International Terrorism and violent extremism
Terrorism and extremism are forms of political violence. They are methods or weapons that have been used for a long time by both sub-state and state organizations for a large variety of purposes and causes. The two forms of political violence are directed at a wider target or audience than the direct victims of the violence. Terrorism is used to attempt to sway political behavior in a certain manner. For example, to push opponents into acknowledging all or some of the committers' demands, encourage followers to imitate violent attacks, and demoralize institutions or governments labeled as opponents by the terrorists.
Terrorism and violent extremism are criminal activities that are subject to normal severities of criminal justice. There is a need to get a strategy to counter these illegal international activities. To organize themselves, plan, and execute attacks, extremists need supporters, recruits, weapons, funds, other material support systems, the capability to travel unobstructed, and susceptible contact targets. Therefore, successfully countering terrorism and violent extremism needs a comprehensive strategy that depends on a wide range of measures and policies (Saul, 2020). The approach to counter these criminal activities involves many objectives that address various chronological phases in extremism and terrorism. The purposes could be generally classified as:
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Preventing women and men from being terrorists.
Offering support and opportunities to persons involved in or on a path to disengage.
Denying extremism suspects the resources, support, and means to plan or organize themselves to execute attacks.
Protecting against and preparing for terrorist attacks to reduce the vulnerability of possible targets in certain dangerous infrastructure.
Tracking terrorist suspects to arrest them and take them to justice
Responding to extremist attacks using proportionate procedures to alleviate the influence of such attacks and help the victims.
All nations should offer protection against violent extremism and terrorism, and this needs that they place precise emphasis on preventing criminal activities. It is reflected in their international political commitments and legal obligations. The "United Nations Counter-Terrorism Strategy" particularly outlines a universal strategy to counterterrorism that comprises: measures to combat and prevent extremism; processes to address situations that are favorable to the terrorism spread. It also includes measures to safeguard respect for everyone's social rights and the rule of law as the central base of the combat against terrorism (Heath-Kelly, 2013). The UN Security Council helps nations ensure that any measures to fight terrorism and violent extremism observe with international law, in specific humanitarian law, refugee law, and international human rights. "United Nations Security Council resolution 1373 (2001)" enforces a legally requisite responsibility on all nations to establish proper institutional, regulatory, and legislative frameworks to fight terrorism and violent extremism (Saul, 2020). These frameworks include destroying recruitments into terrorism, suppressing and preventing terrorism financing, and eradicating the supply of resources to extremists. It also includes ensuring that anyone who takes part in planning, preparation, financing, or executing terrorist activities is brought to justice.
Understanding what leads to Violent Extremism and Terrorism
As states try to get more efficient ways of preventing terrorism, better efforts are made to determine how and why people turn to terrorism and avoid it on time. Many countries have emphasized the necessity to best understand and counter the occurrence through a multidimensional strategy.
The greatest challenge to confronting terrorism and violent extremism is in the imprecision of the concept. The potential ideas, motivations, and other aspects that could lead a person towards terrorism and violent extremism are complex and varying. No factor is sufficient or necessary for terrorism radicalization. Terrorist radicalization might happen in a large variety of situations in diverse ways and at varying speeds (Heath-Kelly, 2013). Every case of terrorist recruitment and radicalization results from the amazing intersection of an empowering environment with the individual conditions and psychology of a given woman or man.
Terrorists and extremists are involved in an interactive process between the person and the external influences. "Self-initiated" or "self-directed" radicalization terms are regularly used when there are slight levels of interaction between the persons pursuing to radicalize and recruit persons (Saul, 2020). Many countries have a growing concern over terrorism radicalization by the internet. It is connected to the so-called self-started or lone terrorists’ phenomenon, who seemingly work personally with no clear outside support or direction.
Terrorism and violent extremism may be possibly slowed down, reversed, and in some cases accelerated. Therefore, to create strategies to counter them, it is crucial to recognize the nature and effect of various factors and the extent to which they might act and vary in different cases.
Modern Strategies to counter international terrorism and violent extremism
The Prevent strategy
Labor government set up the prevent strategy as part of the broader system called CONTEST meant to counterterrorism and extremism. The prevent strategy's objective is to prevent individuals from becoming extremists or supporting these criminal activities. The main goals of the prevent strategy are: to protect vulnerable individuals, to challenge the ideology that promotes extremism and terrorism and the people who promote it, and to support institutions and sectors which are at risk of terrorist radicalization. Many governments have confirmed that the strategy works and has made crucial impacts in preventing individuals from being radicalized. However, critics argue that the approach alienates Muslim societies, limits freedom of expression, and influences human rights.
In the prevent strategy, administrations such as schools and councils establish projects to lower the risks of individuals getting involved in extremist and terrorist activities. According to government statistics, approximately 42.000 individuals partook in 142 projects between 2015 and 2016 (Heath-Kelly, 2013). The prevent strategy also includes support, advice, production competencies, and social media teaching to civil community groups to assist them in conveying counter-narrative operations and eliminating extremist resources from the internet. Learning and training materials are also given to staff members in organizations such as schools to understand terrorist radicalization.
A fundamental portion of the prevent strategy is "Channel" The police officers operate with public bodies, comprising social workers, local councils, the justice system, and schools to identify the people in danger of being drawn into extremism and terrorism. They assess what the risk could be and advance personalized support for the people referred to them. It could range from mentorship to things like wrath management or alcohol and drug programs. According to the House of Commons Library, that said "association with organizations that are not prescribed and that espouse extremist ideology is not, on its own, a reason enough to justify a referral to the Channel process" (Briggs, 2010).
Not every person brought up to Channel will be considered appropriate for the program; there is a filtering procedure if the individual is not really in danger of terrorist radicalization and weed out malicious or wrong referrals. According to government statistics, approximately 1,000 persons have got support through Channel as from 2012 (Heath-Kelly, 2013). There has been an increasing level of referrals; this could be associated with the organizations involved knowing more about extremism and terrorism and their various forms. It could also be linked to the police making more individuals understand that the program exists or due to a rise in extremism and terrorism.
Communication Strategy
The idea of strategic communication, which is commonly used in modest institutions in economy and trade, has become prevalent. The applicability thereof has been debated in politics, international security, and countering violent extremism and terrorism. The cunning messages of extremists and terrorists on social media have attained notable victory in luring individuals into their activities (Kaplan, 2016). Many activists are fighting back against terrorism online using art, humor, comics, films, and music. The communication strategy needs to support these activists. Countries develop and implement communication strategies operating closely with the private sector and social media companies. The process is tailored to indigenous contexts, gender subtle, and founded on international human values to contest the narratives linked with terrorism and violent extremism.
The communication strategy empowers victims to transform their suffering and loss into a constructive force for countering terrorism and violent extremism. They offer them online forums where they can narrate their experiences. The strategy also recommends that nations protect journalists, who have a significant responsibility in democratic societies, by ensuring the prompt and thorough investigation to their safety. They encourage journalists to operate together to willingly advance media teaching and diligence codes of conduct that nurture respect and tolerance (Kaplan, 2016). The journalists are encouraged to research the relationship between the misuse of social media and the internet by terrorists and the reasons that drive people towards terrorism and violent extremism.
Additionally, the strategy aims at improving communication with the public about countering terrorism and violent extremism. The community ought to recognize the nature of risk, their human rights, how they are expected to respond to emergencies, and what their country is doing to safeguard them. Effective communication makes this information available to the public over a variety of means. It might include distributing information in various languages and formats that everyone can read, including those with hearing and sight impairments.
Community-Based Strategy
There is often a local dimension to terrorism and violent extremism. All the time, it occurs someplace, whether it is a place where the criminals hide, where they attack, get support and operate, or where a group or person gets involved with terrorism. Therefore, it is necessary to apply a local strategy to prevent and counter international terrorism and extremism. Countries have sought to identify where to focus their efforts in assigning resources best and improving the efficiency of their fight against terrorism and extremism (Briggs, 2010). Communities have progressively emerged as the points to concentrate on developing policies to counter these criminal activities.
The community-based strategy depends on the concept that the community's security is closely related to the community's resilience and cohesion. Therefore, international policies to counter terrorism and extremism sometimes aim to form resilient societies that reject terrorism propagandists and ideologies, violent extremism and mobilize groups, individuals, and citizens in the community to support their objectives. The modern community-based strategy places sufficient emphasis on fostering resilience at the point of ideas to counter the appeal of terrorism and violent extremism.
In some countries, practices to counter terrorism and extremism have been pursued through cooperative initiatives, locally driven to local contexts to increase its success. The trend shows evidence to develop the communities and public's recognition as partners and stakeholders in countering terrorism and extremism instead of passive law enforcement (ODIHR, 2014). The community-based strategy encompasses the community's men and women and exploits their support for delivery and policymaking in their fight against the crimes. They consider their complexities and differences concerning religion, ethnicity, grievances, emotions, histories, and politics. The community-based approach is central to the cooperative relationships with the community representatives, security practitioners, and policymakers. The community-based process entails the following:
A Community-Policing Approach
Community policing can be an effective strategy to reduce crime and boost a wide range of community safety. It can also make a durable and tangible contribution to strategic efforts to counter and prevent terrorism and extremism if implemented in its right and with ample preparation and planning. However, police leaders and policymakers ought to have realistic expectations concerning the strategy's results in response to what is regularly a multidimensional, high-complex, and low-incidence problem. It should also be understood that there is a bound to how much policing can provide counterterrorism and extremism. While the police have a key role in the criminal-justice response to violent extremism and terrorism, their responsibility will be limited in upbeat deterrence efforts that need addressing the various political, economic, social, and other factors outside the police roles.
Terrorism and extremism, by their nature, often comprises deception, secrecy, misinformation, and concealment, leading to the withdrawal from the larger community by those who participate in it (Dalgaard-Nielsen, 2016). Therefore, there are inevitably limited opportunities for members of the public and police officers to identify and act upon developing terrorist and extremist threats. Community policing is not a solution to countering international terrorism and violent extremism. First, it should be executed in its rights, independent of the objectives of counterterrorism. Then, it ought to be embedded in a coherent and comprehensive strategy to fight terrorism and extremism in all its manifestations and forms and attack the circumstances under which the criminals recruit and get support. Therefore, developing a proper police response must be based on fact-based, objective, and sophisticated strategic-level thinking.
The proper use of intelligence is critical to operational policing. Many countries have implemented intelligence-led strategies to protect, with a vision to prevent and fight violent extremism and terrorism more effectively. In the strategy, crime-related intelligence and data analysis are fundamental to notifying objective decision-making, both at a strategic level in personal cases and more generally in establishing tactical police priorities and assigning resources (Zeiger & Aly, 2015). The police collect, evaluate, assess, and analyze information from many sources concerning the nature of terrorism and extremism
Community policing can provide counterterrorism by improving public interactions and perceptions about the police. Community support for the counterterrorism activities of the law depends on how they interact and perceive the officer. Community trust is not only a preferred result of community policing but also a necessity for its success. The strategy ensures that the community members believe that their efforts to address the separate and common security issues are genuine. The men and women are also made to feel a possible dialogue with the police and uphold their rights before engaging in joint efforts.
Exchanging information with the public
Apart from communicating information to the community, the police should establish an efficient mechanism for a two-way interchange of data to counter international terrorism and violent extremism. But the exchange of information among the police and the communities can be challenging. How useful the information could be and the individuals' willingness to share data with the law depends on the mutual understanding and the degree of trust between the communities and the police. It takes time to establish and can be rapidly undermined by rumors and deception (ODIHR, 2014). The discussion is enhanced if there is a common understanding of why the police require the information from the public and what modalities are favorable to an efficient exchange of information.
The exchange of information enables the police to assess the effect of counterterrorism measures on society and how the public perceive or experience the police actions in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism. It also helps understand how people recognize the outreach and role of the police towards the public in trying to counterterrorism and violent extremism. The police can identify the concerns and questions that the public has against terrorism and extremism and their support from authorities and the police. The information develops and refines their understanding of the threats of extremism and terrorism and how to respond to them properly.
Engagement with the community
The practice of engagement is a serious component of any efficient community-based strategy of countering international terrorism and violent extremism. Engagement does not only entail organizing a meeting with the public. Efficient engagement is a greatly complex practice that demands understanding and very cautious planning. A careless or clumsy method to community-police engagement could be more damaging than no engagement. When considering engaging the community in countering terrorism and violent extremism, there arise these questions: how, why, and with who?
Police engagement with the community members gives them the opportunities to improve their situational awareness of what is happening in the societies and enhance their understanding of risk perceptions, concerns, and dynamics in the communities. It may serve as a ground for a more effective and informed fight against terrorism and extremism (Briggs, 2010). They build mutually respectful and trustworthy relationships as a base for more cooperation and develop arrangements to confirm public participation and cooperate with the societies to counter terrorist and extremist activities. The police also can disseminate key messages and information to the community members, including rumors and misperceptions concerning terrorism and violent extremism.
Police engagement ought to be all-encompassing, reaching all societies and a cross-section of the public and involving grassroots levels. The police should be cautious not to engage only specific groups, self-proclaimed public representatives, or simply the speakers considerate to them. They should strive to engage particularly with marginalized groups or persons, hard to influence, or show risk behaviors. The police should be quite careful in establishing partnerships with groups, organizations, or persons when there is proof that these groups or persons are not dedicated to non-violence and respect for international human rights. Some sorts of cooperation like sharing sensitive information might need the police to limit the process to trusted individuals like those who have undertaken security vetting (ODIHR, 2014). They should also understand the risk that engaging with persons might be viewed as legitimizing or co-opting these persons. They should be cautious not to undermine the perceived credibility and independence of the persons to exercise a constructive impact in the communities and support the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
In conclusion, countering international terrorism and violent extremism, the police engagements with the communities should be planned cautiously to assess the degree of present attention and recognize and mitigate potential risks in moving onward. The meeting should also be transparent on the fact that the police are addressing counterterrorism and violent extremism. It should also be tailored to the particular group, community, or person engaged to be more efficient; this could include cautious choice words, venue, and time to demonstrate sensitivity and best raise and frame terrorism and extremism. Third parties could also enable the engagement from civil society or other statutory bodies, which might possess a better knowledge of, credibility with or/and access to specific individuals or communities. The police can attempt to draw and identify sponsors or intermediaries in the community who can assist them in establishing dialogue and contact where they could otherwise face hostility or reluctance.
References
Briggs, R. (2010). Community engagement for counterterrorism: lessons from the United Kingdom. International affairs , 86 (4), 971-981.
Dalgaard-Nielsen, A. (2016). Countering violent extremism with governance networks. Perspective on Terrorism , 10(6), 135-139. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26297713
Heath-Kelly, C. (2013). Counter-terrorism and the counterfactual: Producing the radicalization discourse and the UK PREVENT strategy. The British journal of politics and international relations, 15(3), 394-415. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-856X.2011.00489.x
Kaplan, F. (2016). Dark territory: The secret history of cyber war . Simon and Schuster.
ODIHR, O. (2014). Preventing terrorism and countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism: a community-policing approach. https://tandis.odihr.pl/bitstream/20.500.12389/21860/1/07990.pdf
Saul, B. (2020). United Nations measures to address the root causes and conditions conducive to terrorism and prevent violent extremism (PVE): 1972-2019. In a Research Handbook on International Laws and Terrorism. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788972222
Zeiger, S., & Aly, A. (2015). Countering violent extremism: Developing an evidence-based policy and practice. Curtin University . https://doi.org/APO-57458
