Unit 4: War On Terror

Question 1

Define: Weapons of Mass Destruction

Answer 1

Weapons which kill large numbers of people and cause massive damage to buildings and other structures.

Term WMD normally taken to cover nuclear weapons and chemical and biological weapons

Question 2

Define: Nuclear Proliferation

Answer 2

Spread/growth of nuclear weapons

Question 3

Define: Vertical Proliferation

Answer 3

States which already have nuclear weapons and are getting more

Question 4

Define: Horizontal Proliferation

Answer 4

Countries acquiring nuclear weapons

Question 5

Despite their role in the arms race, the superpowers were keen to prevent horizontal proliferation - why?

Answer 5

Takes away from the superpowers power

Question 6

What treaty was signed in 1968?

Answer 6

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Question 7

Why were not all countries prepared to sign the NPT?

Answer 7

France and Chine saw the NPT as an attempt to freeze the nuclear status quo in favour of the superpowers and refused to sign until 1991

Several states who wanted nuclear weapons refused to sign - Israel, Pakistan and India

Others did sign but kept their nuclear programmes secret, like Iraq

Question 8

Why do countries want nuclear weapons?

Answer 8

Prestige

Self-defence

Stability

Question 9

What was the main aim of the NPT:

Answer 9

Bargain between the nuclear and non-nuclear states

Pledged their cooperation in stemming the spread of nuclear terminology

Agreement that non-nuclear states would not try to acquire weapons

In return nuclear states would share peaceful nuclear technology

Question 10

How successful was the 1968 NPT?

Answer 10

NPT made it more difficult to acquire nuclear weapons and could be seen as a success in that the spread of nuclear weapons has been slower than was feared in the 1960s.

However, several states have still pursued nuclear weapons programmes and the NPT has failed to prevent this

Question 11

Reasons as to why the NPT (1968) was not successful:

Answer 11

Nuclear materials have become widely available as a result of the widespread use of nuclear reactors for civil purposes

Scientific expertise has spread

Export controls designed to prevent the transfer of technology for military purposes have been weak

Question 12

The ending of the Cold War greatly reduced the threat the world faced from the nuclear weapons, because:

Answer 12

Nuclear war between Russia and the West now seemed highly unlikely

START 1 treaty agreed that the end of the Cold War had slashed US/Russian stockpiles

Britain and France have also cut number of their warheads

Question 13

The ending of the Cold War greatly reduced the threat the world faced from the nuclear weapons, because:

Answer 13

Nuclear war between Russia and the West now seemed highly unlikely

START 1 treaty agreed that the end of the Cold War had slashed US/Russian stockpiles

Britain and France have also cut number of their warheads

Question 14

When was the extension of the NPT?

Answer 14

1995

Question 15

Why was their resistance to the NPT extension in 1995?

Answer 15

Nuclear Powers had not done enough to meet their promises to disarm in the original NPT (including Britain and France)

‘Threshold’ nuclear states wouldn’t join e.g. India, Pakistan and Israel

Question 16

What was the eventual agreement of the NPT extension 1995?

Answer 16

5 declared states promised to move towards disarmament and would agree a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996, which implied the goal of disarmament

In return, non-nuclear weapons countries would continue to renounce any nuclear ambitions

Question 17

Define: CTBT?

Answer 17

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996

Question 18

What was the CTBT 1996?

Answer 18

CTBT was signed in September 1996 by the 5 declared nuclear powers and about 60 other states - but only comes into effect when all 44 nations known to have some nuclear capability sign

Question 19

What were the subsequent developments following the CTBT?

Answer 19

Having refused to sign the CTBT in 1996, India and Pakistan badly undermined the cause of non-proliferation by carrying out nuclear tests and joining the ranks of declared nuclear powers in 1998

In 2003 N Korea left the NPT and carried out a test in 2006

5 original nuclear powers were not really intent on eliminating their nuclear weapons

Question 20

Why is there a strong case for arguing that it is still in the world’s interest for the treaties to succeed:

Answer 20

NPTs inspection regime is not perfect but makes it more difficult for non nuclear states to gain nuclear materials

CTBTs international monitoring system and on-site inspections would prevent or slow the development of complex weapons

Question 21

Define: Terrorism

Answer 21

Use or threat of action designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public, made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause

Question 22

Why has religion become an important factor in global politics?

Answer 22

Growth of Islamism and Jihadi terrorism in the Muslim world, partly as a response to the spread of Western influence

Western political, military and economic involvement in the Islamic world has been widespread and the influence of Western culture has spread as a result of globalisation, bringing with it ideas and practices unacceptable to conservative Muslims.

Many Muslims have reacted by turning to Islamist movements which seek to restore traditional Islamic values and bring about states based on Islam.

Religion adds to the difficulty of settling the Israel-Palestinian conflict or the tensions between India and Pakistan

Most extreme manifestation has been the growth of support among a minority of Islamists for the jihadi ideology associated with Bin Laden and al Qaeda, which aims to strike at the US and the West, topple pro-western regimes across the Muslim world and establish an Islamic Caliphate

Jihadis have made skilful use of the global communications media to spread their message and this has helped to radicalise some young Muslims in the West, resulting in attacks like the 7/7 bombings

ISIS has taken up the Al Qaeda’s place as the primary militant Islamist group

For some, the growth of radical Islam seems to confirm Samuel Huntingdon’s thesis of a ‘Clash of Civilisations’

Question 23

Why has it been argued that we are in a new era of warfare?

Answer 23

Some relate to the nature of the wars being fought - for instance the distinction has been drawn between ‘new’ and ‘old’ wars - Mary Kaldor and others

Other theories relate to the implications of technology on warfare. The ‘Revolution in Military Affairs’ suggest that information technology and advanced weaponry have altered the nature of warfare for the advanced military powers

New forms of warfare are also evolving - with nations and armed forces so dependent on satellites and computing systems, war could be extended into space in order to disable satellites and cyber-warfare is becoming a military priority.

Question 24

Why has nuclear arms control been so difficult to bring about?

Answer 24

Main multilateral arms control initiative has been the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which seeks to secure total nuclear disarmament by existing nuclear powers and prevent the spread of weapons to new states. Limited effectiveness - none of the original nuclear powers has disarmed and there has been further proliferation of nuclear weapons since 1968

Original nuclear weapon countries are all powerful states and 3 of them are the former, actual or aspiring superpowers. There is no question of the international community being able to pressure them into disarmament

The powers that weren’t the original nuclear weapons states but which have subsequently had programmes or gained weapons, have done so for reasons seem fully legitimate to them and which provide strong incentives to evade controls

The widespread dissemination of scientific knowledge and of the infrastructure needed to produce WMD has made it harder to prevent proliferation than in the past

Proliferation is hard to prevent because the international controls are relatively weak and evaded with ease by signatories of the various treaties

Question 25

When was the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?

Answer 25

1968

Question 26

What was the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?

Answer 26

1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which seeks to secure total nuclear disarmament by existing nuclear powers and prevent the spread of weapons to new states.

Question 27

What threats are posed by nuclear proliferation?

Answer 27

Liberals would argue that the risks are high and must be reduced by the intensification of international non-proliferation efforts

Most serious danger is the increased risk of war

Another threat is Nuclear Terrorism

Some risks exaggerated and realists see potential benefits in wider proliferation

Question 28

Reasons why realists see potential benefits in wider proliferation:

Answer 28

It may still be possible to prevent proliferation through controls under the NPT and CTBT or other measures ranging from diplomacy and trade inducements

If further proliferation occurs Southern countries will learn to live with the bomb

Arguably these countries only want weapons for defensive purposes and have a point in refusing to accept the hypocritical division of the world into nuclear ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ that existing nuclear powers wish to perpetuate via the NPT

Maybe regimes like Iran would even become more cautious and responsible were they to have a weapon and feel more secure.

Question 29

What are the characteristics of contemporary international terrorism?

Answer 29

The jihadis aims are influenced by an extreme form of Islamism and they see themselves as fighting against the influence of the West within the Muslim world.

The jihadis nowadays are a loose network of local groups who claim some form of affiliation with al Qaeda, like Bokko Haraam in Nigeria

The jihadis are able to take advantage of globalisation to organise their attacks and spread their propaganda

Terrorist attacks involves forms of asymmetric warfare. Unlike many national terrorist groups they seek to inflict mass casualties

Due to improvements in security and US attacks on al Qaeda, jihadi attacks within the West itself have become rare since the mid 2000s and most are now on Western targets in the Muslim world

Question 30

Arguments there is a serious threat posed by global terrorism:

Answer 30

Poses a serious threat particularly to powerful states like the US that aren’t at risk of conventional attack

Terrorists tactics are potentially devastating - they seek mass casualties and it is hard to avoid suicide bombers

Terror attacks have also evolved - terrorists have proven able to adapt to the tactics being used by security services as needed

It has been facilitated by globalisation - this makes it easier for terrorists to communicate, radicalise new recruits and travel

Though Al Qaeda has been partly dismantled by western attacks, jihadi terrorism has become established in a range of weakly governed states

Greatest threat of all is that terrorists will get hold of WMD - currently a major concern in the Syrian conflict

The terrorist groups have provoked the US into responses - from Bush’s ‘War on Terror’ to Obama’s increased drone attacks - that have arguably made the problem even more serious

ISIS has become a considerable power in the Middle East and had a significant impact on the regions stability

Question 31

Arguments the threat posed by global terrorism is exaggerated:

Answer 31

Terrorism is a psychological rather than a military strategy, the weapon of the weak.

The casualties, though appalling, aren’t remotely comparable to those a state can inflict

It rarely succeeds in gaining its full objectives: there is little prospect of terrorism alone overthrowing a state

It is hard to defeat terrorists militarily but their violence can be contained, Al Qaeda has been weakened and it is much harder for attacks to be staged in the West due to the improved security

Some critics of the ‘War on Terror’ argue politicians are using the ‘politics of fear’ - deliberately exaggerating the threat to justify restricting personal freedoms and raising military budgets

Ultimately ISIS has yet to stand its toughest threat - establishing itself over a continued period of time

Question 32

Arguments the US-led ‘war on terror’ since 2001 has been a success:

Answer 32

Key members of the 9/11 plot have been killed or captured, including Bin Laden. The Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan have been destroyed

Though jihadi groups loosely linked to al-Qaeda now operate in many parts of the Islamic world, they are very fragmented and mostly control sparsely populated areas

New forms of counter-terrorist cooperation have been established at governmental level and among allies, e.g. NATO and the EU.

Increased counter-terrorist measures have limited the number of further atrocities and made the movement of arms harder.

Now much more difficult for militants to mount large scale operations in the West itself

Bin Laden failed in his main aim - to rouse the Islamic masses in countries like Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to rebel against their governments and establish an Islamic Caliphate.

Question 33

Arguments the US led ‘war on terror’ since 2001 has not been a successful:

Answer 33

Success has been limited - US was unable to stop Al Qaeda regrouping in Pakistan and continuing to direct plots

Al Qaeda has become a global ‘franchise’ and its ideology has radicalised Muslims in many parts of the World e.g. 7/7 attacks

Some aspects of the ‘War against Terror’ played into Bin Laden’s hands and reinforced his message that Muslims are under attack and have a duty to unite and fight a holy war against the West. e.g. Iraq war

Bush’s decision to divert the ‘War on Terror’ into an attack on Iraq has also been counterproductive for the US and its allies

Afghanistan was neglected after 2001, without enough Western troops or aid - the Taliban has been able to stage a comeback

Long term result of the Iraq War will be to weaken Iraq, and to enormously strengthen the regional influence of Iran, a foe of the US ever since the 1979 Islamic revolution

ISIS has developed as a major power in the Middle East, taking advantage of the chaos that the ‘War on Terror’ partially created

The sour aftermath of the ‘Arab Spring’ threatens to undermines the struggle against terrorism

Al Qaeda’s influence over a loose framework of jihadi groups and as an ideology continues and some of the West’s actions in the ‘War’ have reinforced the appeal of its message to angry young Muslims, above all the Iraq war.

Question 34

The Cold War and ideological conflict:

Answer 34

Political ideology - Cold War, a capitalist, free market economic system and democracy and the USSR, China and their aisles with communist political and economic systems

In reality many of the regimes the US backed in the ‘Third World’ were dictatorships torn by class conflict e.g. Vietnam

During this period other causes of conflict didn’t vanish, but struggles rooted in other issues, e.g. Ethnic conflicts were frequently presented in ideological terms

End of the Cold War brought an end to this phase of ideological conflict - Soviet communism was discredited by the collapse of the USSR

Question 35

Does ideological conflict still exist?

Answer 35

Russia under Putin has developed an authoritarian political system based on nationalism and state power

Shift in global power to China. China’s model of modern but authoritarian political leadership and state guided capitalism is more attractive in some parts of the world than Western democracy

Question 36

‘Identity politics’:

Answer 36

One of the most widespread forms of conflict in the post Cold War world has been ethnic - many of the Civil Wars have been broken out since 1991 have been the result of the attempts by ethnic minorities to break away to form their own states or join others

Many of these conflicts broke out in the aftermath of the collapse of the USSR and Yugoslavia, when longstanding ethnic tensions suppressed by communism flared up again - for instance the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s

Many of the civil wars in Africa are ethnic conflicts, such as The Rwandan genocide

Question 37

Religion has emerged as a powerful motivation for conflict:

Answer 37

The competing claims of religions have undoubtedly caused conflict in the past and continue to do so today

In recent times, the most obvious development has been the rise of violent forms of Islamism as a type of identity politics

Question 38

‘War on Terror’ since 2001 has been success:

Answer 38

No 9/11 scale attacks since - States>NSAs

Implemented democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq - Democratic Peace Theory, no wars between democracies

Decapitated leadership - Realist argument that military force + hard power necessary

Question 39

‘War on Terror’ since 2001 has not been a success:

Answer 39

Al Qaeda and ISIS risen - strong brand, e.g. Present in Yemen + Nigeria - helped by globalisation as brand has greater power as can be accessed around the world

Many small attacks since e.g. Paris + London - Globalisation has increased the spread of radical ideologies

Afghanistan government = failing + Iraq = lost democracy due to ISIS

Question 40

Rise of Identity Politics:

Answer 40

Conflicts broke out in the aftermath of the collapse of the USSR + Yugoslavia when longstanding ethnic tensions suppressed by communism flared up again, for instance wars in Croatia, Bosnia + Kosovo in the 1990s

Question 41

Religion as a global issue:

Answer 41

Growth of Islamism and Jihadi terrorism in the Muslim world, partly as a response to the spread of Western influence

For some growth of radical seems to confirm Samuel Huntington’s thesis of a ‘Clash of Civilisations’ theory

Question 42

Clash of Civilisations thesis:

Answer 42

Tensions arise due to cultural conflicts

The ‘War on Terrorism’ and Arab Spring can be seen as evidence either side of the argument of the ‘Clash of Civilisations’ theory

Question 43

Islam v West:

Answer 43

‘War on Terror’ - coined term by Bush

Question 44

‘New Wars’ ideas:

Answer 44

Kaldor Theory - New Wars take place in the context of the collapse of states by loose groupings of states and non-state actors, often militia groups without uniforms. Formal battles are rare and much of the violence is directed against civilians

Question 45

Guerrilla Warfare:

Answer 45

The use of hit and run tactics by small, mobile groups of irregular forces operating in territory controlled by a hostile, regular force

Question 46

Asymmetrical Warfare:

Answer 46

War fought between opponents with clearly unequal levels of military, economic + technological power, in which warfare strategies tend to be adapted to the needs of the West

Question 47

Blurring of Civilian/military divide in war:

Answer 47

Civilian populations have increasing been the target of military action (through the use of land mines, suicide bombs, vehicle bombs and terrorism generally)

Changing native of armies + security forces

Question 48

Nature of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs):

Answer 48

Weapons which kill large numbers of people + cause massive damage to buildings + other structures

Usually refers to nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons

Question 49

Horizontal Proliferation:

Answer 49

Countries acquiring weapons

Question 50

Vertical Proliferation:

Answer 50

States which already have nuclear weapons + are getting more

Question 51

Proliferation:

Answer 51

Spread/growth of Nuclear Weapons

Question 52

Spread of nuclear proliferation:

Answer 52

9 countries today have nuclear weapons: US, Russia, UK, France, China, North Korea, India, Pakistan + Israel

Only five of the countries with nuclear weapons are legal - China, France, Russia, UK, USA

Question 53

Reasons for nuclear proliferation:

Answer 53

Prestige - India

Self-defence/Security - Pakistan + Israel = Security Dilemma

Stability - USSR/France

Question 54

Pros of nuclear proliferation:

Answer 54

Creates stability - MAD

Countries only want nuclear weapons for defensive purposes and have a point that would create greater security

Maybe regimes like Iran would even become more cautious if have a weapon

Question 55

Cons of nuclear proliferation:

Answer 55

Liberals would argue that the risks are high + must be reduced by the use of international non-proliferation

Increased risk of war

Nuclear terrorism

Question 56

Attempts at non-proliferation:

Answer 56

1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Extension of the NPT, 1995

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, 1996

Question 57

Different types of terrorism:

Answer 57

Left Wing Revolutionary Groups ‘

National Liberation Groups - IRA

Groups seeking religious/ political aims

Single issue terrorism/loner terrorism

Question 58

Nature of Islamist terrorism:

Answer 58

Global nature of this form of terrorism

Aims to inflict attacks on West, rousing the masses across the Islamic world for Islam against the West + their own rulers + creation of an Islamic caliphate purged of corrupt influences

Question 59

Significance of terrorism - it is a threat:

Answer 59

Terrorists tactics are potential devastating - seek mass casualties

Been facilitated by globalisation - easy for terrorists to communicate + radicalise

Terrorists could get hold of WMD

Question 60

Significance of terrorism - it isn’t a threat:

Answer 60

Rarely succeeds in gaining its full objectives

Violence can be contained - much harder for attacks to be staged in West due to improved security

Politicians using ‘Politics of Fear’

Question 61

Methods used to counter terrorism:

Answer 61

Drones - Jihadi John killed in drone strike in Syria

Targeted Killing - Bin Laden

Intelligence Services

Bombings

Military Action

Diplomatic co-operation

Question 62

Ways in which ‘War on Terror’ has been successful:

Answer 62

Killed leader of Al-Qaeda - Bin Laden 2011

Many attacks have been prevented

ISIS being pushed back - regaining Mosul

Question 63

Ways in which ‘War on Terror’ hasn’t been successful:

Answer 63

Since Western powers left Afghanistan, been a resurgence in Taliban

Failed to tactically defeat ideological aspects of terrorism

Antagonised Islamic world encouraging terrorism - Iraq War