Responding to Terrorism: Policy Options

OPTION 1: Direct an Expanded Assault on Terrorism
The United States cannot tolerate acts of terrorism, those who perpetrate them, or those nations who harbor terrorists. As the sole remaining superpower, we have no choice but to take on the job of policeman. It is our responsibility and duty to protect ourselves and make the world safe from terrorists. We must recognize that the war on terrorism is a worldwide struggle and move forward with a worldwide offensive to combat it until all who threaten peace and security are destroyed. Although, as we have seen, it is helpful to have the cooperation of other nations, we must be prepared to fight terrorism - alone if necessary - wherever and whenever it threatens. Nothing less than our freedom is at stake.

What should we do?

We should devote more of our resources to our military forces.

We should increase our intelligence capacity.

We should freeze the assets of suspected terrorist organizations and put pressure on other governments to do the same.

We should take the war on terrorism to any nation that harbors international terrorists.

OPTION 2: Support U.N. Leadership to Fight Terrorism
Terrorism is a global, not a national, problem. Today our security and the security of the rest of the civilized world depend upon our ability to work together, drawing on our combined financial, diplomatic, and intelligence resources, to address this universal threat. We must recognize the U.N. as the entity with the legitimacy to develop and maintain a long-term, truly international effort to control and eventually wipe out terrorism worldwide. We must play a leadership role in strengthening the effectiveness of the U.N. on security matters and offer our military, intelligence, and of the U.N. on security matters and offer our military, intelligence, and economic support to a U.N.-led international effort to eradicate terrorist cells wherever they are found. We must stand with the world community against lawless terror.

What should we do?

We should provide leadership to efforts to strengthen the hand of the U.N. on security matters.

We should debate any response to future terrorist acts against the United States before the General Assembly of the U.N. and in the U.N. Security Council.

We should become members of the International Criminal Court and prosecute international terrorists there.

We should ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), and we should work with the U.N. to strengthen the conventions limiting chemical weapons and biological weapons.

OPTION 3: Defend Our Homeland
The September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have given us a feeling of vulnerability not felt in more than fifty years. Our high-profile foreign policy programs have only bred resentment against us and made us enemies who are intent on doing us harm. This is especially true of our troops based in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf region. We would be foolhardy to expand our international efforts into a wider assault on terrorism. Taking sides in the battles of other nations will only increase our own vulnerability by drawing the attention of a wider circle of terrorists. It is time now to turn our attention to our own needs here at home. We must lower our foreign policy profile, get ourselves out of the sights of terrorists, and use the funds saved to build up our national defenses. While civil liberties are important to Americans, we must recognize that new policies are needed at home to protect our security.

What should we do?

We should scale back our foreign involvement by cutting foreign aid programs and bringing U.S. troops home.

We should build up our intelligence capacity with a focus on understanding the threats that face us here at home.

We should launch a coordinated national effort to develop defenses against the new threats that face us-biological, chemical, or nuclear attack.

We should establish a national identity card, tighten immigration laws, practice ethnic profiling in certain circumstances, and allow broader monitoring of communications in order to keep tabs on potential terrorists.

OPTION 4: Address the Underlying Causes of Terrorism
Terrorism is inexcusable. Crimes against humanity cannot be tolerated. However, further military action will only perpetuate the cycle of violence. We must abandon any plans for future military action and join with others to address the deeper issues underlying terrorism. Terrorism feeds on the frustrations of some of the world's most disadvantaged peoples. Clearly we must devote resources to improving security in our own country. However, we must also join with the developed world to devote attention and resources to launching a targeted "Marshall Plan" that addresses the underlying causes of terrorism. Finally, we must examine our own policies in many parts of the world to see that we are not inflaming long-standing local and regional conflicts, fueling discontent, and creating a breeding ground for anti-American sentiment.

What should we do?

We should refocus our funding priorities to improve the quality of life of disadvantaged populations around the world.

We should work for just resolutions to long term political conflicts (such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) that provide a breeding ground for terrorism.

We should provide resources in support of the U.N.'s reconstruction and development efforts in Afghanistan.

We should end our support of regimes that do not support human rights and democratic principles.

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This lesson is excerpted from Responding to Terrorism: Challenges for Democracy (© August 2002, Choices for the 21st Century Education Program, Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University. All rights reserved.)

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