Terrorism is widespread around the world. On September 11, 2001, the attacks on New York not only inflicted thousands of casualties and significant economic damage, but also marked the beginning of a new era of terror in which counter-terrorism has become one of the highest priorities for international institutions and national governments. Ruinous events including the modern attacks in Madrid, London, Bali, and Mumbai have placed fights against terrorism high on the political agenda. As a result, many governments reacted not only by limiting civil rights and individual freedoms but also by raising their budgets for anti-terror spending. Terrorism is stated as one of the main challenges to global security. This has led to terrorism affecting a national social and economic development. Hence, the most critical evolution of a strategy is how to reduce the threat and result of catastrophic terrorism while protecting public liberties. This essay will describe and analyze the economic costs and overall consequences of terrorism for society, and thus provide and evaluate several practicable solutions to counter-terrorism. These include governmental aids and international cooperation strategies.
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Terrorism has a complicated definition that has spread all over history appropriately describes in many expressions. Among the variety of definitions of the term are: to create regular social activity difficult; to make high image impact on the public with the goal of destroying public confidence in their own government; to seek revenge on everything without justice; to cause as much casualties as possible; and to make physical suffering and stupefying psychological emotions, such as a sense of grief, anxiety, fear, unrest, chaos, anger and panic (Drummond 2002; Loza 2007). Terrorism in reaction to political power or ideology is not a new phenomenon. This type of political violence and crime has occurred since the dawn of human chronicle. The nature of this form of political conflict has changed over time, though, developing from domestic activities to regional and international events. Because of this, terrorism has become an experience shared by many individuals, organizations, and states. Nowadays, global terrorism has become a severe actuality in society. In the 19th century, some of the most famous events of terrorism happened by anarchists who murdered many political leaders. There are several reasons have given for the use of terrorist movements. Franks (2009) points out that terrorist activities are advanced plans and beyond public expectation, the main elements are shocking, and illegal violence versus common people and non-armed personnel for the sake of threatening or forcing civilian population or a government to accept an underlying ideology of terrorism or armed attack of demands. Terrorist events are depicted according to the dynamic type of uncertainty. For instance, terrorists use suicide bombings, armed attacks, and kidnapping, to accomplish goals of inflicting damage against the military, people and government. Whatever terrorist attacks depend on, the terrorist facilities and locations and time of occurrence will bring different outcomes.
Terrorism has critically affected international economic harmony between the economy and led to panic. Recently, developments in terrorist acts, in particular the 9/11 events have created vast collapses in the global economy. Lenain et al. (2002) mentioned that nearly 200,000 jobs were devastated and people have been forced to move out of New York City, and this is only temporary minimum. Manhattan has lost scores of businesses and about 30 percent of its office places have vanished. Furthermore, the damage of physical property was calculated sum of $14 billion for private businesses, thus the state and local government had spent at least $1.5 billion enterprises and $700 million for federal government. Following the cleanup, rescue and related costs have been calculated the sum of $11 billion. For trade and commercial assets, casualty insurers, the calculated costs arising from the 9/11 attacks in total $40 billion U.S. dollars. (Brown et al. 2002).The global tourism, financial markets and the airline industries had a huge collision in short-term effect. Despite the global economy has recovered from the 9/11 event and adapting to the new global realities, thus the asset markets that around the world can feel the longer-term impact of security risk in high-risk premiums, also the handling terrorism in substitution for resources. In terms of its economic impact, the 9/11 attacks exacerbated the defects already observed seen in the global economy in 2001. Abadie and Gardeazabal (2008) state that before the terrorist attacks, great economic depression in the United States had already increased unemployment and equally revealed global total demand fell on the back of weakness in the United States economy. Based on purchaser and merchant surveys, demonstrated decline in the overall confidence measured in the United States due to 9/11 attacks, and in other countries with similar in extent measure. Therefore, counter-terrorism procedures are required in order to settle the social, cultural and governmental panic caused by terrorism.
As the result of the terrorism has destroyed the whole world economical conditions, if the society and the government want to return to the regular path and operation, counter-terrorism can be the only solution. Terrorism not only causes social problems, but inevitably aggravates international stability. That is why security is to encourage by governments to improve counter-terrorism in seven different methods: Development of terrorist detailed databases and relevant intelligence gathering; Creation and use of “third-force”, by means of build special military units, or Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams to deal with terrorist cases (Branscomb, 2004); Countries should signing and complete of new treaties; Adequate use and development of anti-terrorist technologies; Extended use of counter-terrorism intelligence and justice; Signing and implement of new laws in violation of national and international terrorism (Boulden, 2009); Keep suspected terrorists and their supporters under surveillance. Therefore, governments could built an anti-terrorism systems; such a system brings together advanced and diverse and technologies, reconnaissance missions, persistent intelligence and surveillance, to potential actions. Another valuable way to defeat terrorism is by refusing resources to the terrorists. As Sandler and Enders (2004) emphasized, it is more productive to deny terrorists resources of financing, support groups, weapons, propaganda, recruits and intelligence. Rather than trying to protect wealth at risk which is extraordinarily hard or impossible in view of the extremely large amount of purpose and substitute possibilities. With use these ways to resist terrorism will control the terrorist activities in actuality or potency.
The scope of international cooperation and mutual support should range from local law enforcement and first responders to corporations, states and regions, up to and including nations and international organizations. For example, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an institution that combats terrorism at the international level that includes Russia, China, and the central Asia republics, sharing intelligence and has a training program in Bishkek (Intriligator, 2009). Another suggestion has been the collection and timely analysis of superior intelligence, both human and technologically be captured. Although the aims of counter terrorism require nation’s cooperation, government agencies lack for a common definition of the term terrorism. Thus, there have some of the perplexities that impede effectively counter-terrorism, these include the lacking of cooperation; not only between countries that may have helpful terrorist information, but also among state agencies who have an interest in monitoring terrorism. Mass of these entities are refuse to share information to each other, especially secret intelligence, only when they believe that it is in their short-term political benefits. Also, countries will need to rely more on good informants. Stewar (2009) claim that the confidential nature of anti-terrorist organizations, including the inability to develop appropriate sources, and the lack of expertise in appropriate foreign languages caused many intelligence make it difficult for agencies to obtain detailed information on terrorist organizations. Therefore, states should develop a holistic national database to track suspected terrorists and to permit criminal justice to integrate the appropriate infrastructure. These plausible solutions will most definitely be useful in practicing counter-terrorism.
In conclusion, counter terrorism will become an ineluctable part of our lives. Even though the immediate economic influence of the 9/11 events was devastating, consumer confidence and the stock markets recovered rapidly. Public cost on military operations and security is rising. The governments use counter-force in terms of anti-terrorism, carrying out passive sanction in reality and disincentive policy to presumptive terrorists to reduce the event of terrorism. Countries and their national security agencies must also carefully balance the personal freedoms of citizens versus that of the pursuit of terrorists. Otherwise, there would be a lot of repression and the legitimacy of the existing regime would be questionable. In reprisal of terrorist actions, there is always the possibility of collateral damage, especially when innocent civilians are detained, injury of death and when property is damaged or destroyed. Terrorist attacks will cause economic social and political panic; therefore, every country should adopt complete policies and operations to resist terrorism, through governmental aids and international cooperation strategies. By solving the problems caused by terrorism, nationals will indubitably draw closer to a more harmonious and peaceful world.
References¼š
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Stewar, MG 2009 , ‘Risk-informed decision support for assessing the costs and benefits of counter-terrorism protective measures for Infrastructure’, International Journal of Critical Infrastructur protection, vol. 3,pp.29-40.
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