there would also be loss of revenue due to a decline in tourism and investment. Terrorist acts can also cause political problems as they can lead to a loss of confidence in the leaders ability to rule the country properly. Terrorist acts lead to loss of innocent lives.