THE SIDE OF TERRORISM THAT DOESN'T MAKE HEADLINES: PART 1

Hamas, Hezbollah, Taliban, Boko Haram, Al- Qaeda, Islamic State, Al-Shabaab… what comes to our minds when we hear or think of this names? Violence or maybe that which threatens the existence of over a billion people of the world? Today we have over 65 terror groups across the globe with most scattered in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. War has changed, it used to be a contest between states but it is now a conflict between states and non- state actors, making the world enter a deadly new phase in the cycle of violence. Over the 216 peace agreements signed between 1975 and 2011, only 16 were between states while the other 196 were between a state and a non- state actor.

In April 2015, Al-Shabaab killed 147 students in the Garissa University attack in Kenya and at least another 67 were killed in the West gate mall attack in Nairobi in 2013. In Pakistan the annual death toll from terrorist attacks has risen from 164 in 2003 to 3, 318 in 2009, with a total of 35,000 Pakistanis killed between September 11, 2001 and May 2011. In the Philippines, since January 2000, radical Islamist groups and Islamist separatist forces have carried out over 40 major bombings against civilians and civilian property, mostly in the southern regions of the country. In Europe, France has been the most hit by terrorism through the al-Qaeda Charlie Hebdo attack that killed 12 people including 2 police officers, the attack at a kosher market in Porte de Vincennes by the Islamic State that killed 4 people and the recent November 13^th attacks in Paris that has claimed about 130 lives. Of course we can never forget the 9/11 attacks in the United States that resulted to the deaths of 2,996 people, including the 19 hijackers. Despite the subsequent declaration of a war on terror also known as the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) after the September 11^th attacks on the United States, terror attacks are on a rise. Not only is its intensity increasing, but its breadth is increasing as well. The Global Terrorism Index 2014 report indicated that 60 countries around the world recorded deaths from terrorism, with Africa being the most hit having 879 attacks recorded in 2010 that resulted to 2,137 deaths, 704 terrorist attacks were also counted in Europe and Eurasia that caused an estimated 355 deaths. According to the report about 161, 834 people globally have died from terror attacks between 2006 and 2014. The Maple croft’s Terrorism and Security Dashboard (MTSD) which logs, analyses and maps every reported incident of terrorism worldwide also formed a global ranking of 197 countries on their risk of terror attacks.

Whether by nationalistic or religious groups, revolutionaries or ruling governments’ terrorism is intensifying. The United States for instance, spends more than $500 million per victim on anti-terrorism efforts, while, cancer research spending is only $10,000 per victim and with the global governments still allocating hundreds of billions of dollars to the so-called war on terror as well, we still had a fivefold increase in terrorism fatalities since 9/11. So the task falls to our governments to allocate and direct the resources we have in a manner that will effectively treat each threat sustainably. If we, as a society, want to effectively counter the dangers we face from terrorism, we first have to put them in perspective. Benedetta Berti (native Italian foreign policy and security researcher and analyst) speaks of transition from violent engagement (which is what states have been doing since 1970) to non- violent confrontation and that arms struggle and unarmed struggles are related. Thus, there is need to know what makes this organizations tick, what they do when they are not fighting.


In her studies, she's found out that today’s terror groups are complex organizations, the Lebanese Hezbollah for instance has so far set up a political party, a social service network and a military apparatus since its creation in the early 1980s. Similarly, the Palestinian Hamas has run and benefited from the Gaza strip since 2007. Clearly, terror groups do more than just shoot or bomb. They set up complex communications machines (radio and TV stations, websites and social media strategists) that are intended to recruit, they also invest in complex fundraising through setting up profitable businesses such as construction companies. This activities allow them to increase their strengths and funds to better recruit and build their brand. Armed groups also build relationships with the population by investing in social services such as schools, hospital, vocational trainnngs or micro- loan programmes, Hezbollah offers this services and more. They also seek to win over the population by offering something that the state is not providing, safety and security. The initial rise of the Taliban in war torn Afghanistan or even that of ISIS can be understood also by looking at their efforts to provide security, unfortunately the provision of security in this instances came with an unbearably high price for the population. Providing social services fills a governance gap left by governments that allows this groups to increase their strengths and power. The 2006 electoral victory by Palestinian Hames cannot be understood without acknowledging this. Looking only at the violent side of this armed groups is not enough to understand there hybridity or complexity (strengths, strategies or long term vision). They rise because they fill a gap left by the government and emerge to be both armed and political, engaging violence struggle and providing governance, and the more sophisticated and complex they become the less we will think of them as the opposite of a state. The Hezbollah for instance runs part of a territory where they administer all their functions, pick up garbage and run the sewage system- can they be considered aa a rebel group, government or something new we are not aware of? The more states are weak the more non- state actors step in and fill the gap.

For governments to counter this groups they will have to invest more in non- military tools. Filling that governance gap has to be at the center of any sustainable approach. The Body Count Report Revealed that at least 1.3 Million lives have been lost to the US-led war on terror in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan since its onset following September 11, 2001 with a recent ongoing example being Syria through the Russian airstrikes. Military power can win some battles but it will not give us peace nor stability. We need a long term investment by filling in that governance gap that allows this groups to thrive. We need to transition from violent engagement to non- violent confrontation.