Why the flawed ‘War on Terror’ needs a reboot

Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS (the Centre for International Diplomacy, Affairs and Strategy) at the London School of Economics, and a former UK Government Special Adviser. The views expressed in this commentary are strictly his own.

Barack Obama is convening a landmark White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism with key international leaders in an attempt to develop an urgently needed plan to tackle terrorism and radicalization across the world.

The importance of the summit was brought into sharp focus, yet again, with the terror attacks in Copenhagen over the weekend. While the facts of the case are still being pieced together, Danish intelligence agencies are “operating under a theory” that the attacker may have been inspired by the horrific events in Paris last month.

Numerous U.S. officials, including former Bush and Obama defense secretary Robert Gates, have highlighted the gross mismatch between the current budgets of the Pentagon and other U.S. international programs. Today, for instance, Washington spends about 500 times more on its military than it does collectively on the international broadcasting and exchanges that proved so successful during the Cold War.

Of course a comprehensive international plan to tackle violent extremism will inevitably have a military and counter-terrorism component. But soft power needs to become a much bigger part of the overall mix, as even Gates, the former Pentagon chief, advocates.

America and its international partners must urgently address this Achilles heel in the campaign against terrorism. While a limited window of opportunity exists to get this agenda kick-started before Obama’s term of office ends, a sustained commitment will be required for many years beyond his presidency.

CNN