Reshaping the world’s Responses to Terror Matrix
Context:
- There have been a flurry of meetings and conferences worldwide on the topic of battling terrorism. The list, which resembles an alphabet soup, includes occasions like the No Money for Terror (NMFT) Conference, meetings of the UNSC-CTC, and an Interpol Conference where terrorism was a key theme.
There is no consensus regarding terrorism:
- In October 2022, India will host a special session of the UNSC-CTC in Mumbai and New Delhi. The focus of the session was on cutting-edge and modern technology.
- India presided over a special briefing on the “Global Counter-Terrorism Architecture” as it took over as the UN Security Council’s president in December.
- Recent events in India included the third “No Money For Terror” (NMFT) conference on AML/CFT (anti-money laundering and fighting funding of terrorism).
- A recurring issue is the requirement for fighting a coordinated war against terrorism. But not much seems to have changed. For instance, India and Pakistan have continued to insult one another rather than cooperating despite being two of the countries most badly affected by terrorism. The vast majority of people in the world are still moving down their paths. The war against terrorism is not being helped by any of this.
Rising threats:
- In 2016, the IS carried out a series of other spectacular attacks in Asia, Europe, and North Africa (some in collaboration with its allies). Since then, there has been a certain decline in intensity, but this is somewhat offset by indications of new, complex relationships among various terrorist organisations. Al-Qaeda and IS fighters appear to have moved their attention to Africa and northwest Asia while many terrorist groups continue to attack Europe and Asia.
- Al-operations Qaeda’s in particular are spreading out more and more. In addition to being well-known in Afghanistan, it is also flourishing in Eastern and the Sahel regions of Africa. Today, there is no doubt that the Taliban is one of al-most Qaeda’s dependable friends. Al-Qaeda has several opportunities to expand its influence in the region thanks to the Haqqani Network, which is a component of the new Taliban government.
Fresh mixture:
- It would be incorrect to conclude that the increase in terrorist activities was the main driving force for the recent rush of meetings relating to terrorism. There seems to have been very little debate of how to deal with the latest influx of new terror organizations—those other than al-Qaeda and the IS—whose operations have expanded and become more ubiquitous.
- Once more, there are few indications that the debates took into account the fact that ideology combined with religious fanaticism posed a bigger threat than before. Instead, it appears that many governments have used the “handle” of terrorism as a practical means of gaining support for their various agendas, despite the fact that their justifications lack much substance.
Persistent difficulties:
- Many of the prior problems are still present. The decline in violent terrorist incidents does not, however, indicate a decline in terrorism.
- Unfortunately, security experts across India have not correctly understood a number of recent terrorist attacks, including those in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) and Mangaluru (Karnataka). The incidents may not seem like much, but they are indicators of growing radicalization and show that a large base is being built in the southern region, which may lead to the emergence of organisations that are inspired by the Indian Mujahideen (of the early 2000s).
Steps needed:
- Counter-terrorism experts need to keep a close eye on these operations as well as the connections that transnational terrorist organizations—whose existence is less well known than that of al-Qaeda and the IS—are establishing (under the radar).
- World leaders shouldn’t blindly accept assertions that terrorism is on the decline or assign terrorists to good or terrible categories based solely on national preferences.
- Anti-terrorism organisations around the world need to hone their competencies in order to effectively confront “new age terrorism.” Additionally, there is a clear need for closer cooperation and the sharing of operational plans and intelligence across international counterterrorism organisations.
- They have to evaluate the dangers posed by Internet-enabled terrorism, which is defined as acts of violence organised and commanded by controllers positioned thousands of kilometres away. “Enabled terrorism” and “remote control terrorism” are examples of these contemporary forms of terrorism.
Comprehensive Convention against International Terrorism (CCIT):
- The following step is to complete the list of components needed to halt terrorism globally and revive the CCIT plan, which has lain dormant in the UN headquarters since India first proposed it in the 1990s.
CCIT included the following important objectives:
- To create a standard definition of terrorism that all 193 UNGA members will include in their respective national penal codes.
- To eliminate terror camps and make all terrorist organisations illegal.
- To impose unique legal penalties on all terrorists.
About Terrorism:
- According to this convention, anyone who engages in behaviour that causes either:
- Death or serious bodily injury to any person;
- Serious damage to public or private property, including a place of public use, a State or government facility, a public transportation system, an infrastructure facility, or the environment, is guilty of the following offences: Accepting the CCIT would send messages about the need to prevent terrorism that are far more persuasive than the useless platitudes made by world leaders at conferences. The fight on terror would take on new meaning if the UN approved the CCIT.
Conclusion:
- Counterterrorism experts will once more need to diversify their knowledge to include multi-domain operations and participate in terror “gaming,” both of which are essential in the contemporary world.
