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Africa: Terrorism Cannot Be Stopped By Armies
Sam Makinda
15 November 2007
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More than six years after the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA, many countries around the world are still working out ways of understanding the extent of the threat of terror and the best means of tackling it.
Recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan that targeted the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto shortly after her return from exile and General Pervez Musharraf a week later, suggest that even where the authorities understand the underlying causes and anticipate an imminent attack, they may take appropriate measures to limit the damage when it occurs, but there is little they can do to prevent it.
Fortunately, no African state faces the type of problems that bedevil Pakistan at present. Even a state without a government, such as Somalia, does not present insurmountable terrorist threats.
Nonetheless, there is a great need for governments and security agencies in Kenya and other African states to review their paradigms for addressing effectively terrorist threats.
It would be in their interests to devise ways of working collaboratively with the non-government sector, including academics, civil society organisations and journalists to tackle the root causes of terrorism and avoid the type of problems that beset Pakistan.
In the past 18 months, the Norwegian ministry of foreign affairs has been experimenting with a new formula for exploring security problems in Africa. Accordingly, it has funded a series of seminars that has focused on understanding the nature, extent and causes of terrorism in Africa.
Organised by the South African-based Institute for Security Studies in partnership with the Terrorism Studies and Research Programme at the University of Cairo, the seminars have involved academics, journalists, high court judges, prosecutors, United Nations personnel, African Union officials, police officers, intelligence agents and civil society workers.
The first seminar, which took place in Dar es Salaam in March 2006, was exploratory, more ambitious and included senior government officials from the host country. Subsequent seminars were held in Benoni, near Johannesburg, in November 2006, Cairo in May 2007, and Accra in November 2007. The final seminar in the series is scheduled to take place in Nairobi in early 2008.
The main driving force behind the seminars, a Kenyan, Dr Wafula Okumu, who heads the African Security Analysis programme at the Institute for Security Studies, and the Norwegian foreign ministry, believe that understanding terrorism in Africa and addressing its root causes should not be left to governments alone.
Relevant Links
Terrorism
Conflict
There is no doubt that governments have more financial resources, personnel and the necessary tools with which to tackle security threats. They also have the capacity to detect, prevent and apprehend terrorists.
However, while terrorist activities often cause a lot of physical damage, terrorism is not simply a material threat. It is a set of ideas, which cannot be eliminated by troops or sophisticated weapons alone.
Fighting terrorism requires that we engage in a battle of ideas, which may take many years. It is for this reason that many of the parties in the so-called war on terror are slowly realising that the participation of academics, religious organisations, other civil society organisations and the business sector, is crucial if terrorism is to be managed effectively.
Prof Makinda is the chair of security, terrorism and counter-terrorism at Murdoch University, Australia
Sam Makinda
15 November 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Email|Print|Comment
Share:
opinion
More than six years after the September 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA, many countries around the world are still working out ways of understanding the extent of the threat of terror and the best means of tackling it.
Recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan that targeted the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto shortly after her return from exile and General Pervez Musharraf a week later, suggest that even where the authorities understand the underlying causes and anticipate an imminent attack, they may take appropriate measures to limit the damage when it occurs, but there is little they can do to prevent it.
Fortunately, no African state faces the type of problems that bedevil Pakistan at present. Even a state without a government, such as Somalia, does not present insurmountable terrorist threats.
Nonetheless, there is a great need for governments and security agencies in Kenya and other African states to review their paradigms for addressing effectively terrorist threats.
It would be in their interests to devise ways of working collaboratively with the non-government sector, including academics, civil society organisations and journalists to tackle the root causes of terrorism and avoid the type of problems that beset Pakistan.
In the past 18 months, the Norwegian ministry of foreign affairs has been experimenting with a new formula for exploring security problems in Africa. Accordingly, it has funded a series of seminars that has focused on understanding the nature, extent and causes of terrorism in Africa.
Organised by the South African-based Institute for Security Studies in partnership with the Terrorism Studies and Research Programme at the University of Cairo, the seminars have involved academics, journalists, high court judges, prosecutors, United Nations personnel, African Union officials, police officers, intelligence agents and civil society workers.
The first seminar, which took place in Dar es Salaam in March 2006, was exploratory, more ambitious and included senior government officials from the host country. Subsequent seminars were held in Benoni, near Johannesburg, in November 2006, Cairo in May 2007, and Accra in November 2007. The final seminar in the series is scheduled to take place in Nairobi in early 2008.
The main driving force behind the seminars, a Kenyan, Dr Wafula Okumu, who heads the African Security Analysis programme at the Institute for Security Studies, and the Norwegian foreign ministry, believe that understanding terrorism in Africa and addressing its root causes should not be left to governments alone.
Relevant Links
Terrorism
Conflict
There is no doubt that governments have more financial resources, personnel and the necessary tools with which to tackle security threats. They also have the capacity to detect, prevent and apprehend terrorists.
However, while terrorist activities often cause a lot of physical damage, terrorism is not simply a material threat. It is a set of ideas, which cannot be eliminated by troops or sophisticated weapons alone.
Fighting terrorism requires that we engage in a battle of ideas, which may take many years. It is for this reason that many of the parties in the so-called war on terror are slowly realising that the participation of academics, religious organisations, other civil society organisations and the business sector, is crucial if terrorism is to be managed effectively.
Prof Makinda is the chair of security, terrorism and counter-terrorism at Murdoch University, Australia
