No time to hesitate: ISIS needs to be crushed

Let´s agree that any move that helps to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS, is deeply appreciated. It should be taken without delay. But let´s also be clear that things have already gone too far and ISIS has taken too much power and influence. It has become more difficult to thrash them. They have gained a very serious impetus thanks to our inability to foresee and take quick action. And now the more we wait the more we will have to deal with them for a very long period of time. We should understand that there is no more space for hesitation. 

Kenya faces major security challenges

One of my colleagues at the UN, a man from a Nordic country, decided to retire by the Kenyan coast, not far from Mombasa. That decision was taken more than 10 years ago. The place was quiet and the weather much nicer than around the Baltic Sea. 

I thought of him and his wife today. The news coming from that part of Africa have not been good. And they have further deteriorated in the last couple of days. People have been massacred by extremists, others have been kidnapped. And above all, the national government seems too weak to be able to tackle the security challenges.

The dangerous situation shows once more that terrorism can spread fast if not properly contained. The chaos that prevails in Somalia, just to the North of Kenya, is a major menace to entire region. And of all the neighbouring countries, Kenya is the most exposed to the expansion of the Somali anarchy. 

New threats call for new responses

The US Navy Seals operations over the week end in Libya and Somalia, to capture well known terrorist leaders raise a number of questions, in terms of international law. But above all, they beg the question about how current and adjusted to today's world is the fight against international terrorism. This is a debate that has yet to take place: how to respond to multinational terrorist groups.

They represent a new threat to international peace and security. They cannot be fought with conventional means. And they cannot be convinced that they will be safe in weak states or in chaotic societies. They have to understand that global terrorism calls for a global response.

And that was certainly the key message the US has sent this week end across many parts of Africa and elsewhere. The US might have gone beyond the accepted norms. But we need to consider that the old ways of addressing new challenges need to be thought through. With a new approach to national sovereignty and the legitimate use of force. 

A view of Chechnya

I participated in a discussion about financing development co-operation this morning. Friends of Europe, an NGO close to the European Commission, sponsored the discussion.

As it is often the case, these discussions are too ambitious in terms of the scope and the number of speakers and too light when it comes to depth and substance. The organisers tend to invite a large number of panellists. That leaves little time for each one of them and even less for an exchange with the participants. It would be much better to have just a couple of keynote speakers, who could then speak extensively about their ideas and experience.

I ended up talking to the fellow seated next to me. I found out he has been in Belgium for about ten years, after fleeing civil conflict in Chechnya. And also that he and his community feel much stressed after the events of Boston.  Many people look at them now as potential terrorists. There is suspicion in the air. And all over the place the secret polices have decided to spend a bit of their free time monitoring these refugees. It is, he told me, as if they had found a pretty good reason to keep themselves busy.

Well, image is everything, as some people like to say. But image can be deeply unfair. 

On terrorism

Terrorism remains a major threat in some corners of the world. Our duty is to condemn all forms of terrorism anywhere and remember that the fight against terrorism is above all a police task. The role of politicians and intellectuals is to advocate for the police to be given the means to do their job, within the law and with full respect for the rights of the citizens. .

Then, after the police work, it is a matter of effective administration of justice.

My experience, sometimes in difficult conditions, has taught me that those who try to fight it through military means or by ways of political concessions are taking the issue from the wrong end. 

It is wise to be prudent

Too much snow in our part of Europe transformed this Sunday into a quiet day. However, that did not prevent a couple of leaders from being too excessive about the situation in the Sahel. They sound now like new converts to a cause they are at present magnifying beyond proportions, after so many months spent overlooking the crisis that was in the making.  

It is a very serious threat, no doubt, but it requires a thoughtful approach to it, not an emotional response, as Mr Cameron seems to believe. With good coordination between all the local, regional and key international players, it should be possible to sort things out. Any comparison with Afghanistan is, in my opinion, out of proportions. We cannot compare two very different regional contexts.