Read the text below and answer the following questions

Reading

Watch the pronunciation of the following words

Pronunciation

Compare your answers with the rest of the group.

I. Work in groups and answer the following questions

Warm-up

Part 1. Terrorist organizations

ORGANIZED CRIME

TERRORISM AND TRANSNATIONAL

Unit II

Writing

IV. Think of the possible ways to prevent the growing threat of new types of terrorism.

Write an essay on the topic “The growing danger of new types of terrorism and measures to be taken to prevent the consequences of these types of terrorist acts”.

1. When is an organization designated as a terrorist one?

2. What is understood by Designated Terrorist Organizations?

3. What functions do these organizations perform?

4. What objectives do they pursue?

5. What are their sources of finance?

1. to leverage

2. to converge

3. a beneficiary

4. a perpetrator

5. a narcotics cartel

6. guerrilla

7. the status quo

8. lethality

9. robust

10. an insurgent

11. an amalgamation

12. Kidnapping

1. What are the four security issues?

2. What is meant by a global Hydra?

3. What is the difference between a terrorist group and an organized crime syndicate?

Since the end of the Cold War, the whole world security community has been concerned about four particular security issues – proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), terrorism, transnational organized crime, and international narcotics trafficking. The past decade has clearly seen profound geopolitical, economic, social, and technological changes. The concern is based on the possibility that, while the particular security issues have always been present, they have leveraged these global changes to support operations with sufficient technological and economic power, to pose a strategic threat to the interests of the whole world community. There is even speculation that these phenomena will converge organizationally into a global Hydra, operating as a virtual, political entity and challenging the countries at the strategic level.

There are significant differences between terrorist and other “common” criminal groups in objectives and methods. After all, terrorism is a political crime and differs from other crimes in that the beneficiary and the perpetrator are different people. In addition, terrorist groups organize quite differently – in operations and logistics – than organized crime syndicates.

Terrorist groups are currently interacting with transnational organized crime syndicates, especially narcotics cartels. Peruvian Shining Path and Colombian FARC guerrillas have provided mercenary security support for narcotics, production and trafficking lines in South America. These terrorist groups receive enormous amounts of money, more than in fund-raising operations, such as kidnapping and bank robbery, which are far riskier than supporting narcotics trafficking. Furthermore, this interaction offers smuggling routes long established and tested by crime syndicates for drug and arms running. Besides, this interaction provides terrorists with logistical infrastructure to move people, arms and material.

Logically, there might be a natural partnership between terrorist groups and transnational organized crime syndicates. Organized crime syndicates frequently have access to and influence with political leaders. This makes such syndicates beneficial to terrorist groups that would try to influence and intimidate, rather than to destroy, a government. In return, organized crime syndicates can launch terrorist campaigns for several purposes. Firstly, they aim to gain power in particular areas, which is easy due to their regional instability. Or, secondly, to further coerce a weak government.

Currently, however, the objectives and methods of terrorist groups are different from those of transnational organized crime syndicates. Terrorist groups generally seek an overthrow of the status quo. To achieve it they conduct spectacular operations that attract the attention of the world community. In comparison to it, transnational criminal organizations derive their power through a low profile. In addition to it, they work within the existing structure and seek not to attract the attention of “legitimate” powers. However, criminal syndicates do work for money, besides they could lend their logistical, communications and transportation infrastructures to support terrorist operations.

Therefore there exist two important implications for counter-terrorism strategy. Firstly, if terrorist groups interact with organized crime syndicates, they may evolve organizationally. Such an organizational evolution would require re-thinking infiltration and targeting strategies, because in this case terrorist organizations would resemble, for example, the narcotics cartels in South America.

Secondly, there is a tendency of increasing lethality of terrorist attacks. The logical end of this trend is terrorist use of WMD. If terrorist interaction with transnational crime syndicates is successful enough, the infrastructures of these interactions might be robust enough to provide terrorists with real opportunities for WMD proliferation. At that point counter-terrorism strategy would require re-thinking. The FBI and other law enforcement currently orient counter-terrorism strategy with a focus on the perpetrator or terrorist group. WMD terrorism (like all terrorism) is a concern not only of law enforcement, but also of the military and intelligence community. However, the military is concerned with capabilities, which might be a valid focus in the case of countering WMD terrorism. Unfortunately, there is no current national counter-terrorism strategy that recognizes terrorism as a diffuse, adaptable, networked phenomenon that requires a networked response.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-13