ASIS Colleagues,
A small note of thoughts.
I am pleased to discuss with you the future of our community and its recent evolution.
As ASIS Councils have transitioned to communities of practice, we felt it appropriate the Global Terrorism, Political Instability and International Crime transitioned as well.
GTPIIC has a long history in ASIS International, it was particularly called upon in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
As we see the future, the leadership team believes extremism and the political instability that drives it will continue growing over the next few years.
This is not to suggest extremism and extremist violence is suddenly new. It is not. Extremism, whether in activism, political philosophy, and even violence has been with for generations. One could argue that over the past few years, singular focus was placed on what is known as "Islamic Extremists" and a short lived time of "global terrorist" networks. Whilst this was clearly important focus, we have neglected a good number of other growing issues.
What is different today is the internet. Today's internet allows for people with historically local and isolated views to connect with like minded persons all over the world. They feed and fuel each other. Equally, social media allows those of conflicting views to combat each other all over the world. The conflicting arguments never stop.
One top of this, too many government remain corrupt, neglectful and even abusive of their citizens, further fueling political oppositions and instability. In more stable long establish democracies, parties which have minor differences in platform, use extremist language as a means of differentiating themselves from their opposition. Whether left or right of a political platform, supporters of these parties are becoming increasingly frustrated and intolerant of the views of those on the other side.
Historically many argued that terrorism fueled political instability and fragility of governments. We intend to turn that discussion upside down. Political instability and systemic corruption fuels tribal fractionalization of governments and fragility. This in turn drives aggressive activism, turning to extremism, and culminating in extremist violence on behalf of a cause.
What may be the impact on the organizations we support in various environments? Systemic corruption can greatly hamper the ability for organizations to operate. Mass protests can block up the streets, hindering the flow of commerce and tourism. Riots can destroy local economies, retarding economic investment. Extremist violence sees the death of innocents, the targeting and destruction of assets and facilities and even collapse into insurgency and civil war.
These are difficult discussions ahead. Please be prepared. We will NOT focus on or bias against any particular grouping. We will remain data driven and impartial in our discussions. Extremism comes in many colours and flavours. Some times that data may be painful to hear. This is not about judgement of other's political nor individual beliefs. Its about understanding what drives broader extremist violence and how we function in given environments. Understand, we will not enter into a blame game of opposing views nor judgement calls on the efficacy of any groups position.
So, as an initial opening, we ask that you get involved. Join the community, join the discussions. Our diverse backgrounds globally will simply make for a better understanding of these issues. This in turn makes us stronger, as we support those who needs us.
It will be EPIC.......