International Terrorism
Draft 1
Almaty, 2009
International Terrorism 3
International terrorism
September 11 terrorist act has become initial point of current international terrorism. On that
morning, Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked commercial passenger airliners and crashed two of
them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone
on board and many others working in the buildings. There were people from different
countries in the World Trade Center complex at the time of the attacks and most of them
were innocent civilians. The rebuilding process has started on the World Trade Center site,
but this tragic event will always in people’s heart. Although The United States responded to
the attacks by starting a program for fighting against terror, terrorist groups act villainously
around the world. The US government is responsible for state security that is still threatened
Terrorism is the methodical use of terror especially as a means of compulsion. US have a law
(USA Patriot Act) which defines acts of domestic terrorism as acts that are dangerous to
American citizens’ life (Terrorism, 2009). Terrorists substantially want to affect the conduct
between the years of 1980 and 2000, 250 of the 335 incidents confirmed as terrorist acts in the
United States were carried out by American citizens (Terrorism, 2009). There are several
causes for existence of terrorism. Firstly, complicated political situation in “hot spots”, like
Middle East, is conducive to international terrorism development. It should be noted that most
terrible terrorist acts occur in countries with political confusion. Secondly, terrorist do not fear
prison punishment or even death sentence. Frequently it is too hard to find guilty of terrorist
acts and punish them. The last one is the American foreign policy. US want to be the most
influential country in the world and impose its policy on other countries. But those American
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actions provoke displeasure and protest in countries that want to be independent of others.
Terrorism is the greatest humanity problem in XXI century that damage strategy objects and
kill huge number of innocent people. For example, 2,974 victims and the 19 hijackers died in
the September 11 attacks. About 17,400 civilians were in the World Trade Center complex at
the time of the attacks. Twin Towers of the World Trade Center collapsed within two hours,
destroying nearby buildings and damaging others (September 11, 2009). Terrorism threat still
remain and not only in US. Undoubtedly, something must be done in US to stop domestic and
international terrorism.
The first possible solution is international committee which will be managed by US. This
committee would be strong and powerful organization that influences on complicated political
situation all around the world. Other countries have similar problem of terrorism threat so
they will interested in creation of committee and follow after world power. There is already
2008). The greatest advantage of this solution is that terrorism control will be conducted on
transnational level. All countries should struggle against terrorism threat together. Also,
international committee will allow countries to create uniform laws for punishment terrorist
groups. For example, UN Commission on Human Rights has developed the special law as a
punishment for terrorism (Rizvi, 2005). Terrorists would not systematically implement their
insidious planes against humanity. The greatest disadvantage is that international committee
will be under the direction of only one country – US. Such sole management may cause
different complaint from other leading countries. Another disadvantage is the supporting
money for this committee. It is well known that such international organizations need large
sums of money annually. In the existing financial situation US’s budget can not allow invest
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money for this expensive project. Third disadvantage is that nobody can be sure that
international committee will work effectively. Last events that occur around the world show
us that terrorism still threat humanity with mortal danger. And safety precautions do not yield
results. Finally, in spite of the fact that international committee can be the modern solution of
terrorism threat it will be very complicated for US to create and carry out investment for this
committee.
The second and the most cost-effective solution would be development and regulation
National Security Strategy (NSS) for current situation. I suggest this alternative because it is
the most feasible. First, US are the world leader and it can struggle against terrorism by
oneself. Second, the American government was faced with terrorism problem more than other
countries’ government and it has a big experience. Government is aware of the terrorist
methods. US have already had NSS that was corrected after September 11 attacks (Doyle,
2007). The greatest advantage of this solution is that the US government has a big experience
George Bush started the “War against terrorism”. Uniting Nations also has recommendations
for a Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy that are closely connected with NSS (UN
Involvement, 2006). Moreover, after this tragic event US have spared more attention for
national security. Struggle against international terrorism has become a part of US external
policy and strategic goal. The greatest disadvantage of this solution is the high price of this
project. It will cost vast sums of money for US budget. Also this solution has the problem of
bureaucracy. According to Doyle, “NSS may have gone through as many as 21 drafts before it
was released” (Doyle, 2007). Although NSS may cause some financial and bureaucracy
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problems, this project can effectively fight with terrorism threat and reduce terrorist acts not
Even though the American government has to invest money in the project, the second solution
is the best because it has the advantages of the other alternatives without major disadvantages.
Therefore I recommend that the US seriously consider implementing this solution. In the
meantime, I suggest to American government develop and adapt its National Security
Strategy for current situation in the world. By struggling against terrorism on the higher level,
the American government can secure its citizens and reduce terrorist attacks in US.