GLOBAL TERRORISM AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Terrorism is present in nearly every country of the world. Political implications are often to blame for many terrorist attacks. Nowadays terrorism has no widely accepted definition. Terrorism is often described as mindless, senseless, or irrational violence. But that is not the case, terrorism is an objective oriented and well choreographed to obtain maximum media coverage.

Most politiciansdefine terrorism as unlawful use or threat of violence against persons or property to gain further political or social objectives. It is generally intended to intimidate or coerce a government, individuals or groups to modify their behavior or policies.

There are 2 tyres of terrorism: domestic and international (depending on the origin, base, and aims of the terrorists).

• Domestic terrorism means unlawful or threatened use of force and violence by a group or individual based within a country or its territories without foreign direction.

• International terrorism is referred to as terrorism practiced in a foreign country by terrorists who are not native to that country.

Terrorism as we know it originated during the French revolution. Its official beginning is connected with the 19th century, although violent aggressive actions of certain groups of people were noticed much earlier. In 1867 the Irish Republican Brotherhood attacked England and after then acts of terror have become recurrent phenomena. The victims by the year 1985 counted 800 people, in 2001 the number of deaths rose to 3,300.

Terrorism has been used in anticolonial conflicts (Ireland and the United Kingdom, Algeria and France, Vietnam and France/United States), in disputes between different national groups over possession of a contested homeland (Palestine and Israel), in conflicts between different religious denominations (Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland), and in internal conflicts between revolutionary forces and established governments (Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Iran, Nicaragua, Argentina).

The most prominent terrorist groups of the 20th century are: the Baader-Meinhof gang of West Germany, the Japanese Red Army, Italy's Red Brigades, the Puerto Rican FALN, al-Fatah and other Palestinian organizations, the Shining Path of Peru, and France's Direct Action.

Talking about the events of 11^th of September, 2001, the U.S. answer was the so-called “War on terror” proclaimed by George Bush. Its main aim was to unit huge number of people and stop acts of terror not just in the USA but all over the world. But to exterminate the evil by another evil is impossible, and taking aggressive actions against terrorism can do nothing. Former Australian minister Evans said: "The unhappy truth is that the result of the war on terror has been more war and more terror". International terrorism continues to grow. In the 1970's 80 % of the attacks were directed against property and 20 % against people. The current trend is 50 \ 50. Over the past 15 years, terrorist attacks against U.S. officials have resulted in the murder of many U.S. diplomats.

The most deadly groups operate from the middle east. The terrorist's main targets are the governments and citizens of Israel, United States, France, Italy, Great Britain, and the Arab countries of Egypt, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.

There are many reasons for terrorism. Political unrest and social economic problems create conditions of turmoil in the world. International travel is much easier today and weapons are increasingly available. Most of all, some governments see terrorist acts as a less costly way to strike a blow at their enemies.

The real lasting effects of terrorism can’t be measured in property damage or body count, but in the long term psychological impact and political results achieved. Terrorist groups have the potential to force concessions normally unattainable through diplomatic means. Allowing terrorist groups to disrupt our decision making process, and erode confidence in the accomplishment of our initiatives will continue to seriously weaken our international credibility unless we can effectively deal with terrorism.

The strategic objectives of international terrorism are to:

1. Gain publicity and support for their cause.

2. Disrupt social, political, and economic interaction among nations.

3. Force the polarization of society.

4. Punish non-compliant civilians and government agents in areas that they control or influence.

5. Intimidate and harass authorities to force concessions.

6. Provoke government overreaction.

7. Provide for their own organizational needs by forcing governments to free prisoners and pay ransoms.

Unfortunately, terrorism has been able to fulfill these aims.

International terrorists are succeeding because:

1. There is no universal agreement within the international community about who is or is not a terrorist.

2. The media assures terrorists of an almost immediate and extensive world wide audience.

3. The world's tolerance and sympathy has often permitted terrorist organizations to employ religious symbols, terms, and ideas to support secular goals.

4. Some states tolerate, appease, and often glorify terrorists as heroes.

5. Liberal democracies have often lost the resolve to deal with terrorists, despite the fact that they are aware of the threat.

6. A history of weak response has made terrorism a low risk venture.

Nowadays terrorism captures world attention with violent and spectacular attacks, targeting countries’ foreign interests and the ability to execute international policy.

Terrorism being a global problem needs special attention and careful attitude (for example, to blame Islam in the existence of terrorism and to consider all Arabic people terrorists is silly and nonsensical).

What concerns international law, since 1963 world community has elaborated 13 universal legal instruments to prevent terrorist acts. They were developed under the auspices of the United Nations and its specialized agencies and are open to participation by all Member States.

On September,8, 2006 the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations Organisation.

Major legal instruments dealing with terrorism:

1963 Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed On Board Aircraft

(Aircraft Convention):

applies to acts affecting in-flight safety;

authorizes the aircraft commander to impose reasonable measures on any person who is likely to commit act of terrorism.

1970 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft

(Unlawful Seizure Convention):

makes it an offence for any person to "unlawfully, by force seize control of the aircraft" or to attempt to do so.

1971 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation
(Civil Aviation Convention):

makes it an offence for any person to unlawfully and intentionally perform an act of violence against any person on board of an aircraft.

1973 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons (Diplomatic agents Convention):

defines an "internationally protected person" as a Head of State, Minister for Foreign Affairs, representative or official of a State or international organization who is entitled to special protection in a foreign State, and his/her family;

requires to criminalize and make punishable murder, kidnapping or other attack upon an internationally protected person.

1979 International Convention against the Taking of Hostages
(Hostages Convention)

1980 Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material
(Nuclear Materials Convention):

criminalizes the unlawful possession, use, transfer or theft of nuclear material and threats to use nuclear material to cause death, serious injury or substantial property damage.

Currently Member States are negotiating an additional international treaty, a draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

Besides the international law, countries often use diplomacy to fight terrorism. Diplomacy may not always be effective against terrorists or the countries that support them; but in most cases, diplomatic measures are considered least likely to widen conflicts and therefore are often tried first by countries when crises arise. Diplomats are to negotiate with: (1) states that support or carry out acts of terrorism; (2) organizations which support or take part in terrorism; (3) terrorist leaders.

To sum up, the purpose of all governments as well as diplomats is to enable people to join their forces against terrorism and win it by common efforts in order to guarantee their country’s territorial safety and independency while acting in international relations.

Assignmets:

Exercies 1.Match the words and phrases given bellow with the following definitions:

Denomination, Coerce, Violence, Terrorism, Concession, Ransom, Under the auspices of somebody/something, Harass, Appease, Turmoil, Exterminate, Objective, Seizure, Hostage, Kidnap

1… ………….. - the use of violence such as bombing, shooting, or kidnapping to obtain political demands such as making a government do something; (тероризм)

2. - a state of confusion, excitement, or anxiety; (безпорядок)

3. ……….. - something that you allow someone to have in order to end an argument or a disagreement; (поступка)

4. …………. - to make someone's life unpleasant, for example by frequently saying offensive things to them or threatening them; (не давати спокою)

5. …………… - SC an amount of money that is paid to free someone who is held as a prisoner; (викуп)

6. ……………. - to make someone less angry or stop them from attacking you by giving them what they want; (заспокоювати агресора шляхом надмірних поступок)

7. ………………………… - with the help and support of a particular organization or person; (під егідою когось/чогось)

8. …………….. - the act of suddenly taking control of something, especially by force; (захоплення)

9. …………….. - to take someone somewhere illegally by force, often in order to get money for returning them (ransom); (насильницьке викрадення)

10. ………… - someone who is kept as a prisoner by an enemy so that the other side will do what the enemy demands. (заручник)

11. ………. - behaviour that is intended to hurt other people physically; (насильство)

12. …………. - something that you are trying hard to achieve, especially in business or politics; (мета,ціль)

13. ……….. - to force someone to do something they do not want to do by threatening them; (змушувати)

14. ……….. - RRRRa religious group that has slightly different beliefs from other groups within the same religion; (конфесія)

15. ………… - to kill large numbers of people or animals of a particular type so that they no longer exist; (знищити)

Exercise 2. Translate the following sentences:

1. Міжнародний тероризм - тероризм, що має місце в іноземній країні, та здійснюється іноземними по відношенню до неї терористами. 2. Знищити зло іншим злом неможливо, і здійснення агресивних дій проти тероризму не принесе результатів. 3. Політична нестабільність і соціально-економічні проблеми створюють умови для безпорядку у світі. 4. Уряди деяких країн розглядають терористичні акти як менш дорогий спосіб завдати удару своїм ворогам. 5. Терористичні групи можуть примушувати до поступок, які зазвичай є недосяжні дипломатичним шляхом. 6. Одна з стратегічних цілей міжнародного тероризму - досягти публічність та підтримку своєї справи. 7. Засоби масової інформації забезпечують терористів негайною широкою світовою аудиторією. 8. Більшість політиків визначають тероризм як незаконне використання чи погроза застосування насильства проти осіб або майна з метою досягнення подальших політичних або соціальних цілей. 9. В даний час тероризм привертає увагу всього світу насильницькими і видовищними атаками, ставлячи собі за ціль іноземні інтереси країн і здатність здійснювати міжнародну політику. 10. Конвенція про цивільну авіацію постановляє злочином для будь-якої особи незаконно і навмисно здійснювати насильство проти будь-якої особи на борту повітряного судна. 11. Конвенція про дипломатичних агентів вимагає встановити кримінальну відповідальність за вбивство, викрадення або інший напад на особу, що користується міжнародним захистом.

Exercise 3. Choose the right answer:

1. Terrorism is present in:

a) the USA, Russia and Israel;

b) several countries;

c) nearly every country of the world

2. Terrorism is:

a) mindless, irrational violence;

b) unlawful use or threat of violence against persons or property;

c) terrorist acts against people

3. There are such types of terrorism:

a) domestic and international;

b) in the country and especially dangerous

4. Terrorism as we know it originated:

a) in the early 16^th century;

b) during the French revolution;

c) after the Second World War

5. Terrorism has been used:

a) in anticolonial conflicts;

b) to cause a war between two countries;

c) in diplomatic conflicts

6. One of most terrible terrorist attack is:

a) February, 26, 1789;

b) July, 15, 1939;

c) September, 11, 2001

7. The most deadly terrorist groups operate from:

a) the middle east;

b) the USA;

c) Russia and China

8. International terrorists are succeeding because of:

a) the fact we don’t have enough weapons to win them;

b) the world's tolerance

9. The Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy was adopted in:

a) 2000;

b) 2006;

c) 2008

10. Besides the international law, countries often use …..to fight terrorism

a) weapons;

b) conventions;

c) diplomacy

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