Fundamentalist Islamist terrorism and counter terrorism

Résumé du document

In the past few weeks, Mr Straw, leader of the House of Commons, argued that the niqab dress, a black long costume covering the whole of the body – including the face – and required by Muslim fundamentalists in Iran, is an unhelpful symbol of separateness. Since 09/11, there is a mutual radicalization between Muslims and Western governments. This radicalization highlights a mutual incomprehension. That's why, it is crucial to avoid dangerous combination concerning the Muslim world. On the one hand, I am going to define more precisely what the fundamentalist Islamist terrorism is. And, on the other, I want to talk about a particularly relevant study concerning the “resilience” in response to terrorism. At the end of the 20th century, the world is faced a revival of religious fundamentalism, in particular Islamist religious fundamentalism. Official assessments reflect this too.

Extraits

[...] On the one hand, I am going to define more precisely what the fundamentalist islamist terrorism is. And, on the other, I want to talk about a particularly relevant study concerning the “resilience” in response to terrorism. The fundamentalist Islamist terrorism is utterly different from traditional Islamist movements At the end of the 20th century, the world is faced a revival of religious fundamentalism, in particular Islamist religious fundamentalism. Official assessments reflect this too. For instance, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service 2000 Public Report states that of the prime motivators of contemporary terrorism is Islamic religious extremism”. [...]

[...] Thanks to a fight against Westerner, these extremists want to unify the famous Oumma, the community of believers. So, their goal is millenarist and messianist. This terrorist is presented as religious. But, in fact, its connotation is only religious. Its aim is fundamentally politic. In first, the fundamentalist Islamic terrorists want to collapse the Muslim regimes which don't share their Islam's conception. In other words, they want to destroy the impious regimes like Egypt or Algeria. In second, they want to fight the Western countries in particular the United States which supports Israel. [...]

[...] To conclude, it is crucial to understand that the radical Islamist terrorists are totally different from the Islamist movements. Their goals are not compatible. Facing to the fundamentalist Islamic threat, democracies must fight with diligence. The concept of “resilience” can be useful in this viewpoint. Bibliography Charles Townshend, Terrorism, in Oxford University Press. Concerning the “resilience”, you can refer to the website of the American Psychological Association, www.apa.org. There is a very interesting project called “Fostering Resilience in Response to Terrorism”. [...]

[...] It is a simplification because it is more complicated but what is totally different between these movements and the Fundamentalists is that Hamas and Hezbollah are very real political forces engaged in an earthly power struggle on a precise territory. On the contrary, with the Fundamentalists, there is nothing to negotiate. We must fight or die. There is no concession with them. The fundamentalist Islamist terrorism is varied. The main organization is obvious Al-Qaida but there exists a great deal of other movements. For instance Jemaah Islamiyyah which is responsible of many bombs attacks (Bali in 2002). Its aim is to create an Islamic State in Asia. [...]

[...] A bomb attack, like in Madrid, causes important effects on the psychê a long time after the event. This is the true threat on the western societies in fact: the trauma. And the counterterrorist strategies are particularly inefficient in this case. Since only few years, the authorities take the capacity of a society to overcome a trauma into consideration. The concept of “resilience” summarizes this new strategy. At the beginning, this concept is developed by Boris Cyrulnik in psychology. In 2003, the British counterterrorism strategy even incorporates a Resilience Act. The success of this concept is undeniable. [...]