Strategies for Combating Terrorism in Europe Term Paper

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Counterterrorism Strategies

Terrorism is a 21st century' problem to the entire world. It has led to many lives lost eventually. Global instability in of the world in terms of social, economic, and political spectra has also been witnessed because of terrorism. For this reason, the world's nations have come together to devise methods and means of countering the problem. However, on top of the global stand that courtiers adopt a similar and coordinated approach to fighting terrorism, there are still instances where specific countries adopt unique strategies to fight the menace (Sisk, 2011). Counterterrorism strategies among the most hit countries thus differ. In this paper, an analysis of the similarities and difference between the counterterrorism strategies among the three European nations is put forth. The countries under focus here are Spain, Sweden, and The Netherlands. Each of these countries has been facing similar terror threats and has devised ways to combat it.

Methodology

In this study, the author did a comparative analysis of the security approaches to terrorism in the three countries; Spain, Netherlands, and Sweden. The facts and statistics applicable were obtained from government websites of these respective countries and the accounts given by the people proxy to the security departments in these countries. Secondary data from articles and magazines touching on terrorism in Europe were also used to obtain the information. From comparison and analysis, the author applied his opinion regarding the approach that was more effective as adopted by each country. Secondary opinions from other previous studies were not used. The secondary information only guided the author to make comprehensive conclusions regarding which approach used by any country was effective.

Terror threats to Spain, Netherlands, and Sweden

After the September 11 attack on the American soil, there have been similar threats leveled against European countries that have for a while been profiled by the terror networks as being friends of America. Initially, the motivating factor guiding the terrorists on their mission to attack America was premised on its decision to invade Iraq and Afghanistan (Haberfeld, King, & Lieberman, 2009). Surprisingly, these countries also acted as the home bases of the world' notorious and leading terror networks, The Al-Qaida. This drew their wrath and has since motivated them to attack America. The desire by these terror networks to attack other nations like the above-mentioned European states is premised on the commonalities in religion with America. Besides, the U.S. government has been having a good diplomatic and trading relations with these countries (Hammond, 2014).

Therefore, it a war tactic that these terror networks are using to destabilize and weaken their main enemy target, the United States of America. The war strategy and tactics of the enemies have inspired the responses used as well as the tactics that the terrorists use. Even though these countries are facing the same type of threat, they are now using different approaches to fighting them off (Haberfeld, King, & Lieberman, 2009). The reasons behind this difference are that there are peculiar differences in these countries that include geographical positioning, religious composition, and political stabilities.

The similarities in the approaches used

All the three countries have adopted religious profiling as a way of rebutting terrorism. The three countries are largely Christian states. They have little composition of Muslims and other religions. In fact, virtually all terrorist networks in the world today are faith-based. The faith that seems to produce the highest number of these terrorists is the Islamic faith. In fact, terrorists are at this war claiming that they are fighting in the name of God. Theirs is a religious war popularly identified as Jihad. Jihadist tendencies motivate all terror activities in the world today. The prime targets of the terror activities are the Christians, being the ancestral enemies of the Muslims (Sisk, 2011). They also have become targets since the main target enemy state for the Islamic insurgents, America, which is predominantly a Christian state. Besides, these Jihadists come from countries where Islamic rules and Sharia laws are strictly followed. They are operating under a haven when in either country. The three nations have chosen to profile their citizens religiously as a way of countering terrorism (Hammond, 2014).

The move to adopt religious profiling was also motivated by the successful implementation of the same by the DHS. This was developed after the September 11 attack after the most daring terror attack on America's capital. Sweden, Netherlands, and Spain keep a database of all their citizens with details of their religious affiliations also well. Accordingly, there are no rights to worship outside the stipulated time schedules and all the religious leaders are registered by the state.

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They also have a requirement that all religious endeavors have to be disclosed to the state authorities. Despite the fact that these acts are against the freedom of worship provisions provided for in these countries' constitutions, they have had to do so in order to safeguard their citizens. This reason has even made then citizens understand the governments' intentions and later supported them fully (Haberfeld, King, & Lieberman, 2009).

The second counterterrorism strategy that these three nations share is that they are using shared intelligence to combat the crime. The decision to use shared intelligence was prompted by the fact that terrorists were getting smarter by the day and used the gap that existed in information sharing. The entire European Union is on a program to share intelligence information with each other. Being part of the European Union, these countries have been sharing intelligence together and getting the same feeds from the conglomeration of the nations under the umbrella union (Sisk, 2011).

Differences

Although they fight a common enemy, the three nations have had to use unique strategies at times for their causes. One such different approach stems from the geographical difference that the three countries have. For instance, The Netherlands is located next to the sea. This makes it very open to the terror attack than any of the other two nations. For this reason, it has adopted more stringent measures than Sweden and Spain. The second peculiarity of the Netherlands' geographical location is that it acts as the airline terminus for most routes (Haberfeld, King, & Lieberman, 2009). For instance, virtually all planes from Africa and Asia must pass through The Netherlands before proceeding to America. In this regard, the country has adopted sophisticated screening mechanisms at the airport more than in Sweden and Spain. The other difference is that given that Spain is a Monarchy with a very conservative catholic denomination, virtually everyone is forced to act like the rest. There is minimal room for deviation in cultural and religious practices (Hammond, 2014).

Analysis

Counterterrorism strategies employed by these three European countries have so far been effective in rebutting the potential terror attacks that would have happened. The use of religious profiling has however increased tension among the citizens where it has been applied. There are growing concerns about the continued use of this strategy, stemming from the reason that the stability of these nations is becoming more precarious than before. Although the method are bearing the desired results now, it has the potential of creating disastrous consequences in the end. For instance, the few Muslims in these countries continue getting resentful of the regimes and the Christians alike. They are also winning the sympathy of their colleagues outside these countries. With such a trend, there might be a global balkanization between Christians and Muslims, which might result in full-scale religious wars. The occurrence of the latter is far much more deadly than the present state of terrorism.

Intelligence sharing as a strategy to combat terrorism is very effective, especially at the present moment when The European Union has made it a top priority. Countries have joint intelligence networks, which work in cooperation with the local countries' security systems. The weakness of this approach now is that despite the need to share intelligence reports, there comes a time when countries prioritize safeguarding individual interest first. Some intelligence reports that get to the attentions some countries sometimes are not shared for fear that it will compromise their stability.

Conclusion

Counterterrorism is one of the most expensive and involving affair that countries have today. The expenditure on this endeavor is however worth the doing. Ideally, terrorist activities can bring down the entire nation's economy. As noted from the strategies used by the three countries discussed above, the fight against terrorism should fit the nature of the threat faced. It should also be inspired by the magnitude of the threat faced. Secondly, cooperation among countries in the fight against terror is important. This can be achieved through information sharing (Hammond, 2014).

Countries can also cooperate in establishing joint military forces to combat terrorism. Given the fact that terrorist networks ride on high funding from rich and interested parties, it might be difficult for a single state to stage a war against the threats it faces from these terrorists. Finally, whatever sacrifices need to be taken in order….....

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