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Impact of Terrorism On Social, Economic And Legal Structure of TheCountriesObstacle to Global Peace

By : Dr. Arvind shukla

Sr. lecturer, Invertis Institute Of management Studies, Bareilly.

The term "terrorism" since the 1970s was directed to various phenomenon, starting from fearsome threatsUntil today the world under UN has failed to come to an agreement about what is an acceptable definitionfor terrorism. It is still under debate despite attempts made by many experts. The effort to approachterrorism from a definitional perspective has thus become a never-ending effort, let alone conform thedefinition itself.So many definitions of terrorism have been attempted, but I am not going to discuss the diversities of terrorism definition. What I intend to discuss here is that for the purpose of enforcing the law against theact of terror, Indonesia has enacted a law on terror in its Act number 15 and 16, 2003 which goes asfollows:"Every person deliberately uses violence or threatens to use violence causing terror or wide fear againstperson or causing massive victims, by taking others' freedom or the loss of life, property of others, or causing damage and destruction against vital and/ or strategic installations or environment or publicfacility or international facility, shall be penalized with a death penalty or life imprisonment or at least four years imprisonment and maximum 20 years imprisonment. "It is vital tool for our law enforcement as a vanguard of terror act attempted by any individual or groupwithin our jurisdiction. So from law enforcement perspective the law is vital to stop a would-be criminal (s)from attempting to commit crime of terrorism which used to be absent in Indonesia for several years.From a perspective of motives of terrorist acts are recognized as follows: publicizing a statement throughacts of ruthlessness. In that way they can make fast and massive publication; act of vengeance towardsgroups considered disadvantageous to them; serving as a catalyst for militarization or mass mobilization;spreading hatred and inter-communal conflict; announcing a certain group as the enemy and should beheld responsible; victims are not the goal but a means to create "neural war"; create mass panic, damagepublic trust towards the government including security and law enforcement authorities.Whereas the justifications of terrorism taken on by terrorists including: justifying all means for theaccomplishment of transcendental goals; extreme violence considered to be therapeutic, full of blessingsand regenerative; the executor places himself/herself as part of history, where the act is a consequentialelement of history under the perspective of moral balance (a deserved treatment); the act of terrorismperceived as a minor crime; many among them even take this act insignificant in comparison to theenemy's posing threat that suppresses them structurally; Let us now look at how terrorism has developedand its trend these days.

Trends of Terrorism:-

Terrorism is a global crime. It has become the predominant geopolitical theme. The affairs of the world areinfluenced in important areas by the terrorist agenda. The thinking of policy makers and law enforcers isshaped increasingly by the need to respond appropriately to the threat of terrorism. Terrorism represents a

challenge not just to the bases of civilized society, but also to the very foundations of the world order.Terrorism activities threaten fundamental nations' law and order, human rights and it is the enemy of mankind. Terrorism, in one form or another, has been around for a long time, and there is no realisticprospect of its becoming extinct in the foreseeable future. All of those concerned with the effective combatof terrorism must be prepared for the long haul. There is no simple solution to terrorism.Terrorism is fuelled by various factors. These include the openness of free societies, the easy access totechnologies by means of violence and a radical and global ideology of hatred. Conflicts in some countriesparticularly in the Middle East have inevitably formed a global issue and solidarity among terrorists. Thisglobal issue has become a unifying factor to share the sufferings and establish a sense of togethernessbased on religious brotherhood among the believers to resist against the oppressor.Terrorism will remain a menace as long as there are people who are driven by fanaticism, paranoia andextremism. So long as there exists in the world poverty, strife, injustice and oppression, conditions willexist which terrorists can turn to their advantage. No doubt that the campaign against terrorism is one thatmust be mounted at various levels, including political, economic, and humanitarian. The iron fist approachalone will not succeed. Terrorist will often have the advantage over the law enforcer in the sense that he/she is able to decide when and where he/she will strike, and how hard he/ she will strike. Law enforcement,on the other hand, has to maintain constant vigilance. That is not easy at a time when commercial airlinescan be used as flying bombs, and when terrorist strategy is planned by internet, mobile phone, satelliteand coded messages on websites.The threats we face from terrorism are constantly changing in all sorts of ways. Just when progress isbeing made against a terrorist group, splintering often occurs, and hardliners break away and form splinter groups committed to the campaign of violence. It is feared that weapons of mass destruction previouslycontrolled by governments can now be purchased on the black market. It is said that not only the weaponsbut also the scientists with the knowledge of how to make them are available if the price is right. Andfinance may be the key. Terrorists, like more conventional criminals, need access to adequate funds inorder to finance their activities. Weapons, communication systems and transport all come at a price, asdoes training.Terrorism seeks power through violence, and money is a means to achieve that. Terrorism needs accessto international payment systems in order to finance and sustain its campaigns. Terrorists, like organizedcriminals, make active use of credit card fraud and check fraud. This is why vigorous identification checksregime must be exercised on potential customers by credit card companies. The loopholes are in the areaof money laundering legislation that must be closed.Terrorism as it was defined a systematic use of violence or the threat of violence to achieve political, socialor economic goals. Terrorism uses extreme physical violence to shock the targeted audience. Thepsychological impact generated in the mind of people as a natural corollary of that matters more to theterrorists than the physical attack on the victims (Cline, Ray S, 1998).Terrorism is as old as the civilization of mankind itself and has existed in all ages in some form or other which might be known anarchists, revolutionaries, fundamentalist or dissidents against the establishedauthority or even ruling tyrants having no tolerance or dissent. However, terrorism was not as widespreadphenomenon as it is today in contemporary political system of the world.Terrorism has, in fact, become a global phenomenon with increasing and rather well identifiable linksbetween different terrorist group and organization. They use each other's areas for recruitment andtraining, exchange of illegal weapons, engage in joint planning and ventures and also provideadministrative and other logistic support. This type of terrorist activities show a new dimension due tocircumstances characterized by the advancement of science, technology and diverse social, economic,political and historical reasons conditioning it.The development of computer science, satellite and mobile links have also affected the modernization of terrorist activities. This further facilitated by support of states/ governments unfavorable to each other. Anelement of international terrorism comes into the picture when specific persons of the nation are designedas targets by the members of another group outside that nation. It is, therefore, described as warfarewithout territory. It is warfare without neutrals and with few or no by standards. Another form of globalterrorism is sponsored terrorism, which is operated from safe areas in another country, which are out of reach of the counter insurgency forces of the targeted country.

There cannot be any single cause of terrorism. Causes of terrorism may range from socio-economic andpolitical conditions to theories based on the personality and environment of the terrorist. Terrorism ismotivated by a variety of inner drives ranging from financial gains to revenge, from fundamentalism todeprivation, political frustration, regional disparities, marginalization of sub-national groups, extremism,despair, injustice, discrimination, resentment against the existing regime, feeling of insignificance,intervention into personal freedom, weak government, separatism and oppression, inequality etc.Terrorism produces harmful effects in several ways. The consequences of terrorism can be disastrous for all countries, both rich and poor, and their people. The normal social life gets totally disturbed and a largenumber of innocent lives go in vein. Fear and terror haunt everybody and the productivity of people ismiserably stalled. Everything may come to a halt and the dream of leading a life of happiness and peace isshattered. Economic and social development of the society cease to uncertainly. Almost all becomeparalyzed amid terrorist incidents.Terrorism breaks down the social, economic political and legal structures of the affected countries and theentire process of development stops. Socio-cultural mosaic goes to rack and ruin, and the economy of thecountry suddenly becomes a shamble. The rule of law and human rights crumble and people suffer terribly. For developing countries, terrorism is fatal to their development planning because they can hardlywithstand the violent assaults of terrorism; their longing for a better and brighter future goes up in smoke.Moreover, terrorism not only weakens the established political authority but also brings about politicalinstability. In that situation the maintenance of the rule of law and human rights become almostimpossible.Terrorism idealizes violence, does away with morality, distorts politics, promotes totalitarianism, subvertsprogress, destroys the apparatus of freedom in democratic societies. In fact, it destroys the will of acivilized society to defend itself. It appears that everything the mankind strives for collapses like a house of cards. As a matter of fact, terrorism is war against civilization.Today, terrorism poses a great threat not just to human life, human rights, dignity and democratic valuesbut to very existence of a civilized life. If the present trend continues, human civilization itself will be acasualty. That is why Jerusalem Conference on International Terrorism held in 1979 declared that‘terrorism is a serious and growing threat to the people of all states which live under the rule of law, that itis no longer a national problem, but a global one; that it cannot be constrained, and eliminated, except byconcerted international action; and that the case for such action is overwhelming and urgent’. (JonathanInstitute, 1979)Prevention and Control Strategies:-In this age of increasing globalization and interdependence, the national and international dimension of terrorism in fact, constitutes two facets of the same social phenomenon which infringes upon the interestof all states, not only as an assault against their public order and institutions that protect the liberty andsecurity of their citizens but, also at the same time as a serious danger to peaceful international relationsand cooperation, which is clearly understood as encompassing human rights and values as well as theprinciples of equal rights and self determination of people. It is, therefore, that the transnational character of contemporary terrorist events has prompted international efforts to suppress them at the global regionaland bilateral levels.

Suggestions for stemming the growth of transnational crime:-

The answer seems to be intensifying law enforcement, more vigilance along borders, depriving thecriminals of their profits, assisting poor countries with their efforts at strict law enforcement by way of providing training to their law enforcement officers, providing necessary technology, harmonizing laws,sharing information, concluding international agreements to facilitate co-operation and co-ordination in lawenforcement and more importantly, political will and commitment.Profits generated by organized crime far exceed those that legitimate business enterprises could make.The incentive for organized crime, whether local or transnational, is profit. If organized crime syndicates

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