Trends in Terrorism over the Past Five Years - Case Study Example

Trends in Terrorism over the Past Five Years Name: University: Date: Table of Contents Trends in Terrorism over the Past Five Years 1 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Trends in Terrorism over the Past Five Years 4 Terrorism in Australia 6 Australia’s Counterterrorism strategies 6 Conclusion 10 References 10 Trends in Terrorism over the Past Five Years Introduction Terrorism as defined by Wisnewski (2008) is the threat of or utilisation of violence, a combat technique, or a strategy for achieving specific targets. Terrorism is also defined as utilisation of violence against the public with the intention of intimidating or generating widespread pervasive fear to realise political goals (Ganor, 2011). To generate the effect of fear, terrorists normally prefer escalating their activities in a way that will shock everyone (Clapper, 2016). Counter terrorism strategies have enabled the international community to manage the roots of terrorism, which over generations has been practiced by radical Islamic organizations, movements, and people across the globe. In Australia, terrorism pose a serious threat to the people, and government has resolutely remained committed to protect the country, its people as well as interests from terrorist threat. The Australian government has made sure that counter terrorism agencies are resourced appropriately, and that all practical and necessary actions are taken to protect Australians and the country (Luck, 2004). Hitherto, the responses to domestic and global terrorism have been agile. The report review and discusses the trends in terrorism over the past five years across the globe and also review whether Australian responses to terrorism is adequate. Trends in Terrorism over the Past Five Years The number of deaths caused by terrorism attacks has been increasing progressively since 2010. In 2014, for instance, terrorism-related deaths increased by 80% than in 2013 (Institute for Economics & Peace, 2015). In the 21st century, the number of terrorism-related deaths has increased nine-fold; in 2000, the number of deaths caused by terrorism was 3,329 while the in 2014, the number stood at 32,685 (Institute for Economics & Peace, 2015). Besides that, terrorism has recently become more prevalent in five countries, Syria, Nigeria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2014, 78% of total deaths attributed to terrorism happened in these five countries. Even though very concentrated, the spread of terrorism has increased to more nations; for instance the number of countries that had over 500 deaths because of terrorism increased by 120% in 2014. Still, although most countries have no incidence of death as a result of terrorism, 67 countries had terrorism-related deaths in 2014 (Institute for Economics & Peace, 2015). High profile terrorist attacks have been experienced in France, Australia, Austria, Canada and Belgium. So far, Boko Haram is considered as the most deadly terrorist group worldwide and was responsible for 7,512 fatalities in 2014. In 2915, the group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIL), which seeks to attack European countries, Canada, United States and Australia. In 2014, terrorism economic cost increased by 61%, hitting US$52.9 billion, which is the highest ever level. The cost according to Kimmorley (2015) is ten time that of 2000. Nowadays, terrorism focuses on hostage-taking and kidnappings with over 9,400 people being taken hostage or kidnapped in 2014, which three times higher than the previous year. According to Williams (2015), this trend is prevalent in countries such as Syria, Nigeria and Iraq. Terrorist groups have increased their utilisation of information and communication technologies since 2010, and they utilise such technologies to secretly communicate as well as reduce the existing distance (Aydoğdu, 2013). Some of the communication toolkits they use include the web, satellite phones and mobile phones. They get their funding from illegal channels like money laundering, drug trafficking, donations from the rich, fraud, and oil sales and also legal business investments (Freeman & Ruehsen, 2013). Many terror groups have internationalised their activities and have pledged allegiance to international terror groups such as Al-Qaida and ISIL with the attempt of coordinating their efforts. Since late 2010, the followers of Al-Qaeda have carried out almost 11 ‘lone wolf’ attacks in cities across Western countries, while US security forces have foiled 13 others attempts. For instance, late in 2010, a suicide bomber tried to kill many people doing Christmas shopping in Stockholm (BBC, 2010). ISIL has been responsible for numerous terror attacks on major cities across Europe; for example, on 13th November, ISIL loyalists hit a major stadium, a concert hall, bars and restaurants, whereby 130 people lost their lives and left many wounded (BBC, 2015). The attacks in Paris exposed flaws in Europe's capability to share as well as co-ordinate intelligence on identified terror suspects. For instance, Abdelhamid Abaoud, who was the attack mastermind managed to freely move in Europe devoid of being apprehended in spite of the existence of an arrest warrant. On 22nd march, 2016, ISIL carried out a series of bombings in Brussels at subway station and Brussels Airport. The attack left 34 people dead and 170 injured (Botelho, 2016). Terrorist groups have started using social media sites to communicate to larger audiences; for instance, Somalia based Al-Shabaab opened a Twitter account in 2011 and had over 17,400 followers before the account was deactivated. On the other hand, use 'Dabiq’, a propaganda magazine to communicate to the outside world (Gambhir, 2015). Since early 2009, the number of drones used by U.S. to target terrorists in terrorism plagued countries such as Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia has increased tremendously. The counterterrorism strategies used by different countries across the globe have successfully eroded the ability of terrorists groups to conduct attacks in many countries. Terrorism in Australia Until recently, Australia had not experienced an Islamist terrorist attack despite the existence of jihadi militants since the 1980s. Between September 2000 and mid-2011, there have been16 cases of individuals taking part in, promoting or planning terror attack domestically or abroad (Mullins, 2011). Therefore, terrorism threat to Australia is real, and has turned out to be a permanent and persistent feature of security environment in Australia. The Australian intelligence agencies have pointed out that terrorist attacks can happen anytime; therefore, the public should be alert. Some of the recent cases of terrorism in Australia include; the arrest of a 14-year-old boy by British police on 2nd April regarding an alleged plot to conduct Australian Anzac memorial event (BBC, 2015). Another five teenagers were detained in Melbourne with regard to the same event. On December 2014, a self-styled cleric known as Man Haron Monis took 17 people hostage at Lindt Café in Sydney. Monis together with two hostages were killed in a siege that lasted for 16 hours (Pearlman, 2014). Australia’s Counterterrorism strategies The objective of the Australia’s counter-terrorism strategy is protecting the country, Australians as well as their interests from terrorism. Basically, the strategy contains four elements: the Analysis, which is a response to terrorism, led by intelligence through a national security community that is properly informed and connected. The second element is Protection, whereby all practical and necessary actions to protect both Australians and Australia from domestic and global terrorism are taken (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 2010). The third element is Response, where targeted as well as immediate response to certain terrorist threats and attacks are provided. The last element is Resilience; it involves crating an Australian community that is resilient and strong so as to be able to resist terrorism and violent extremism development in Australia. As mentioned by Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (2010), Australia is pursuing numerous counter-terrorism measures globally with the goal of countering the threat to the country’s interests both domestically and internationally. Considering that the terrorists groups such as ISIL have vowed to export terrorism to Western countries including Australia, the country’s international efforts to counter terrorism is undoubtedly crucial for domestic security. Lately, Australia’s law enforcement, intelligence and security agencies have been advanced considerably with the intention of improving the counter-terrorism capacity. The National Intelligence Coordination Committee (NICC) was created to make sure that the intelligence effort, both nationally and globally, is effectively integrated into nation-wide security measures (Dorman & Kaufman, 2014). Australian governments have been given overlapping responsibility to protect people, assets, infrastructure and Australia’s interests in general against terrorism (Attorney-General's Department, 2007). In view of this, National Security College was established so as to generate an improved national security expertise across the country. The National Security provides offer first-class training and education in issues related to national security policy. The country’s National Counter-Terrorism Plan of 2012, provides approach to countering ideological radicalism (Roach, 2011). Under the heading resilience, it stresses the significance of measures to countering violent radicalism at community level and the importance of rehabilitation programs for members of radical groups. The Australian plan is closely related to United Kingdom’s ‘prevent’ strategy, especially the soft-power structural features’ inclusion and the need to involve the members of Islam religion in facilitating the counter-terrorism narrative (Smith, 2013). Still, the Australian Approach is akin to US approach, it seeks to properly and firmly use law enforcement and security responses in preventing terrorism as the main line of defence. The Australian approach does not mainly focus on the programs crucial for promoting social cohesion, collaboration between Government organisations, community and religious institutions to spearhead its counter-terrorism plans. Evidently, the Australian framework for countering extremism is operationalised through the creation of comprehensive social policies at national and state level (Grossman, 2013). Without a doubt, intelligence advice has played a crucial role in developing Australia’s domestic and international responses to terrorism threat, but still, Australians are largely unaware of the real nature of intelligence as well as its integral limitations. Ever since 9/11, terrorism threat across the globe have increased tremendously; thus, creating the need for fundamental changes on the counter-terrorism strategies (Calcutt, 2007). Australia together with other developed countries such as US, UK and Germany use secret intelligence to ensure responses to terrorism is effective both nationally and globally. Evidently, terrorism threat has resulted in noteworthy negative changes in Australia; for instance, the fundamental democratic institutions as well as principles have been compromised and the civil and human rights lessened. Furthermore, the efforts by Australia to fight terrorism no longer focus on military response only, but also involve areas of intelligence collection, law enforcement, domestic counter-terrorism abilities and financial regulation. The Australian approach to terrorism focuses on integrated and cooperative responses, both domestically and globally. Certainly, intelligence is impractical without an established relationship between Australia and other countries. The country engage local communities in the process of law enforcement and make sure that they understand the role of the country in combating global terrorism, and also to comprehend and support the fight against domestic terrorism. For this reason, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) takes part in terrorism prevention by means of law enforcement interdiction as well as effective co-ordination and collaboration both domestically and internationally (AFP, 2003). Some people in Australia have emphasized that the counter-terrorism strategies are by and large modelled according to the US policies and that they are targeting Muslims unfairly (Monash University, 2013; Richardson, 2013). As mentioned by Taylor (2015), Australian counter-terrorism strategy is counterproductive and targets Muslims only. Scores of Islamic organizations as cited by Taylor (2015) hold the view that the counter-terrorism strategy should include programs, which espouses individual personal counter-extremism counselling by trusted and qualified Islamic leaders instead by bureaucrats employed by the government. A number of professionals as mentioned by Bergin (2015) concur that Australian counter-terrorism programs are fundamentally ineffective because the anti-extremism message has failed to reach the target audience, which is young Muslims; rather, it has been diluted by terrorism propaganda that has flooded the Internet. Conclusion In conclusion, the report has reviewed and discussed the trends in terrorism over the past five years across the globe and has also reviewed whether Australian responses to terrorism are adequate. Normally, terrorists try to influence the belief of its target, and they utilise violence so as to signal their strength. As mentioned in the report, terrorism has turned out to be a permanent and persistent feature of security environment in Australia and other countries. The Australian counter terrorism strategy is used to protect Australians and Australia, to prepare the law enforcement and security agencies to respond to attacks and threats when needed. The strategy seeks to strengthen resilience within Australian society and community. References AFP. (2003). Australia's capacity to fight against terrorism - strengthening the AFP capacity to fight terrorism . 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Retrieved from NBC News: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/state-dept-35-percent-increase-terrorist-attacks-worldwide-n378416 Wisnewski, J. J. (2008). Torture, Terrorism, and the Use of Violence. Cambridge : Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Read More