IMPACT OF TERRORISM ON SECURITY AND PEACE: a case study of East Africa

Background

Although the term is not subject to a universally agreed definition, terrorism can be broadly
understood as a method of coercion that utilizes or threatens to utilize violence in order to spread
fear and thereby attain political or ideological goals(Cilliers, 2003). Contemporary terrorist
violence is thus distinguished in law from “ordinary” violence by the classic terrorist “triangle”:
A attacks B, to convince or coerce C to change its position regarding some action or policy
desired by A(Clapham, 2003). The attack spreads fear as the violence is directed, unexpectedly,
against innocent victims, which in turn puts pressure on third parties such as governments to
change their policy or position. Contemporary terrorists utilize many forms of violence, and
indiscriminately target civilians, military facilities and State officials among others(Worcester,
2015).

The challenges of countering terrorism are not new, and indeed have a long history. The term
“terrorism” was initially coined to describe the Reign of Terror, the period of the French
Revolution from 5 September 1793 to 27 July 1794, during which the Revolutionary
Government directed violence and harsh measures against citizens suspected of being enemies of
the Revolution(Asongu, Tchamyou, Asongu, & Tchamyou, 2019). In East Africa, Innocent
civilians in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda have been victimized by terrorist attacks in the past,
and the threat of future attacks remains high. However, confronting this challenge, promoting
economic development, and respecting human rights are not mutually exclusive. IGAD has
stated explicitly that members’ geographic location, the persistence of conflict, the absence of
state structures, despair resulting from the loss of hope, and growth in extremism make Eastern
Africa a breeding ground for terrorist activity(Mroszczyk & Abrahms, 2021). As a result, and
governments across the region have displayed not only willingness but a pragmatic intent to
address the threat of terrorism. But sustained progress against both regional and globally minded
terrorist organizations operating in Eastern Africa is challenged by an array of financial, legal,
and technical hurdles(Ousman, 2004).
Objectives of this study
The main objective of this case study is to examine the impact of insurgencies caused by the
Terrorists in East Africa with the following:
I. To scrutinize the impact of terror on the peace and security in East Africa.
II. To determine the relationship between terrorism and religion in East Africa.
III. To provide a critical evaluation of the effects of terrorism on East African development
Justification of the study

The governments have an obligation of promoting the interests of the citizens. Therefore, this
can be evident when the governments are working so hard in protecting its populace by fighting
the terrorists‘activities in the country. This will thus guarantee the governments sovereignty and
respect, and to the extension, securing its borders which is the ultimate desire of any government.
The policy makers in any country require having the needed experience in making sound policies
that will counter the vice of terrorism thus, making East Africa as a vulnerable society to live in
peacefully and more so, to conduct economical businesses. The information that therefore this
study seeks to know and then put forth to the public and policy makers is on the same. The
analysis will then be further used substantially to come up with lessons and make
recommendations concerning foreign policies responses in view of global terrorism. The
development frontier with regards to the persistent nature of East African countries to have an
economy which is constantly developing has thus, played a crucial in putting Kenya‘s foreign
policy in the international radar for now a good number of years. Thus the dire need to not only
engage but also to be in total pursuit of broad, and inclusive security policies which will boost
the its peace and security not to forget the investment flows, the inter-alia foreign direct
investment (FDI) and, further, official development assistance (ODA), has been of great
influence to the east Africa countries approach to foreign policy. This study thus will seek to
assess different security policy behavior in response to international terrorism and whether its
relations with Western countries have had a positive impact in combating international terrorism.
The findings will add to the knowledge of terrorism and its counter-attack the East African
Governments. To the extension, the research will be useful to other researchers who would wish
to study issues related to terrorism and security especially in developing countries.
Methodology

The methodology of this research will try to address the dangling objectives of the research and
later on, it will answer the pertinent questions. The study will draw the information from both
primary and secondary source of data. The primary data will be an interaction of Key informants
and the interviews answered questions and to, make it even more authentic, administration of
questionnaires from staff in organizations, Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Internal Security.
The secondary data will be solicited from a collection and review of published and unpublished
material, academic papers, journals, and periodicals. It will be obtained from The National
Treasury on the Government spending on peace.

The methodology thus will critically look into the components of the study specifically on the
effects of terrorism on security and peace which will be limited to the design of the research, the
population, the sample and sampling design and finally data collection. The research design
primary intention is to curb the problem by coming up with sustainable solutions in counter-
terrorism and analyzing the effects on foreign direct investments. The available population for
this research is the private sector, peace and security organizations which have been affected by
the acts of terrorism both directly and indirectly. The target population will be those in the policy
making and the leadership categories. The sample size will be 90 respondents comprising of
senior private and public officials. The sampling design will involve interviewing the
respondents that have knowledge on terrorism, peace and security to which the study will
recommend their involvement in partnering with the public sector in counter-terrorism. The
questionnaires will also be administered and collected. The findings will be analyzed and
presented by use of tables, charts and, graphs. A variable is an object, idea, feeling, time period
or any other category that is being measured in research methodology. Variables are of two
types: Independent and dependent variables. Independent variables stand alone and are not
changed by the other variables being measured. The time schedule for the study will be six
months.
References