Terrorism impact analysed
The second edition of the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) was released at the end of last year, showing that between 2012 and 2013, global deaths from terrorism rose by 61 per cent
The GTI is produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), and is based on figures collected from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD); it seeks to accurately and systematically rank the countries of the world based on their levels of terrorism activity. According to the latest GTI, 2013 saw almost 10,000 recorded terrorist attacks, a 44-per-cent increase from 2012, resulting in 17,958 deaths. Of the countries ranked, 24 experienced more than 50 terrorism-related deaths in 2013, a 60-per-cent increase from the 15 such countries in 2012. Over 80 per cent of recorded terrorism-related deaths were in Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria, with Iraq remaining the country hit hardest by terrorism – terrorism-related fatalities there rose by 164 per cent in 2013, to 6,362, the largest recorded increase in the GTI. Of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, eight recorded terrorism-related deaths in 2013 – these were Chile, the Czech Republic, Greece, Israel, Mexico, Turkey, the UK and the US.
“Since we first launched the GTI in 2012, we’ve seen a significant and worrying increase in worldwide incidences of terrorism,” commented Steve Killelea, executive chairman of the IEP. “Over the last decade, the increase in terrorism has been linked to radical Islamic groups whose violent theologies have been broadly taught. To counteract these influences, moderate forms of Sunnis theologies need to be championed by Sunni Muslim nations. Given the theological nature of the problem it is difficult for outside actors to be influential.” He went on to say that ‘terrorism doesn’t arise on its own; by identifying the factors associated with it, policies can be implemented to improve the underlying environment that nurtures terrorism’.
According to the organisation’s research, rates of poverty, levels of school attendance and economic factors have little or no association with terrorism; the three contributing factors with the most statistical significance are state-sponsored violence, high levels of criminality (although one could argue that these are often a direct result of poverty and other economic factors) and group grievances. Steve Killelea added: “The most significant actions that can be taken are to reduce state-sponsored violence such as extra-judicial killings, reduce group grievances and hostilities, and improve effective and community-supported policing.” The IEP also states that since the late 1960s, the strategies that have proven the most effective in bringing an end to terrorist actions have been either policing or the efficient initiation of political processes. Ten per cent of terrorist organisations since then have come to a natural end by virtue of achieving their goals, while only seven per cent have been eliminated by full military engagement, a figure that could give proponents of the War on Terror cause for pause.