Responding to terror: Gerald McGhie reflects on the impact of the 11 September attacks on international relations.

• Author: McGhie, Gerald

Six months after the terrorist attacks of 11 September the ruling Taliban has been ousted from Afghanistan and there has been extensive international support for the United States' anti-terrorism campaign. In spite of the positive signs it is still too soon to say whether permanent changes have occurred in the international agenda. Perhaps in the current fluid situation the one certainty we can point to is that the complacency that marked the late twentieth century has been replaced -- at least in the West -- by a sense of vulnerability about the future.

Armed retaliation is clearly a necessary part of the fight against terrorist strongholds, but if permanent solutions are wanted firepower can be seen as only one aspect of the battle. The real struggle will be -- as we learned in a recent war in South-east Asia -- for the hearts and minds of those who consider terrorism as central to their cause. Osama bin Laden may have been removed from Afghanistan, but the complexity and dedication of his networks will ensure that the fight against terrorism will be difficult and wide ranging and that it has only just begun.

But the question exercising analysts and policy-makers must focus on the central issue of terrorism itself and why such groups as al-Qaeda have emerged. What do the suicide attacks with their accompanying media coverage and iconic images mean? Can the West come to terms with the feeling of dispossession and loss that characterises a wide range of groups in the Middle East? Do these terrorists reflect societies with different `world views' or conceptual outlooks? That is, states whose cultures are founded on religious or revealed truth as distinct from those emphasising secular and humanist values. Do these values coalesce around a pre-modern/agricultural outlook as distinct from those more characteristic of the modern industrial complex? Will the distinction or division that most affects international relations develop between `fundamentalism' and `cosmopolitanism' (or modernism) -- or more simply between a complex paradigm of have and have nots?

Daunting mix

If the roots of terrorism are to be dealt with, careful attention will need to be given to why it achieves such a hold on the minds of an effective and tightly controlled group such as al-Qaeda -- and particularly of the young. Their motivation (hatred) contains a daunting mix:

* Westerners, particularly the Americans, are seen as the destroyers of the fundamental values of Islam and supporters of Israel. They are also seen as supporting what Islamists perceive to be non-representative leaderships in Middle East countries. The United States is referred to as the `Great Satan'.

* There is resentment at what is perceived to be American economic dominance. The Arab media tends to link this dominance to `Globalisation' and uses it as a catch-all to blame for low economic performance and what is seen as a proliferation of Western goods on...