Terrorism as an international phenomenon: sources and channels of its financing

Abstract

One of the most global problems of the modern world is terrorism. In recent years, terrorism has turned into a phenomenon that exerts a significant influence on political and economic national, regional, and world processes. Formation of a system of neutralization of financing sources is of great importance for the fight against terrorism. The purpose of the article is to reveal the peculiarities of terrorism as an international phenomenon, to study the sources and channels of financing terrorism. In the research process, such methods as generalization, systematization, comparative analysis, and grouping were used. The theoretical basis of the study was the works of domestic and foreign scientists, reports of international organizations devoted to the indicated problems. The article reveals the problem of interpretation of the concept of terrorism, describes the reasons (psychological, ideological, strategic) and examines the dynamics of terrorist acts. It was established that there is no unified approach to the definition and classification of sources and channels of terrorist financing. Scientists' approaches to classification are systematized. It is suggested that the main channels of financing terrorist activities include: involving financial institutions (banks, exchanges, investment funds, etc.); involving financial assistance from third countries or terrorist groups of these countries; through legalization of illegal income (sale of weapons, prohibited substances) or money laundering through legal institutions (charity funds); by smuggling cash and other valuable goods; by transferring virtual assets. During the analysis of a specific jurisdiction, the list of channels should be specified and detailed by the relevant funding sources.

Keywords

• international terrorism
• terrorist act
• sources of financing
• channels of financing