Fighting Terrorism: A Multilateral Approach
by Anya Ardayeva

If there is—as President Bush maintains—a global war on terror, then it's fair to ask: What role is the United Nations playing in the battle?

The UN argues that it's in the vanguard of the international response to terrorism and was trying to get the world to take terrorism more seriously long before September 11 became a date that none of us will ever forget.

'The World Is Somewhat Safer'
Headquartered at the Vienna International Center in Austria, the UN's Terrorism Prevention Branch appears much like any other office block in a major European city.

Every visitor must register with reception and then pass through a metal detector, where every bag and coat is x-rayed and checked for suspicious objects. These security measures weren't familiar to many people around the world before the 9/11 attacks, but today they are measures we can all expect to live with for a long time to come.

But does the increased security—even at the building that houses the UN's Terrorism Prevention Branch—indicate that terrorism is in fact not being prevented?

Not according to the men and women who work there.

"With the important measures the office is carrying out, the planet is somewhat safer than it would be otherwise," said Antonio Maria Costa, who heads the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime, which oversees the Terrorism Prevention Branch.

Examining the Links
Costa maintains that there are clear links between drug trafficking, organized crime, and global terror.

"There is a very strong connection between criminal activity and terrorism," he said. "For example, the income which is generated by the cultivation of opium and the trafficking of opium in Afghanistan and out of Afghanistan is indeed the source of very major revenue, part of which is shared by terrorists. The same things happen in some other countries, in particular Columbia."

And so, since it was established in 1999, the Terrorism Prevention Branch has assisted the UN's member states in drawing up laws to fight against drug trafficking and organized crime. In that way, says Costa, the United Nations is fighting the war on terror.

"I believe that in so many countries, where there were no instruments—legislative or administrative or other source—I believe that terrorists would have found hideouts and would have found a place to start their operations. So the idea is to deny terrorists the ability to hide, the ability to establish logistical situations, to do fundraising, or even to recover after an attack."

A Quiet Commitment
In the sleek modern office complex there's no great sense of drama or panic in the air. Instead, there appears to be a quiet commitment to the rule of global law.

In his office, Jean Paul Laborde, who heads the Terrorism Prevention Branch, said he's driven by a certainty that ultimately the terrorists cannot win. He is heartened by the knowledge that the United Nations is already taking strides in the implementation of global justice.

"Who could have said four years ago that the people who were at the head of the former Yugoslavia could have been trialed today? You would have laughed in my face if I had said that. Nevertheless, now it's the case," Laborde said.

"Who could have said that an international criminal court could have been established? Who could have said that the convention against corruption could have been finalized in two years? Who could have said that we will have this convention against organized crime in two years, plus three protocols against trafficking of human beings? So there's an increase in the rule of law."

'It Needs More Allies'
But on the tranquil streets of Vienna, people of differing political views don't express much confidence in the UN's current abilities to protect the world.

"No, no, not at all," says a man named Michael. "This organization is just a few of these criminals together. It's criminal."

Adds a woman named Suzanne: "What I saw from the United Nations in the last ten years or so, I don't think it's strong enough, you know. It needs more allies; put more forces together, more power. Because the United Nations, I think, they lost their image to protect, like Bosnia, or what they did in Rwanda."

A Longtime Battle
Staff at the Terrorism Prevention bureau keep in touch with developments at UN headquarters in New York by listening to daily Internet transmissions of UN Radio.

On one recent day, the broadcast updates often focused on work relating to the war on terror—a battle the UN has a long history of waging.

Nearly every session of the UN General Assembly for the past decade has approved a resolution calling for the elimination of international terrorism. In 1999 the Security Council passed Resolution 1267, which called for the Taliban rulers in Afghanistan to stop harboring terrorists including Osama bin Laden.

But none of that prevented 9/11.

While Antonio Maria Costa of the office on Drugs and Crime won't criticize the United States directly, he insists that a multilateral approach to the war on terror will prove the most effective.

"It is very difficult to believe that if one single institution or one single country takes over the overall responsibility of fighting terrorism and the other social behaviors on its own, it's not right, because obviously this would be tinted with the colors of the individual country and the foreign policy dimension of that country, and it will also not succeed," Costa said.

"We believe that there is no better alternative than to use a multilateral forum of the United Nations."

'Weakness Is Our Force'
And some of those staff grabbing lunch at the UN's cafeteria in Vienna insist that only the rule of law can triumph—and that only the UN can oversee its implementation.

Laborde argues that even if the United Nations appears occasionally ineffectual, over time its usefulness will come to be recognized.

"The UN is always promoting the rule of law. So at a certain point, yes, we are weak, that's fine. You know, but this weakness at the end is our force, because at the end of the day everybody should recognize, that you need this kind of legal framework at a worldwide level and nobody can escape that," he said.

In the meantime, security will remain tight at the United Nations office in Vienna as the quiet work upstairs continues.

'Terrorism Affects Everybody'
"There are many communities, many countries, that tend to believe that this question doesn't really affect them and this is a terrible, awful, counterproductive, and stupid mistake," said Inocencio Arias, the ambassador of Spain to the United Nations, and he is chairman of the UN Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee. "Terrorism affects everybody."

Arias said the mission of the Counterterrorism Committee is to push the governments of the United Nations to pass legislation needed to fight terrorism.

"If they don't implement the legislation once they have passed the legislation, the Counter-Terrorism Committee will have to name names," he said. "They will have to name and shame."

United Nations' efforts to play a significant role in the war on terror are welcome by the Bush administration.

Dr. Kim Holmes, US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, oversees America's role in a number of big international organizations, including the United Nations.

"After 9/11, the United Nations really stepped up to the challenge, I believe," Holmes said.

But what about the challenge of getting countries to really come together in the fight against terror, where there is still not unanimity?

"Well, the United Nations is an organization with universal membership. That means that some of the very countries that are part of the problem are members. And some of the countries that we believe support or harbor terrorists are, in fact, members," Holmes said.

That reality is not lost on conservative critics of the United Nations.

Dr. Gardiner of the Heritage Foundation is only willing to follow the UN so far in the war on terror.

"I think the UN has an important role to play there—particularly in terms of enforcing, for example, international sanctions regimes against countries such as North Korea and in helping to develop civil society on the ground in countries that are faced with a major terrorist threat," he said. "However, having said that, I believe that the UN's role is secondary to that of the United States and broader coalition."

Related Web Links
United Nations Action Against Terrorism site
http://www.un.org/terrorism/

The United Nations Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee
http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/committees/1373/

Kim R. Holmes, US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, remarks on "Threats and Opportunities in the World"
http://www.state.gov/p/io/rls/rm/2004/31934.htm

© 2004 by The Stanley Foundation
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