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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the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes
(refer to TB pp 29)
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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?
People in New York after the attacks on the World Trade Centre.
11.1
Terrorism agents state agents state terror against other states terror against state non-state agents scale (magnitude) scope (targets)
Research on any 1 terrorist group in the world which fights for a religious cause.
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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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
12.2
AQ sought refuge with Taliban govt (AQ as state agent?) comprehensive training @ terrorist training camps
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?
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.
Social Impact
2) Social impact terrorism cause psychological stress on people home-grown terrorists a greater area of concern
13.2
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
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.
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
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)
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? 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.