NCJ Number
219454
Date Published
March 2007
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper discusses the challenges and actions of the United Nations (U.N.) in forging international cooperation in the fight against international terrorism.
Abstract
The United Nations and its General Assembly have so far been unable to frame a commonly accepted definition of "terrorism." Neither has it been able to construct a global counterterrorism convention, which should include a definition of "terrorism" as a fundamental component. Although a significant number of U.N. member states argue that recourse to terrorism cannot be justified for any reason or under any circumstance, other member states maintain that under certain circumstances, such as a foreign occupation, the use of violence as a resistance strategy may be the only means of fighting oppression. This failure to reach agreement on the definition of "terrorism" and to compose a convention against terrorism, however, has not kept the United Nations from helping member states to fight terrorism. In practice, the U.N. General Assembly's decisions have addressed international terrorism by developing a normative framework that identifies terrorism as a problem common to all member states, and it has encouraged governmental action in developing more specific national and international instruments to address it. The solutions proposed by the General Assembly have been gradually strengthened to the point that they have become obligatory as the scope and deadliness of terrorism continue to grow. The package of counterterrorism measures the United Nations now imposes on its 191 member states constitutes a strong and reasonable strategy for national and international action to combat terrorism. This paper documents specific actions by U.N. bodies and committees, as well as resolutions, in the fight against global terrorism.