THE ROLE OF IMPERIAL MENTALITY IN DETERMINING TERRORISM.

THE ROLE OF IMPERIAL MENTALITY IN DETERMINING TERRORISM

Manatskov I.V.,
senior lecturer, Department of Social and Humanitarian Disciplines, Krasnodar Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia,
candidate of philosophical sciences, associate professor

THE ROLE OF IMPERIAL MENTALITY IN DETERMINING TERRORISM

Political terrorism as a method of solving political, ideological and religious problems has an ancient history, but only in our time terrorism has been recognized as an international danger, and not only because of its unlimited spread. Terrorist acts are accompanied by the use of not only conventional weapons, but also the most dangerous transition to such weapons as chemical weapons.

The international community declares that it has long recognized the social danger and internationalism of terrorism, the need for a comprehensive approach to combating it, international cooperation, both at the regional and planetary levels. The main documents of international cooperation in the fight against terrorism are bilateral and multilateral treaties regulating the legal relations of states. There are also examples of multilateral international treaties on combating international terrorism and regional acts of this kind.

An analysis of international legal documents allows us to identify the following main forms of cooperation between states in the fight against international terrorism: prevention and suppression of terrorist crimes, in respect of which special agreements have been concluded between states; transfer of terrorists sentenced to imprisonment to serve their sentences in the states of their citizenship or permanent residence; transfer of supervision over conditionally sentenced offenders to the authorities of another state; extradition of terrorist criminals to another state or an international body for criminal prosecution; joint study of the causes and other problems of terrorism, as well as exchange of experience of the police and other agencies; training of personnel, provision of expert services, supply of special scientific and technical means and provision of material and technical assistance to other states; exchange of operational, legal information, etc.

The need for international cooperation in the area under consideration is affirmed, while respecting state sovereignty, non-interference in the internal affairs of states and other basic functions of international law. The following are highlighted as special principles of cooperation: the inevitability of responsibility for international criminal offenses committed, the protection by the state of the rights of its citizens abroad, the provision of legal assistance in cases of political crimes, etc.

At the same time, the beginning of the new millennium, characterized by terrorist acts in America, unprecedented in their nature of execution and the number of victims among the civilian population, speaks of the ineffectiveness of the existing international anti-terrorist political and legal concept. In our opinion, ignoring the geopolitical aspect in the analysis of the causes of the surge in international terrorism at the end of the 20th — beginning of the 21st century mainly determined the weakness of international political and legal control, the low efficiency, and sometimes the uselessness of the measures taken by the world community.

Since the collapse of the socialist system and the military-strategic parity between the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance and the Warsaw Pact, the geopolitical concepts of a “unipolar world”, “New World Order” (R. Reagan), “mondealism” (Z. Brzezinski) have become dominant in the West. The only pole of such a world has become the West, that is, the United States and its NATO allies. This state of affairs is documented in the fundamental documents of American policy, in particular, in the report of US President B. Clinton “Strategic Prospects for the United States in the 21st Century” (1997).

The conflict potential of such a doctrine was predicted back in the 1920s by the American geopolitician S. Huntington in his work “The Clash of Civilizations,” in which he pointed to the real prospect of the emergence of hotbeds of tension throughout the planet in the event of a violation of “bipolar symmetry.” The scope of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Soviet troops, the US military actions in the Persian Gulf and Yugoslavia, the spread of radical Islamic movements in the Caucasus, the escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and other examples confirm the validity of Huntington’s thesis.

The growth and spread of terrorism in the last quarter of the 20th century, acting under the banner of radical Islam, is becoming a symbolic phenomenon of the end of the “consumer era”. Islamic civilization is mobilizing against the West, dissatisfied with its desire to dominate the modern world, while radical Islam is becoming a political and ideological justification and the most acceptable form of unification of the efforts of the “poor South” against the “rich North”.

Thus, the origins of current Muslim radical terrorism lie not in the psychology of its proponents, as many researchers of this phenomenon claim, but above all in the intolerance and ambition of the organizers of the “new world order.”

The total struggle of the American administration for “freedom throughout the world,” for “American-style elections” is turning into total anti-Americanism, a struggle against the civilian population, against the entire Christian civilization. The former “third world,” which from generation to generation passed on the genetic code of envy — hatred for the states of the “big billion,” is breeding monsters of extremism with a fundamental tint.

If in the era of the Soviet Union, considered in the West as an “evil empire”, international terrorism was tucked away against the backdrop of the confrontation between the two superpowers, now, when there are no former checks and balances, individual terror is giving way to personal terror, spreading like metastases across the body of the planet. There is a thesis that terrorism has no nationality; in our opinion, it is based primarily on moral criteria rather than the realities of the political process.

Terrorism is not all the same. The terrorism of left-wing marginals, who draw attention to themselves by killing their fellow citizens, is far less dangerous than the terrorism of fanatics who, as they think, are fighting against attacks on their civilization.

A vicious circle is emerging, within which it is extremely difficult to develop a new strategy for combating international terrorism. On the one hand, terrorism that encroaches on the lives of peaceful citizens, regardless of the ideological background and motivation, must be punished mercilessly; the absence of punishment will provoke another, more terrible wave of terrorism. At the same time, it is obvious that if the fight against international terrorism is reduced to acts of “retribution,” the effect will be exactly the opposite, since the strategy and tactics of “retribution” come from our European logic, where the value of human life and the fear of death are the main deterrents. At the same time, Arab terrorists live in completely different categories and philosophical concepts. For them, death in the name of jihad is not only a feat, but also the happiness of finding God. The more often Western civilizations resort to acts of retribution, the more the “kamikaze civilization” will take root.

The tragedy in the USA has changed the world. It has put new questions on the agenda, the answers to which must be sought on a global scale. Here are just a few of them, which are also fully relevant for Russia.

First, a new look at the concept of national security is required, because in the United States the blow was dealt not to New York and Washington, but to the American state as a whole, calling into question the effectiveness of its functioning. Today, the military component of security without a set of other measures simply loses its meaning. America's vulnerability can become a lesson for some and an incentive for others. One thing is already clear — we will be to some extent doomed to live in conditions where terrorism is increasingly becoming an everyday reality. In addition, the world has begun to realize to a much greater extent that national borders are no longer any serious obstacle to actions directed against one state or group of states.

Secondly, in the context of technical progress, the stability and security of any state increasingly depends on the stability and security of others. The global nature of terrorism objectively leads to the need for a global response to this challenge. The terrorist attacks in Washington and New York also showed that events in the United States will in any case have a long-term impact on the global economic system, since any response by the United States could create new risks for the world economy.

Thirdly, a very significant psychological factor has come into play — the uncertainty of hundreds of millions of people in their own security has increased sharply, and this concerns primarily European countries, including Russia. Which will inevitably affect many processes — from politics and economics to culture. The prestige of America as a state — the leader of the Western world has been significantly undermined. New threats require a new psychology of behavior of both politicians and all citizens.

Fourthly, the problem of terrorism now increasingly requires openness in the presentation and analysis of many problems, including the Chechen one. No one will be able to fence themselves off with national boundaries any more, and therefore cooperation between special services should become one of the priorities in foreign policy activities.

Fifthly, and perhaps most importantly, the problem of terrorism is increasingly beginning to acquire a civilizational dimension. There is a real danger that the process of dividing into “good” and “bad” will now take root, and this will lead to a new round of confrontation between the West and the Islamic world — with all the ensuing consequences.

What is Russia's position in the «new crusade» proclaimed by the US administration? The way the US treats its closest ally in this struggle — Russia as a «banana republic» of the past — speaks volumes. During the Cold War, official Washington provoked terrorism and encourages it now, supporting Osama bin Laden's co-religionists and comrades in Kosovo and Macedonia. And bin Laden and the Taliban themselves were also a find of the CIA, which sought to defeat the USSR in Afghanistan. According to media reports, even after the terrorist attacks in the US, the West has not fundamentally changed its assessment of the terrorist expansion in the North Caucasus in Russia. Chechnya is a reason for round-the-clock condemnation of Russia, the Balkans are a pretext for warning it of possible punishment, the «double standard in politics and morality» for our own and others.”

Despite the ambiguity of the situation, Russia must take part in the emerging confrontation between the US and the Taliban, based on its geopolitical interests, concentrating its efforts on creating full-fledged anti-terrorist programs in the CIS, in Russia, and in the Caucasus.

The terrorist attacks in the US force us to take a fresh look at the situation in Central Asia. It is possible that in the near future this region will become a kind of testing ground for Islamic radicals who have declared war on Western civilization. It is possible that the Taliban, who have captured 90% of Afghanistan, will not stop there, but will want to “liberate” Central Asian Muslims. It is quite possible that the assassination attempt on Massoud and the explosions in the US are links in the same chain, and Islamic fundamentalists are simultaneously beginning a fight against the “infidels” in different parts of the world.

It is noteworthy that even in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, where the positions of Islamic fundamentalists are quite weak, leaflets praising the activities of terrorists appeared in a local university the very next day after the terrorist attacks in the USA. In short, the threat of destabilization of the situation in Central Asia is quite real.

There are facts of Taliban support of Chechen separatists. In February 2000, the Taliban movement declared jihad against Russia throughout the Muslim world, trying to force it to stop anti-terrorist operations in Chechnya. In May 2000, the assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Sergei Yastrzhemsky announced the conclusion of an agreement on providing financial and military assistance to Chechen terrorists, as well as on additional sending of fighters to Chechnya between representatives of Aslan Maskhadov, the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. According to media reports, over the past year and a half, bin Laden's organization has sent hundreds of Arabs and Afghans to the North Caucasus. The routes of transfer are very different. Firstly, through Turkey — under the guise of traders or businessmen, secondly, through Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, then to Georgia, Dagestan, and then to Chechnya. Another route has been identified: Afghanistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Russia. And finally, through the territory of the Taliban's main ally — Pakistan.

Meanwhile, secular regimes in Central Asia are not strong enough to effectively resist well-organized and well-financed Islamic radicals. For example, the combat capability of the Kyrgyz army leaves much to be desired. For example, the salary of a contract soldier who took part in combat operations with Islamic extremists is less than 30 US dollars.

Tashkent's position is not very strong either. Extreme poverty pushes part of the population into the ranks of fundamentalists. Among the potential allies of the mujahideen may be not only the unemployed and relatives of the repressed, but also members of mafia clans, to whom Islam Karimov has blocked access to enrichment.

Thus, located in close proximity to the center of Islamic fundamentalism, torn apart by economic problems and national contradictions, Central Asia is a very real target for the adherents of the new jihad.

To summarize, it should be noted that in the fight against a global problem, global measures must also be applied. Control over terrorism and international terrorism will be successful if all the main elements of human civilization — the individual, society, the state, the international community — join the fight against it.

THE ROLE OF IMPERIAL MENTALITY IN DETERMINING TERRORISM.

THE ROLE OF IMPERIAL MENTALITY IN DETERMINING TERRORISM.

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