Use of modern military forces in countering terrorist forces and forces of armed insurgency

Abstract

Armed insurgency and terrorism are specific forms of armed violence, whose aim is to accomplish their interests through unconstitutional and violent means. Due to the consequences they may cause, they are rated very high within the estimated challenges, risks and threats to the security of modern states. Terrorist and armed insurgency forces are characterized by unconventional use of force and gross violation of internationally recognized norms of its use. The emergence and strengthening of these forces in international relations result from the opportunities provided by globalization for their promotion and appearance on the international scene, and hence the force they might apply may turn into an alarming form of violence and widespread insecurity and vulnerability at the global level. In countering such threats, the military forces, although essentially the most important, are not sufficient to respond to many challenges that arise in the management of crises caused by the activities of terrorist and armed insurgency forces. Former experiences and knowledge acquired in practice indicate certain problems in using the military forces in all specific organizational forms, regardless of the conditions in which these threats emerged. These problems are mainly related to the specific use of military forces against the perpetrators of armed insurgency and terrorism; distribution of tasks and responsibilities of various security and defense forces at national and international levels of organizing the forces to counter these threats; cooperation of military forces with other forces; as well as the responsibilities of command and leadership in countering the forces of armed insurgency and terrorist forces.

Keywords

• terrorism
• armed insurgency
• military forces