During and after the cold war, the international community recognized many transnational issues as central to global stability and security. This recognition, along with the widely held view that a multilateral approach was needed to address these issues effectively, led to the establishment of a number of organizations that provide a forum for advancing common goals on these matters and serve as centers of relevant professional expertise (for example, the IAEA and the OPCW). However, despite the global threat that terrorism continues to pose and the increase in counterterrorism activity worldwide, this issue remains one of the few global, let alone security, issues that does not have a dedicated international body.1 The need to fill this lacuna in the international system has become more apparent with the continuation of terrorist attacks around the globe; the proliferation of counterterrorism programs and initiatives at different levels and in different substantive areas since the events of September 11, 2001; and the UN’s uneven performance in this field. Since September 11, 2001, counterterrorism has become a growth industry, with more and more counterterrorism programs being initiated at different levels and in different substantive areas.

During this period, regional organizations such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the African Union (AU), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Organization for Security 41 and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) have adopted counterterrorism action plans and/or established dedicated counterterrorism units within their secretariats to work with their members in building capacity. Functional international bodies and organizations such as the FATF, the ICAO, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and the World Customs Organization (WCO), to name just a few, have also added a counterterrorism component to their work. Some have adopted counterterrorism-related best practices, codes, or standards and/or provided training and other forms of counterterrorism technical assistance. Although improved regional and functional responses should be applauded, most of the organizations are toiling on small pieces of territory or within a narrow field. This piecemeal approach has left swaths of territory (for example, the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and former Soviet states) and substantive functional areas (for example, terrorist safe haven, travel, and misuse of the Internet and other media) not covered by an effective multilateral body. It is in these areas where the terrorist threat may be greatest, with states often lacking the capacity—for example, appropriate legal and intelligence infrastructures and land, port, and airport security—to confront the threat posed by home-grown terrorist groups and/or recruited radical Islamists.

As within the UN, the plethora of counterterrorism programs outside it has led to overlapping mandates and lack of coordination and information sharing among the different organizations as well as gaps in regional and thematic coverage. This in turn has led to a growing need and calls for greater cooperation and coordination among the organizations to create more synergy and minimize duplication of effort. For more than four years, the CTC has sought to assume the global coordinating role among organizations involved in counterterrorism. Yet, apart from the convening of four international meetings that brought together representatives of more than sixty international, regional, and subregional organizations as well as encouraging increased counterterrorism efforts by all organizations, the CTC has not made a significant or enduring contribution in this area. For example, although each of the four international meetings concluded with the adoption of an ambitious declaration outlining the areas in which the CTC and other organizations would seek to enhance cooperation, most of the commitments remain unfulfilled. In addition, the CTC has not been able to develop close and responsive relationships with many of these organizations, which has led to difficulties in cooperating to bring technical assistance to states in need. The UN has been unable and is unlikely to be able to coordinate effectively the efforts of the relevant organizations. In the end, it may be that only a dedicated multilateral counterterrorism body—one unencumbered by the UN’s political and institutional limitations—will be capable of assuming this important role.

This is an excerpt from The Century Foundation publication, Allied against Terrorism by Alistair Millar and Eric Rosand. For ordering information click here.