STATE AND COMMERCIAL INIATIVES TO COMBAT TERRORISM

State and Commercial Iniatives to Combat Terrorism

State and Commercial Iniatives to Combat Terrorism

Introduction

For many years, terrorism was perceived as a contest between two sides: on the one hand, a group of people or an organization, and on the other, a sovereign state. However, during the course of the second half of the twentieth century, various countries began to use, and indeed have expanded their use of terrorist organizations to promote state interests in the international domain. Instead of the "weapon of the weak" - minority groups, liberation movements, (Alexander, 2002, 307) and revolutionary organizations - terrorism has become a tool of states and even of superpowers. In some cases, states established "puppet" terrorist organizations, whose purpose was to act on behalf of the sponsoring state, to further the interests of the state, and to represent its positions in domestic or regional fronts. In other cases, states sponsored or supported existing organizations, thereby creating mutually profitable connections.

State and Commercial Iniatives to Combat Terrorism

The patron state provided its beneficiary terrorist organization with political support, financial assistance, and the sponsorship necessary to maintain and expand the struggle until the attainment of its objectives had been achieved. The patron used the beneficiary to perpetrate acts of terrorism as a means of spreading the former's ideology throughout the word, or in other cases, the patron ultimately expected that the beneficiary would assume control over the state in which it resided or impart its ideology to broad sections of the general public. (Alexander, 2002, 80)

According to Ray S. Cline and Yonah Alexander, state sponsored terrorism aims "to achieve strategic ends in circumstances where the use of conventional armed forces is deemed inappropriate, ineffective, too risky, or too difficult." The high costs of modern warfare, the Cold War, and concern about non-conventional escalation, as well as the danger of defeat and the unwillingness to appear as the aggressor, have turned terrorism into an efficient, convenient, and generally discrete weapon for attaining state interests in the international realm.

State support for terrorism has led to greater cooperation between organizations in countries throughout the world, even in cases where ideological affinity was minimal. The Soviet Union was among the first to sponsor a variety of terrorist organizations, either directly or through its satellite states, although with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Iran has assumed leadership in the terrorism sponsorship field, both through direct and (primarily) indirect means. Considering the level and scope of its involvement in terrorist activities, post-Pahlavian Iran has become the leading force in state sponsored terrorism.

Recognizing the centrality and the vast influence of terrorism patrons on the scope and character of terrorist attacks throughout the world, the United States tracks these states on an ongoing basis and publishes an annual report of their activities. Inclusion in the report forbids American companies from trading with countries on the list, and excludes them from U.S. military or economic assistance, with the exception of humanitarian ...