Suchergebnisse

The author introduces the article by describing why the term Jihad-terrorism shouldn't be used (it's not an ideology, but a method; the term hammers on an intrinsic link between Islam and violence). The Belgian international attitude stresses that a wrong perception within European policy will actually lead to an anti-Western radicalization, and that terminology is part of that. The article continues with four EU anti-terror strategies: proactive: prevention and protection; reactive: prosecution and response. Regarding suppression of radicalization and recruitment, three factors are mentioned: facilitating factors within a globalized world (travel and communication, money operations, internet availability); an anti-western enemy perception; structural environmental factors, the so-called root causes (social circumstances, democratic imperfection, modernization badly directed, economic and political perspectives, unsolved conflicts, lack of education). Two additional principles for Belgium: 1) fundamental rights and freedoms; 2) suppression of Jihad-terrorism in cooperation with Muslim countries. References. O. van Zijl

Since the end of the Cold War, three sensitive shifts have taken place within the NATO: territorial defense turned into "security", including securing the quality of life of NATO citizens; regional arena turned into a global one; suppressing Communism became the suppression of terrorism. Five discussed elements: threat evaluation aka "fight against terrorism", which sometimes loses touch with the unstable geo-strategic context; lacking flexibility and anticipation as regards to a hard to identify, asymmetric, and ever-changing enemy; a pro-active or protective contract attitude; the political context of current military operations; NATO regarding the UN and the EU. References. O. van Zijl

The present article was part of the conference Belgium and its foreign policy of November 2006, organized by the University of Gent and Catholic University Leuven. It presents an evaluation of the Belgian 2006 Presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). A main objective has been to play an active role regarding the institutional reforms. Achieved were: increased efficacy of the organization, and a renewed confidence in communication between eastern- and western-member states (dividing line, Vienna); strengthening of the economic and ecological dimension, with as focus transport (achieved: increased cooperation between member states, special attention for land-locked countries, and transport-related security issues such ash illegal migration, human traffic, drug traffic, and terrorism); fight against international crime and promotion of the rule of law as central topic of the chairmanship (achieved: increased cooperation between member states); a constructive contribution to solving frozen conflicts (achieved: theoretical improvements). Concerning the human dimension of the OSCE: activities concerning access to legal advice, democratization, mediums freedom, trafficking of human beings, tolerance (the Danish cartoon crisis), and increased access of NGOs to OCSE meetings. References. O. van Zijl

The present article discusses the differences between the Islam debate in the Netherlands and its European neighboring countries and whether the Dutch perception of Muslims, Islam and themes related to fundamentalism and terrorism differ from those in other countries. The article explains that the decrease in tolerance as experienced over the last years is only partly similar with developments in other West-European societies and structures the discussion around 4 subjects: essentialist monists (rejecting the presence of Islam and Muslims in Western societies); evolutionary monists (rejecting the integration of the Muslim culture in a western society, but not the Muslims); essentialist pluralists (multicultural aspirations, rejecting western superiority and welcoming Islam and Muslims without far stretching adaptation by the cultures involved); and evolutionary pluralists (integration of the autochthonous and foreign culture). The article concludes by stating the Dutch multiculturalism will remain through a rapid cultural modernization of the country on the one hand, and an only partly assumed World War II trauma on the other. O. van Zijl