Reflections on the 9/11 20 Year Anniversary

Read all of the reflections here.

Karen Greenberg

Any new CT strategy must address “root causes”

The withdrawal from Afghanistan addresses more than the mere presence of troops in the war on terror. It is a signal that the broader 20-year reliance on war as the defining framework for U.S. counter-terrorism (CT) efforts has come to an end. In its place, a new phase in beginning, one that will hopefully be able to avoid the pitfalls of the “forever war” paradigm.

At the outset of the war on terror, terrorism was seen as an existential threat to the U.S., one that would be won with a heavy military footprint. Today, leading experts envision terrorism as a persistent global threat to be managed by the coordination of law enforcement and intelligence agencies. And in reducing the reliance on military force, soft power, exercised in multilateral efforts and alliances, is seen as crucial to future efforts to ensure safety and stability across the globe. If the last 20 years has taught us nothing else, it is that destructive forces — be they terrorism, disease, the economy, or climate issues — create both local and global crises and that coordinated multilateral responses are essential.

However, the lessons from the past necessitate the inclusion of one additional element. Any new CT strategy needs to attend in major ways to the deprivations suffered by individuals upon whose fear and hopelessness terrorist recruiters prey. The once prevalent references to “root causes” warrant renewed and forceful attention as part of the third decade of any global CT strategy. This would include prioritizing the repatriation of the estimated 72,000 children held in Northern Syria; a global strategy for attending to displaced persons generally, estimated to be at 82.5 million and growing; and global efforts to address to poverty and violence.

Prioritizing humanitarian efforts, however ambitious, is imperative for any new CT strategy. As war recedes, care for those in need of sustenance and protection can and must take their place alongside enforcement efforts. Without it, a truly sustainable future for CT efforts will likely remain elusive.

Karen J. Greenberg is the Director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law, an International Studies Fellow at New America, and a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations.