The words "poverty" and "poor" came from Latin pauper = "poor", which originally came from pau- and the root of pario, i.e. "giving birth to not much" and referred to unproductive farmland or livestock.

Poverty is deprivation of those things that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, but also such "intangibles" as the opportunity to learn, to engage in meaningful employment, and to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens. The World Bank defines poverty as, “the inability to attain a minimal standard of living.”

Ongoing debates over causes, effects and best ways to measure poverty, directly influence the design and implementation of poverty-reduction programs and are therefore relevant to the fields of international development and public administration.

Measuring poverty:

Poverty can be measured in terms of absolute or relative poverty. Absolute poverty refers to a set standard which is consistent over time and between countries. For instance the percentage of the population eating less food than is required to sustain the human body (approximately 2000-2500 calories per day for an adult male). The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on les than US $ 1 per day, and moderate poverty as less than $2 a day, estimating that in 2001, 1.1 billion people had consumption levels $1 day and 2.7 billion lived on less than $2 a day. The Planning Commission of India in 1977 defined the Poverty Line as the mid point of the monthly per capita expenditure class having a daily calorie intake of 2400 per person in rural and 2100 in urban areas. Within the poverty line there are varying degrees of poor. They are sub-divided into four groups. The poorest of poor are “destitudes”. Other groups are the “Very Very Poor” the “Very Poor” and finally the poor.

Relative poverty views poverty as socially defined and dependent on social context. Income inequality is a relative measure of poverty. A relative measurement would be to compare the total wealth of the poorest one-third of the population with the total wealth of richest 1% of the population.

In India 47% of farm land is owned by 80% of the farm household and 53% is owned by the remaining 20%. In respect of income the share of the bottom 20% is only 8.8% of the total income, whereas the top 20% receives 41.3% of the total income. Modern welfare states try to reduce the incidence of relative poverty through direct taxes, indirect taxes and ceiling in rural and urban poverty. The money thus collected is spent in various schemes which increase the income of the poor.

In many developed countries the official definition of poverty used for statistical purposes is based on relative income.

Economic aspects of poverty may focus on material needs, typically including the necessities of daily living, such as food, clothing, shelter, or safe drinking water. Poverty in this sense may be understood as a condition in which a person or community is lacking in the basic needs for a minimum standard of well-being and life, particularly as a result of a persistent lack of income.

Analysis of social aspects of poverty links conditions of scarcity to aspects of the distribution of resources and power in a society and recognizes that poverty may be a function of the diminished "capability" of people to live the kinds of lives they value. The social aspects of poverty may include lack of access to information, education, health care, or political power. Poverty may also be understood as an aspect of unequal social status and inequitable social relationships, experienced as social exclusion, dependency, and diminished capacity to participate, or to develop meaningful connections with other people in society.

The World Bank's "Voices of the Poor," based on research with over 20,000 poor people in 23 countries, identifies a range of factors which poor people identify as part of poverty. These include:

precarious livelihoods
excluded locations
physical limitations
gender relationships
problems in social relationships
lack of security
abuse by those in power
disempowering institutions
limited capabilities, and
Weak community organizations.

Estimates of Poverty:

The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than US$ (PPP) 1 per day, and moderate poverty as less than $2 a day, estimating that "in 2001, 1.1 billion people had consumption levels below $1 a day and 2.7 billion lived on less than $2 a day." The proportion of the developing world's population living in extreme economic poverty fell from 28 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2001. Looking at the period 1981-2001, the percentage of the world's population living on less than $1 per day has halved.

In East Asia the World Bank reports that "The poverty headcount rate at the $2-a-day level is estimated to have fallen to about 27 percent, down from 29.5 percent in 2006 and 69 percent in 1990."

In Sub-Saharan Africa GDP/capita shrank by 14 percent and extreme poverty increased from 41 percent in 1981 to 46 percent in 2001, increasing the number of people living in poverty from 231 million to 318 million.

In the early 1990s the transition economies of Eastern Europe and Central Asia experienced a sharp drop in income. Poverty rates rose to 6 percent at the end of the decade before beginning to recede.

World Bank data shows that the percentage of the population living in households with consumption or income per person below the poverty line has decreased in each region of the world since 1999:

Region	1990	2002	2004
East Asia and Pacific	15.40%	12.33%	9.07%
Europe and Central Asia	3.60%	1.28%	0.95%
Latin America and the Caribbean	9.62%	9.08%	8.64%
Middle East and North Africa	2.08%	1.69%	1.47%
South Asia	35.04%	33.44%	30.84%
Sub-Saharan Africa	46.07%	42.63%	41.09%

There are various criticisms of these measurements. Shaohua Chen and Martin Ravallion note that although "a clear trend decline in the percentage of people who are absolutely poor is evident, although with uneven progress across regions...the developing world outside China and India has seen little or no sustained progress in reducing the number of poor". However, since the world's population has increased, if instead looking at the percentage living on less than $1/day, and if excluding China and India, then this percentage has decreased from 31.35% to 20.70% between 1981 and 2004.

Following table shows the Planning Commission of India’s estimates of poverty in India between 1973 to 2000.

Percentage of population living below the Poverty Line
Areas	1973-74	1977-78	1983-84	1999-2000
Rural Urban Combined	56.4 49.2 54.9	53.1 47.4 51.8	45.7 42.2 44.8	27.09 23.62 26.10

Cause of poverty

Many different factors have been cited to explain why poverty occurs. However, no single explanation has gained universal acceptance. At the international level some emphasize global systemic causes, (such as trade, aid and debt, the focus of the Make Poverty History campaign), while others point to national level deficiencies of public administration and financial management, the focus of the Good Governance agenda of the international financial institutions. At the national level, some point to personal factors, such as drug use, work ethic and education level as the main cause of poverty, while others indicate inadequate social services and policies biased in favour of the wealthy and social elite, as a cause of enduring poverty.

Other possible factors include:

Environmental Factors

Erosion of Soil: Intensive farming often leads to a vicious cycle of exhaustion of soil fertility and decline of agricultural yields and thence increased poverty.
Desertification: Approximately 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. In Africa, if current trends of soil degradation continue the continent might be able to feed just 25% of its population by 2025, according to UNU's Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources in Africa.
Deforestation: as exemplified by the widespread rural poverty in China that began in the early 20th century and is attributed to non-sustainable tree harvesting.
Natural factors such as the climate change or environment
Geographic factors:, for example access to fertile land, fresh water, minerals, energy, and other natural resources. Presence or absence of natural features helping or limiting communication, such as mountains, deserts, sailable rivers, or coastline. Historically, geography has prevented or slowed the spread of new technology to areas such as the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa. The climate also limits what crops and farm animals may be used on similarly fertile lands.
On the other hand, research on the resource curse has found that countries with an abundance of natural resources creating quick wealth from exports tend to have less long-term prosperity than countries with less of these natural resources.
Drought and water crisis.

Economics

Unemployment.
As of late 2007, increased farming for use in biofuels, along with world oil prices at nearly $100 a barrel, has pushed up the price of grain. Food riots have recently taken place in many countries across the world.
Capital flight by which the wealthy in a society shift their assets to off-shore tax havens deprives nations of revenue needed to break the vicious cycle of poverty.
Communists see the institution of property rights itself as a cause of poverty.
Unfair terms of trade, in particular, the very high subsidies to and protective tariffs for agriculture in the developed world. This drains the taxed money and increases the prices for the consumers in developed world; decreases competition and efficiency; prevents exports by more competitive agricultural and other sectors in the developed world due to retaliatory trade barriers; and undermines the very type of industry in which the developing countries do have comparative advantages.
Tax havens which tax their own citizens and companies but not those from other nations and refuse to disclose information necessary for foreign taxation. This enables large scale political corruption, tax evasion, and organized crime in the foreign nations.

Health Care

Poor access to affordable health care makes individuals less resilient to economic hardship and more vulnerable to poverty.
Inadequate nutrition in childhood, itself an effect of poverty, undermines the ability of individuals to develop their full human capabilities and thus makes them more vulnerable to poverty. Lack of essential minerals such as iodine and iron can impair brain development. It is estimated that 2 billion people (one-third of the total global population) are affected by iodine deficiency, including 285 million 6- to 12-year-old children. In developing countries, it is estimated that 40% of children aged 4 and under suffer from anemia because of insufficient iron in their diets. See also Health and intelligence.
Disease, specifically diseases of poverty: AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis and others overwhelmingly afflict developing nations, which perpetuate poverty by diverting individual, community, and national health and economic resources from investment and productivity. Further, many tropical nations are affected by parasites like malaria, schistosomiasis, and trypanosomiasis that are not present in temperate climates. The Tsetse fly makes it very difficult to use many animals in agriculture in afflicted regions.
Clinical depression undermines the resilience of individuals and when not properly treated makes them vulnerable to poverty.
Similarly substance abuse, including for example alcoholism and drug abuse when not properly treated undermines resilience and can consign people to vicious poverty cycles.

Governance

Lacking democracy in poor countries: "The records when we look at social dimensions of development—access to drinking water, girls' literacy, health care—are even more starkly divergent. For example, in terms of life expectancy, poor democracies typically enjoy life expectancies that are nine years longer than poor autocracies. Opportunities of finishing secondary school are 40 percent higher. Infant mortality rates are 25 percent lower. Agricultural yields are about 25 percent higher, on average, in poor democracies than in poor autocracies—an important fact, given that 70 percent of the population in poor countries is often rural-based. “Poor democracies don't spend any more on their health and education sectors as a percentage of GDP than do poor autocracies, nor do they get higher levels of foreign assistance. They don't run up higher levels of budget deficits. They simply manage the resources that they have more effectively."
The governance effectiveness of governments has a major impact on the delivery of socioeconomic outcomes for poor populations
Weak rule of law can discourage investment and thus perpetuate poverty.
Poor management of resource revenues can mean that rather than lifting countries out of poverty, revenues from such activities as oil production or gold mining actually leads to a resource curse.
Failure by governments to provide essential infrastructure worsens poverty.
Poor access to affordable education traps individuals and countries in cycles of poverty.
High levels of corruption undermine efforts to make a sustainable impact on poverty. In Nigeria, for example, more than $400 billion was stolen from the treasury by Nigeria's leaders between 1960 and 1999.

Demographics and Social Factors

Overpopulation and lack of access to birth control methods: Note that population growth slows or even become negative as poverty is reduced due to the demographic transition.
Crime, both white-collar crime and blue-collar crime, including violent gangs and drug cartels.
Historical factors, for example imperialism, colonialism and communism (at least 50 million children in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union live in poverty).
Brain drain
Cultural causes, which attribute poverty to common patterns of life, learned or shared within a community. For example, Max Weber argued that the Protestant work ethic contributed to economic growth during the industrial revolution.
War, including civil war, genocide, and democide.
Discrimination of various kinds, such as age discrimination, stereotyping, gender discrimination, racial discrimination, caste discrimination.
Individual beliefs, actions and choices.

Effects of poverty

The effects of poverty may also be causes, as listed above, thus creating a "poverty cycle" operating across multiple levels, individual, local, national and global.

ü Those living in poverty and lacking access to essential health services, suffering hunger or even starvation, experience mental and physical health problems which make it harder for them to improve their situation.

· One third of deaths - some 18 million people a year or 50,000 per day - are due to poverty-related causes: in total 270 million people, most of them women and children, have died as a result of poverty since 1990.

· Those living in poverty suffer lower life expectancy. Every year nearly 11 million children living in poverty die before their fifth birthday.

· Those living in poverty often suffer from hunger. 800 million people go to bed hungry every night.

· Poverty increases the risk of homelessness. There are over 100 million street children worldwide.

· Increased risk of drug abuse may also be associated with poverty.

ü Diseases of poverty reflect the dynamic relationship between poverty and poor health; while such infectious diseases result directly from poverty, they also perpetuate and deepen impoverishment by sapping personal and national health and financial resources.

· For example, malaria decreases GDP growth by up to 1.3% in some developing nations, and by killing tens of millions in sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS alone threatens “the economies, social structures, and political stability of entire societies”.

ü Those living in poverty in the developed world, may suffer social isolation and rates of suicide may increase in conditions of poverty.

ü Death of a breadwinner may decrease a household's resilience to poverty conditions and cause a dramatic worsening in their situation.

ü Child Labour: Low income levels and poor employment opportunities for adults in turn create the conditions where households can depend on the income of child members. An estimated 218 million children aged 5 to 17 are in child labor worldwide, excluding child domestic labor.

ü Lacking viable employment opportunities, those living in poverty may also engage in the informal economy, or in criminal activity, both of which may on a larger scale discourage investment in the economy, further perpetuating conditions of poverty.

ü Low income and wealth levels undermine the ability of governments to levy taxes for public service provision, adding to the 'vicious circle' connecting the causes and effects of poverty. Lack of essential infrastructure, poor education and health services, and poor sanitation contribute to the perpetuation of poverty. Poor access to affordable public education can lead to low levels of literacy, further entrenching poverty. Weak public service provision and high levels of poverty can increase states' vulnerability to natural disasters and make states more vulnerable to shocks in the international economy, such as those associated with rising fuel prices, or declining commodity prices.

ü Areas strongly affected by poverty tend to be more violent. In one survey, 67% of children from disadvantaged inner cities said they had witnessed a serious assault, and 33% reported witnessing a homicide. 51% of fifth graders from New Orleans (median income for a household: $27,133) have been found to be victims of violence, compared to 32% in Washington, DC (mean income for a household: $40,127).

ü The capacity of the state is further undermined by the problem that people living in poverty may be more vulnerable to extremist political persuasion, and may feel less loyalty to a state unable to deliver basic services.

For these reasons conditions of poverty may increase the risk of political violence, terrorism, war and genocide, and may make those living in poverty vulnerable to human trafficking, internal displacement and exile as refugees. Countries suffering widespread poverty may experience loss of population, particularly in high-skilled professions, through emigration, which may further undermine their ability to improve their situation.

Poverty reduction

In politics, the fight against poverty is usually regarded as a social goal and many governments have institutions or departments dedicated to tackling poverty. One of the main debates in the field of poverty reduction is around the question of how actively the state should manage the economy and provide public services to tackle the problem of poverty.

In the nineties, international development policies focused on a package of measures known and criticized as the "Washington Consensus" which involved reducing the scope of state activities, and reducing state intervention in the economy, reducing trade barriers and opening economies to foreign investment. Vigorous debate over these issues continues however, and most poverty reduction programs attempt to increase both the competitiveness of the economy and the viability of the state.

Economic growth

The anti-poverty strategy of the World Bank depends heavily on reducing poverty through the promotion of economic growth. The World Bank argues that an overview of many studies shows that:

Growth is fundamental for poverty reduction, and in principle growth as such does not affect inequality.
Growth accompanied by progressive distributional change is better than growth alone.
High initial income inequality is a brake on poverty reduction.
Poverty itself is also likely to be a barrier for poverty reduction; and wealth inequality seems to predict lower future growth rates.

Free market

What could broadly be called free market reforms represent one strategy for reducing poverty? For example, noted reductions in poverty in the 20th century have been in India and China, where hundreds of millions of people in the two countries grew out of poverty, mostly as a result of the abandonment of collective farming in China and the cutting of government red tape in India. This was critical in fostering their dramatic economic growth. However, UN economists argue that for the market reforms to work, good infrastructure is needed, and for that the role of a strong state is important. For example, today, China is investing in railways, roads, ports and rural telephony in various African countries as part of its international strategy.

The Global Competitiveness Report, the Ease of Doing Business Index, and the Index of Economic Freedom are annual reports, often used in academic research, ranking the worlds nations on factors argued to increase economic growth and reduce poverty.

Developing countries face a range of obstacles to trading competitively on international markets. Almost half of the budget of the European Union for example is directed to agricultural subsidies, which primarily benefit large multinational agribusinesses that form a powerful lobby. Japan gave 47 billion dollars in 2005 in subsidies to its agricultural sector, nearly four times the amount it gave in total foreign aid. The US gives 3.9 billion dollars each year in subsidies to its cotton sector, including 25,000 growers, three times more in subsidies than the entire USAID budget for Africa, although America contributes a sum far larger than the 3.9 billion dollars through other agencies. Critics argue that agricultural subsidies in the developed world drain taxation revenue, increase the end-prices paid by consumers, and discourage efficiency improvements, while retaliatory trade barriers unfairly undermine the competitiveness of agricultural and other exports in those industries in which developing countries would otherwise have a significant comparative advantages.

Lack of trade barriers on incoming (often highly subsidized) goods from wealthier countries is also considered by some economists a driver of poverty. Most countries have some history of import substitution and direct government protection of and investment in local industries. Reducing tariff receipts can lower a major source of government revenue & spending, while raising tariffs may improve the terms of trade for the poor.

Fair trade

Another argument for reducing poverty is to implement Fair Trade which requires buyers of resources to pay artificially higher prices for the benefit of the producers.

Direct aid

The government can directly help those in need through cash transfers as a short term expedient. This has been applied with mixed results in most Western societies during the 20th century in what became known as the welfare state. Especially for those most at risk, such as the elderly and people with disabilities.
Private charity. Systems to encourage direct transfers to the poor by citizens organized into voluntary or not-for-profit groupings are often encouraged by the state through charitable trusts and tax deduction arrangements.

Development aid

Most developed nations give development aid to developing countries. The UN target for development aid is 0.7% of GDP; currently only a few nations achieve this. Some think tanks and NGOs have argued, however, that Western monetary aid often only serves to increase poverty and social inequality, either because it is conditioned with the implementation of harmful economic policies in the recipient countries, or because it's tied with the importing of products from the donor country over cheaper alternatives, or because foreign aid is seen to be serving the interests of the donor more than the recipient. Critics also argue that some of the foreign aid is stolen by corrupt governments and officials, and that higher aid levels erode the quality of governance. Policy becomes much more oriented toward what will get more aid money than it does towards meeting the needs of the people. Victor Bout, one of the worlds most notorious arms dealers, told the New York Times how he saw firsthand in Angola, Congo and elsewhere "how Western donations to impoverished countries lead to the destruction of social and ecological balance, mutual resentment and eventually war." "Once countries give money, they control you." he says.

Supporters argue that these problems may be solved with better auditing of how the aid is used. Aid from non-governmental organizations may be more effective than governmental aid; this may be because it is better at reaching the poor and better controlled at the grassroots level. As a point of comparison, the annual world military spending is over $1 trillion.

Improving the environment and access of the poor

Numerous methods have been adduced to upgrade the situation of those in poverty, some contradictory to each other. Some of these mechanisms are:

Subsidized housing development.
Education, especially that directed at assisting the poor to produce food in underdeveloped countries.
Family planning to limit the numbers born into poverty and allow family incomes to better cover the existing family.
Subsidized health care.
Assistance in finding employment.
Subsidized employment (see also Workfare).
Encouragement of political participation and community organizing.
Implementation of fair property rights laws.
Reduction of regulatory burden and bureaucratic oversight.
Reduction of taxation on income and capital.
Reduction of government spending, including a reduction in borrowing and printing money.

Millennium Development Goals

Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 is the first Millennium Development Goal. In addition to broader approaches, the Sachs Report (for the UN Millennium Project) proposes a series of "quick wins", approaches identified by development experts which would cost relatively little but could have a major constructive effect on world poverty. The quick wins are:

Directly assisting local entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and create jobs.
Access to information on sexual and reproductive health.
Action against domestic violence.
Appointing government scientific advisors in every country.
Deforming school children in affected areas.
Drugs for AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
Eliminating school fees.
Ending user fees for basic health care in developing countries.
Free school meals for schoolchildren.
Legislation for women’s rights, including rights to property.
Planting trees.
Providing soil nutrients to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
Providing mosquito nets.
Access to electricity, water and sanitation.
Supporting breast-feeding.
Training programs for community health in rural areas.
Upgrading slums, and providing land for public housing.

Other approaches

The Copenhagen Consensus was an attempt to rank global welfare improvement programs in terms of their urgency and cost-effectiveness; Direct Aid to combat HIV infection was determined to be the top priority.

Another method in helping to fight poverty is to have commodity exchanges that will supply necessary information about national and perhaps international markets to the poor who would then know what products and where it is sold will bring better profits. For example, in Ethiopia, remote farmers, who do not have this information, produce crops that may not bring the best profits. When they sell their products to a local trader, who then sells to another trader, and another, the cost of the food rises before it finally reaches the consumer in large cities. Economist Gabre-Madhin proposes warehouses where farmers could have constant updates of the latest market prices, making the farmer think nationally, not locally. Each warehouse would have an independent neutral party that would test and grade the farmer's harvest, allowing traders in Addis Ababa, and potentially outside Ethiopia, to place bids on food, even if it is unseen. Thus, if the farmer gets five cents in one place he would get three times the price by selling it in another part of the country where there may be a drought.

Some argue for a radical change of the economic system. There are several proposals for a fundamental restructuring of existing economic relations, and many of their supporters argue that their ideas would reduce or even eliminate poverty entirely if they were implemented. Such proposals have been put forward by both left-wing and right-wing groups: socialism, communism, anarchism, libertarianism, binary economics and participatory economics, among others.

Proponents of such taxes argue that absolute or relative poverty can be reduced by progressive taxation, a wealth tax, and an inheritance tax.

The IMF and member countries have produced Poverty Reduction Strategy papers or PRSPs.

In his book The End of Poverty (ISBN 1594200459), a prominent economist named Jeffrey Sachs laid out a plan to eradicate global poverty by the year 2025. Following his recommendations, international organizations are working to help eradicate poverty worldwide with intervention in the areas of housing, food, education, basic health, agricultural inputs, safe drinking water, transportation and communications.

Voluntary poverty

Among some individuals, such as ascetics, poverty is considered a necessary or desirable condition, which must be embraced in order to reach certain spiritual, moral, or intellectual states. Poverty is often understood to be an essential element of renunciation in religions such as Buddhism and Jainism, whilst in Roman Catholicism it is one of the evangelical counsels. Certain religious orders also take a vow of poverty. For example, the Franciscan orders have traditionally forgone all individual and corporate forms of ownership. However, while individual ownership of goods and wealth is forbidden for Benedictines, following the Rule of St. Benedict, the monastery itself may possess both goods and money, and throughout history some monasteries have become very rich indeed.

In this context of religious vows, poverty may be understood as a means of self-denial in order to place oneself at the service of others; Pope Honorius III wrote in 1217 that the Dominicans "lived a life of voluntary poverty, exposing themselves to innumerable dangers and sufferings, for the salvation of others". However, following Jesus' warning that riches can be like thorns that choke up the good seed of the word (Matthew 13:22), voluntary poverty is often understood by Christians as of benefit to the individual - a form of self-discipline by which one distances oneself from distractions from God.

Issues in International Politics (TYBA- PAPER VI):Terrorism

Terrorism

The non-traditional conceptions- both human security and global security- focus on the changing nature of threats to security. Terrorist’s activities have been posing a great threat to human and global security. Terrorism is a global issue. The country like India is facing it on various levels since last 2-3 decades. Countries like Russia, China, Srilanka, Israeli etc are victims of it. Since 11^th September, 2001 when terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre in America, other governments and public have paid more attention to terrorism, though is not new.

Terrorism refers to political violence that targets civilians deliberately and indiscriminately. Terrorist groups seek to change a political context or condition that they do not like, by force or threat of force. Civilian’s targets are usually chosen to terrorize the public and to use the unhappiness of the public as a weapon against national governments or other parties in conflict.

The classic cases of terrorism involves hijacking planes or planting bombs in train, cafes, markets and other crowded places.

Terrorism is weapon of the weak conducted by a minority of individuals who promote an extremist ideology; it often fails to create political change.

Terrorism is characterized first and foremost by the use of violence. Historically, the term ‘terrorism’ described state violence against citizens during the French Revolution. Over the past half century, however, terrorism has come to mean the use of violence by small groups to achieve political change. Technologies associated with globalization have improved terrorist capabilities.

As with other forms of irregular warfare, Terrorism is designed to achieve political change for the purposes of obtaining power in order to right a perceived wrong. Terrorism, however, is the weakest form of irregular warfare with which to alter the political landscape.

· The reason for this weakness is that terrorist groups rarely possess the broader support of the population that characterizes insurgency and revolution.

· Terrorist groups often lack broader support for their objectives because their goals for change are based on radical ideas that do not have widespread appeal.

Definition/Meaning:

Terrorism is relatively hard to define. It has been described variously as both a tactic and strategy; a crime and a holy duty; a justified reaction to oppression and an inexcusable abomination (outrage), depends on whose point of view is being represented.

Terrorism can be defined as ‘the use of violence by sub-state groups to inspire fear, by attacking civilians and / or symbolic targets, for purposes such as drawing widespread attention to a grievance, provoking a severe response or wearing down their opponents moral resolve, to effect political change.’

Labeling a particular act as a terrorist act is confusing exercise. Part of this is due to the use of terror tactics by actors at all levels in the social and political environment. Thus, the distinctions of size and political legitimacy of the actors using terror influences as to what is and is not terrorism.

The concept of moral equivalency, which often broadens and blurs the definition of terrorism as well, argues that the outcome of an action is what matters, not the intent. Collateral or unintended damage to civilians from an attack by uniformed military forces on a legitimate military target is the same as a terrorist bomb directed deliberately at the civilian target with the intent of creating that damage. Therefore any military action is simply terrorism by a different name. This is the reasoning behind the famous phrase "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter". It is also a legacy of legitimizing the use of terror by successful revolutionary movements.

The United States Department of Defense defines terrorism as “the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.”

Within this definition, there are three key elements—violence, fear, and intimidation (threats)—and each element produce terror in its victims.

The FBI uses this: "Terrorism is the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives."

Nature

· Violence is undertaken primarily for political reasons. In fact, terrorism has been considered uniquely political in nature

· The second element of terrorist action is that violence or the threat of violence is present: Terrorism is a form of psychological warfare that generate fear among people.

· For political violence to be known as terrorism there must be an identifiable organization.

· The terrorist actions are used to improve the power situation of the organization that is using this form of political violence.

A terrorist group commits acts of violence to -

· Produce widespread fear

· Obtain worldwide, national, or local recognition for their cause by attracting the attention of the media

· Harass, weaken, or embarrass government security forces so that the government overreacts and appears repressive

· Steal or extort money and equipment, especially weapons and ammunition vital to the operation of their group

· Destroy facilities or disrupt lines of communication in order to create doubt that the government can provide for and protect its citizens

· Discourage foreign investments, tourism, or assistance programs that can affect the target country’s economy and support of the government in power

· Influence government decisions, legislation, or other critical decisions

· Free prisoners

· Satisfy vengeance (revenge)

The most common types of terrorist incidents include-

· Bombings, Kidnappings and Hostage-Takings, Armed Attacks and Assassinations, Arsons and Fire bombings, Hijackings and Skyjackings.

· In addition to these acts of violence terrorist groups conduct maiming (damage) against their own people as a form of punishment for security violations, defections, or informing.

· Terrorist organizations also conduct robberies and extortion when they need to finance their acts and they don’t have sponsorship from sympathetic nations.

· Cyber terrorism is a new form of terrorism that is ever increasing. Cyber terrorism allows terrorists to conduct low risk operations. It also provides terrorists an opportunity to disrupt or destroy networks and computers. The result is interruption of key government or business-related activities.

Historically, terrorist attacks using nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) weapons have been rare. Due the extremely high number of casualties that NBC weapons produce, they are also referred to as weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In the future terrorists will have greater access to WMD because unstable nations or states may fail to safeguard their stockpiles of WMD from accidental losses, illicit sales, or outright theft or seizure; or through covert independent research efforts or by hiring technically skilled professionals to construct the WMD.

Forms of Terrorism:

Nation-states often resort to violence to influence segments of their population, or rely on coercive use of state institutions. Some critique equates any use of government power or authority versus any part of the population as terrorism.

Sometimes national governments get involved in terrorism, or utilize terror to accomplish the objectives of governments or individual rulers. Most often, terrorism is equated with "non-state actors", or groups that are not responsible to a sovereign government. However, internal security forces can use terror to aid in repressing dissent, and intelligence or military organizations perform acts of terror designed to further a state's policy or diplomatic efforts abroad. Such act on the part of the State Governments can be labeled as state-sponsored terrorism.

The definition of state-sponsored terrorism is controversial.

According to the United States Code:

1) The term "international terrorism" means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than one country;

(2) The term "terrorism" means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub national groups or clandestine agents; and

(3) The term "terrorist group" means any group practicing, or which has significant subgroups which practice, international terrorism.

In connection to above mentioned definitions the United States Country Reports on Terrorism 2006 defines a state sponsor of terrorism as a state that "repeatedly provide[s] support for acts of international terrorism."

Forms of State Sponsored Terrorism

Three different ways that states can engage in the use of terror are:

a) Governmental or "State" terror: Sometimes referred to as "terror from above", where a government terrorizes its own population to control or repress them. These actions usually constitute the acknowledged policy of the government, and make use of official institutions such as the judiciary, police, military, and other government agencies. Changes to legal codes permit or encourage torture, killing, or property destruction in pursuit of government policy. E.g. official Nazi policy, Stalin's "purges" of the 1930s, Saddam Hussein’s use of chemical weapons on his own Kurdish population. The methods he used included such actions as rigged show trials of opponents, punishing family or friends of suspected enemies of the regime, and extra-legal use of police or military force against the population.

b) State involvement in terror: These are activities where government personnel carry out operations using terror tactics. These activities may be directed against other nations' interests, its own population, or private groups or individuals viewed as dangerous to the state. In many cases, these activities are terrorism under official sanction, although such authorization is rarely acknowledged openly. Historical examples include the Soviet and Iranian assassination campaigns against dissidents who had fled abroad, and Libyan and North Korean intelligence operatives downing airliners on international flights.

Another type of these activities is "death squads" or "war veterans": unofficial actions taken by officials or functionaries of a regime (such as members of police or intelligence organizations) against their own population to repress or intimidate. While these officials will not claim such activities, and disguise their participation, it is often made clear that they are acting for the state. Keeping such activities "unofficial" permits the authorities deniability and avoids the necessity of changing legal and judicial processes to justify oppression. This is different than "pro-state" terror, which is conducted by groups or persons with no official standing and without official encouragement. While pro-state terror may result in positive outcomes for the authorities, their employment of criminal methods and lack of official standing can result in disavowal and punishment of the terrorists, depending on the morality of the regime in question.

c) State sponsorship of terrorism: Also known as "state supported" terrorism, when governments provide supplies, training, and other forms of support to non-state terrorist organizations. One of the most valuable types of this support is the provision of safe haven or physical basing for the terrorists' organization. Another crucial service a state sponsor can provide is false documentation, not only for personal identification (passports, internal identification documents), but also for financial transactions and weapons purchases. Other means of support are access to training facilities and expertise not readily available to groups without extensive resources. Finally, the extension of diplomatic protections and services, such as immunity from extradition, diplomatic passports, use of embassies and other protected grounds, and diplomatic pouches to transport weapons or explosives have been significant to some groups.

An example of state sponsorship is the Syrian government's support of Hamas and Hizballah in Lebanon. Syrian resources and protection enable the huge training establishments in the Bek'aa Valley. On a smaller, more discreet scale, the East German Stasi provided support and safe-haven to members of the Red Army Faction (RAF or Baader Meinhof Gang) and neo-fascist groups that operated in West Germany. Wanted members of the RAF were found resident in East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Causes of Terrorism:

Terrorism has become a global phenomenon with increasing and rather well identifiable links between different terrorist groups and organizations.

They use-

· each other's areas for recruitment and training,

· exchange of illegal weapons,

· engage in joint planning and ventures and

· also provide administrative and other logistic support.

This type of terrorist activities show a new dimension due to circumstances characterized by the advancement of science, technology and diverse social, economic, political and historical reasons conditioning it.

The development of computer science, satellite and mobile links have also affected the modernization of terrorist activities. This further facilitated by support of states/ governments unfavorable to each other.

An element of international terrorism comes into the picture when specific persons of the nation are designed as targets by the members of another group outside that nation. It is, therefore, described as warfare without territory. It is warfare without neutrals and with few or no by standards.

There cannot be any single cause of terrorism. Causes of terrorism may range from socio-economic and political conditions to theories based on the personality and environment of the terrorist. Terrorism is motivated by a variety of inner drives ranging from financial gains to revenge, from fundamentalism to deprivation, political frustration, regional disparities, marginalization of sub-national groups, extremism, despair, injustice, discrimination, resentment against the existing regime, feeling of insignificance, intervention into personal freedom, weak government, separatism and oppression, inequality etc.

Political Injustice & Faith in Violence:

All terrorist acts are motivated by two things:

Social and political injustice: People choose terrorism when they are trying to right what they perceive to be a social or political or historical wrong—when they have been stripped of their land or rights, or denied these.
The belief that violence or its threat will be effective, and usher in change. Another way of saying this is: the belief that violent means justify the ends. Many terrorists in history said sincerely that they chose violence after long deliberation, because they felt they had no choice.

This explanation of the causes of terrorism may be difficult to swallow. It sounds too simple, or too theoretical. However, if you look at any group that is widely understood as a terrorist group, you will find these two elements are basic to their story.

Zionists who bombed British targets in 1930s mandate Palestine felt they must do so in order to create a Jewish state.
The IRA (Irish Republican Army) bombed English targets in the 1980s to make the point that they felt their land was colonized by British imperialists.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine felt that armed attacks in Israel were a justifiable response to the usurpation of their land.
Osama bin Laden's declaration of war on American interests in the 1990s stemmed from his belief that U.S. troops stationed in Saudi Arabia represented an abomination to the kind of Islamic state he believed should exist in the Arabian peninsula.
Uighur separatists in China today feel that Chinese religious repression (the Uighur Chinese are Muslims) justifies their terrorist tactics.

People who choose terrorist tactics are also convinced that violence, or the threat of violence, is effective.

Terrorism occurs both in the context of violent resistance to the state as well as in the service of state interests. If we focus on terrorism directed against governments for purposes of political change, we are considering the premeditated (intentional) use or threat of symbolic, low-level violence by conspiratorial organizations. ‘Terrorist violence communicates a political message; its ends go beyond damaging an enemy's material resources.'

The study of terrorism can be organized around three questions: why terrorism occurs, how the process of terrorism works, and what its social and political effects are.

Terrorism as a form of political behavior results from the deliberate choice of a basically rational actor, the terrorist organization. A comprehensive explanation, however, must also take into account the environment in which terrorism occurs and address the question of whether broad political, social, and economic conditions make terrorism more likely in some contexts than in others. What sort of circumstances lead to the formation of a terrorist group?

Permissive or contextual causes

v First, modernization produces an interrelated set of factors that is a significant permissive cause of terrorism, as increased complexity on all levels of society and economy creates opportunities and vulnerabilities.

Sophisticated networks of transportation and communication offer mobility and the means of publicity for terrorists.

· Expansion of commercial air travel (gave terrorists unprecedented mobility)

· Availability of televised news coverage (expanding audience)

The technological advances associated with globalization have improved the capabilities of terrorist groups to plan and conduct operations with far more devastations and coordination than their predecessors could have imagined. In particular, technologies improved the capability of groups and cells in the areas like: coordination, security, mobility and lethality.

The terrorists of Narodnaya Volya would have been unable to operate without Russia's newly established rail system, and the Popular Front for the Liberaton of Palestine could not indulge in hijacking without the jet aircraft. Today we fear that terrorists will exploit the potential of nuclear power, but it was in 1867 that Nobel's invention of dynamite made bombings a convenient terrorist tactic.

v Social "facilitation," which Gum found to be extremely powerful in bringing about civil strife in general, is also an important permissive factor. This concept refers to social habits and historical traditions that sanction the use of violence against the government, making it morally and politically justifiable and even dictating an appropriate form, such as demonstrations, coups, or terrorism. Social myths, traditions, and habits permit the development of terrorism as an established political custom.

An excellent example of such a tradition is the case of Ireland, where the tradition of physical force dates from the eighteenth century, and the legend of Michael Collins in 1919-21 still inspires and partially excuses the much less discriminate and less effective terrorism of the contemporary Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland.

v The most salient political factor in the category of permissive causes is a government's inability or unwillingness to prevent terrorism. The absence of adequate prevention by police and intelligence services permits the spread of conspiracy. Inefficiency or leniency can be found in a broad range. For many governments, however, the cost of disallowing terrorism is too high.

Direct Causes:

v The first condition that can be considered a direct cause of terrorism is the existence of concrete grievances among an identifiable subgroup of a larger population, such as an ethnic minority discriminated against by the majority. A social movement develops in order to redress these grievances and to gain either equal rights or a separate state; terrorism is then the resort of an extremist faction of this broader movement.

In the colonial era, nationalist movements commonly turned to terrorism.

This is not to say, however, that the existence of a dissatisfied minority or majority is a necessary or a sufficient cause of terrorism. Not all those who are discriminated against turn to terrorism, nor does terrorism always reflect objective social or economic deprivation.

In West Germany, Japan, and Italy, for example, terrorism has been the chosen method of the privileged, not the downtrodden.

Some theoretical studies have suggested that the essential ingredient that must be added to real deprivation is the perception on the part of the deprived that this condition is not what they deserve or expect, in short, that discrimination is unjust.

An attitude study, for example, found that "the idea of justice or fairness may be more centrally related to attitudes toward violence than are feelings of deprivation. It is the perceived injustice underlying the deprivation that gives rise to anger or frustration." The intervening variables, as we have argued, lie in the terrorists' perceptions. Moreover, it seems likely that for terrorism to occur the government must be singled out to blame for popular suffering.

v The second condition that creates motivations for terrorism is the lack of opportunity for political participation. Regimes that deny access to power and persecute dissenters create dissatisfaction. In this case, grievances are primarily political, without social or economic overtones. Discrimination is not directed against any ethnic, religious, or racial subgroup of the population. The terrorist organization is not necessarily part of a broader social movement; indeed, the population may be largely apathetic.

In situations where paths to the legal expression of opposition are blocked, but where the regime's repression is inefficient, revolutionary terrorism is doubly likely, as permissive and direct causes coincide. An example of this situation is tsarist Russia in the1870s.

v Context is especially significant as a direct cause of terrorism when it affects elite, not the mass population: Terrorism is essentially the result of elite disaffection (estrangements); it represents the strategy of a minority, who may act on behalf of a wider popular constituency who have not been consulted about, and do not necessarily approve of, the terrorists' aims or methods.

Many terrorists today are young, well-educated, and middle class in background. Such students or young professionals, with prior political experience, are disillusioned with the prospects of changing society and see little chance of access to the system despite their privileged status. Much terrorism has grown out of student unrest; this was the case in nineteenth century Russia as well as post-World War I1 West Germany, Italy, the United States, Japan, and Uruguay.

The observation that terrorism is a weapon of the weak is hackneyed but apt. At least when initially adopted, terrorism is the strategy of a minority that by its own judgment lacks other means. When the group perceives its options as limited, terrorism is attractive because it is a relatively inexpensive and simple alternative, and because its potential reward is high.

v Dramatic failure of alternative means of obtaining one's ends may also fuel a drive toward terrorism.

The Arab defeat in the 1967 war with Israel led Palestinians to realize that they could no longer depend on the Arab states to further their goals. In retrospect, their extreme weakness and the historical tradition of violence in the Middle East made it likely that militant nationalists should turn to terrorism. Since international recognition of the Palestinian cause was a primary aim (given the influence of outside powers in the region) and since attacks on Israeli territory were difficult, terrorism developed into a transnational phenomenon.

Weakness and consequent restriction of choice can stem from different sources. On the one hand, weakness may result from the regime's suppression of opposition. Resistance organizations that lack the means of mounting more extensive violence may then turn to terrorism because legitimate expression of dissent is denied.

Lack of popular support at the outset of a conflict does not mean that the terrorists' aims lack general appeal. Even though they cannot immediately mobilize widespread and active support, over the course of the conflict they may acquire the allegiance of the population. For example, the Algerian FLN used terrorism as a significant means of mobilizing mass support.

On the other hand, it is wrong to assume that where there is terrorism there is oppression. Weakness may mean that an extremist organization deliberately rejects nonviolent methods of opposition open to them in a liberal state. Challengers then adopt terrorism because they are impatient with time consuming legal methods of eliciting support or advertising their cause, because they distrust the regime, or because they are not capable of, or interested in, mobilizing majority support.

Most terrorist groups operating in Western Europe and Japan in the past decade illustrate this phenomenon. The new millenarians lack a readily identifiable constituency and espouse causes devoid of mass appeal. Similarly, separatist movements represent at best only a minority of the total population of the state.

Thus, some groups are weak because weakness is imposed on them by the political system they operate in, others because of unpopularity.

v Terrorism is an attractive strategy to groups of different ideological persuasions who challenge the state's authority. Groups who want to dramatize a cause, to demoralize the government, to gain popular support, to provoke regime violence, to inspire followers, or to dominate a wider resistance movement, who are weak vis-a-vis the regime, and who are impatient to act, often find terrorism a reasonable choice. This is especially so when conditions are favorable, providing opportunities and making terrorism a simple and rapid option, with immediate and visible payoff.

Terrorism: the impact of Globalization

Terrorism is not new phenomenon but what is new that it has become globalised one.

· Cultural Explanations:

The social changes associated with globalization and spread of free market capitalism appears to overwhelm the identity or values of groups who perceive themselves as the losers in the new International system. In attempt to preserve their threatened identity and values, groups actively distinguish themselves from despised ‘others’. At the local level, this cultural friction may translate into conflicts divided along religious or ethical lines to safeguard identity.

Where individuals perceive their own civilization to be weak, insecure or stagnant and interaction is high between weak and strong civilizations, conflict may be inevitable.

Western secular, materialistic values are increasingly rejected by those seeking to regain or preserve their own unique cultural identity.

· Economic Explanations:

Not everyone agrees that defence of culture or identity is the primary motivation for globalised terrorist violence. Others see economic aspects as crucial motivating factor in the use of violence to effect political change. Although globalization provides access to a world market for goods and services, the net result has also been perceived as a form of Western economic imperialism.

The United States and the post-industrial states of Western Europe form the global North or economic ‘core’ which dominates international economic institutions such as the World Bank, sets exchange rates, and determine fiscal policies. The actions and policies can be unfavorable to the underdeveloped countries, or global south, that comprise the periphery or gap. Political decisions by the leaders of underdeveloped countries to deregulate or privatize industries to be competitive globally may lead to significant social and economic upheaval. The citizenry may shift loyalties to illegal activities such as terrorism if the state breaks its social contract with them (Junaid 2005)

Terrorist violence is motivated by inequalities of the Global economy. Therefore terrorist attacks against the World Trade Centre in 1993 and 2001 were not reactions against the policies of the United States per se, but rather a blow against an icon of Global capitalism.

Rising standard of living and greater access to educational opportunities associated with globalization may lead to increased expectations. If those expectations are unrealized, individuals can turn to extreme political views and against ‘the system’ that denies them the opportunity to realize their ambitions.

A prominent study suggests that a sense of alienation and lack of opportunity among some Muslim males is a contributing factor for their decision to turn to violence globally (Sageman 2004: 95-6).

· Religious and ‘new’ terrorism:

The use of violence for political purposes, to change state ideology or the representation of ethnic minority groups, had failed in its purpose and a new trend was emerging. Postmodern or new terrorism was conducted by different reasons altogether. Motivated by promises of rewards in the afterlife, some terrorists are driven by religious reasons to kill as many of the non-believers and unfaithful as possible.

New terrorism, which some authors use to explain the global jihad, is seen as a reaction to the perceived oppression of Muslims worldwide and the spiritual bankruptcy of the west.

Secular terrorism has had as its goal the pursuit of power in order to correct flaws within society but retain overarching system. Religious terrorists, in contrast, do not seek to modify but rather replace the normative structure of society.

The ultimate purpose for modern militant Islamic violence is applied in obtaining political power in order to conduct political, social, economic and religious reform according to Shariat law.

Effects

Terrorism activities threaten fundamental nations' law and order, human rights and it is the enemy of mankind.

Terrorism is as old as the civilization of mankind itself and has existed in all ages in some form or other which might be known anarchists, revolutionaries, fundamentalist or dissidents against the established authority or even ruling tyrants having no tolerance or dissent. However, terrorism was not as widespread phenomenon as it is today in contemporary political system of the world.

Terrorism produces harmful effects in several ways. The consequences of terrorism can be disastrous for all countries, both rich and poor, and their people.

· The normal social life gets totally disturbed and a large number of innocent lives go in vein.

· Fear and terror haunt everybody and the productivity of people is miserably stalled.

· Everything may come to a halt and the dream of leading a life of happiness and peace is shattered.

· Economic and social development of the society cease to uncertainly.

Almost all become paralyzed amid terrorist incidents.

Beaks down the social, economic, political & legal structures:

Terrorism breaks down the social, economic political and legal structures of the affected countries and the entire process of development stops.

Socio-cultural medley goes to rack and ruin, and the economy of the country suddenly becomes a shamble.

The rule of law and human rights crumble and people suffer terribly.

For developing countries, terrorism is fatal to their development planning because they can hardly withstand the violent assaults of terrorism; their longing for a better and brighter future goes up in smoke. Moreover, terrorism not only weakens the established political authority but also brings about political instability. In that situation the maintenance of the rule of law and human rights become almost impossible.

Threatens Civilization:

Terrorism idealizes violence, does away with morality, distorts politics, promotes totalitarianism, subverts progress, and destroys the apparatus of freedom in democratic societies. In fact, it destroys the will of a civilized society to defend itself. It appears that everything the mankind strives for collapses like a house of cards. As a matter of fact, terrorism is war against civilization.

· Adverse impact on National Productivity:

Resources that could have been used to enhance the productive capacity of the country are and will be used for security.

· Oil supply and Prices: affected after 9/11.

· Industry and Geographic Effects:

-Impact on investment in industries

-airlines, tourism and insurance

· Foreign Policy:

It is true the Foreign policy of different countries were changed due to International Terrorism. Countries that help to expand international terrorism are ignored by the UN member countries.

Today, terrorism poses a great threat not just to human life, human rights, dignity and democratic values but to very existence of a civilized life. If the present trend continues, human civilization itself will be a casualty. That is why Jerusalem Conference on International Terrorism held in 1979 declared that ‘terrorism is a serious and growing threat to the people of all states which live under the rule of law, that it is no longer a national problem, but a global one; that it cannot be constrained, and eliminated, except by concerted international action; and that the case for such action is overwhelming and urgent’. (Jonathan Institute, 1979)

Combating Terrorism:

Terrorism, in one form or another, has been around for a long time, and there is no realistic prospect of its becoming extinct in the foreseeable future. All of those concerned with the effective combat of terrorism must be prepared for the long haul. There is no simple solution to terrorism.

The answer seems to be intensifying law enforcement, more vigilance along borders, depriving the criminals of their profits, assisting poor countries with their efforts at strict law enforcement by way of providing training to their law enforcement officers, providing necessary technology, harmonizing laws, sharing information, concluding international agreements to facilitate co-operation and co-ordination in law enforcement and more importantly, political will and commitment.

Profits generated by organized crime far exceed those that legitimate business enterprises could make. The incentive for organized crime, whether local or transnational, is profit. If organized crime syndicates can be deprived of their profits, they will cease their activities – altogether. It will therefore be worthwhile to examine and explore the ways and means of depriving them of their profits. The most effective way to do this is confiscation of the proceeds of such illegal activity by judicial means or with sufficient safeguards, by administrative means.

A sine qua non in this direction is effective mutual legal assistance in the investigation and prosecution.

It has been found that certainty of detection and effective and expeditious disposal of cases is a deterrent to would be criminals. At present extradition procedures take a long time. Simplified extradition procedures will go a long way in expeditious disposal of cases.

· Need to respond individually and collectively to combat the phenomenon

· Passing Anti- terrorism laws

· Taking preventive security measures at airports

· Creating counter terrorism forces

· Development of a Global Counter-Terrorism Network (GCTN) of states to detect, track and eliminate terrorist threats, while non-military efforts to address the root causes of terrorism

· Cooperative international law enforcement efforts to arrests suspects and provide them with due process.

· Locating and isolating terrorists from their means and support

The most significant step in the direction of the prevention of transnational organized crime is the adoption of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. It has obligated states to act despite constraints of bank secrecy and also to extend co-operation in confiscating and seizing of assets obtained through corruption and transferred to different jurisdictions.
By the end of 72 hours 124 countries have signed the Convention. This is an indication of the enormity of the problem transnational crime poses to the world.

The following four protocols add muscle to the convention, namely,
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, specially Women and Children,
Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants,
Protocol against trafficking in Firearms and
Protocol against Corruption

Combating terrorism at regional level is becoming effective and popular. The external support is often found in every operation of terrorist acts in any part of the world whether in the context of inter-connection between a group and its rival group, a group and its enemy state, or a state and its unfriendly state. It is here that regional cooperation can be an effective instrument for the suppression to terrorism.

In Europe, besides their individual national legal and institutional measures, a historic convention known as the “European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, 1977” was signed and ratified. “South Asia Countries also recognized the importance of combating terrorism at regional level and consequently, signed a Convention titled the “Convention on Suppression of Terrorism, 1987” and ratified it.

The UN General Assembly also adopted the Convention against the Taking of Hostages in 1979 and the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel in 1994, and International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings in 1997.’

Despite all these Conventions adopted and ratified, declarations made, and resolutions passed against international terrorism within the UN system outside, terrorism has become a ubiquitous phenomenon in the contemporary international affairs, and continues to grow. Every state is supposed to refrain from organizing, instigating assisting or participating in acts of civil strife on terrorist acts in another state or involved in organized activities within its territory directed towards the commission of such acts as well as prosecuting and punishing the perpetrators of terrorist acts. A concerted action has to be initiated and sustained by all States whether they are affected or not in collaboration and co-operation with each other with strong determination and will to root out terrorism altogether from the world.

Of course, mutual agreement at the international, and regional levels have consolidated and strengthened co-operation between the countries in the fight against terrorism. Hard line policies against terrorism adopted by some countries have achieved success in this regard. But, it seems that combating of terrorist activities in a significant proportion will be possible only if terrorism is condemned and fought universally, unequivocally and effectively, by all the countries in the world.

Conclusion:-
Terrorism has no respect for national boundaries, and the problem-taking place in any part of the world today will sure enough to become the problem of all tomorrow. Terrorism is a monster like Frankenstein’s creation that is too horrible and dangerous. It is even a threat to those countries that create or promote it. Therefore, terrorism is a phenomenon which must be condemned, fought, resisted, controlled and, eventually, eliminated at all levels-national, regional and international. Conditions necessary for wiping out terrorism must, accordingly, be cultivated and strengthened nationally, regionally and internationally, and unilaterally, bilaterally or multilaterally.

Terrorist acts confronted by a state cannot be eliminated by the affected States alone because of the international linkage of the terrorist groups. It is, therefore, clear that all the nations must form a common front to fight terrorism. If the much needed spirit of international cooperation in the required degree is not properly established, the world would become a dangerous place to live. It is for this reason that one nation’s peace and security will be determined by the success of all nations’ response to any kind of terrorism particularly for international terrorism.

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