Global Terrorism: A Worldwide Challenge

This article discusses the global issue of terrorism, its impact on people and businesses, and the need for a concerted global response. It covers counterterrorism bodies, gaps in governance, and the European Union's counter-terrorism strategy.

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Introduction
Almost every community whether modern or ancient faces challenges in order to rise or
shine. Every individuals have to cope with these problems in order to survive. These
challenges can often lead to destruction or other unfavourable outcomes if left unattended.
The same is truth with present context when the world is facing similar kind of problems
whose outcome may be in the form of mass destruction or in other word, terrorism. The main
reason for this arises due to the fact as no one in the current time is willing to give other’s
right of living. It is considered as one of the worst and serious agenda existing in almost
every part of the world.
Terrorism is indeed a global issue as it has affected millions of people in number of ways.
Many people have lost their life globally due to this evil act. It has affected many businesses
around the world which eventually impact the economy of the state. Since 2000, the act of
terrorism has significantly increased. It is said that there has been more than nine times
increase in deaths during this time period. It has increased from 3329 to 32,685 in 2014.
There was 80% increase in death rate in 2013-2014 (Myers). Although, the highest level of
these activities is found in the middle east and south Asia, it has also significantly affected
other parts of the world. The network of the terrorism operates as none state actors. These
terror groups around the world take undue advantage of the interconnected international
systems, communication and transit and reach to different corners of the globe (Wilcox).
These terror groups not only run its operations in a single country but in other parts of the
world. For example: ISIS runs its operations from Iraq as well as from Syria.
There are several counter terrorism bodies, instruments from different international
community and new initiatives to address the threats of terrorism around the world. There are

more than 30 agencies within the United Nations and more than 16 departments and agencies
in the United States, which closely monitors and conduct relevant work on this issue. These
agencies have helped in rallying the global efforts for counterterrorism (Makinda 94). The
United Nations oversees around 16 conventions which focus on several aspects of terrorism
including hijacking, terror finance, hostage situation, acquiring weapons of mass destruction,
etc. Although threat perception varies as many members of the Un keeps terrorism on lesser
priority in comparison to other issues like HIV AIDS or crime, while the United States justice
department still ranks terrorism on top most priority even after all these years of 9/11 attack
( Schuurman 9). The UN security council has helped in strengthening international legal
foundation efforts for countering terrorism by initiating several binding resolutions (The
Global Regime for Terrorism). In order to oversee the implementation of counterterrorism
resolutions which were create dafter September 2011, the UN of security council established
CTC (Counter Terrorism Committee) and CTED (CTC Executive Directorate). The main
objective of this CTC is to analyse the state involvement in implementing resolutions,
evaluation of short comings or gap in the state and assisting the donor for financial and
technical aid. Similarly, there are 1540 committees which supervise the implementation of
UNSCR 1540 whose main objective is to obligate member states to limit or prevent non-state
actors from obtaining the weapons of mass destruction.
There are several factors and gaps in governance which hinders in the resolution to terrorism.
The corruption along with poor governance greatly affects the country’s ability to fight terror.
The corruption not only weakens the government the government actions or effectiveness but
also provides the opportunity to terrorist groups to exploit the situation according to their
objective. Further, corruption in the state security, rule of law, institutions like army police,
judicial system worsen the situation and is considered to be a matter of greater concern
(Terrorism, Corruption And The Criminal Exploitation of Natural Resources). The corruption

in the army has not only made the armies actions less effective but it has also weakened its
ability to halt, terrorist group like ISIL or Boko Haram. The corruption in the defence not
only describes about the sales commissions but it also means the soldiers are fighting with
less equipment or inadequate or no equipment at all. For instance, in Nigeria the soldiers or
the security personnel were not given weapons to combat the anti-Boko Haram group due to
which thousands of people lost their lives. The corruption and rampant fraud in hiring or
procurement process gave rise to this situation (Marcella). The corruption also leads to illegal
export of weapons including weapons of mass destruction in the border areas. The other gaps
include the lack of Universal agreement over certain decisions to counter terrorism or
weakens the effort in the formation of concerted global response. The multilateral action gets
influenced or affected from enforcement of existing instruments and inadequate compliances.
Although, there has been improvement in the deradicalization and counter radicalization
initiatives, the progress is still slow or lacks in the states having limited expertise and
resources (Silke). The counterterrorism regime also lacks a global central body directed
towards terrorist prevention and response.
The European Union in 2005 developed strategies to fight terrorism globally in order to make
the European state safer (EU counter-terrorism strategy). These strategies focussed on four
fundamental pillars:
Prevent: the main objective of European Union under this is address the radicalisation and
terrorist recruitment. The Union adopted strategy for combating radicalization and
recruitment to counter terrorism in 2008. The strategy was further revised in 2014 in response
to evolving trends including the involvement of foreign fighters, lone actor terrorism and the
use of social media for terrorism.

Protection: the protection of the citizens of the state along with the infrastructure and making
less vulnerable to terrorist to terrorist attack is second on the list of European Union counter
terrorism strategy. This mainly includes securing the cross-country border areas, securing the
transport facility, securing strategic targets and making critical infrastructure less valuable to
attack.
Pursue: the European Union is working with an objective to hinder terrorist motive or
capacity of planning, organizing and producing these terrorists under justice. In order to
achieve this, the EU has been improving the cooperation and information exchange between
judicial authorities and policies, by strengthening national capabilities, preventing of their
means of communication and support.
Respond: Under this, the European Union prepares, manages in order to minimize the
consequences of terrorist attack.
Conclusion and Recommendation:
From the above paper, it is evident that terrorism is not only limited to particular state or
country but it is a global issue which has transcended many borders and has become a
worldwide challenge which can only be controlled through a proper strategy and resources.
There should be a separate central global body dedicated for terrorist prevention and
response. There should be a universal agreement and common goal in order to formulate a
concerted global response against this issue. The developed countries should assist under
developed countries facing these issues such as Nigeria, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan etc. with
required resources and aids to counter terrorism. There should be a global agreement and
support over international technological cooperation and law enforcement. For example; after
9/11 the interlope introduced a global database which allows the member nation to share

counter terrorism strategies and maintain a list of terrorism suspect. Lastly there should be a
standard norms and effective monitoring over the use of nuclear equipment and materials to
stop its illegal uses.
References
EU counter-terrorism strategy. 9 February 2018. 4 July 2018.
Makinda, Samuel. "Terrorism in International Society: An Eclectic Perspective." Journal of
Asian Security and International Affairs (2016): 90-101. 3(1).
Marcella, Gabriel. International Terrorism -- A War Without Boundary: Ways to Combat. 14
March 2016. Document. 4 July 2018.
Myers, Joe. How has terrorism changed since 2000? 14 March 2016. 5 July 2018.
Schuurman, Bart. "Research on Terrorism, 2007–2016: A Review of Data, Methods, and
Authorship." Terrorism and Political Violence (2018): 1-13.
Silke, Andrew. Research on Terrorism. n.d. Document. 4 July 2018.
Terrorism, Corruption And The Criminal Exploitation of Natural Resources. October 2017.
Document. 4 July 2018. Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/investment/Terrorism-
Corruption-Criminal-Exploitation-Natural-Resources-2017.pdf
The Global Regime for Terrorism. 31 August 2011. 5 July 2018. Retrieved From
https://www.cfr.org/report/global-regime-terrorism
Wilcox, Philip. Terrorism Remains a Global Issue. 2016. 6 July 2018. Retrieved From
https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=3579