The Centre of Excellence – Defence against Terrorism (COE-DAT) traveled to Astana, Kazakhstan to conduct an advanced training course (ATC) entitled “Enhancing Cooperation in Defense against Terrorism” on 27 September-01 October 2010.

A total of eleven experts from five countries helped the participants discuss these issues in order to facilitate interoperability between these countries and NATO in the fight against terrorism. The articles in this book reflect those presentations and discussions.

The first presentation was an overview of terrorism entitled “A Round-the-World Tour of Terrorism,” presented by Ercan Çitlioğlu from Bahçeşehir University, who gave an overview of the landscape in which terrorism currently exists. He examined why a different type of mentality is needed to fight against terrorism rather than the Cold War-type model we have become accustomed to.

Mitat Çelikpala of Istanbul Kadir Has University was the second speaker with the topic of “Countering the Ideology of Terrorism,” where he examined the relationship between ideology (a set of beliefs) and terrorism (a method to achieve them), outlining the basic divisions of these two. He then discussed the fight against terrorism, which has to be conducted at both the operational level to prevent attacks and capture terrorists, as well as the strategic level where the ideology behind the terrorism must be countered. He argued the best way to do this is from within that ideological community itself by engaging all elements of society to influence this group and prevent recruitment of the young.

“Legal Responses to Terrorist Use of the Internet” was the topic of the third presentation by Marco Gercke of the Cybercrime Research Institute. In his talk he addressed internet-related attacks, illegal content, communications, and financing of terrorism – both the status of the threat and the legal responses in each of these areas. In the area of legal responses, some nations are taking an Internet-specific approach, some are taking a general approach to terrorist related crimes, while some are taking a combination of both; he analyzed these approaches.

The fourth presentation was done by Ercan Çitlioğlu from Bahçesehir University again on the topic of “Organized Crime and Terrorism: The Financial Roots of Systematic Violence,” where he examined the links between organized crimes. Although the two groups have differing reasons for their work – financial for organized crime and political for terrorists groups – they have mutually supporting skills and needs that cause them to work together. The loss of financial support to terrorist groups after the fall of the USSR in 1991 is also cited as a contributing factor. Therefore, he argued, to eliminate terrorist groups you also have to take on organized crime.

Mitat Çelikpala of Istanbul Kadir Has University was also the fifth speaker of the course, speaking on the topic of “What does Energy Security Mean?” Tracing the history of the concept of energy security from the beginning of the 20th Century when it referred to the supply of oil for British warships to the present day with a great expanded meaning to cover the availability – reliability – of energy from various sources. This problem has a political aspect because energy concerns can force a nation into certain actions, as well as present a possibility for terrorists to achieve their aims if they are able to successfully target the energy sector. He concluded by urging governments to innovate their energy markets and needs so as to reduce this vulnerability.

Larry White of TOBB University of Economics and Technology gave the sixth presentation on “The Legal Aspects of Combating Terrorism” where he outlined a two-step approach to battling terrorism from a legal point-of-view: preventing attacks and convicting terrorists. By acting with current legal authorities, most terrorist attacks can be stopped; prosecution of terrorists can discourage others and lead to greater knowledge of the threat to prevent future attacks. He also outlined some current hot issues in the legal field regarding counterterrorism.

The seventh presentation by Dan Radu Voica of COE-DAT addressed “Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism.” His presentation focused on the WMD threat – chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear – that could be developed by terrorists or fall into terrorist hands. He emphasized the threat while at the same time outlining the capability that NATO has to counter this threat.

“International Humanitarian Law in Military Counterterrorist Operations” was the topic of the eighth presentation, again by Larry White of TOBB University. In this presentation, he discussed the concept of IHL – also known as the law of war – in fighting terrorism. Although the application of IHL to counterterrorism will be the exception, it is important for counterterrorist forces to be aware of these concepts since they can help fill in gaps in counterterrorism laws. He also pointed out that IHL is greatly out-of-date with regards to fighting terrorism and needs to be updated.

The ninth article “Suicide Terrorism: Media Representations and Strategic Communication” reflects the views of Keith Spence of the University of Leicester who discussed suicide terrorism. He addressed some of the perceptions in the media of suicide terrorism, which he considers to be unpredictable based on the conclusion the every such attack has its own circumstances. Therefore, he advocated the use of strategic communications to reduce the possibility of such attacks.

Kenan Tokgöz of COE-DAT next talked about the role of the media in terrorism and counterterrorism. The media is very powerful in democratic nations; he called it the fourth power (after the legislative, executive and judicial powers) of a government. However, in the rush to remain competitive, the media can prioritize speed over accuracy. Since terrorist events are newsworthy and terrorism needs the media to achieve its objectives, terrorists and the media have a symbiotic relationship. The key is for governments to work with media to promote responsible action.

The final article resulting from this ATC is once again from Keith Spence and deals with the topic “Counterterrorism Strategy: Analysis and Dilemmas,” where he discussed four dilemmas that governments have in counterterrorism. He highlighted the problems these dilemmas have presented in Iraq and Afghanistan, then concluded that the medium- and long-term outcomes of both these developments are highly uncertain, but present an opportunity to rethink and reorient key elements of counterterrorism strategy.

Although not part of the presentations in Astana, we have included in this book two articles from Brigitte Nacos of Columbia University. In “The Importance of Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy in Combating Terrorism,” she addresses the use of soft power – public diplomacy and strategic communication – to overcome negative perceptions of the West in Muslim countries as a part of the war against terrorism. Although the West was fairly good at this in the Cold War, she maintains the West has stumbled in the post-9/11 world. In “Terrorism, Media and Censorship,” she discusses the concept of censorship and terrorism. Although the concept of censorship is generally abhorrent, in the counterterrorism context some restrictions on media may be warranted. She examines how this has been attempted in some nations but concludes that in the age of global media and communication it is very difficult, if not impossible to censor mass-mediated communications.

I would like to thank all contributors for their help in the success of this Advanced Training Course.

Kenan TOKGÖZ

Lieutenant Colonel, Turkish Army

ATC Director