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Andrey Kortunov

Ph.D. in History, Academic Director of the Russian International Affairs Council, RIAC Member

MUNICH, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Military operations can not eradicate terrorism and countries all around the world should cooperate to fight the war against terrorism though a multi-pronged strategy, an expert said on Saturday.

Andrey V. Kortunov, director general of Russian International Affairs Council, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that, "terrorism is a complex phenomenon, and it can not be fought be military forces only."

The interview was conducted on the sidelines of the 51st Munich Security Conference.

Kortunov elaborated that the military actions taken by the United States "destroy states", "unleash radical forces". Terrorism find easy prey in these countries, he said, taking Iraq as an example.

When Saddam Hussein was still in power, he was able to keep Al Qaeda out of Iraq, Kortunov argued. "When the state was destroyed, Al Qaeda of course became very active."

Similar things also happened in Lybia, he added.

Kortunov saw terrorism as a phenomenon that has a global outreach. "So we need to form a global coalition and fight that."

He suggested that people should try to understand the logic of the terrorists if they want to deal with the terrorism issue. According to Kortunov, terrorism is the last instrument some people can implement to get the justice done.

For example, if look at some of the so-called terrorist acts conducted in the Middle East, many people there think that there is no way for them to stop American military operation in the region, he said, adding that the only way is through "terrorist" attacks.

"In a way you can say that terrorism is a weapon of the weak because they can not confront their opponents face to face," he commented.

Meanwhile, Kortunov clarified that it did not justify terrorism. "But we should try to understand the logic of these people if we really want to deal with the phenomenon."

With regard to the deadly attacks that happened in Paris not long ago, Kortunov said Europe is not immune to terrorism. "I think Europe should get more involved in dealing with the old causes of terrorism."

According to Kortunov, people can try to prevent terrorism through education, economic assistance, more tolerance and cooperation between proper security agencies.

Kortunov called for more cooperation among security agencies from major countries to identify the financial sources of terrorists.

He said the U.S. fight against terrorism seemed to be successful in some ways, but "Definitely they are not successful in suppressing the sources of terrorism and here more international cooperation is definitely needed."

 

Source: Xinhua

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