In President Obama’s opening letter to the 2015 National Security Strategy, he provides an overview of the most serious challenges to U.S. National Security. “Violent extremism and an evolving terrorist threat,” he pens, “raise a persistent risk of attacks on America and our allies.” The violent extremist and terrorist threat is the most pressing national security challenge facing the U.S. in the next five to ten years. This threat is the most pressing concern because weak and failing states across the globe offer terrorist safe havens, weapons of mass destruction could have devastating impacts on our population, and globalization allows radical groups to quickly disseminate their message anywhere, anytime. In order to combat violent extremism,
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In his book, Asia’s Cauldron, Robert Kaplan highlights state weaknesses in the Philippines and Indonesia. Both states, he points out, also contain “sizeable Islamic populations. In the Phillipines, for example, there is a “corrupt Roman Catholic power structure in the capital,” and that has a negative impact on the large Muslim majority in the south.” This has fostered Islamic insurgencies that make life difficult for the regional population. These terrorist groups can take advantage of the weaknesses in these states and use their geography to gain access the global shipping lanes through the Malacca …show more content…
The U.S. must also focus soft power on the source of radicalization to prevent its proliferation. The National Security Strategy prioritizes this approach by addressing the issues of poverty, inequality, and repression. “Supporting alternatives to extremist messaging and greater economic opportunities for women and disaffected youth” in in areas that are most vulnerable to radicalization can help to offer the regional population with viable alternatives to joining or supporting terrorist groups. This focus of soft power should be on “policies designed to starve terrorist groups of recruits and cut off their access to the material and financial resources necessary to mount deadly
In his book, Asia’s Cauldron, Robert Kaplan highlights state weaknesses in the Philippines and Indonesia. Both states, he points out, also contain “sizeable Islamic populations. In the Phillipines, for example, there is a “corrupt Roman Catholic power structure in the capital,” and that has a negative impact on the large Muslim majority in the south.” This has fostered Islamic insurgencies that make life difficult for the regional population. These terrorist groups can take advantage of the weaknesses in these states and use their geography to gain access the global shipping lanes through the Malacca …show more content…
The U.S. must also focus soft power on the source of radicalization to prevent its proliferation. The National Security Strategy prioritizes this approach by addressing the issues of poverty, inequality, and repression. “Supporting alternatives to extremist messaging and greater economic opportunities for women and disaffected youth” in in areas that are most vulnerable to radicalization can help to offer the regional population with viable alternatives to joining or supporting terrorist groups. This focus of soft power should be on “policies designed to starve terrorist groups of recruits and cut off their access to the material and financial resources necessary to mount deadly