The Foreign Service Journal, September 2004

engage in terrorist tactics and some, such as the EIJM, are believed to have links with al-Qaida. Recent actions by these groups illustrate conclusively that the security and intelligence services in all of the countries are underfunded and ill-equipped to counter terrorist tactics by local organizations or international terrorists. Geography also plays an important role. Most of these states are located near, and have longstanding ties to, the Arabian Peninsula, the source of many of today’s Islamic militants. It is easy to move between the Persian Gulf states and this region by air and sea. The governments are virtually incapable of monitoring the lengthy coastline from Eritrea to Tanzania. The land borders between all of the states are unusually porous, as well. Further, the region sits on a religious fault line of Christianity, Islam and traditional African beliefs. All eight of the countries are either predominantly Muslim or have important Muslim minorities. Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia, including self-declared independent Somaliland, are heavily Muslim. Ethiopia and Eritrea are about half Islamic. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania contain significant Muslim minorities, some of whose members have become radicalized in recent years. It is true that Sufism, which tends to resist the ideas of Islamic fundamentalists, remains strong throughout the region. This traditionally moderate form of Islam has not always been sufficient, however, to overcome the appeal of fundamentalism, especially when it is backed with funds from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. As a result, nearly all of the international ter- rorism in the region, as opposed to local groups that use terrorist tactics, has ties to extremist Islamic ele- ments. Poverty, Social Injustice and Political Alienation Finally, the region’s endemic corruption is another factor that attracts terrorists, allowing them to buy off immigration and local security officials. Transparency International surveyed 133 countries in 2003 as part of its corruption perceptions index. Five of the eight countries located in the region ranked poorly. Ethiopia and Tanzania received the best ranking of the five, tied with several other countries at the 92nd position. Sudan tied with a number of countries for position 106, while Uganda tied with others for 113. Kenya, although its standing improved from past years, tied with Indonesia at 122. (Transparency International did not rank Eritrea, Djibouti or Somalia.) The fact that East Africa and the Horn are home to some of the poorest countries in the world, with high levels of social injustice and political alienation, is fre- quently cited as a reason why the region has become a breeding ground for terrorism. But not everyone agrees that poverty is closely linked to international ter- rorism. State Department Coordinator for Counter- terrorism Cofer Black, during a May digital videocon- ference with journalists and government officials in Dar es Salaam and Addis Ababa, downplayed the link between terrorism and poverty. He cited the Saudis who took part in the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., pointing out that they tended to come from middle-class fami- lies and had access to a university education. He con- cluded that they “turned into terrorists because they fell under the influence of the wrong people and became seriously misguided.” Yet while this may be true, it misses the point, at least as far as East Africa and the Horn are concerned. The environment created by poverty, social injustice and political alienation enhances the ability of religious extremists to export their philosophy and of terrorists to find local support for their nefarious acts. Black went on to say that instead of blaming economic condi- tions, “we need to encourage moderation” and follow guidelines “our mothers and fathers taught us.” Good luck! To be sure, poverty may not be a direct cause of ter- rorism. To dismiss its role, however, is misguided. Together with abysmally low wages for immigration and security personnel, poverty significantly increases the prospect of widespread corruption that, in turn, creates a climate amenable to terrorism. Even the President’s National Security Strategy issued in September 2002 commented that although poverty does not make poor people into terrorists, “poverty, weak institutions and corruption can make weak states vulnerable to terrorist networks and drug cartels with- in their borders.” In a recent issue of Foreign Affairs Senator Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., argued that terrorism finds sanctuary in “the misery of endemic poverty and despair.” He added that “although poverty and despair do not ‘cause’ terrorism, they provide a fertile environ- ment for it to prosper.” In East Africa and the Horn, F O C U S 38 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 4