Normative Transformation and the War on Terrorism

Pratt investigates the potential erosion of prohibiting assassination, torture, and mercenarism during the US's War on Terrorism. In examining the emergence and history of the US's targeted killing programme, detention and interrogation programme, and employment of armed contractors in warzones, he proposes that a 'normative transformation' has occurred, which has changed the meaning and content of these prohibitions, even though they still exist. Drawing on pragmatist philosophy, practice theory, and relational sociology, this book develops a new theory of normativity and institutional change, and offers new data about the decisions and activities of security practitioners. It is both a critical and constructive addition to the current literature on norm change, and addresses enduring debates about the role of culture and ethical judgement in the use of force. It will appeal to students and scholars of foreign and defence policy, international relations theory, international security, social theory, and American politics.

UNITED STATES AND WAR ON TERROR: COSTS OF THE PYRRHIC VICTORY

The withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan during August 2021 puts an end to the longest war that America has ever fought and the first phase of the Global War on Terrorism. In this regard, two important questions arise, which we will try to answer in this paper. First, what are the main external and internal consequences that the United States has faced due to engaging in the “War on Terror”? Second, did the U.S. achieve its goals in that war? The external effects we have identified are the crisis of global leadership, the weakening of relations with the allies, the growth of China in the lee, and the rise of populism. Among the internal ones, we included the strengthening of the presidential function, the increase of state power, more profound social polarization, an increase in budget expenditures, and a growing deficit, as well as human casualties. In the end, we contributed to the debate on the nature of the U.S. “victory”. We are providing the argumentation in the direction that the final output of War on Terror should be named Pyrrhic victory.

Human Rights, Islamophobia, and the War on Terrorism

Declaration of Human Rights is one of the universal law products, which has become an agreement for the civilization of nations. Hence, everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law. One of the substances of Human Rights principles is not to allow the growth of repressive attitudes from all elements in society. Including the attitude and role of the media as the guardian of human rights. This study analyzes the role of media in the production process of anti-Muslim frames, contributing to the growth of islamophobia, thereby supporting the government's repressive efforts and ignoring human rights principles. This study is a qualitative study related to the trends and challenges of islamophobia and the war on terrorism from a global perspective. The results show that islamophobia has led to the Muslim community's discrimination, exclusion, and acceptance of prejudice. This activity creates a scourge for decision-makers in many countries with numerous attributes associated with its growth. The originality of this paper exhibits a comprehensive investigation of islamophobia, international law, and terrorism. The result also showed that the media tend to discriminate due to fanaticism, violence, and terror in many extreme religious groups, thereby encouraging the spread of islamophobia.

Pemaknaan Islam Moderat Sebagai Sebuah Terminologi

This article aims to find out the meaning of the term moderate Islam as a terminology. The problem is focused on reviewing the language and its history, as well as from the context of the political interests that lie behind it. In order to approach the problem, this article uses a reference to the theory of terminology. The data were collected through a literature review of various similar studies that have been conducted. Furthermore, the data obtained were analyzed qualitatively. This study concludes that there is a bias in understanding the terminology of moderate Islam which lies in equating the word "Islam" with the word "ummah", so that the term "ummatan wasatan" is then equated with "moderate Islam". This interpretation bias is strongly influenced by the global political context related to the emergence of the term terrorism and the concept of the global war on terrorism (GWOT) which was coined by the United States during the George W. Bush Junior administration.

Decapitation strategies and the significance of Abubakar Shekau's death in Nigeria's Boko Haram crisis

Decapitation strategies have often been linked to counterterrorism. The existing literature suggests the results of these strategies are mixed. Previous studies suggest that the death of a prominent leader may not necessarily end the crisis; it all depends on the group's infrastructure, ideology, leadership traditions, and extent of its penetration in society. This article takes a critical look at the impact of a recent leadership decapitation in Nigeria. Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Boko Haram movement in the Lake Chad Basin countries, was killed on 19 May 2021 by a faction of the movement known as the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP). This article argues that Shekau's case has paradoxically helped to strengthen ISWAP's position, giving it new recruits and other resources and perhaps most importantly reinforced its position with local communities. This has implications for the Nigerian state, its neighbours and, because of Boko Haram's links to ISIS, the wider war on terrorism.

Introduction

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in a decade of conflict in Syria. The devastation caused by the unrelenting war makes this crisis one of the most serious humanitarian disasters in recent history. The widely reported and available numbers—more than six million internally displaced and five million refugees, roughly half the population of the entire country—reflects only a fraction of the conflict’s toll (OCHA 2019). Hundreds of thousands of people have been besieged, hospitals have been destroyed, and humanitarian access has been restricted. This has led to countless denunciations from international organizations, states, and civil society movements calling for the laws of war to be respected, sieges lifted, and humanitarian access facilitated. But beneath each of these humanitarian appeals lies a complex reality extending beyond the binary narratives that have come to define the Syria war: of an “evil regime” willing to demolish neutral hospitals in its quest to defeat a popular uprising, or of “terrorists” using hospitals to launch attacks against a legitimate government. Indeed, each reasonable demand for a more humane conduct of warfare interacts with the complexity of Syria’s history and the role of social services in the postcolonial period, the evolution of the application of the law of war in the context of a war on terrorism, the lived experiences of the tactic of siege that follows Syrians across borders, the use and manipulation of humanitarian narratives to fuel complex ...

Comparative analysis of editorial pages of Dawn and Jang to investigate the framing of US-Pakistan relations: Ten years before and after 9/11

This study is based on the comparative analysis of the editorial pages of Dawn and Jang to explore the framing of US-Pakistan relations ten years before and after 9/11. The time period selected for this study is presented in phases: Phase A from 1990 to 2000) and Phase B (from 2001-2011). The relation between Pakistan and the US during the above-mentioned phases can be categorized into periods of engagements (where Pakistan enjoyed the status of the most trusted ally without compromising its regional interest) and periods of disengagements (where Pakistan faced US sanctions and was left alone to deal with the aftermath of the Afghan war and the war on terrorism). Hence, the understudied period provides an interesting insight into how Dawn and Jang framed the issue of US-Pakistan relations on their editorial pages.

Role of Religious Leaders in Mobilizing Communities to Counter Violent Extremism

Swat and Dir valleys in Pakistan have seen the brunt of post 9/11 violent extremism in the recent past. Because this extremism was generated and exploited by a few religiously motivated violent organizations, a popular perception emerged that all religious leaders of the society were involved in terrorism. Therefore, this research focuses on the role played by those religious leaders who involved themselves in mobilizing local communities against violent extremism. Employing a mixed-method research approach and sequential analysis strategy our data shows that most of the common local religious leaders played positive role in building community resilience to countering violent extremism during the early phase of the War on Terrorism in these two valleys.