How can the multilateral system’s response to terrorism become more efficient and effective? That was the key question at ICM’s third retreat on April 10-11, held at the Asia Society in New York. UN ambassadors, experts, and practitioners representing governments and civil society organizations convened to analyze the factors that drive and sustain terrorism today and the UN’s response to countering the threat. Participants discussed the links between insurgents, criminal groups, and (…)
The ICM hosted a public consultation on November 18th on its discussion paper “Terrorism Including Issues Related to Ideology, Identity Politics, and Organized Crime.”
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Threats posed by terrorism and violent extremism continue to metastasize, stemming from a constellation of fault lines and imbalances caused by exclusionary, unaccountable, and ideologically based governance; identity politics; inequitable distribution of resources; and new and emerging forms of (…)
The multilateral system continues to be under severe stress as the threat posed by terrorism and violent extremism metastasize. While some have argued that such “malignancies” are the consequences of inherently national problems, no one doubts that the threats they pose have become transnational in origin and effect, and can only be overcome through multilateral, global efforts.
Interviews
“The counterterrorism effort since 9/11 has been mostly focused on the word ‘counter,’ which is a narrow, security-focused approach,” said Jehangir Khan, Director of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force. “What we’re looking at is a broader strategy on preventing violent extremism that cuts across all four pillars of the work of the United Nations in regard to peace and security, sustainable development, human rights, and the humanitarian action agenda.”
“The idea (…)
Counterterrorism policy is always preoccupied with fighting the last battle, according to Mohamed-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, Deputy Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy and Adjunct Professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. “Clearly counterterrorism has been improving in the past couple of years given the magnitude of the threat, but we still are not able, I think, to be proactive,” he said.
Mr. Mohamedou said one thing that people (…)
The ongoing civil war in Syria and the breakdown of the Iraqi state are two issues that are not really being tackled seriously, whether by the United Nations or regional bodies, according to Malik Al-Abdeh, a consultant for the Center on Humanitarian Dialogue.
Mr. Al-Abdeh, who established Syria’s first opposition television news channel in 2009, said that the response from the West toward the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) has been narrowly focused on foreign fighters and the threat back (…)