Global Terrorism

The Rise of ISIS ● Overview of the origins and rise of ISIS ● Links to American occupation of Iraq, withdrawal, and eventual collapse of Iraq ○ Links to Al-Qaeda, spread to Syria, underpinnings of Sunni/Shia divisions ● What is ISIS? Who is ISIS? What are their ultimate goals and aims? What could/should be the US and global response to the terror group? Global Terrorism and WMDs March 10th CR 314 at 4:15p (20 extra credit pts) ● What is Global Terrorism? ○ Strategic use of political violence by nonstate actors for political ends that primarily targets innocents/civilians ○ Employs attacks that are highly visible, unpredictable, and indiscriminate to maximise terror, fear, and vulnerability ○ Goal to use psychological terror as leverage to pressure governments and societies towards advancing a “rational” and “strategic” political objective ■ Al Qaeda formed out of the conflicts between Sunni and Shia muslims, some felt the only way to alleviate the oppression was through terror ● Ideological Terrorism ○ Violence committed by left or right wing organisations to advance a political ideology/agenda ○ Left Wing (Liberal,Socialist, Revolutionary) ■ vs. corrupt government or free market system ● Weather Underground group ○ Right Wing (Conservative, Facist, Reactionary) ■ vs. government, immigrants, racial groups ● Anders Breivik in Norway, Timothy McVeigh ● Ethnonational Terrorism ○ Fought by ethnic or national groups vs. larger political power for independence or autonomy ■ Freedom Fighters or Terrorists? ■ Aim of “self-determination” and political/territorial autonomy ○ Examples: Hamas (Palestine), IRA (Northern Ireland), ETA Basques (Spain), Tamil Tigers (Sri Lanka) ● Religous or Sacred Terrorism ○ Motivated by religious beliefs, scriptures, organisations, or world views ■ In order to achieve their society, the culture must return to its original or its “pure” scripture (i.e. the Quran with ISIL) ○ Often includes elements of fundamentalism, extremism, and self-sacrifice/martyrdom ■ Examples: ● Aleph “Supreme Truth” (Japan) ○ Hindu-Christian terror group ● Al-Qaeda/ISIL (Iraq) ● Ku Klux Klan/Army of God (United States) ○ Rise of religous terrorism ■ Major threat to the 21st century from religous terrorism ■ Increasing attacked on US targets and western allies ■ Declining number of attacks but increase in overall fatalities ■ Growing “internationalisation” of attacks/networks and “selfradicalisation” ○ As non-state actors and with the recent uprising of social media, terrorist groups are able to recruit remotely and strike where attacks were historically unprecedented ● List of (some) Major 21st Century Terrorist Attacks ○ 2001 - 9/11 Attacks (US) ○ 2004 - Madrid train bombings (Spain) ○ 2005 - London transit attacks (UK) ○ 2008 - Mumbai hotel siege (India) ○ 2013 - Nairobi shootings (Kenya) ○ 2015 - Paris concert attacks (France) ● What are WMDs? (weapons of mass destruction) ○ Classified as a fatal rate of over 300 individual ○ Exponentially more dangerous than conventional weapons and indiscriminate in their destruction ○ Incredibly difficult to defend against by conventional means ■ Core challenges to international peace and security, through they have rarely been used to date ● Chemical Weapons ○ Weapons that are designed to release chemicals (gas) to kill or disable people (can be lethal or non-lethal) ○ Inherently indiscriminate but may disproportionately impact unprotected civilians ○ Relatively cheap, easy to develop, easy to use (usually in confined spaces) ■ (i.e. mustard gas in WWI, sarin gas in Tokyo metro station) ● Biological Weapons ○ Weapons that use microorganisms, viruses, bacteria, or biological toxins ○ Highly indiscriminate and hold potential to be communicable to create epidemics ○ Less advanced forms are still relatively cheap and easy to develop (but not yet used in any major conflicts) ● Nuclear Weapons ○ Potentially the most destructive and dangerous of WMDs ■ Power to destroy cities, states, the world and highly indiscriminate ○ Enriching and “weaponizing” nuclear fissionable materials is expensive and technologically demanding ○ Only ever used twice in interstate war to date (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) ■ Not indiscriminate attacks on Japan from the US ● Who has Nuclear Arms currently? ○ “Old” Nuclear States: ■ United States (1945), Russia (1949), UK (1952), France (1960), China (1964) ○ “New” Nuclear States: ■ India (1974), Israel (1979), Pakistan (1998), North Korea (2006) ○ Former Nuclear (abstaining) states: ■ South Africa, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, South Korea, Germany, Japan ○ Suspected/Developing arms: ■ Iran ( → ) ● Nuclear proliferation: the spread of WMDs to new states and other actors United Nations ● International Organisations exist for: ○ International norms (i.e. sovereignty) ○ International Laws and Treaties (i.e. War Crimes) ○ International regimens (i.e. trade and environment) ○ Formal international organisations: ■ Intergovernmental Organisations (IGOs) - European Union ■ Nongovernmental Organisations (NGOs) - UNICEF ● Major growth in international organisations and global governance linked to to globalization and interdependence ● United Nations General info ○ Founded post WWII in 1945 by the allied powers in New York with the support of 51 other states ○ Tasked with promoting international order, peace, and stability (and to prevent a WWIII) ○ Provide an inclusive forum for the world’s sovereign states to engage in negotiation and cooperation on key international threats ● UN Charter ○ Principles are enshrined in the UN Charter → treaty signed by all UN Member States (193 as of 2020) ■ Rights: recognition of sovereignty, equalitty, and interdependence under the Charter (Article 2) ■ Obligations: Members must respect sovereignty, diplomacy, international laws, human rights, treaties, and non-aggression ● UN is the only legal/legitimate arbiter of the international use of force (collective security) ● UN General Assembly ○ Democratic body made up of all member states, each with an equal voice and vote in the body ○ Main deliberative forum and area for multilateral discussions and decisions on global issues ○ Sets broad policy agenda of UN through GA resolutions made during meetings ■ i.e. Paris Climate Accords ○ Controls finances and logistics for UN Programs and Agencies (i.e. economic and social councils) ■ UNEP (environmental) ■ UNICEF ■ Independent Agencies associated: ● WHO ● UN Security Council ○ Tasked with responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security ○ Comprised of 5 permanent and 10 non-permanent members who meet as needed ■ UK, US, France, Russia, Germany (P5) ○ Security council resolutions are binding on all UN Member States but subject to the veto of the P5 ○ UNSC has all of its power under Chapters 6 and 7 of the charter ■ Greatest power/tasks of any governing bodies ○ Power to define existence and nature of threats to international peace and security to dictate appropriate responses and enforcement ● UN Secretariat ○ Executive branch of UN led by the Secretary General (5 year term) ■ Head of secretariat → main bureaucratic arm of the UN responsible for the administration ● Current Antonio Guterres from Portugal ○ Key public figure who is able to use position to help set agenda of the UN by focusing international attention or intervening directly to mediate international disputes United Nations Peacekeeping ● UN Peacekeeping ○ Not envisioned under the UN Charter but developed under the Secretariat in 1948 to help prevent and mediate conflict during Cold War UNSC deadlock ○ Consists of voluntary troops and funding contributed by neutral member states and placed under direct command of the UN (blue helmets) ○ Traditionally deployed by UNSC with permission of member states and without combat mandate ■ Since 1948, 60 plus missions and around 90,000 currently in the field ● Traditional Peacekeeping ○ Observation: ■ Military observers sent on behalf of UN to monitor and report back on evolving security situations ○ Peacekeeping: ■ Often involved directly interposing troops between two warring groups and/or helping to facilitate negotiations and communication between actors ● Lightly armed with protection based on neutrality, UN affiliation, and consent but still dangerous (3,000 plus killed since 1948) ● New Peace Operations ○ Post-Cold War (1992-) increasing military use of peacekeepers without the consent of the host government or actors involved in ongoing conflict ○ Used of Chapter VII (of the UN Charter) to authorise operations such as humanitarian protection or “nation-building” activities ○ Includes armed protection of civilians, humanitarian intervention, governing and policing, and broader peacebuilding and reconstruction roles ● Core Strengths of the UN ○ Provides the main global forum for international coordination, cooperation, and nonviolent conflict resolution between member states ○ Provides a source of stability and security in the international system ○ Provides a source of economic/social development and humanitarian aid for developing nations ○ Unique position as an international representative body ○ Can act with neutrality and moral legitimacy ○ Capable of authorising legitimate force via UNSC ● Core Concerns of the UN ○ Limited independence power to take action outside of the interest of the most powerful states (Veto Power of the P5) ○ Peace and security don’t seem to apply to the Great Powers ○ Dependence on member states for finances and military means ○ Questions about equal representation on the UNSC ○ Overburdened, underfunded budget ○ Is the UN too bureaucratic and efficient? International Public Law ● International Law ○ Key differences from law at the national or domestic level due to anarchic structure of the international system: ■ No global government or legislature to create or pass international laws ■ No world police force or judiciary with the authority to enforce international law ● International Public Law ○ Growing body of international law designed to aid coordination, stability, and cooperation between states around nearly every issues area in IR ■ i.e. diplomacy, laws of the sea, sovereignty, environmental law ○ All international public law is created by states to regulate their interactions ● Customary International Law ○ Primary source of international law derived from traditions of accepted practice evidenced by state behaviour and a sense of obligation ■ Deeply “internalised” norms ○ If something is considered very important, it tends to become formally codified and institutionalised ■ i.e. Geneva Convention, Hague Convention ● Treaty Law ○ Written conventions and contracts signed by two or more states to regulate behaviour and interactions on an issue ○ Treaty is considered binding on states once signed by domestic governments ○ Very strong norm that states must honour their treaty obligations (even successor governments) ● Enforcement remains dependent on states themselves in the absence of a world government, judiciary, or police force ● Why would states follow or obey international law? ○ It may be in their own self interest to cooperate towards mutual goals or stability ○ Reciprocity and reputation ○ Sometimes there are penalties (boycotts/sanctions) ○ Norms → it is “right” or “appropriate” to obey laws ● World Court (ICJ) ○ International Court of Justice (ICJ) ■ Created in the Hague Convention under the UN Charter in 1945 to contribute international peace and security ■ Provides advisory opinions and arbitrations for disagreements over public law ■ Cases are heard by a panel of 15 elected international judes ■ Only states can bring a court to trial ○ Issues with the ICJ ■ An optional clause must be signed to give the court the ability to make binding decisions (very rarely signed) ■ Often limited ability to enforce rulings beyond bringing them to the public attention ■ Slow proceedings (i.e. Bosnia v. Serbia 1993-2007) ■ Only heard 178 cases to date International Criminal Law ● International Criminal Law ○ Emergence of ICL after World War II ○ Founded alongside emerging norms of international human rights established in the UN and reflected in the legacy of the Nuremberg Tribunals (1945) ■ Trial of Nazis by the allied powers ○ Nuremberg legacy established the core principles of the modern body of ICL: ■ Individuals (not states) can and should be prosecuted and punished for gross violations of human rights ● War crimes, crimes against peace, crimes against humanity ■ New “Norm of Accountability” : the international community has a moral and legal obligation to enforce justice when a state is unable or unwilling ● Challenges state sovereignty ○ Brought into being through in international treaty in 1998 (Rome Statute) then become operation in 2002/2003 ○ A standing international criminal court (ICC) to prosecute individuals under international criminal law for gross violation of human courts ■ Granted universal jurisdiction over prosecutions ■ Not UN Court ● ICC ○ 123 countries have ratified the Rome Statute and become full party states for the ICC ○ 31 countries have signed but not ratified the Rome Statute ○ 4 countries have “unsigned” the Rome Statute ■ Israel, Sudan, US, Russia ○ The majority of the world’s population does not live in signatory states ■ China and India are not full signatories ○ As a treaty organisation, the ICC operates via the Principle of Consent among the state signatories ○ The ICC only has jurisdiction to prosecute if: ■ The accused is a national of a party state ■ The crime was committed in the territory of a party state ■ A non-party state willingly accepts the jurisdiction of the ICC ■ The UNSC refers a case as a threat to the peace and security ● Track Record of the ICC ○ Official indictments have been issued in 8 countries: ■ Uganda, DRC, Central African Republic, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Mali ■ Sudan (2007) and Libya (2011) via UN ○ 39 total indictments since it started in 2003 ○ All cases on the continent of Africa and in situations of ongoing conflicts ● Issues with the ICC ○ Lack of enforcement mechanisms mean it is reliant on states ○ Limited jurisdiction and power over non-party states ○ Potential bias in case selection → Why only Africa? ○ Incredibly expensive for such a small number of cases heard (14 million a year) International Integration ● International Integration: process by which international actors (state and non-state) come together to transcend boundaries of traditional state sovereignty and borders ○ Growth post-WWII with globalisation and interdependence, as well as issues that require coordination and cooperation between actors ○ States: IGOs on issues of trade, environment, security, etc. ○ Non-States: shared beliefs, intersts (i.e. human rights and terrorism), criminal networks, NGOs, MNCs, etc. ● Supranational Integration ○ When states join together (regionally or globally) to the extent that sovereign powers or authority is transferred to an intergovernmental organisation ○ Shifts sovereign power upwards from state to a regional or global level, moving governance from a national level to a supranational organisation ○ Reduces autonomy and control of states → trade, finance, law, security ● European Union ○ Origins in 1951 with the European Coal and Steel Community - 6 states ○ 1993 Maastricht Treaty officially created EU: 28 (27 now) member states in a single market area (free trade) with no tariffs, visa, and consistent work policies ○ Key political structures: ■ European parliament ■ European council ■ European commission ○ Monetary Union among 19 states with a common currency (the euro) ○ Supranational Governance: European Parliament, central bank, EU Court of Justice & Human Rights, Convention on Human Rights ● Neo/Functionalist Theory ○ Functionalist Theory: ■ Increasing technical and economic ties between countries lead to supranational structures and institutions to support functionality ■ Greater interdependence and interconnectedness to promote further economic/technical integration → snowball effect ○ Neo-Functionalist Theory: ■ Interdependence of technical and economic levels will “spill over” into integration in other areas like security and politics ■ Evidenced by political spillover supranational governance to manage the areas → the EU Parliament ● Technology and Integration ○ Evolving technologies (like telecommunications and transportation) help promote regional and global integration that transcend state borders ○ Free flow of information challenges state-based control (i.e. Egypt, China, Iran) ○ Increasing global transparency (media) about other countries, cultures, and people ○ New shared global culture, understand, and interests across borders (environment) ● Issues with Integration ○ Interdependence and integration can have negative consequences like the Euro Crisis (i.e. Greece’s economic crash for the EU), terorism, and international crime ○ Potential for perceptions of Wester cultural imperialism that can help spark a resurgence of nationalism or fundamentalism ○ Global inequalities in technological integration ■ So called “digital divide” between the Global North and South