GWOT

The Global War on Terror: United States of America

Diwata S. Thomas

Masters in Public Administration: Florida State University

Table of Contents

Abstract

Introduction to the Global War on Terror

Peace and Security

Arms Control and Disarmament

Case Study: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Universal Human Rights

Current International Relations

Conclusion

Bibliography: Works Cited

Abstract

The global war on terrorism (GWOT) is a concept that involves the political, social, cultural and military combat against nations and militias that go against the current international affairs. Americans have spent decades after world war II working towards collective action agreements with nations that were once in opposition. The American political system has built new mechanisms to combat radical ideologies and imposed cultural beliefs that are backed by insurgents and militia terrorist organizations. The world has progressed towards interconnectivity which has also brought many nations to make new alliances with state actors and intergovernmental organizations. The importance of this article is to enlighten the reader on the types of terrorist organization tactics, historical prevalence, and mechanisms for counterterrorism.

Intergovernmental organizations have worked towards globalization guidelines that assist smaller nations to build their political economic stance for collective security. The regional peace and security of many nations falls on the ability for nations to work together in unity without threats to their national sovereignty. The United States is the world leader in collective security and the preventative actions for terrorist organizations. National sovereignty, peace and security are essential components of the American international affairs agenda for the Biden-Harris administration. The possibilities of new nation building tactics and counterterrorism methods will advance the ideological bases of international governance around the world. The global war on terrorism is a world campaign against tranny and the provoked coercion of civil conflicts and faltering national governments. This article will immerse the reader into the international affairs against terrorism and the necessity of peace on earth.

Keywords: ideology, terrorist threats, recruiting, counter terrorist tactics

The Global War on Terrorism: United States of America

Introduction

Historically, the Al-Qaeda terrorist group was created after the fall of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Strategically, the Afghanistan region was a natural oil industry which is what the Soviets wanted control. However, the Soviets finally left after a long occupation from December 24, 1979 - February 15, 1989 due to the civil conflict with the Afghan people who fought against them. Once the Afghan people gained their independence from the Soviet Union they formulated a cultural identity that was centralized and divergent from western ideologies. Saddam Hussein was a rich prince that took wealth from Kuwait until he was kicked out of the country. Former United States President Clinton’s administration was dealing with the international dispute and the Balkans and Kosovo in 1999. The Balkans and Kosovo were significant during the Clinton administration with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) invasion of Kosovo to stop injustice and human rights violations.

The Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) started after the World Trade Center terrorist attack by Al-Qaeda leaders on September 11, 2001. Former United States President George H.W. Bush made a counterterrorist mission called Operation Enduring Freedom which lasted from October 7, 2001 - December 31, 2014. Former President Bush announced to the American people that we would be fighting the Taliban terrorist organization in Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda. The Bush administration’s Operation Enduring Freedom used the “dark side” of the intelligence community stated by Former Vice President Dick Cheney. The Bush administration's methods created the use of enhanced interrogation techniques and extraordinary rendition.

After hitting the Taliban hard with United States military service men and women, Former President Barack Obama’s administration was very involved in the next international dispute called “Arab Spring” in Libya and Syria. Both Libya and Syria had known terrorist organizations according to the Department of State. The Obama Administration fosters the use of surgical drone strikes to hit targeted Taliban militants check points, zones and weapons stockpiles. The counter terrorism messages portrayed the United States as a global hegemon and which would give holistic solutions to the regional social-economic issues.

“Protecting the Iraqis” was a counter terrorism measure for human rights abuses of Iraqi citizens and the controlling terrorist groups Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden was a master at getting funding for weapons and recruiting young soldiers to control a region before he was killed out of Kuwait. After 9/11, Osama bin Laden went underground in caves and limited communication but still controlling the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Eventually, the Barack Obama administration found Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011 in Pakistan. After which the American efforts to combat international terrorist continued throughout the next presidential administrations. The most significant American ideal that occurred during the global war on terrorism was international peace and security. The American efforts around the globe to secure regional peace as a global leader was significant. Different regional civil conflicts arose that made peace and security hard for the American intelligence community. Many of the directives for peace and security were made through collective international organizations and nongovernmental organizations for specific regional causes. The American presidential administration tried relentlessly to assist in their international agendas to combat any international aggressors against the US-international policies.

Peace and Security

International peace and security measures have been evolving throughout the different United States Presidential administrations. Through interactions with different international governments and intergovernmental organizations, the United States has been able to keep their strong hold in many national security threats. For instance, the case study in Somalia 1991-1992, showed the country in desperate need for food, water, and protection. The national Somalian government was under direct threat due to famine, war clans and civilians fighting for control in their regions. More than 20 years later, the country was able to create a stable national government with the support of the African Union peacekeeping force deployed into the country. Contemporary threats of humanitarian crisis shows how terrorist groups can be linked between nonstate actors and criminal activities within a region.

George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton’s administrations excluded any further assistance except for humanitarian tasks. The United States objectives were a success in aiding the food to those in need and imposing a de facto cease-fire in the areas that US military forces were deployed. Yet, the bigger idea of peacekeeping in Somalia was limited, meaning that the UN was in control of the fight between the war militias and eliminating the security threat war lords created. The inspiring book Blackhawk Down, was based on the story of eighteen US soldiers who were killed by Aidid’s soldiers in the streets of Mogadishu. Continued United States peacekeeping missions with the United Nations gave the Clinton administration new directive in their position to African civil conflicts.

The Somalian war lords and clans negotiated the end to fighting and made several attempts to set up a transitional government who would be in control. Links between the Somali civil conflict in the 1990’s and the 9/11 attack was due to the establishment of the Islamic State in Somalia including the Islamic courts and charities through the self-governing Republic of Somaliland and Puntland State. There was a mediation with the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which was an effort to resolve the Somali territorial dispute through the Arab League which failed to reach an agreement. The United States response to the UIC who were taking over the civil conflict between the two Somalian self-represented governments was an air attack with the help of Ethiopia who sent troops as reinforcements. The terrorist organization al-Shabab continued to fight the United States efforts in relieving the international conflict between the two self-represented Somalian governments who were trying to become one transitional government entity. Al-Shabab created a major humanitarian crisis including severe famine and millions of displaced people due to street conflicts.

Throughout the peacekeeping tactics the Clinton administration worked to strengthen the Somali security forces that were being attacked by pirates who were based in the Puntland State area. By 2013, the Somali security threats were diminished yet al-Shabab attacked non-Muslims in Kenya and Ethiopia in 2014 which continued the multifaceted international conflicts between nonstate actors and international governments. Somalia was a complex international dispute that was a failure of the UN to peacefully resolve the conflict post-Cold War tensions and shows the importance of state security in relation to neighboring countries.

Collective security is based on the concept that states that have a collective interest will work together to counter any aggression against their unified peace. States will be committed to defending other states in the instance that there is an attack from another state or member of the arrangement. Intergovernmental organizations including the League of Nations, NATO, and United Nations (UN) were created on this concept of collective security which utilizes resources in regional conflicts and peacekeeping to resolve disputes.

Interstate conflicts have created international danger from non-state actors, terrorism, large-scale humanitarian crises, weapons of mass destruction and climate change. The process of human security has evolved into different sectors of state governance to prevent other states from taking control. Gaining assistance from state allies that are active members of the intergovernmental organization can change the way a regional conflict is settled. For instance, after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the UN security council approved Resolution 1368 which allows the US to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. The US sought to relive the aggression that was created by the Taliban regime and al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. The US began operation enduring freedom which was a peacekeeping and peacebuilding mission to build a Afghan government, with the resurgence of the Taliban, who would work to prevent international terrorist attacks.

The US has a policy that decides if a country shows direct aggression towards the US then we have the right to sanction them. Typical acts of aggression would be coercion, tranny, state sponsoring terrorist actors, harboring terrorist, and deception of US official representatives. The sanctions can come from military operations, routine training programs, invasion and monopolizing regional economic markets. In 2001, non-governmental organizations, human rights groups and independent research centers created new proposals for smart sanctions which were intended to keep the pressure on Iraq to comply with disarmament. The smart sanctions were a humanitarian action against a foreign aggressor that was prone to use state sponsored terrorist groups to force new economic and pollical control. In the case of Iraq 2001, the Iraqi oil wealth and imports was being used to produce weapons of mass destruction. The sanctions were placed to take the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) out of the hands of Saddam Hussein who was a volatile individual prone to use fear and tranny against his own people.

Target sanctions have the best ability to be effective in the fight in regional ideologies and political methods of global governance. Embargos are the most effective sanctions because they are executive orders that restrict commerce with a country or an exchange of goods. Diplomatic sanctions usually involve suspensions from intergovernmental organizations and limiting diplomats’ travel to and from other countries for highly publicized events. Financial sanctions have the ability to freeze international banking services within the sanctioning countries' jurisdiction. Investment bans for international economic stakeholders can hurt an entire sector of their economic industry. Limits on banking services can reduce the amount of loans and credit available to international government commercial operations based in their country thus preventing new consumer products from being sold on the international market. Travel bans and aviation sanctions prohibit international transit by air or naval carriers which are used to get goods in and out of a country for profit. Commodity sanctions which are used to restrict trade on oil, timber, diamonds, produce, electronics, and other raw materials. The importance of sanctions on countries is to show a disciplined action against aggressors that do not cooperate with intergovernmental organizations or individual countries. Peace and stability often come from sanctions against countries that do not cooperate with the international order.

Arms Control and Disarmament

Disarmament involves limiting, controlling and reducing the weapons for war as a proposal to promote peace and stability. There have been countless proposals on the bases of disarmament to reduce regional acts of violence. National citizens can advocate the arms control of a county by redirecting funds for more socially peaceful activities. Humanitarian actions that speak out about the misuse of government arms can lead to new habits of cooperation and trust that will defuse highly threatening governmental control. Intergovernmental organizations like the UN and NATO have made substantial progress in the arms control race by limiting and reducing the amount of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons of mass destruction created by countries known for their regional aggression. The landmines, cluster munitions and small arms deals that are made between countries can be subject to international violations which prevent countries from larger economic achievements through international trade.

Although the intergovernmental organizations have made progress in many small arms deals, there have been concerns of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy production since President Dwight Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” proposal in 1954. Atoms for Peace involved the US and Soviet Union who were creating the international regime for nuclear nonproliferation. Through the US-Soviet collaborations, we created the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1957 to spread the word about new atomic energy and preventing fissionable materials in the wrong hands. Collective bargaining the five declared nuclear weapon states (United States, Soviet Union/Russia, United Kingdom, France and China) and non-nuclear weapon states including India, Pakistan, Cuba, North Korea, and Israel who are not part of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). There have been countries like North Korea and Iran that have continued to test nuclear weapons that risk danger to international security, violations against humanity and causing environmental crises. We call states that have been de facto for nuclear weapons “rouge” states who have been targets due to the risk they pose for terrorist groups who coercion to gain nuclear weapons or materials. Rogue states are determined to acquire arms and materials to build their own weapons stockpiles. Recently, armed attacks by these non-nuclear states create fear and instability in the Middle East which could lead to Saudi Arabia and Egypt to seek nuclear weapons. Concerns about nuclear weapons have increased over the years since the first Atomic weapons were used in Japan during World War II. Yet, chemical and biological weapons have been a constant target that could possibly harm masses of citizens with a small dosage in a large food consumption industry.

UN security council resolution 1540 (2004) states that the all states shall refrain from providing any form of support to non-state actors that attempts to develop, acquire, manufacture, possess, transport, transfer or use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons for terrorism. The importance of resolution 1540 is to unite all the states in the council to prevent global war on a region or terrorist group. Preventing weapons and materials from getting acquired by terrorist groups or state sponsored groups for covert political gains.

Chemical weapons can be used with the same materials that are used in ordinary industrial and agriculture production. The new age of arms control proves that individuals who seek to kill millions of people can do so by tampering with the large industries that mass produce food shipped around the world. Campaigns against chemical and biological weapons state that these weapons are a clear violation of human rights, and are inhumane methods of modern warfare. The threat of terrorist organizations is clear because they are not bound to the international reciprocity of international governments, political affiliates, or economic controls.

The September 11, 2001 attacks and the anthrax scare in the United States promoted the international proposal for G-8 initiative in 2002 which created a Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. George W. Bush pledged ten billion dollars to the global partnership in good faith that the money would be used to combat the critical threats of terrorism on the United States. (Karns, Mingst, Stiles, 2015) In another instance of intergovernmental organizations cooperating with disarmament plans, the Chemical weapons Convention (CWC) which was signed in 1993 also banned the production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention and usage of chemical weapons for warfare and testing.

The significance of the CWC is to keep national security measures around the international control and trade of chemical weapons and war materials. Similar to the Biological Weapons Convention, the complete destruction of all weapons and production facilities would take the United States, Libya and Russia decades to complete. This shows the increased rapid intergovernmental organization and not a specific country to country inspection due to the production of chemical and biological weapons to be distributed for quick and lethal combat. Beginning in the early 1997’s, there have been inspections of industrial and commercial production facilities to check if they were producing, stockpiling, and distributing illegal chemical and biological weapons. The inspections were often completed by an volatile state of the international community’s standards for chemical and biological weapons.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) conducts hundreds of inspections on production facilities to ensure that they have been deactivated or converted to civilian uses instead of chemical and biological weapons. OPCW’s mission is to ensure that the development of new chemical weapons are eliminated, end the transfer of chemical weapons from one country to another, and to ensure that existing stocks of weapons are destroyed. The OPCW’s mission is to disarm countries from using poison or poisoned weapons, the use of arms, projectiles or material to cause unnecessary suffering. Certain aspects of chemical weapons are that they will be used to asphyxiate people causing intense suffering and painful deaths due to the exposure of chemical weapons. These injuries can have immediate death or prolonged disease and suffering for the rest of someone’s life if exposed in a highly concentrated dosage.

Current challenges to the OPCW’s mission is getting countries to convert chemical-weapons production facilities to civilian uses. Improving transparency and building confidence in the effectiveness of the regime for the prohibition of chemical weapons. Delivering on the request for production facilities to be inspected. Data from the declarations and inspections to be disseminated to State-members of the OPCW. These major issues have remained present in the OPCW and will need the support of member states to invest their time, money and resources in legitimate claims of chemical weapon production facilities.

The destruction technologies needed for chemical weapons to be completely irreversible and unsuitable for production must be enhanced to stop all possible chemical weapons technologies from being used again. The methods employed must comply with nationals and international safety emissions regulations which has been a recent issue during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. It is important for member states that are eliminating the threat of chemical weapons to stick with regulations and do not have open-pit burning, land burial or dumping into any body of water. These actions can be very harmful to human life and long term damages to the environment. It has been known that many chemical and biological weapons can stay active for many years until the chemical components have been through several half-life cycles. Destruction technologies can be high temperature destruction like plasma pyrolysis, incineration and explosive chambers. Low-temperature destruction technologies like neutralization and hydrolysis second treatments causing byproduct materials until finally disposable materials safeguarded from future uses.

Another type of disarmament is cluster munitions and landmines which have been used during wars and left in areas without disarmament production. It has been known that terrorist organizations have taken these cluster munitions and landmines for their plots and stockpiles. Terrorist organizations will use the landmines to protect their stockpiles and keep other militias from gaining control of essential areas of operations. International organizations must be working collaboratively to remove the landmines in these countries and destroy the materials left behind. Terrorism organizations like ISIS and sectors of the regime have been known to collect the landmines from previous WWI and WWII for their own weapons stock piles. The transformation of weapons by these terrorist organizations for combat use have been known to create lethal devices.

Security governance uses methods of preventative diplomacy, adjudication, mediation, peacekeeping and arms control to prevent global terrorism attacks. The evolution of many terrorist groups gives important solutions to the growing number of terrorist groups and recruits. Combating the root causes of the urgent threats on our democracy is vital to the global war on terrorism campaign. We can look at the case study of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria for the details into a specific terrorist organization and their methods of attracting new recruits, weapons, and terrorist tactics.

Case Study: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

The Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS) is a radical jihadist group that is based in Iraq and has multiple bases of operation in Syria, Lebanon and Boko Haram. This terrorist organization developed from Al Qaeda and formed a more diverse and widely acceptable message spreading throughout the Middle East and North Africa. On April 10th, 2013, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced the merger of al-Nusra to form the Islamic State that expanded into Syria. (Shamieh & Zoltan, 2015, 5) The importance of this organization is their affiliation to multiple terrorist attacks around the world including France, America, and Great Britain. ISIS has developed a means of recruitment for young Muslim soldiers to fight for their religious righteousness. ISIS claims that their Muslim religion, power seeking and community acceptance is a motivation to fight for the ISIS cause. The organization wants to create a unified Muslim Islamic State of jihadist by engaging in financial supporters, local and cyber sympathizers.

The Islamic State uses multiple means of threats and tactics to involve terror across the world to gain their organizational goals. Thirty thousand international fighters have decided to fight for ISIS and ISIS holds territory in Iraq and Syria. ISIS controls lines of communication, commands infrastructure and state sponsored funding to keep their organization operational. ISIS uses extortion by targeting owners and producers in ISIS territories, taxing small family farms and larger enterprises like cell-phone service providers, water delivering companies, and electrical utilities. Brutality is their core message demonstrating videotaped beheadings, mass executions designed to intimidate foes and suppress dissent actors. Mainly, ISIS is using three types of strategies in the Iraqi region. First, mass targeting of civilians and popular sites causing brutality and terror among Shia, Christians, and other rivals. Secondly, targeting foreign military personnel and opposition supporters. Lastly, targeting internationals to send their message either through various outlets including mass media, brutal force and even death. (Shamieh & Zoltan, 2015, 9)

Recruitment messaging uses religious righteousness, adventure, personal power, sense of community as motivations to become a jihadist fighter. Some statistics say the number of fighters ranged from 7,000 to 12,000 with man recruits arriving daily. (Shamieh & Zoltan, 2015, 8) Quick availability to become a fighter gaining a short term gratification without younger people fully learning what ISIS elders really have planned against western states and their cultures. ISIS spreads its ideologies with sympathizers across the world. New cyber jihadist recruitment is a form of propaganda against any other ideology or culture that disagrees with the jihadist movement. Leader of ISIS Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi has called for Sunni youths to fight for ISIS, “I appeal to the youths and men of Islam around the globe and invoke them to mobilize and join us to consolidate the pillar of the State of Islam and wage jihad against the rafidhas (shia), the safadis of Shi’ites.” (Awan, 2017, 1)

Vulnerable to extremist ideologies using YouTube, Facebook and Twitter as platforms to announce recruitment and organizational goals. Propaganda rhetoric is used for transnational recruitment tactics broadcast and translated in different languages and countries such as Algeria, Libya, and Egypt. “Proudly support the Muslim cause”, used to appeal a religious righteous motivation. “Young men and Muslims in various parts of the world to fight for ISIS”, rhetoric to spread ISIS ideologies. (Awan, 2017) The internet is a means for terrorists to engage in psychological warfare, publicity, propaganda, fundraising, recruitment, networking, sharing information, and planning.” (Awan, 2017)

ISIS motivation and behavior to exploit the online environment by using global crises apparatus like in Iraq and Syria to create ideas. The symbolization created by these events regulate their environments and every aspect of their lives. Using this symbolization causes an emotional reaction that transfers to online hate groups and gives power to make judgements against the opposition. Types of ISIS sympathizers include the cyber mobs, loners, fantasists, thrill seekers, moral crusaders, narcissists and identity seekers. Searches through Twitter will populate thousands of accounts and retweets of ISIS related events and ideas. According to Awan, this study found 1,264 specific incidents of ISIS propaganda and hate related messages which could be constructed as inciting violence and actual offline physical threats. (Awan, 2017)

A proposal for ISIS counter terrorism propaganda on the internet include physically removing the offending propagandists through the US criminal justice process. Capturing these ISIS propagandists that are ghost users is vital to keeping ISIS ideas from spreading on the internet. Removing offending propaganda on social media platforms to counter radical jihadist ideologies. By removing propaganda used for recruitment, spreading terrorist ideas, and engages in illegal solicitation of funding, we can combat ISIS through the internet. Discrediting and undermining the group through active counter-propaganda measures, for instance creating positive social media feeds about Western countries. (Lieberman, 2017, 16)

Counter terrorism operations and counter insurgency are to determine the rate of legitimate ISIS threats. Strategy of offensive containment is a combination of limited military tactics and broad diplomatic strategy to halt ISIS expansion, isolate the group and degrade its capabilities. US intelligence agencies created Post 9/11 including the Department of Homeland Security, National Counterterrorism Center and Transportation Security Administration. Over fifty thousand reports of terrorism from these US agencies have been investigated. Another counterterrorism strategy is to attack the flow of money to the terrorist network. Department of Defense (DOD), US military and intelligence campaigns against terrorist threats launch raids and armed drone attacks to neutralize various ISIS threats. Trillion dollar US spending budget allocated through government agencies including FBI, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), DOD, US military branches to mitigate foreign and domestic insurgency groups that threaten US sovereignty.

Combating the jihadist movement in other developing countries is another global counter terrorist tactic lead by the US. The movement includes building relationships in local international communities, teaching religious messages in prisons before rehabilitation, and negotiating local grievances. Changing the core views that developing countries have of the US is key to mitigating any radical Islamic ideologies that are being spread by ISIS scare tactics. Air strikes can pin ISIS down and cut off supply routes of weapons, technologies, and ammunition.

The Trump administration worked to defeat ISIS by an aggressive campaign encompassing air strikes, drone attacks, special operation raids, and small deployments of regular ground troops in response to specific threats all in support of efforts by regional US partners. (Brands & Feaver, 2017) The balance between military enforcement and diplomatic relations is vital to ensuring a positive strategy for mission success. Avoiding too many troops and resources that might irritate the cooperating Muslim world is essential for international diplomacy.

The US response to ISIS is supporting local Iraqi and Syrian opposition. Operation Inherent Resolve was an air strike attack that destroyed and damaged 16,075 targets (tanks, military vehicles, staging areas, fighting positions, buildings) and killed a half dozen ISIS leaders and leading personnel. (Shamieh & Zoltan, 2015) The broader global response to ISIS brutality has been to cooperate with countries in opposition to terrorist acts and legitimate supporters. In the future, the US should stop downplaying the seriousness of the ISIS threat. Recognize that ISIS is targeting the youth and to create a better strategy to combat social media propaganda spread. (Gorka & Gorka, 2015) Surveillance on refugee individuals accepted for asylum or immigration process. Use an open-source intelligence plan for individuals or legitimate state actors with information on ISIS personnel, while removing communication paths to terrorist propaganda, ISIS rhetoric and extreme jihadist ideas.

US commander in Iraq General Llyod describes US-Iraqi relations in November 2011 as follows, “As we leave, we can expect to see some turbulence in security initially, and that’s become you’ll see various elements try to increase their freedom of movement and freedom of action.” General Lloyd continues saying, “there will probably be unfinished business for many, many years to come…” (Shamieh & Zoltan, 2015) General Llyod was right because ISIS has shown their freedom through spreading hateful accusations at Western countries. Through social media propaganda and spreading their ideologies, ISIS has planned and successfully followed through on various international attacks. Increased their rate of recruitment using the internet and have working insurgencies in different international countries. The US partners in combating ISIS terrorist threats is vast among several western countries. The threat of ISIS to the US will not stop anytime soon and create effective counterterrorism operations.

Since June of 2019, Matthew Tueller has been the U.S. ambassador to Iraq stating that in Syria there were large numbers of displaced people, which had an impact on US partners in Europe. The US has been fostering military engagement to strengthen the Iraqi government’s control on Islamic State by giving them a seat at the table. Although the former Trump and current Biden administrations have constituted a new democratic rule of law in the Middle East there are extreme issues of polarization, domestic violence, and illegitimate sovereignty. The next administrative actions must be to determine legitimate threats and reshape western ideologies to encompass an Arab world point of view. The significance of an Arab world point of view with a democratic rule of law would still give the Arab people a voice in their national and local government systems. The Arab people would be able to evolve their preexisting cultural traits to the new democratic rule of law that provides amenities to their current governance system. For instance, the people would allow women more rights to attire, walking outside, and household duties. The men would expand their current work environments to achieve new business opportunities to make profit. The businesses would still need to have protection against gang control.

Iraqi gangs in Baghdad look different than the Iraqi soldiers at checkpoints for incoming vehicles and ground transport systems. Gang members usually look mean and don’t wear uniforms but still are holding assault rifles or Glock 9 millimeter pistols. These weapons are easier to attain through local weapons shops that can be affiliated with a known terrorist organization to cut cheaper deals. However, the significance of the gang members at certain checkpoints create an operational caliphate area that is described as the ISIS controlled areas. It is vital for the United States to understand the psychological history of the Middle East because many of the recruitment techniques are facilitated by cultural beliefs and tribunal heritages. The global war on terrorism is a type of human rights and humanitarian aid to countries and regions that need assistance preventing civil conflict. The global movement for human rights is to organize masses of people to cooperate with other governments and limit the threat of gangs and violent actors.

Universal Human Rights

Universal Human Rights is a concept that gives all human beings the rights to a fair and free life without the oppression of governments or terrorist organizations that suppress individual self-determination. The human trafficking issue for human beings have been a global issue for terrorist organizations that are involved with recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people by threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception or abuse of power. Terrorist organization will use threats and use of aggressive force to capture people into a slave trade system. These individuals caught in the system of modern slavery are subjects their their terrorist ruler and will be exploited for their goods and services. The essential problem with human trafficking and asylum-seekers who come from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa is that these people are displaced from their origin, They seek to live in destination countries like the United States and the European region. Displaced individuals create strain on the economic viability of destination countries because they are not legally able to work for a living.

International humanitarian normative must be created to pose protections on the religious and ethnic diversity of these individuals that migrate into other countries. The proposed threat of these asylum seekers and human trafficked people into the United States is that they will cause violence and crime in our society due to the harsh lifestyle they were subjected to. Many of these human traffickers have been traveling against their will at the cause of a terrorist organization who plans to use them for sexual or serviced favors. Contemporary protections against human traffickers' and terrorist groups have been in placed by the UN. The human rights campaign for all individuals to have their own self-determination and essential freedoms must be spread in areas of the globe that work against human freedoms. The western countries have set the standard for human rights and their economic dominance in international and regional governance. The significance of the western countries to advance human rights standards is to prevent human trafficking and terrorist destinations in the region.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGO) have their role in the global war on terrorism by advocating against human rights violations. NGOs can educate the population, drafting human rights conventions, monitoring, shaming, and prosecuting human rights abusers. NGOs can gather in union to provide resources and assistance to rehabilitate human rights victims and their families. NGOs can use a transnational platform to get their campaign message out to the public like social media, news, radio, television, and community programs. Human rights violations like child labor camps, sweatshops, indigenous people, migrant workers, and young soldiers have been reported to NGOs for their work in regional conflicts.

In 2004, the NGO Invisible Children was founded to call attention to the human rights abusers and child soldiers in Uganda. The leader Joseph Kony was kidnapping children in Northern Uganda and making them into soldiers. The viral video of the child soldiers caught the attention of the global leaders around the world to stop this militia from violating human rights. Unfortunately, it took from the late 1980s until 2012 for the Lord’s Resistance Army and leader Joseph Kony to be taken into justice. The invisible children of Uganda were not seen for a long time and were being abused for years without a transnational platform to tell the world their untold stories.

The media-driven illustrations of NGOs and IGOs has a huge affect on the global war on terrorism because we can make decisive actions against terrorist aggressors in conflict driven countries. The fundamental freedoms and human dignity are the bases of universal human rights when terrorist groups fight against the philosophy of the western countries.

Current International Affairs

During the Trump Administration the Chinese military personnel sparked accusations that U.S. Congress Republicans were disloyal to Former President Trump. The Military and Security Developments involving the People’s Republic of China stated that China could have 700 nuclear warheads by 2027 and at least 1,000 by 2030. (Kube, 2021) The spark of the Chinese nuclear production was initiated by the construction of infrastructure necessary to support their expansion of nuclear forces. Chinese military expansion includes a triad of air-launched, ground-launched and sea-based nuclear capabilities. Open source data showed that Chinese media believes the United States would instigate a conflict in the South China Sea which led to large scale military drills. In the recent, 21st century China has routinely used the South China Sea for navel, air, and ground launches for targeting practice. China has about 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and is building three new solid-fueled ICBM silo fields which could hold hundreds more missiles. (Kube, 2021)

Although it has been known that China is a nuclear powered state we have been able to calculate the amount of warheads in their possession. The People’s Republic of China has been an advocate for clean nuclear energy which is concerning to many western states due to their provoked dominance on the South China Sea territories including North Korea. Many social scientists would agree that China has special interests in the communist country while the South Korean democratic nation has been working collectively with western countries for mutual security. The advancement in this new calculations has provoked many individuals the ability to speak out against government coercion and state sponsored communist terrorist groups in democratic Asian countries. These South East Asian countries are still in their early development stages of economic growth and regional stability is necessary for their people’s prosperity as a sovereign state.

Early in the Biden-Harris administration, the international conflict between the Israelites and Palestinians created significant violence in the streets. Known terrorist organization Hamas which is allegedly affiliated with ISIS in multiple regions of the Middle East could have substantial effects on the future political gains. For instance, economic advancement of the oil industry, trading textiles, produce, telecommunication services and transactions of health care products. COVID-19 pandemic created an opportunity for the United States to gain vital political advancement in the middle east and alter the previous foreign relationship. Since the Biden-Harris administration, increased surveillance of ports, international businesses, health care posts, essential industries for the middle eastern countries survival has been vital to ensuring the future of US-Middle Eastern relations. (White House, 2021) The future of US-Middle Eastern relations is based on the capital gains and humanitarian efforts led by the US resources and services that provoke rehabilitation of war tactics and US dispute involvements.

In August 2021, President Biden has announced through several press conferences that his administration will be finding new methods of regulating gun control in America. The Biden-Harris administration is looking forward to continued talks regarding the constitutional second amendment the right to bear arms for qualified American citizens. Reproaching the safety of American towns and communities is a high priority for this administration ideologically “tough on crime” attitude. The administration is regulating new programs to combat the use or illegal possession of ghost guns in American communities. The social perspective of these ghost guns shows an increased domestic threat on American society. Protection services across the country must reinforce their human capital, weapons and technologies to enhance the capabilities of civilian service members. Crime prevention is vital to the international message Americans portray on transnational criminal acts and the future of American threats. The threat assessment of the United States has increased over the decades as guns have become rapidly produced and manufactured to kill masses of individuals in an instance. Mass shootings in America have elevated the crime rates which are often premeditated by lone wolves or hostile radical group members.

The greatest threat to the United States will be foreign ideologies that seep into our American values. The disregard for human life and the inability to establish truth and decency to the American social system will be the demise of modern American culture. The interconnectivity of Americans and the international world of criminals that regard the new world as a secular propagandist nation different from true conservative values is growing everyday. Radical foreign ideologies have a detrimental effect on the American culture because it motivates individuals to join terrorism groups or violent gangs that seek to control other citizens. The greatest threat to America is the unification of terrorist groups that gain more media, money, legitimate power, weapons and religious significance to demolish American foreign interest.

September 2021 was an important month in the Biden-Harris administration, news media articles about the US combat withdrawal from Afghanistan spread throughout the world with anticipation steaming from the Western countries and Middle East. There have been occupations of third world countries from developed countries throughout history however releasing a country from their occupant military control is a delicate moment. Many people around the world saw as the US military and service members were evacuated from the Afghan region and sent back home to the US. The transition of power was destabilized for a few days until the legitimate Taliban Afghan government was able to control their citizens and run government operations at the airports, public streets, and government controlled buildings.

The Myanmar civil conflict also was happening during the Afghanistan exit due to the extremism of radical citizens who sought to overpower the legitimate government officials. The Myanmar citizens were protesting and rioting in the streets about the corruption of government officials who abused their power to gain advantages over their fellow society members. These government officials were prosecuted for their actions and the civil unrest continues due to their slow economic development. Many of the people of Myanmar are poor urban community members who believed that the inner city government would help them gain jobs. Extremism and violent crimes have arisen and the Biden-Harris administration worked collectively with intergovernmental organizations like Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the UN to combat the immediate issues with Myanmar’s governmental structure. The Biden Harris Administration pledged to provide up to 102 million USD in new initiatives to expand the US-ASEAN strategic partnership in October 2021. The strategic investment was to combat terrorist and civil dispute issues within regional developing countries and to control the western message to the South East Asian countries and Indo-Pacific.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine shows there have been international tensions within the region and the Biden-Harris administration seeks to use diplomatic efforts to stabilize the regional situation. President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. worked with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine to ensure that the American values were understood and reaffirming the United States’ commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty. The Biden-Harris administration continues to make strategic investments to the global war on terrorism initiatives to assist in peace, security, counterterrorism tactics, and universal human rights. There are new possibilities of US initiatives and humanitarian aid to these developing countries for economic growth. Continuing the American ideals that human rights have are driven by the western values that are shared between regional leaders. Working around the globe with different strategic agendas for countries with high interest, the Biden-Harris administration seeks to establish a new westernized rule of law. Recently, the Biden-Harris administration has been able to help with the peaceful transition of international government leadership. The Ukraine situation has been a network of rebuilding through humanitarian aid to give western support through medicines, education, and climate initiatives for long term development. These negotiations were very important in the work to fight illegitimate control of countries, government leadership, and citizens rebellions. Deepening the relationship that the United States has with Ukraine and working with Russia to stop destabilizing regional control.

Conclusion

The global war on terrorism is a constant battle between legitimate and illegitimate actors who seek to control the public for personal gains. The global war on terrorism is a war on ideologies, WMDs, biological and chemical weapons, military branches, government officials, news media, civil rights groups, NGOs and IGOs. The interconnectivity of terrorist organizations expands throughout the entire world and affects all disciplines and current political issues including education, climate control, health care, economic growth, foreign products, and industrialization. The core concept of terrorism is that many countries must work together through collective security to combat the initial components of war combatants. The global war on terrorism means that countries that have interest and similar ideas work to control the flow of their societies to invent future solutions. Terrorism must be preventative instead of reactive to minimize the impact of terrorist plots. The intelligence communities have the resources to take in tips from informants to establish new political policies and military actions.

The intelligence community is broken down into different sectors of information collection, distributing open and closed sourced information, and deliberating new strategies. The United States interests at home and abroad is determined by the data collected and foreign diplomatic meetings made with heads of states. The normal distribution of information through the United States intelligence committees are vitally important to counter terrorism efforts. The ability to remove terrorist organization from power in dictatorial regimes and democracies helps give westernization better international stigma. Getting rid of false propaganda and rhetoric in dictatorship countries helps the citizens earn new socioeconomic developments like universal health, education, and job creation. These issues are vital for the stabilization of humanity of every nationality so that we can protect the developments of our interest and allies.

Bibliography

Arnaldi, J. A., & Webel, C. (2011). The Ethics and Efficacy of the Global War on Terrorism: Fighting Terror with Terror. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137001931

Awan, I. (2017, 03 15). Cyber-Extremism: Isis and the Power of Social Media. Social science and public policy, 54, 138-149. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12115-017-0114-0?data2=dwnjltx#citeas

Brands, H., & Feaver, P. (2017, March/ April). Foreign Affairs. Trump and Terrorism: US strategy after ISIS, 96(2), 28-36. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/fora96&div=38&g_sent=1&casa_token=&collection=journals

Cronin, A. K. (2015). ISIS Is Not a Terrorist Group. Foreign Affairs 94 Foreign Aff., 94(2), 87-98. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/fora94&id=372&men_tab=srchresults

Gorka, S. L., & Gorka, K. C. (2015, November). Threat knowledge group. ISIS: The threat to the United States, 1-20. http://www.asisnn.org/uploads/3/4/2/0/34207146/the_isis_threat.pdf

Jacob, E. D. (2020). American security and the Global War on Terror . Routledge.

Karns, Mingst, Stiles. (2015). International Organizations:The politics and processes of global governance. Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Kube, Courtney (2021). China has upped nuke production, it worried U.S. would start war before 2020 election, report says.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/china-has-upped-nuke-production-worried-u-s-would-start-n1283096?fbclid=IwAR2qstU4CIIHdSbY-yADxQKs-hupY_MIGZ_mYfQbm8S3Visu4VmKqKe6NE0

Lieberman, A. (2017). Terrorism, propaganda and the internet: deadly combination. Journal of National Security Law and Policy, 9(1), 95-124. Heinonline. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/jnatselp9&div=9&g_sent=1&casa_token=pjUK8NTnIKAAAAAA:RK0ypsAe91JlCUoeo8k2oNjxYpa8stBVXuVvipV0b7xRAIqsD1zkxgpPhGu6H83V8DnMcQ&collection=journals

Magias, Mari (2021) A seat at the table for all Iraqis: Ambassador Matthew Tueller MPP 1984.https://www.hks.harvard.edu/alumni/connect/community-stories/seat-table-all-iraqis-ambassador-matthew-tueller-mpp-1984

Mark, Julian (2021) Trump says his administration killed bigger terrorist than Osama bin Laden https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/08/27/trump-osama-bin-laden-one-hit/

Shamieh, L., & Zoltan, S. (2015). The rise of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, 14(4), 363-378. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/50614583/The_Rise_of_Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_Syria_ISIS.pdf?1480433745=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DThe_Rise_of_Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_Sy.pdf&Expires=1603720994&Signature=F4f-CbTt8~lcamo8ZJQD

Spencer, John (2020) Gangs of Baghdad https://mwi.usma.edu/gangs-of-baghdad