Terrorism in the MENA Region and the West/ Mohammad Suleiman Abu Rumman Et Al.; Translated by Banan Fathi Malkawi.– Amman: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2016
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1 The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan The Deposit Number at the National Library (2016/11/5076) 320 Abu Rumman, Mohammad Suliman et al. Methods of Preventing and Combatting Terrorism in the MENA Region and the West/ Mohammad Suleiman Abu Rumman et al.; translated by Banan Fathi Malkawi.– Amman: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2016 (207) p. Deposit No.: 2016/11/5076 Descriptors: / Terrorism// Arab Countries/ ﯾﺘﺤﻤﻞ اﻟﻤﺆﻟﻒ ﻛﺎﻣﻞ اﻟﻤﺴﺆوﻟﯿﺔ اﻟﻘﺎﻧﻮﻧﯿﺔ ﻋﻦ ﻣﺤﺘﻮى ﻣﺼﻨﻔﮫ وﻻ ﯾﻌﺒّﺮ ھﺬا اﻟﻤﺼﻨﻒ ﻋﻦ رأي داﺋﺮة اﻟﻤﻜﺘﺒﺔ اﻟﻮطﻨﯿﺔ أو أي ﺟﮭﺔ ﺣﻜﻮﻣﯿﺔ أﺧﺮى. Published in 2016 by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Jordan and Iraq FES Jordan & Iraq P.O. Box 941876 11194 Amman Jordan Email: [email protected] Website: www.fes-jordan.org © FES Jordan & Iraq All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, or utilized in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the publishers. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are solely those of the original authors. They do not necessarily represent those of the Friedrich- Ebert-Stiftung or the editors. Translation: Banan Malkawi, Samira Kawar Editing: Banan Malkawi, EVS Translations, Anja Wehler-Schoeck Cover: Mu'ath Iseid Printing: Economic Press ISBN: 978-9957-484-71-2 2 Methods of Preventing and Combatting Terrorism in the MENA Region and in the West 3 4 Table of Contents Anja Wehler-Schoeck Foreword: Agree to Disagree? International Efforts in Preventing and Combatting Terrorism .................................................................................................................... 7 Mohammad Abu Rumman Counter-Terrorism Efforts: The Dialectic of Inputs and Outputs ................................ 9 Hassan Abu Hanieh Approaches to the War on Terrorism: Examples of Efforts to Eradicate Extremism ......................................................................................................................................... 21 Yassir Abd al-Hussein Breaking Terrorism: An Evaluation of Combatting the “Islamic State” Organization in Iraq ...................................................................................................................... 39 Nabil al-Bukairi Does Yemen Have a Counter-Terrorism Strategy? ......................................................... 65 Ahmed Zaghloul Shalata Terrorism in Egypt and the Crisis of Combatting It ........................................................ 79 Hussain al-Rawashdeh Jordan’s Approach to Counter-Extremism .......................................................................... 93 Awadh Al-Badi Saudi Arabia’s National Counter-Terrorism Strategy: The Legislative Approach ......................................................................................................... 103 Khalid Chegraoui Anti-Terrorism Policies in Morocco: From a Security Approach to a Holistic Approach ........................................................ 115 Sami Brahem Tunisia’s Approach to Fighting Terrorism through the “National Counter-Terrorism Strategy” ................................................... 127 Eric Rosand Pursuing a More Comprehensive Strategy to Counter-Terrorism: The Challenges of Moving from Talk to Walk. The Experience of the United States ...................... 143 Nikolay Sukhov The Nationwide Counter-Terrorism System in the Russian Federation ............. 163 5 Belinda Hoffmann Working Together against Terrorism – A Perspective on the Collaboration of the German Authorities .................................................................................................................... 175 Marc Hecker and Elie Tenenbaum France vs. Jihadism: The Republic in a New Age of Terror ........................................ 179 Jonathan Birdwell Building Local Capacity on a Global Scale: Collaboration through the Strong Cities Network ......................................................... 191 Kristian Bartholin Collaborating against Terrorism in Europe ..................................................................... 201 About the Authors ....................................................................................................................... 205 6 Foreword Agree to Disagree? International Efforts in Preventing and Combatting Terrorism Anja Wehler-Schoeck Resident Director, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Jordan & Iraq Terrorism is by no means a new phenomenon. History shows that terrorism has long occurred in an abundance of political, cultural, ethnic and religious contexts. In the past few years, though, terrorist attacks with an Islamist background have surged. Recent attacks, including those in several Western capitals, have brought the perceived threat levels in many countries to a new high. Quantitative research on the subject, like the Global Terrorism Database1 and the RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents2, documents a steady acceleration of the number of terrorist attacks since the 9/11 events in 2001 and more particularly since the start of the 2003 Iraq War. Moreover, since 9/11 there has been a noticeable shift in the location of terrorist attacks, with most now occurring in countries with a Muslim majority. While there is convergence on these overall trends, the discrepancies in research on the details of the matter, however, point to a caveat in the discussion of this issue: the challenge of defining what precisely constitutes an act of terrorism and who is considered a terrorist. A number of countries have compiled their own lists of terrorist organizations, many of which differ greatly from each other, indicating precisely the difficulty in achieving international consensus on this. The futile attempts by the international community in late 2015 to compile a list of terrorist groups active in Syria – which would determine if a group were either a target or a welcome guest at the negotiation table – can serve as illustration.3 And it is by no means a minor obstacle. Does it not rather raise the fundamental question of whether there can ever be international consensus on combatting terrorism? Or will this always be a field where hidden agendas and covert loyalties come to play? Around the globe, much thought is currently being put into devising new methods of both combatting existing terrorist threats and preventing rising radicalization and violent extremism. Unsurprisingly, the approaches that are deemed most adequate vary considerably from one country to the next, ranging from more security-focused methods to ones relying on socioeconomic or ideological factors, for example. In some countries the fight against terrorism has served as a pretext to delay democratic reforms, to restrict the media and civil society and to crack down on political opponents. Yet, a strong civil society, for example, can serve as a key asset in preventing radicalization, by educating and engaging citizens, and providing opportunities and perspectives to youth. 1 The Global Terrorism Database, https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/. 2 The RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents, http://www.rand.org/nsrd/projects/terrorism-incidents.html. 3 “Syrian terrorist list produces 163 names and no agreement.” Reuters, 17 February 2016. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-terrorist-idUSKCN0VQ25E 7 Effective measures to prevent radicalization can only be developed with a close ear to the ground – not at desks hundreds of miles away. With this publication, FES wishes to further an open exchange on the topic and to contribute to it by presenting different views on the matter from several countries in the MENA region as well as from Europe, Russia and the US. The majority of the papers compiled in this publication were presented at an international conference held in Jordan in June 2016 entitled “Methods of Preventing and Combatting Terrorism in the MENA Region and the West” organized by FES Amman. Through its line of work on Political Islam and extremism, FES Amman has closely followed these trends for many years with the aim of publishing in-depth analysis by local experts from the MENA region and fostering an open and educated discourse on these issues. We wish you an insightful read and look forward to your continued interest in the activities and publications of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Please visit our website at www.fes-jordan.org to learn more about our work. 8 Counter-Terrorism Efforts: The Dialectic of Inputs and Outputs Mohammad Abu Rumman The concept of terrorism has been used for a long time, and relates to different forms and types of activities and groups that have carried out actions considered to be terrorist, such as hijacking aircraft, taking hostages, and staging armed attacks on certain areas. However, different definitions of terrorism exist, firstly at the regional and international levels, and secondly on lists that categorize terrorist groups. Although several networks of groups are categorized as terrorist, the mode that has preoccupied the world and most Arab and western countries is represented by the networks of al-Qaeda and the so-called “Islamic State”. The latter represents the new generation of “Islamic terrorist” and is widespread to an extent that has allowed it to establish a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and satellite emirates in more than one spot around the world. Moreover, its cells have been able to carry out attacks against several targets in Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia. The group has come to represent a basic threat to many countries at local, regional and international levels. Hence various approaches