Understand terror, then fight it smart

Last week, I attended the first ever Global Countering Violent Extremism Communication Expo in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The ‘who is who’ in the ‘global war on terror’ were present and eager to showcase their best practices and latest technologies to ‘win’ this war.

Now, not a single terrorist group has been defeated or annihilated since the September 11th attacks in the US. Instead, countless others—more lethal, brutal and dangerous have emerged. Technically speaking, it is impossible to win the ‘war on terror’. Why? There is no such ‘entity’ called terrorism. Terrorism is a tactic. It is a method used by armed groups—state or non-state actors, with a political agenda or a cause.