Abstract
Terrorism has become an increasingly worrying phenomenon as well as a major security threat for most countries in the world. Terrorist attacks have dramatically increased in the twenty first century. While terrorism affects most African countries, this study focuses particularly on the Al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia. Specifically, the study focuses on understanding the root causes of terrorism; the effectiveness of AU counter terrorism strategies in addressing the root causes of terrorism in Somalia; and proposed framework to enable AU effectively address the root causes of terrorism in Somalia and beyond. Despite the focus on Al-Shabaab, this study was enriched by reviewing literature on other terrorist groups such as the Boko Haram and Al Qaeda of Islamic Maghreb.
Anchored in a constructivist-interpretivist research paradigm, qualitative methods and techniques were used to collect and analyze the data; and provided an explanation on the data collected from the respondents based on the questions on the root causes of terrorism, AU counter terrorism strategies in addressing the root causes of terrorism and the proposed viable framework that would allow AU to effectively address the root causes of terrorism in Africa and Somalia in particular. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Data was generated from 46 respondents, 4 less of the targeted 50 respondents. The 46 respondents who were interviewed included: four religious’ leaders, four cultural leaders; four media houses; four NGOs, four academia and think tanks, ten business community leaders, fifteen youth group leaders and one from the regional officials. Among them were seventeen women and twenty-nine men, aged between nineteen and fifty-nine. The data was analyzed using content analysis, thematic analysis and narrative analysis methods.
The study also reviewed literature to generate deeper understanding on each theme in line with study objectives. Theoretical perspectives for understanding terrorism were also reviewed alongside literature, which augmented the analysis of the study findings, and enabled drawing of conclusions and recommendations. The psychological perspectives and societal expectations frameworks, and their respective variants were used as the theoretical constructs that guided the study. The literature review focuses on the themes of the study. Literature on the first theme of the study on the root causes of terrorism
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provides an overview of the root and trigger causes of terrorism; and also considers deeper understanding of qualitative, psychological and empirical researches on the causes of terrorism; and approaches to explaining causes of terrorism, including multi-causal approach, political or structural approach, rational or organizational approach, and the psychological approach. Literature on the second theme reviewed the effectiveness of AU in addressing the root causes of terrorism; while the one on the third theme benchmarked existing strategies across the globe in response to terrorism that would inform AU to effectively address the root causes of terrorism in Somalia and Africa at large. The review of literature generated deeper understanding of terrorism and drew benchmarks for linking theory and practice.
The discussion of the findings is also done following the three main themes in the research objectives and questions. These themes are: the root causes of terrorism; the effectiveness of AU counter terrorism strategies in addressing the root causes of terrorism; and viable framework to enable AU to effectively address the root causes of terrorism in Somalia in particular and Africa in general. While the first two themes represent analyzed data that was generated, the third theme builds on the data to propose the framework for effectively addressing the root causes of terrorism.
Both local and international perspectives are explored in the bid to understand more the causes and manifestations of terrorism. Some causes obtain within the local environment, especially from the social and economic factors, while others relate with international linkages. The discussion of findings harmonizes different responses; and also casts the findings against literature and the theoretical perspectives to augment the analysis. The theoretical perspectives helped to draw the parallel between individual traits that are responsible for people’s engagement in terrorist activities. Consistent with the proposed framework for addressing terrorism, the recommendations address preventive strategies, capacity building initiatives, addressing the enablers of terrorism, promotion of social and economic justice, strengthening national security, and initiatives for sustainable peace.