Perception of instrumentalization of terrorism as a tactic in the Balkans

Abstract

Combating and fighting against terrorism do not, as a rule, lead to the fulfillment of the proclaimed goals. In this article we accept as an axiom that terrorism threatens the common values of the international community and each member state. Given the number of participants and the scope of activities in the framework of these efforts, we started from the assumption that the efficiency of the national efforts has an obstacle in the essence of terrorism as tactics, i.e. its implementation for the achievement of currently unachievable goals. The analysis of this assumption starts from the methods of infiltration of Al Qaeda in the region of former Yugoslavia. The penetration of Al Qaeda, as an objectively foreign body in this region, is also observed from the aspect of international factors. In this light we also observed recent activities related to instrumentalization of terrorist element in a wider region, the Balkans. The aim of this paper is the attempt to contribute to countering terrorism in a way that would identify the objective limitations of existing methods. In regard to this, the penetration of terrorist elements and the sub-sequent combating and the fight against terrorism were analyzed within the theoretical limitations. The findings provide a basis for two conclusions. Firstly, the combating and fighting against terrorism require the prevention of political machinations within which the renegade groups are used for the interests of the international system. Secondly, today, the fight against terrorism on national and international level has a number of features that are not directed against the causes of terrorism, or that it is not clear how they can contribute to combating the tactics of political violence.

Keywords

• international system
• international community
• international relations
• instrumentalization
• terrorism