Terrorism as a political issue

Thèmes abordés

Terrorism, issue, politics, impact, democracy, fight, economy

Résumé du document

The purpose of this paper is to understand how terrorism influences a country policy and how
the government can deal with it in the future. Indeed, when terrorism exists in a country, the
political leaders have to take in account this phenomenon and act to fight against it. But how
can a government (or another organization) combat something that it doesn't know?

Extraits

[...] The direct economic costs of terrorism are those that are pronounced immediately after the attack. Some examples of these costs are the destruction of life and property, responses to the emergency, restoration of the systems and the infrastructure affected and the provision of temporary living assistance costs that matter in the short-term. Direct economic costs are likely to be proportionate to the intensity of the attacks and the size and the characteristics of the economy affected: for example, while the September 11 attacks on the United States caused major activity disruption, the direct economic damage was relatively small in relation to the size of the economy. [...]

[...] Actors and methods to fight against terrorism The role of governments The role of international organizations anf financial institutions Measures to combat terrorism Conclusion 2 List of tables and graphs Picture world trade center attack, 11th,September http://us.altermedia.info/images/wtc_911.jpg Graph Annual numbers of international terrorism attacks 1996-2006 http://www.state.gov/cms_images/appg1.jpg Graph Number of facilities struck by international attacks 1998-2003 By US Department of state (2003) Table national initiatives to combat money laundering and related http://www.fin.gc.ca/activty/pubs/graphics/nicml-incba_e.gif 3 Introduction The purpose of this paper is to understand how terrorism influences a country policy and how the government can deal with it in the future. Indeed, when terrorism exists in a country, the political leaders have to take in account this phenomenon and act to fight against it. But how can a government (or another organization) combat something that it doesn't know? Some important topics will be analysed, such as what is terrorism, its impact in the economy, role of governments, international organisations and financial institutions cooperation against terrorism, the interface of terrorism and democracy and actions to combat terrorism (antiterrorism and counter-terrorism). [...]

[...] Army, Field Manual 100-20, Chap Stability and Support Operations. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-21-11/c08.htm Enders, Walter; Sandler, Todd The political economy of terrorism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 276p. Johnston, R. and Nedelescu, Oana M. Barry (March 2005) The Impact of Terrorism on Financial Markets; IMF , 22p Rosendorff, B. [...]

[...] But, if financial institutions are involved as instrument it means that they can be used, without their knowledge, to channel terrorist funds. In this case they must be aware to any unusual movement that can be related to terrorism financing and report immediately to the authorities. All financial institutions should have a department just to detect laundry-money activities and financing terrorism as many terrorists attacks could be prevent if they were detected sooner. Terrorists need resources to operate, and one of the best actions to prevent terrorist attacks is, precisely, detect the financial sources of terrorists' organizations. [...]

[...] However, if we think in the individual rights that are defended by democracies that protect only ordinary citizens, but also terrorists” we understand that it's easier to terrorists to operate in these countries. This together with press freedom gives terrorists the power to create fear in a much bigger audience and reach one of the most important communication objectives of the modern terrorism: “publicity”. As we know, terrorism needs media to spill over its message and press freedom is a right implicit in all democratic states. For instance, during the Rwanda genocide, the print media is believed to have started hate speech against Tutsis which was later continued by radio stations. [...]