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1051. How We Talk about the "War on Terrorism"

Author:
Daniel Heradstveit, G. Matthew Bonham, Michiko Nakano, and Victor M.Sergeev
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Course Pack
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This paper focuses on how leaders in Western countries talk about the “war on terrorism.” The paper discusses the difficulties of defining “terrorism,” because, unlike Marxism or capitalism, “terrorism” is not an ideology. Instead the term may be used to designate actions that are used by members of non-governmental organizations against civilian targets. In the case of the “war on terrorism,” the signifier, “terrorism,” is used widely. However, the signified, the perpetrators and what they do, are quite different. Because the designation of the signified depends upon the speaker, the concept of terrorism seems to be subjective and fluid. The signified switches radically both by context and over time, while the only aspect that is stable is the signifier, “terrorism.” The paper goes on to analyze the “war on terrorism” as an ontological metaphor. The paper concludes by arguing that although figures of speech contribute to the cognitive dimension of meaning by helping us to recognize the equivalence to which we are committed and suggesting new equivalences, metaphors like the “war on terrorism” raise problems and do little to increase our understanding. Considering different cultural codes and world views, this type of metaphor is highly counterproductive for communication on the global level.
Topic:
Civil Society, Terrorism, War, Communications, and Governance

1052. Pakistan: The Resurgence of Baluch Natonalism

Author:
Frédéric Grare
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Thirty years after a bloody conflict that official sources estimate caused more than five thousand deaths among the rebels and almost three thousand among the Pakistan Army, Baluchistan seems to be heading toward another armed insurrection. During the summer of 2004, there were numerous attacks against the army and the paramilitary forces as well as repeated sabotage of oil pipelines. Since the rape of a female doctor by a group of soldiers on January 2, 2005, in the hospital in Sui, the principal gas-producing center in Baluchistan, assaults have multiplied, culminating in a pitched battle between the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary unit, and the local Bugtis, one of the largest Baluch tribes. According to the Pakistani daily, The Nation, approximately 1,568 “terrorist” attacks occurred through April 3, 2005. These attacks have not been confined only to tribal areas but have targeted Pakistani armed forces and Chinese nationals working on major regional projects all over the province.
Topic:
Nationalism, Religion, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Pakistan, China, and Middle East

1053. Effective Counterterrorism and the Limited Role of Predictive Data Mining

Author:
Jim Harper and Jeff Jonas
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, spurred extraordinary efforts intended to protect America from the newly highlighted scourge of international terrorism. Among the efforts was the consideration and possible use of “data mining” as a way to discover planning and preparation for terrorism. Data mining is the process of searching data for previously unknown patterns and using those patterns to predict future outcomes.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, International Relations, National Security, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
America

1054. Suicide Terrorism and Democracy: What We've Learned Since 9/11

Author:
Robert A. Pape
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
Over the past two decades, terrorist organizations have increasingly relied on suicide attacks to achieve political objectives. The specific goal sought in almost all suicide terrorist campaigns in modern history is the same: to compel a democratic state to withdraw combat forces from territory prized by the terrorists. This holds true for al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization of greatest concern to most Americans. Al-Qaeda's efforts to mobilize people to kill Americans are driven principally by a simple strategic goal: to drive the United States and its Western allies from the Arabian Peninsula and other Muslim countries.
Topic:
International Relations, Security, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, America, Arabia, and Arabian Peninsula

1055. US Policy in South Asia: Under Secretary Burns

Author:
Nermeen Shaikh
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
Good evening, and thank you Dan for that nice introduction. It is a pleasure to be here at the Asia Society. Thank you, Vishakha [Desai, President] for your remarks and also for inviting me.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, South Asia, and Asia

1056. AsiaSource Interview with Under Secretary Nicholas Burns

Author:
Nermeen Shaikh
Publication Date:
11-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Asia Society
Abstract:
Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns is the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the Department of State's third ranking official. Prior to his current assignment, Ambassador Burns was the United States Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As Ambassador to NATO, he headed the combined State-Defense Department U.S. Mission to NATO at a time when the Alliance committed to new missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war against terrorism, and accepted seven new members.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Iraq, Middle East, and Asia

1057. Mapping the Jihadist Threat: The War on Terror Since 9/11

Author:
Kurt M. Campbell and Willow Darsie
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously bemoaned the challenges of measuring success in a long twilight struggle with Islamic fundamentalists. There are the “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” that confront the United States in the most unfamiliar set of foreign policy challenges in the country's history. In addition to the difficulties of establishing “metrics” – as Rumsfeld would put it – in our war on terror, there is also the intrinsically related and perhaps more vexing question of how the global ideological virus of Islamic fundamentalism is morphing and evolving. An influential and well-funded cohort of radicalized Islamists, seizing upon an unyielding interpretation of religious text (a kind of Koranic original intent), has been at war with the West for nearly a generation, and the pace of operations globally is accelerating. According to recently released U.S. government reports, there has been a sharp surge in the number of global terrorist attacks in recent years, a tally substantially comprised of incidents initiated by Islamist instigators. Taken in its totality with all its many manifestations, the jihadist challenge stretches from the Taliban strongholds in the rugged Afghan mountains and the dense jungle hideouts of the Philippines, to the ornate mosques of Saudi Arabia, from a quiet neighborhood in Leeds, England to, just possibly, a place near you.
Topic:
Islam, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East

1058. Neglected Defense: Mobilizing the Private Sector to Support Homeland Security

Author:
Daniel Prieto and Stephen Flynn
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
In policy and strategy documents since September 11, 2001, the Bush administration and Congress have repeatedly stressed the critical importance of “public-private partnerships” to make the country safer. Yet the capabilities, assets, and goodwill of the private sector to bolster our homeland security remain largely untapped. That is the primary conclusion reached by the Council on Foreign Relations working group on homeland security and the private sector over the course of one year.
Topic:
Security, Government, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
North America

1059. Preventing Catastrophic Nuclear Terrorism

Author:
Charles Ferguson
Publication Date:
03-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
The threat of a nuclear attack by terrorists has never been greater. Over the past two decades, terrorist violence and destructiveness have grown. As the September 11, 2001, attacks demonstrated, al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda–inspired terrorists desire to inflict mass casualties. Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have expressed interest in and searched for unconventional means of attack, such as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. Of these weapons, only a nuclear detonation will guarantee immediate massive destruction.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Nuclear Weapons, and Terrorism

1060. Political Offence and Terrorism in Belgium: from Noble to Vile

Author:
Martin Moucheron
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Cultures & Conflits
Institution:
Cultures & Conflits
Abstract:
The 19th December 2003 law inserting specific terrorist infractions in the penal Code sets a new step in the evolution of the political offence in Belgium: the "political" moral element in the definition of those infractions has indeed been conceived as an aggravating circumstance, opposing in that way the principle of the "régime de faveur" (preferential treatment) established by the newborn Belgium and progressively restricted in its application. At a larger scale, this "de-politization" of the political offence through terrorism can lead to contemporary governmentality and democratic model which seem to induce an exclusion of ideology out of the field of what Foucault calls "the conditions of true and false". La loi du 19 décembre 2003 inscrivant au Code pénal des infractions terroristes spécifiques marque une nouvelle étape dans l'évolution du délit politique en Belgique. En effet, l'élément moral « politique » retenu dans la définition de ces infractions est conçu comme une circonstance aggravante, et contredit ainsi le principe du régime de faveur établi aux premières heures de la Belgique et progressivement restreint dans son application. Plus largement, cette « dé-politisation » du délit politique à travers le terrorisme renvoie à la gouvernementalité et au modèle démocratique contemporains, qui semblent induire une exclusion de l'idéologie hors du champ de ce qui constitue, selon Foucault, les « conditions du vrai et du faux ».
Topic:
Terrorism
Political Geography:
Europe, France, and Belgium