Impact Of Terrorism On African Progress

Intrastate conflict has historically been savage and chaotic; nowhere have these descriptors been more fitting than within African civil wars. A legacy of colonialism, ineffective governance, and regional conflict scars the continent, resulting in regular political instability within its territories. The Nigerian civil war of the late 1960s cost the lives of an estimated three-million people- the majority of whom were civilians who succumbed to starvation (NWE 2015). This conflict has traditionally been understood to have been caused by ethnic tensions within the state, and justifiably so (Falola 1999, 125). The ethnic cleansing of the Igbo that occurred throughout September and October of 1966 in northern Nigeria undoubtedly played a

Ikechi Mgbeoji’s book, Collective Insecurity examines the hidden causes of West Africa’s civil wars and addresses an important question: “Why has the U.N. system not worked to protect people and to enhance their welfare, as intended, in Africa and elsewhere?” In his book, Mgbeoji proposes, “the solution to African political instability lies in a structural rearrangement of the African polity for the purpose of legitimate governance of African peoples.”

So far, terrorism has been a key obstacle to many foreign nations, as they are struggling to prevent terrorist attacks. From the year of 1997 up to the year of 2003, international terrorist attacks have gone from less than 500 to almost 3000. Overall, global terrorism has grown by almost 1200% from 1997 to 2003. (Johnston 1). This massive increase in terrorism reflects on other nations' lack of control of the safety of their nation. These statistics also show that something needs to be done to protect the

“Terrorism's particularly heinous but highly attractive means to achieve political objectives or even radically restructure political foundations is manifest within societies in all reaches of the world. While the practical application of terrorist methodologies comes across as a relatively straightforward craft, the conceptual and ideological understanding, and subsequent evaluation of its socio-political influence, implementation, and psychological impacts present difficult questions, and in some cases conceivably insurmountable obstacles” (Romaniuk 2014, para

On April 15th, 2013, the Boston Marathon bombings occurred, killing three people and injuring hundreds. This story was broadcasted internationally and plastered on every major news source. In Mogadishu, Somalia, on that very same day, terrorist bombings killed 29 people. Why, however, did the latter conflict fail to get substantial press coverage? Why does violent conflict in Africa fail to make headlines internationally while the Boston Bombings received worldwide recognition in a matter of minutes? In Somalia, Rwanda, the Sudan, Sierra Leone, and countless other African countries, violent conflict is presented as ‘tribal,’ ‘ethnic,’ or ‘clan-based.’ The underlying assumption is that violence is the product of ‘backward cultures’ (Tuastad

Throughout the world, terrorism affects cultures in a myriad of ways. The United States Department of Defense defines terrorism as, “ the calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological” (DOD). Terrorism has emerged in the last ten years as one of the most crucial issues governments attempt to tackle. Many movies and documents can help people better understand the major strain of terrorism. As seen by the effects of the September eleventh attacks on American security, tourism and economy, the Taliban, and Somali piracy, terrorism has had an utmost impact on the world.

Thesis: Since the 9/11 terrorists’ attacks, terrorism has extended far beyond the United States and into other nations such as Africa. Even though these acts of aggressions take place outside of the United States, the government should have the capability to counteract groups who engage in the terrorism without fear of reprisal. Therefore, the establishment of a new Combatant Command for Africa (AFRICOM) should mark an important milestone in the prevention of the terrorist attacks against the United States. Africa Command in partnership with African countries will help protect and defend the national security interests of the

In an attempt to gain local perspective of the most recent terror attacks in Western Africa, reporter Carley Petesch of the Associated Press has been stationed in the region as their lead West-African correspondent. In the article she discusses how the beach massacre in Ivory Coast and the attack on a Mali hotel have forced the United Nations and European Union to dispatch troops to the area, with the hopes of improving local security measures. She speaks with locals and an area security consultant to discuss how the terrorist group known as Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) continue to terrorize the region, and local governments are in need of international assistance to prevent future attacks.

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the United States, including its allies, waged brutal campaigns directed at the Al Qaeda leadership and, the Taliban in the Middle East. America’s fight against terrorism nonetheless consumed billions of dollars since the 9/11 attacks. Earlier, countries such as England, Spain, Italy, and Russia, similarly waged wars against the Provisional Irish Republican Army, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, the Red Brigades and the Chechnya separatists. In most of these cases, research shed light on the mechanisms that led to the demise or the defeat of these terrorist groups. However, when it comes to similar groups located in the southern hemispheric countries such as Nigeria, the mechanisms leading to the group

For the past seven years innocence have been injured, killed, or brutally tortured by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. They have lost their homes and precious possessions due to a cruel, selfish satisfaction of this organization. Boko Haram members believe that these “brutal penalties” is just an ordinary way to express their culture. Although Nigeria came to a conclusion that these terrorists had given up, it only took five months later to realize it was not the end. Nigeria’s strategies had gotten them nowhere and only led them back to where they started.

Independent from British ruling since 1960, Nigeria today still suffers from ethnical and religious divisions as well as unequal distribution of power and resources among its regions. A high degree of violence and insecurity has shaped Nigeria’s political framework since colonial times. The region is characterized by systematic human under-development and socio-political decay. By draining resources from development, terrorism creates an additional burden on the society and interferes with development opportunities.

Al-Shabaab as a terrorist group poses a significant threat in Somalia and in the global community. This paper will start by discussing the background. In this part the paper will show how the group has evolved from Al-Ittihad Al-Islam (AIAI) to the Islamic Court Union (ICU) and lastly to Al-Shabaab. Before discussing the group’s threat of national security, homeland and international, this paper will provide the conceptual meaning of key terminology, such as national security, homeland security, international security and globalization. It is important to understand these concepts before moving toward the main argument of the paper. After providing the framework for key concepts, the paper will discuss the group’s threat to Somalia in two areas, national security and homeland security. The paper will go further and identify the threats posed by the group on other nations’ homeland security and international security. We will use East African countries and the United States examples. The paper will provide evidence to support how globalization has shaped and fueled the threats from Al-Shabaab. It will then discuss the primary response from the United States and from African countries through AMISOM. The paper will provide the way forward and suggestions for the response of the international community to Al-Shabaab. In conclusion, we will try to alert the international community that although the group has been experience hard times in Somalia, it is unwise to

The greater Horn of Africa (HoA) is the sub region of the Eastern part of Africa that composed of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda. Threats to peace and security are interconnected and comprised various human insecurities that emanate from both intrastate and interstate conflict, and transnational security threats such as terrorism. This is because political, social, and security problems in the region further threaten development efforts and complicate interventions to alleviate, the various related challenges of the region. Mainly, Terrorism has been a source of serious security challenge to the Horn of Africa peace and development process. As terrorism is the main security challenge of the Horn of Africa region, Sun Tzu’s theory is relevant in the war with terrorist organizations operated in the greater Horn of Africa. For these countries’ could helpful in curbing the terrorist threat, if they examine Sun Tzu’s theory offensive strategy according to the existing context of the terrorist threat. The offensive strategy first should focus on attacking the terrorist’s strategy, and then their allies because the main strength of the terrorist is the strategy they follow. Giving priority on attacking the terrorist’s strategy would eliminate fertile ground for terrorist organizations motive. Therefore, this paper will evaluate, and analyze Sun Tzu’s theory such

Over the years there have been significant changes in how terrorism is carried out. With the changes in how terrorism is carried out there have also been dramatic changes in how countries counter terrorist attacks. The modifications in the way a country counters these terrorist attacks affects international relations of these countries. These issues bring about the question of how have counter terrorism methods affected international relations. To answer this question several things must be addressed which are, methodology, history of terrorism, and a literature review of multiple authors that have discussed this subject.

Kenya has been the battlefield of tragic terrorist attacks on western interests twice since 1998 – once in 1998 when the US embassy was attacked and a second time in 2002 when a Israeli-owned Paradise hotel was bombed. In 1980, Jewish-owned Norfolk hotel was attacked by the PLO. Every single attack shared a common thread of irony: the majority of the lives lost were Kenyan, even though the ideology behind the attacks suggests that Kenyan and Kenyans were not involved in the political dynamic that precipitated the attacks.