The lecture was given by:
- Andrea Beccaro (Freie Universität – Berlino);
- Fabrizio Coticchia (Istituto Universitario Europeo);
- Lia Quartapelle (Camera dei Deputati);
- Riccardo Redaelli (ISPI and Università Cattolica di Milano).
Riccardo Redaelli tried to contextualize the jihadist threat that both Italy and the rest of the international community are facing. According to Redaelli, “we are not so much able to understand what Daesh really is”. It has the capability to be “glocal”, global and local at the same time. Daesh “has been fighting to gain geopolitical supremacy in the area” and “has become a threat [even to] the old global jihadism”: As Triage already pointed out, Daesh has been also using the terror factor in a way that is different from the past: it has a media value. Daesh “wants to be a premium brand” and uses terror to “attract new fighters for the jihad”. Redaelli’s recipe to contrast Daesh has two main ingredients: first, “do not let them terrorize you” and “stop being afraid of radical Islam”.
Andrea Beccaro focused on the kind of threat posed by Daesh. According to him, one of the most original aspects consists in its state-like structure. Moreover, we are talking about a “military threat that is neither conventional, nor unconventional”. In fact, Daesh showed that it can rely not only on classical terrorist tactics; or rather, it uses them in specific occasions after having planned them in order to achieve specific objectives. Beccaro’s analysis finds it place within a wider debates on the definition of “terrorist” and “terrorism” that is essential if we really want to understand what Daesh is. Finally, Daesh’s success comes also from the capabilities of its commanders, most of them coming from the scraps of Iraqi army, which are able to deploy “logistically-effective missions”. According to Beccario, although Daesh is not unbeatable, “it will remain a relevant actor in the region”.
Fabrizio Coticchia focused on the military-related dimension. He introduced his speech taking abut Italian new White Paper on defence and security and enlighten what can be considered as the most relevant lessons learned in the past decade. First of all, the most important thing is to have an “optimal strategic planning”. Second, new value should be given to military non-offensive measures such as civil-military cooperation, building host nation forces, and dialogue between different local actors. Third, intelligence must have a central role, and this is something that Triage already pointed out. Finally, delivering information to the public opinion is essential in order to inform them and convince them that what it is being done is really worth doing.
Last speech was Lia Quartapelle’s. She outlined some elements that are usually left out from the general debate on this kind of issue. First of all, she pointed out that the theme of “international cooperation to security has been a taboo”, but it is something that cannot be ignored anymore. Another relevant element consists in the institutional dimension and in those activities aimed at reinforcing host nations institutions. Institution building might also give its contribution to a broader set of operations called Security Sector Reform (SSR); it is nothing new but is something that has to be reinforced. Migrations are a phenomenon that is linked to institution building: in countries such as Lebanon, where 1 citizen out of 5 is a Syrian refugee, institutions are at risk because they may not be able to face this sort of situation; therefore helping local institutions to function properly is essential. According to Quartapelle, Italian fight against jihad has to rely on both international cooperation and on institution building operations. No coincidence, Daesh succeeded where institutions were weak.
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