Terrorism and Tribalism

Aarhus, Denmark

With terrorism growing worldwide, it has become a new issue for world leaders to tackle with. It is not a binary issue like wars have historically been.  Countries can't declare war on a terrorist group, because that only feeds into their terrorist group's narrative.

For example, if you use the phrase "radical Islamic terror" or declare war on "jihadists," you are only giving the terrorist group means to grow and expand their rhetoric. As Shadman Bashir explained in his lecture in class on Nov. 2, terrorism is about sending a political message and "media is the oxygen" feeding terrorism. So how do you cut back on terrorism? Don't give the terrorists what they want by confirming there is a war waging against their way of life. Instead, give the people in lands occupied by terrorism a means to be educated on the real issues and allow terrorists a way to amnesty. This is not radical--it has been proven to work.

In a town called Aarhus, Denmark, extremism has started to grow and the young men of the town were leaving in droves to join ISIS. Instead of harsh penalties against the young men for attempting to leave and surveilling mosques, they made it clear that the young men were welcome back home, where they could be given help reintegrating back into society. The ex-suspected terrorists receiving help with going back to school, finding an apartment, meeting with a psychiatrist or a mentor, or whatever they needed to fully integrate back into society. The "Aarhus model" of dealing with terrorism has been called the "hug a terrorist" program by the media and has been harshly criticized.

But it has been proven to work.

As reported on the episode "Flip the script" on the NPR podcast, "Invisibilia,"  "since the initial exodus of young people to ISIS, very few have left from Aarhus for Syria, even when traffic from the rest of Europe was spiking. Last year, in 2015, it was just one person."

The podcast brings up the point that the model in Aarhus is precarious though. "One terrorist attack in Aarhus could undo much of the work that has been done." But the opportunity to save a young man's future makes this program worth it. 

On the other hand, politicians like Donald Trump have taken a hard stance on terrorism. Trump has said he will declare war on ISIS, block Muslim immigration to the U.S., and carpet bomb parts of Syria and Iraq where terrorism has taken hold. 

Trump's plan is not unique. It has been a talking point of the Republican Party and other politicians around the world for years. However, it is only out of fear and doesn't do anything to solve the problem. What we need is sane, preventative measures to give terrorists a path back to society instead of declaring war on their religion.