Standing in front of more than 200,000 people in Berlin last week, Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic candidate for president, said, "Now is the time to join together, through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice and a global commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the 21st century." The challenge of addressing global terrorism was at the top of his list.
How will that challenge be met? Is there a plan?
When it comes to building and sustaining a global commitment to combating terrorism, the prescription must include filling a gaping hole by establishing an international anti-terrorism body that would provide a forum for the U.S. to engage, in a sustained manner, with its traditional and nontraditional allies on a wide range of issues related to tackling terrorism worldwide.
During and after the Cold War, the international community recognized that a cooperative approach was needed to address urgent global security problems more effectively. This led to the establishment of a number of organizations that advance shared goals and serve as centers of technical expertise, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency. As the world approaches the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, transnational terrorist networks and homegrown terrorists continue to pose serious challenges to international peace and security.
While several piecemeal efforts have been made, a serious, coordinated global response to deal with the threat of terrorism still has not materialized. Coordination, cooperation and information-sharing among countries and the approximately 70 international, regional and subregional bodies involved in counterterrorism are not as effective as they need to be in a climate where terrorist attacks continue to victimize innocent people and disrupt economies. A global anti-terrorism body is thus needed to fill the massive gap in capabilities and limited cooperation at the international level.
There is no forum where counterterrorism experts from capitals in Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe and North America can gather to share experiences and nonclassified information and expertise, and to build the trust that is so lacking. There is no forum where a dialogue on a wide range of counterterrorism issues beyond the narrow security and law enforcement arena can take place with countries from different regions. Devising effective strategies to counter the growing radicalization and extremism that are turning young people into terrorists requires a cross-regional dialogue that is utterly lacking.
