The conflict in
\nSyria has resulted in a massive refugee crisis, a high death toll and the
\nworrying rise of the Islamic State, which has become a threat to the entire
\nworld. Faced with terrorist attacks at its very heart, the European Union has
\nhad to come up with new rules. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The problems on
\nEurope’s borders are to a large extent the consequence of the dramatic
\nsituation in Syria, which has been torn by civil war for more than four years
\nand where the Islamic State has consolidated its positions. The jihadists hide
\nbehind defenceless men, women and children as human shields, said US president
\nBarack Obama recently, adding that while ISIS targets are hit harder than ever
\nin Syria and Iraq, progress needs to keep coming faster. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
According to the
\nUS Department of the Treasury, ISIS has become the best-financed terrorist
\ngroup in history in a matter of years, smuggling antiques, doing human
\ntrafficking and demanding ransoms of hundreds of thousands and even millions of
\ndollars to release hostages. The group is also financed by donations made by
\ninfluential people from the Arab world. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Most of the
\nmoney, however, comes from the black market of oil products, which is believed
\nto bring in around 40 million dollars a month to ISIS or Daesh, the Arabic
\nacronym by which the group is also known. The term is, however, banned in the
\nterritories controlled by the terrorists but used more and more frequently in
\nthe West. It is no accident that soon after November’s terrorist attacks in
\nParis, the French president Francois Hollande used this very term to condemn
\nthe attacks. In Arabic, the word for state, dawla, means both state in the
\nmodern sense of the word, and the mediaeval caliphates, and experts say ISIS
\nintentionally used this term to create ambiguity and to encourage its adherents
\nto consider the Islamic State in Iraq as a proto-caliphate. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Regardless of
\nthe name used to describe it, this terrorist organisation has developed a
\nnetwork of supporters in Europe and the United States, making intense use of
\nthe Internet, social networks and contemporary forms of communication.
\nPolitical and military analyst Claudiu Degeratu explains:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
What we are
\ndealing with here is not only a support network, but active cells, trained
\npeople who regularly go to the training sites in the Middle East, in particular
\nSyria, where they constantly plan new attacks. This is why there is no
\ndifference between, let’s say, the terrorist profile of the Middle East and that
\nof Europe. In my opinion, at least as far as Daesh is concerned, we should talk
\nabout a similar profile in both Europe and the Middle East. We are dealing with
\na proto-state and with institutions that use certain procedures, which is why
\nthe tendency is to consider Daesh not only as a terrorist group, but also as a
\nstate with specialised functions and networks. These are not just simple cells
\nacting according to an autonomous plan.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We asked Claudiu
\nDegeratu if some states are more exposed to terrorism than others within the
\nEuropean Union:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
At this point,
\nif we look at statistics and any sophisticated model, the interconnection is so
\ngreat that I think there is a common area of threats and risks, while there are
\nalso differences between one country to the next. It’s difficult to create a
\nhierarchy in terms of possible targets and level of exposure. Exposure is high
\nbecause there is a larger freedom of movement within the European Union, so the
\nlevel of exposure is, statistically speaking, significantly similar.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This very week, the European Commission has proposed the
\nsetting up of a new agency responsible for coast guard and border control on
\nthe EU’s external borders. The agency will use the resources of Frontex and of
\nthe member states, and also will purchase its own equipment and will be able to
\nmobilise a rapid-reaction force within just 3 days, if need may be. The
\ndecision was made after the refugee crisis highlighted the weak points of the
\nEU’s external border management mechanisms. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Responses to the growing threat posed by the Islamic State
\nterrorists also come from the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia has announced the
\nsetting up of a military alliance with another 34 Muslim countries to fight
\nagainst the extremist groups in Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Afghanistan. This announcement comes
\nfrom the Islamic world’s vigilance in fighting this disease so it can be a
\npartner, as a group of countries, in the fight against this disease, said
\nSaudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman. The
\nnew alliance’s joint operations centre will be based in Riyadh. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In another move, in Washington, president Barack Obama has
\nonce again excluded the possibility of deploying a large number of ground
\nforces to the region, although, according to a recent opinion poll, more than
\n50% of the Americans say their country should send ground troops to Iraq or
\nSyria to fight ISIS. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The conflict in Syria has resulted in a massive refugee crisis, a high death toll and a rise in terrorism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":155346,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43939],"tags":[29561,29499],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-155345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-future-starts-today","tag-islamic-state","tag-terrorism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n