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The Ideological Battle: Insight from Pakistan

By Shazadi Beg

On a cloudless day in a large field in Aurakzai Tribal Agency, six thousand heavily armed militants gather. Sixty gunmen wearing suicide jackets in case of attack guard the perimeter of the field.[1] The leader of the group is Maulana Hakimullah, a deputy leader of the Terik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TPP) headed by Baituallah Mehsud. The latter is now the most prominent Taliban leader in Pakistan’s tribal belt, and a prime suspect in the murder of Benazir Bhutto. The date is 9 May 2008.

By Victor D. Comras

The European Court of Justice is now grappling with a serious conundrum. It has to decide whether to uphold the application of UN mandated “sanctions measures” against those designated as terrorists and terrorist financiers by the UN Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee, even when such action does not conform to the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This is the issue presented in Yassin Abdullah Kadi v Council of the European Union and Commission of the European Communities. In this case Yassin Kadi, who was designated as a terrorism financier by the UN Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee in October, 2001, is seeking to void EU directives requiring that his assets be frozen. Kadi maintains that the EU order freezing his assets violates his “right to property,” and his “right to a fair hearing” as guaranteed by the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This follows, he claims, from the failure of the United Nations, and/or the European Union, to provide an adequate forum or procedures for him to be heard, or to allow for judicial review of his designation. And he has won the support of the EU Advocate General, Miguel Poiares Maduro, for this position.

It is our pleasure to introduce “Under-Investigated Topics in Terrorism Research” - a special issue of Perspectives on Terrorism.This issue is the first in a series designed to further the discourse surrounding the state of terrorism research. To open this series, it seems appropriate to explore a set of topics that have been identified by esteemed participants in the Terrorism Research Initiative as in need of specific consideration for future debate and study.

By Faryal Leghari

The strategic significance of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan stems from its perceived pivotal role in the stabilization of security in neighboring Afghanistan and the war against terrorism. The region is believed to be a “safe haven” used by the al-Qaeda high command for planning future terrorist acts against the US and the rest of the world. In addition, it has been the backyard for the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and a training ground for terrorists, especially suicide bombers. Recently, Michael Chertoff, the US Secretary for Homeland Security, is reported to have categorically stated that “(al-Qaeda) are using their platform in the frontier areas of Pakistan to train operatives.

By Michael Stohl

While it is often proclaimed that the events of 9/11 changed "everything," it is important to stress that even more than the carnage and impact of that day, it has been the response of the Bush administration and its impact on multiple audiences around the world which have been more important than the al-Qaeda attacks in shaping the post 9/11 world. As Stohl (2008) argues, despite the etymological roots and historical employment of violence and terrorism by the state against its own citizens scholars who consider themselves experts on “terrorism” rarely consider the violence perpetrated by the state against its own population or those of states beyond its borders.

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