Title III of The Patriot Act: A Review of Effectiveness in Combating Terrorist Financing

Title III;Terrorist Financing;Patriot Act;Al Qaeda;Hawala.;Global Security Studies

Erwin, Robert

Johns Hopkins University

关键词: Title III;    Terrorist Financing;    Patriot Act;    Al Qaeda;    Hawala.;    Global Security Studies;   

Others  :  https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/bitstream/handle/1774.2/38090/ERWIN-THESIS-2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: JOHNS HOPKINS DSpace Repository

【 摘 要 】

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks marked a paradigm shift in United States national security policy from one based on deterrence of hegemonic rivals to one based on counterterrorism.Initial counterterrorism efforts focused squarely on the main perpetrators of the attack, Al Qaeda, but in his war declaration address to a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2011, President Bush outlined the forthcoming shift- ;;Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there.It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.”Since President Bush’s declaration of a global war on terror in September 2001, Al Qaeda, due to concentrated efforts focused on proactive intelligence gathering and military interdiction, has been degraded.Due to this fractured network, Al Qaeda has devolved into loosely connected sub-sects, affiliate organizations, and non-affiliate sympathizers.Given this transformation, and the terrorist networks that persist, Al Qaeda, its affiliates, and the terrorist groups that continue to target the United States remain of primary national security concern. One of the major focuses, manifested in the passage of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 (Patriot Act), is an effort to combat terrorist financing. Given the unconventional means of a terrorist attack, coupled with the freedom with which operational funds can move from country to country, terrorist financing poses a particularly nuanced threat.Nearly fifteen years have passed since the 9/11 attacks and it is critical to United States national security to reflect on the country’s counterterrorism efforts, learn from successes and failures, and make appropriate changes to ensure that the United States continues to adequately address the ever-changing nature of terrorist threats.Is the country safer?Have we achieved the goal of effectively combating terrorist financing? By looking at the effect of Title III of the Patriot Act domestically, internationally, and on informal financial networks, we can assess the successes and failures of the financial provisions of the Patriot Act.