Multilateral cooperation on counterterrorism activities offers a window into the roles of agenda-setters at the top political levels of government and the working-level experts whose command of intricate practicalities is so essential to implementation. As multilateral counterterrorism efforts have drawn more than 100 international agencies, councils, and offices into the effort, clear and effective collaboration between the two levels has become that much more important. The synchronization of international objectives in the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy has created an opening for better technical and political multilateral coordination. A risk remains, however, that, by focusing on a short list of priority areas, such as countering violent extremism in Yemen, the international community might be giving short shrift to other regions where political violence could also threaten future peace and security. This brief, published by the Stanley Foundation, finds that input from technical experts is essential to keep those who set the agenda from putting all the attention on a narrow set of current hot spots and missing opportunities to prevent future hubs of terrorism from emerging.
Multilateral Counterterrorism: Harmonizing Political Direction and Technical Expertise
Due to geographical proximity to the Sahel, the European Union and its member states cannot ignore the consequences of political instability that already spill over their own borders, whether through migration or various forms of smuggling. This policy brief offers thoughts on improving regional counterterrorism cooperation in the Sahel and the positive role that the EU might play.
In light of the 2008 attacks in Mumbai and numerous terrorist attacks since, this article in the CTC Sentinel looks at the pressing need and prospects for developing a regional approach to intelligence sharing, law enforcement, and other forms of counterterrorism cooperation in South Asia. It highlights some of the challenges to developing effective regional counterterrorism cooperation in South Asia by looking at the counterterrorism efforts of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. It argues that South Asian states and their external partners need to move beyond well-intended statements to focus on building practical counterterrorism cooperation at the technical level. Specifically, it recommends the establishment of a new regional counterterrorism forum for cooperation, with the necessary expertise and mandate to provide training and implement related counterterrorism capacity-building efforts in South Asia, arguing that building the capacity of and trust between law enforcement and judicial officials and other technical counterterrorism practitioners in the region could lead to higher levels of political cooperation against terrorism.
This policy brief offers thoughts on improving regional counterterrorism cooperation in South Asia. It argues for a new regional approach to counterterrorism in South Asia and offers lessons from India’s experience.
This policy brief examines the work of the United Nations to promote implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1540, which is aimed at preventing weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery from getting into the hands of nonstate actors. The brief argues that the UN capacity to promote implementation of the resolution, in particular that of the Security Council’s 1540 Committee and its group of experts, should be strengthened and provides specific recommendations for how that should be done.
This policy brief examines the efforts of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime Terrorism Prevention Branch, which provides various forms of counterterrorism-related assistance to countries to help them join and implement the universal instruments against terrorism and strengthen the capacity of their national criminal justice systems to deal with terrorism.
This policy brief argues that although the Group of Eight’s (G8) Counter-Terrorism Action Group (CTAG) has performed unevenly and largely failed to meet the goals set out for it, the mechanism still offers the best opportunity currently available for enhanced coordination of counterterrorism assistance. The brief outlines a series of possible options for maximizing CTAG’s effectiveness, including delinking CTAG from the Lyon-Roma Anti-Crime and Counterterrorism Group or even the G8 as a whole, expanding its membership, and expanding the CTAG mandate beyond narrow security-related issues.
Horrific acts of terrorism, such as the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, underscore the regional nature of the terrorist threat in South Asia and point to the need for greater cooperation within the region to address it. This report explores ways to strengthen such cooperation, with a particular focus on the role that regional bodies and the United Nations can play in that regard. It urges the United Nations to build on the international community’s solidarity in the wake of recent attacks in the region to forge stronger engagement between the United Nations and South Asia on counterterrorism issues and within the region itself.
This policy brief examines the role of the UN system in carrying forward implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. It highlights some UN achievements in supporting Strategy implementation efforts, enumerates some of the challenges facing the organization as it seeks to enhance these efforts, and offers suggestions on how to overcome them.