Effectiveness of Policies to Deter Terrorism

Effectiveness of Policies to Deter Terrorism

Introduction

The global debate on terrorism took the shape it has today since the US had an attack on the 11 September 2001. It was this attack that evoked the world to the power of a terrorist force operative in the world (Sandler, 2005). Terrorism is basically a threat to all the states and people living in it. This actually poses some serious threats towards security. The public interest is thereby increasingly to the requirements and limitations of government responses.

In recent years, even before the terrorist attacks, the U.S. Border Patrol had implemented initiatives but the standards are seemingly not good enough. People are entering the nation illegally and while ideas to reform the system seem to be centered on new programs and tougher legislation and a cleanup of the confusion between different arms of the law, there are still problems. Involving the U.S. military, is again, a popular idea but one that has problems of its own in terms of jurisdiction and responsibility. There are other reasons why military intervention is opposed.

Discussion and Analysis

Strategies for Risk Reduction

On September 28, 2005, President Bush highlighted four key points of the U.S. strategy for victory in the war against terrorism. In its presidential statement entitled Fighting Global War on Terror, Bush emphasized four key points used by his administration to meet the challenge of global terrorism: (1) fight the enemy abroad, (2) prevent terrorists from obtaining the U.S. support for sanctuary, (3) prevent terrorists' access to weapons of mass destruction, and (4) spreading democracy.

The main objective is to maximize the comparative advantages of each institution and implement the bases of the strategy, which includes the effective measures in order to strengthen the ability of the States for preventing and combating terrorism and also to reinforce the role of UN system.

US Terrorism and Antiterrorism Policy

The FBI identifies three categories of international terrorists that pose a threat to U.S. citizens and interests: state sponsors of international terrorism, formalized terrorist groups and loosely affiliated international radical extremists. State sponsors of terrorism are nations that are believed to lend support or protection to terrorist groups (Haque, 2002).

Yet many policy makers contend that sanctions are one of the most effective mechanisms that the U.S. has at its disposal to combat terrorism. Outside of military action, the U.S. has few other means to influence other countries' policies. They contend that abandoning sanctions would put business interests ahead of essential safety issues, and that if other nations observed sanctions against state supporters of terrorism, they would be more effective.

Counter-Terrorism Strategy

American Foreign policy and Paul Pillar's terrorism is basically a contribution towards the public policy debate on how well the US foreign policy establishment needs to respond against terrorism (Sandler, 2005). The following prevention plan by the government needs to be identified in this study.

Prevention Plan and Policy

Under the prevention pillar, it aims to combat the recruitment and radicalization of terrorist through identifying the propaganda, instrument and methods used by ...