Security Developments Post 9/11 in England

This paper explores the security developments in England after the 9/11 attacks and how they shaped the country's foreign policies. It discusses the establishment of the Counter Terrorism Committee, the measures taken to counter terrorism, and the role of Kuwait in global counterterrorism efforts.

Running head: SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS POST 9/11 IN THE STATE OF ENGLAND
SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS POST 9/11 IN THE STATE OF ENGLAND
Name of the Student
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Author Note

2SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS POST 9/11 IN THE STATE OF ENGLAND
Introduction
After the incident of the World Trade Center Terror Attacks, commonly known as 9/11
attacks, the security conditions have changed massively affecting millions of lives across the
globe. The impact of the terror attacks on the world after 9/11 has brought changes to the way
security and privacy were perceived and understood. The growing tension among the governing
authorities, in context to terrorism has compelled the stakeholders and state machineries to
introduce regulations and bills that provide measures to counter terrorism, by compromising
privacy and human rights to a degree that is beyond allowable. The September 2001 attacks
changed the way the world looked at security and terrorism. The impact of the 9/11 attacks
affected the whole world to some extent or other. The post 9/11 saw severe restrictive measures
being adopted across the world across several countries and with the declaration of the war on
terrorism initiated the worst global conflict ever. The Middle East was affected with severe
complications arising due to the nationality of the Hijackers being from various Middle East
nations, including Saudi Arabia. The growing tension between the western world with the
Middle Eastern nations and the war on Iraq led to development of the certain policies and
developments with respect to the security developments in the country. This paper will look into
the various developments that have taken place in Kuwait after the incident of 9/11 and the way
they shaped the foreign policies of the country.
With the incident of the September attacks, the United States of America increased its
political pressure to crack down on the political and the financial activities of the Islamist
fundamentalists. This brought about a political playoff between the moderates and the extremists
in the country (Everycrsreport.com 2019). However this brought very less effect in the politics of

3SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS POST 9/11 IN THE STATE OF ENGLAND
Kuwait and the solidarity of the extremist remained intact. The Al Sabah family, manipulated the
political arena through their control over the oil revenues and had been promoting the tribal
Islamist constituencies over the leftist and liberal reformists. This increased the importance of the
Islamist power in governance of the country (Al Sayegh 2004).
The location of Kuwait is strategically critical owing to its close proximity to Iraq, Iran
and Saudi Arabia. All of these three countries experience terrorist activities in a way that is
unique to its nature. Kuwait had not codified the act of terrorism thereby making it difficult to
take an action on such extremist activities, certain penal codes and relevant laws are there to
criminalize similar offences that alight with terrorist activities and terrorism (Scrivens 2018).
However, without defining the purview of terrorism it would create complicacies to provide
justice and bring the offenders to law.
The Counter Terrorism Committee
However in order to address the global scenario post the 9/11 attacks, the Kuwaiti
government established the Counter Terrorism Committee and submitted five reports with
relation to the security measures that have been brought in by the country (Scrivens, 2018). The
committee comprises all 15 security Councils which was formed through the Security Council
Resolutions and was adopted as a reaction to the 9/11 attacks. As a result the Resolution 1373
was adopted to ensure counter terrorist activities. The Council comprises of members with the
adequate expertise in the field and had been asked to implement the resolution across all states in
Kuwait (Everycrsreport.com 2019). A glance at the resolutions adopted will help us to analyse
the steps taken to prevent terrorist activities.
The resolution includes;

4SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS POST 9/11 IN THE STATE OF ENGLAND
 Prevention of suppressing of funding of terrorist acts.
 The criminalizing of the financial aid to terrorist activities and terrorism.
 Freezing of funds and financial assets of persons involved in terrorists activities.
 Taking adequate steps to counter terrorist activities and prevent the growth of the
terrorism.
 Denying safe passage to terrorists or terrorist activities in the soil of Kuwait.
 The states should provide regular reports that detail about the steps and processes
adopted to counter the terrorist activities. And implement the resolution 1373.
With these modifications the Kuwait e government had adopted several measures over the years
to counter terrorism and terrorist activities. The State Department report on Global terrorism
reported that the Kuwaiti government has taken adequate steps to counter terrorism by ceasing
funds and donations made to terrorist factions in Syria. The Kuwaiti government has taken
adequate measures as a part of the policy to counter terrorist activities and bring them under the
purview of the law (Scrivens 2018). Kuwait has been a member of the Middle East North Africa
Financial Action Task Force or the FATF. Several incident of freezing of assets of charity
organisations with alleged links with Al-Qaida have been done under the executive order of
13224. In association with the FATF the Kuwaiti Government has revised its law regarding
financing of terror outfits and has developed an action plan to address the weaknesses of the
country and therefore fostered their strong hold against terrorism (Gardner 2007). On April 2014,
the National Assembly passed a law that severely criminalizes terrorism financing. After 2011,
the Kuwaiti government introduced biometric finger printing at all the major International
airports and extended to the system to land and sea entry ports to ensure further security
conditions within the country. These technological developments have boosted the security

5SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS POST 9/11 IN THE STATE OF ENGLAND
developments of the country with respect to the counter terrorist activities post the 9/11 attacks.
Several modifications in the educational systems and approaches have been adopted with the
changing policies to counter terrorism in Kuwait. The government has adopted several activities
to monitor and track donations made by charity organizations and look into whether these
donations contribute to growing terrorism. Apart from passing laws to criminalize funding of
terrorist activities the Kuwaiti government has introduced several reforms in order to reduce the
threat for such activities. The online fundraising and propagandizing for terrorist activities has
been criminalized recently and has passed laws to surrender weapons held by the citizens that are
not licensed and stocking of explosives or weapons are criminalized. The government has also
issued resolutions that enforce the business organisations to install surveillances to keep a check
on suspicious activities. The Kuwaiti government has passed laws that require all the foreign and
national citizens to provide DNA samples for inclusion to a national database that would be
controlled by the government. Along with to counter extremist propaganda, the government has
also initiated anti extremist propaganda and domestics programs that aim at countering the
extremist ideology. The government also has started monitoring the clerics who are known to
provide sermons and extremist propaganda (Scrivens 2018).
In addition to these measures, the Kuwait Participates in the Global Counterterrorism
Forum or the GCF that convenes International counterterrorism experts and practitioners in order
to reduce the threat of terrorism worldwide. These measures provide confidence building
measures that create a long bonding trust within the other nations. Kuwait also is a member of
the Organisation of Islamic cooperation which promotes endeavors to protect and safeguard the
interest of the Muslim world to promote international peace. Kuwait has also taken initiative to

6SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS POST 9/11 IN THE STATE OF ENGLAND
combat nuclear terrorism and thereby and is a member of the Global Initiative to Combat
Terrorism.
With the growing global awareness and concern for combating terrorism, the
international bodies keep a strict vigilance, on the countries that are believed to promote terrorist
activities. Kuwait has been trying its best to shed its Islamic tag and create a modernist nation
based on the values that do not conflict with the Islamist philosophy. The Kuwaiti government
has realized that it is through proper education and knowledge exchange programme, that
terrorism can be curbed at its roots. The Ministry of Education, has implemented a eight month
programme to combat extremist ideologies across all public schools through teacher training and
student counseling sessions. The Ministry of Information has also initiated innovative
broadcasting programs that aim at the youth who are at a risk of getting radicalized and exposed
to violent extremism (Zagaris, 2002). The ministry of Islamic Affairs has also started a program
that takes the responsibility to train and mentor imams and monitor the expansion of extremist
philosophy through the religious institutions. With these internal and external policies and
practices Kuwait hopes to curb down terrorism. The recent years have seen decline terrorist
activities in Kuwait which provides proof of the competence of the Kuwaiti government in
combating terrorism. The growing age of electronic and digital medium has also been used
widely by the government and the government has established a presence in the social media
platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and SnapChat to reach out to the current
generation with a greater reach (Refugees 2019).
Recently, Kuwait has hosted and co-chaired the Defeat-ISIS Coalition’s Foreign Terrorist
Fighters working Group which gives a bold representation of the nation against terrorism. Post
the 9/11 attacks, the country has grown substantially with political stability accompanied anti

7SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS POST 9/11 IN THE STATE OF ENGLAND
terrorist policies and legal framework to counter such acts that promote or directly support
terrorism (Katzman 2016). The journey to achieve complete terror free environment might not be
a plausible reality, yet these measures and best practices would ensue that the terrorism is
reduced and promotion of violent extremism is curbed at an early stage giving way to a healthier
and safer environment for the citizens of the country (Counter Extremism Project 2019). Being a
member of the GCC, Kuwait has been playing a pivotal role in mediating the disputes between
the Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia over the claims of Qatari support of
terrorist activities (Katzman 2016).
The recent years have seen several confidence building measures being adopted by the
Ministry of internal Affairs and the Kuwait National Guard who have collaborated with the U.S.
Embassy’s Office of Military Cooperation. Both the government agencies underwent bilateral
military exercises with U.S. forces to increase the competency of Kuwait’s counterterrorism
practices.
Conclusion:
The September attacks on the World Trade Centre initiated the global war on terrorism
and the nation of the middle east could not refrain themselves from taking steps that facilitate the
growth of safer environment that is devoid of terrorism or terror activities. Though the Kuwaiti
government has contributed greatly in revising their policies, the implementation and execution
of the convicted terrorist and their activities have brought a rapid change in the way Kuwait
perceives terrorism as of now. It has to be also understood that Kuwait is not immune to the
consequences of terrorism and therefore they have actively contributed the countering Global
terrorism. From the above analysis of the security developments of Kuwait after the 9/11 attacks

8SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS POST 9/11 IN THE STATE OF ENGLAND
it can be understood that Kuwait has contributed considerably in combating terrorism and earned
a formidable place among the Gulf nations practicing Islamist faith. Security developments
necessarily do not mean reinforcement or military modifications; rather it includes securing all
aspect of social, economical and most importantly political enforcements that create sustainable
growth by combating terrorism though all spheres of engagement. Kuwait has led a formidable
role in shaping the nations counter terrorism policies by enforcing the judiciary with resolutions
and laws that criminalize such acts of terrorism and terrorist activities. Social security measures
are also an important part in combating terrorism and educational training and monitoring of the
imams are some these activities that Kuwait has followed to curb terrorism at its root. The role of
these security measures can never be undermined and the success achieved will be a long term
return that will pave way to a better and safer future for the country. The political security
developments that Kuwait has taken include its membership in leading governing bodies that
work together to combat terrorism and the inclusion in the GCC and the Middle East and North
Africa Financial Action Task Force or the MENAFATF and the Financial Action Task Force or
the FATF comply with the political developments that provide strategic importance to Kuwait in
combating terrorism within and outside the country. The legal framework being revised allow
Kuwaiti judiciary to retribute the convicted therefore confirming the solidarity to combat
terrorism in all its form.

9SECURITY DEVELOPMENTS POST 9/11 IN THE STATE OF ENGLAND
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