The Impact of Global Terrorism on Economic and Political Development

Evidences show that the annual total of all incidents along with the number of bombing incidents steadily rose through the late 1970s and began a steady decline in the early 1990s. Before the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Tehran, the motivation of transnational terrorism was primarily nationalism, separatism, Marxist ideology, and nihilism. The jump in the number of incidents in the early 1980s corresponded to the rise of religious-based fundamentalism. The downward trend in the early 1990s is attributed to the demise of the Soviet Union. A surge in religious fervor and the hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan account for the prevailing high levels of transnational terrorism. Terrorism surely affects the economy as a whole both in terms of domestic and international trade-related parameters. In this chapter we have used a general equilibrium trade model with special emphasis on terrorism activities to capture the impact of international trade on the production system of the assumed stylized developing economy. In this connection, the presence of defense sector dualism to control or defend the domestic economy has been considered from the perspective of terrorism attack, thereby helping to relate defense, terrorism, and trade within a single framework. Apart from these, the terrorism augmented welfare aspect of the said developing economy has also been introduced in this chapter. Overall, we have claimed that the gains from trade in the presence of terrorism augmented externality exclusively depend on the pattern of trade.

This chapter attempts to highlight the economic perspective behind the rising incidence of terrorism across the world that has impinged a serious threat to the sustainability of mankind. Based on the sample of 123 countries all over the world, it has sought to analyze the relationship between the intensity of terrorism faced by a country and the level of its economic development. Moreover, classifying terrorist activities as externally sponsored and internal militancy triggered by extremist outfits, this chapter seeks to identify which type of terrorism is more pronounced in a country and the underlying economic considerations. Besides, in this study, an attempt has been made to examine the extent to which a country’s military expenditure is attributable to the degree of terrorism it is exposed to.

Terrorism and anti-national activities reduce the capital stock of a country, increase levels of uncertainty, and promote counterterrorism expenditures by drawing resources from productive sectors. This chapter analyzes the issue of anti-national activities using a static general equilibrium framework. Anti-nationals appropriate or destroy a part of the existing capital stock. Governments hold preventive or regulatory sectors that monitor and provide security service to reduce such socially deviant activities and, thereby, to prevent misutilization of capital. Incorporating these issues, a general equilibrium model has been developed to examine the impact of a government’s stringent regulatory policies and the expansion of a country’s capital base on the volume of the anti-national sector and its consequent impact on national income as well. The study finds that, contrary to common wisdom, stringent governmental regulatory policies expand the prevalence of anti-national activities and may produce negative impact on national income. Accumulation of capital stock, however, is found to produce a positive impact on the volume of the anti-national sector and national income. Hence, the solution to this problem does not lie in stricter governmental regulation but rather in a conducive environment for capital accumulation. Such a scenario needs to be created.

There are many channels through which terrorism can influence macroeconomic variables, such as economic growth and international trade. However, the intensity of the consequences of terrorist events on the economy may be varied across countries based on the economic structure. Therefore, it is not unusual for the impacts of terrorism to vary across the developed and developing nations. Against this backdrop, this study assesses the influences of conflicts and terrorist activities on the growth of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in 21 developed and 23 developing countries from 1970 to 2015. The stochastic properties of the variables are looked into by carrying out panel-specific Augmented Dicky-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips-Peron (PP) unit root test followed by estimating the dynamic regressions equations in structured balanced panel frameworks for selected developed and developing economies separately. This study draws on data from various sources namely, Global Terrorism Database (GTD) and World Development Indicators (WDI; World Bank). Our empirical findings imply that terrorist activities have a significant growth-limiting effect, and the extent and significance of impacts are higher in case of developing economies.

This chapter begins with a comprehensive review of the study on terrorism that has emerged in the last two decades and the consequences of terrorism in terms of economic theory. It aims to highlight the potential influence of terrorism on the distribution of military expenditure among different countries across the world. Moreover, the chapter seeks to shed light on the evolution of economic theories and models for explaining terrorism in a strategic environment to indicate the research gap in this field and presents an attempt to measure the impact of terrorism on the economic growth by considering the connection between the intensity of military expenditure made by a country and the security it faces as impinges by terrorist activities.

In the post-9/11 period, tackling the vertical and horizontal growth of international terrorism has become a major challenge for the international community, more pertinently for the liberal states. About three decades ago, Paul Wilkinson wrote a book entitled Terrorism and the Liberal State in which he made a hypothetical statement that the liberal states in today’s world were more vulnerable to terrorist attacks and threats than any other political system. Totalitarian societies do not provide any space to terrorism in view of the fact that this system does not recognize the importance of civil societies. However, the point to be noted is that in today’s globalized international order, terrorist activities are not only confined within the territory of liberal societies alone, rather it has engulfed many parts of the globe that includes non-liberal societies as well. Therefore, strengthening democratic regimes and values is not the solution to abolish terrorism. In this context, this chapter attempts to test Wilkinson’s propositions that liberal states are more vulnerable to terrorism than any other political system by making a comparative study between democratic and non-democratic regimes to identify the recent trends of terrorism.

The threat of terrorism is not just limited to a particular nation, rather it has affected the economies of several developed and developing nations. In this study, we have tried to analyze how terrorism has been sought to be tackled and how it can be tackled. In this context, we present the extent to which the method adopted by the USA after the 9/11 attacks, which is popularly called the Global War on Terror (GWOT), has been successful in eliminating terrorism from the world. Only qualitative methodology has been used in this chapter, and most of it has been derived from secondary sources. Through this study, we seek to show that the successes of GWOT have been limited in nature, in spite of tall claims. In fact, what the US has achieved by GWOT in the name of success is the killing of the leaders of some terrorist organizations, successful disruption of their sanctuaries, passing several legislations in order to launch counterterrorism operations, and the freezing the finances of these terrorist organizations by banning some of their charity-based organizations. This chapter lists the gains obtained as a result of GWOT and also highlights what may be called the failures of this global endeavor. Such a proposition aims at showing why GWOT is not only but possibly the best solution to eradicate terrorism. The unexpected outcomes, however, have been many, not only for terrorism but also for international politics, thereby impacting international organizations and also the third-world nations.

Terrorism dates back to the uprising against the Roman Empire in first century BC and the term entered Western literature during the eighteenth century. Conceptually, it has emerged as a security problem in a national and international context. However, terrorism is not only a security problem but also has significance on political, social, cultural, psychological, and especially economical aspects. A weak economic structure of a country makes it easier for terrorist organizations to manipulate its society in a certain direction. Issues such as economic growth, foreign trade, employment, foreign investments, and public expenditures are first affected by terror incidents, and thereafter are known to have medium- and long-term effects. In general, it is observed that developed countries are less affected from terror incidents than developing countries. In this context, in this study, regional assessments will be made using the following indicators: the Global Terror Index (GTI), gross domestic product (GDP), export, foreign investments, and public expenditure. Regional and intercontinental assessments will be implemented using spatial econometric techniques. The GeoDa package program will assess the diversity in terrorism between continents. Our main hypothesis is that terrorism’s economic effect is more in developing countries and the Middle East than among other developed countries. The other aim of the study is to determine which terrorism is more effective and which economic indicator is more affected and gives the best result about effects of the terrorism on the countries and continents. This study predominantly tries to examine whether terror incidents are most influential on the economies in the Middle East region.

Terrorism finance (TF) has been aptly termed as the lifeblood of terrorism. TF provides funds for terrorist activities. Terrorists mobilize funds by using the formal banking system, informal value-transfer systems, hawalas, Hundis, and the oldest method of asset transfer. They may raise funds from legitimate sources, such as personal donations and profits from businesses and charitable organizations, as well as from criminal sources, like the drug trade, the smuggling of weapons and other goods, fraud, kidnapping, and extortion. Countering the financing of terrorism is a far greater challenge throughout the world. The objectives of the chapter are as follows: (1) to identify the different sources of terrorism financing, (2) to analyze various ways of moving terrorism funds globally, and (3) to examine the initiatives taken to counter terrorism financing.

One of the noteworthy developments in the world economy is the cryptocurrency in general and the bitcoin in particular. Although several types of cryptocurrency are in operation in the current digital economy, the most prevalent is the bitcoin, which was launched formally in 2009 by an individual or group known under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. The value of bitcoin has increased to such an extend that it reached 19.7 billion US dollars by January 2, 2018 (Statista, 2018). As the bitcoin price touches a new high day by day, various terrorist organizations are using this cryptocurrency to anonymously finance their grotesque terrorist activities around the world by bypassing the surveillance mechanism of the banking system of the respective countries. Against this backdrop, this chapter aims to understand the mechanism of cryptocurrencies in general and the bitcoin in particular. Finally, it also endeavors to identify the trend of the bitcoin economy and its impact on nefarious activities in general and terrorism financing in particular. It has been revealed from the study that cryptocurrency economy has become so popular across the world that it has created an alternative virtual economy devoid of regulations from a specific country or a group of countries. By using vector error correction model (VECM), it had been observed that there exists a statistically significant long-run association between terrorist incidences and bitcoin transaction/circulation in the panel of 12 countries for 2010–2016. However, there is a huge concern over its way of operation and its unholy nexus with terrorism financing.

Terrorism has historically been spawned by inequitable, unjust systems with inadequate democratic options to articulate popular aspirations and ensure conflict resolution. The event of September 11, 2001 changed it all when terrorism hit the center of the increasingly globalized post-Cold War international system. The 9/11 incident has played as the role of a catalyst in initiating joint governmental policies to combat international terrorism both in India and the USA. After the incident, the former US President, George W. Bush, announced to the world community to fight against international terrorism collectively on the basis of a zero-tolerance policy. India has been the victim of cross-border terrorism promoted by Pakistan for a long time. India is the world’s largest democracy and one of its fastest-growing economics. Due to the recurrence of terrorist attacks, its security system and its socioeconomic structure have had to face tremendous pressure. Just after the 9/11 incident (attack on WTC) world’s largest (India) and oldest (USA) democracies have come closer to jointly fight against international terrorism. Both al-Qaida and the Taliban were the common enemies for Washington and New Delhi. At the governmental level, a number of policies and working groups have been organized by the two countries in order to diminish global terrorism. This chapter intends to explore the effects of joint governmental policies by India and the USA for combating international terrorism.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the risk of violent conflict with the global conflict risk factors in the Middle East economies by using an integrated fuzzy decision approach. For this purpose, five different dimensions and 24 different criteria are defined by analyzing similar studies in the literature. The dataset is borrowed from the European Commission, and experts appointed for the linguistic evaluation of each dimension and criterion. Additionally, fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) methodology is used to weigh dimensions and criteria and Multi-objective Optimization on the basis of Ratio Analysis (MOORA) approach is considered to rank the countries with respect to the conflict risk. Social dimension was concluded to have the highest importance of the Global Conflict Risk Index. Moreover, Syria, Libya, and Saudi Arabia were identified as the countries that have high conflict risk. Because these countries have high risk of facing conflict in the future, it is strongly recommended that they should primarily focus on social factors in order to minimize this risk.

During the last few decades, there have been significant divergences in the flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) as per decisions taken by multinational companies (MNCs), and many of the developing nations in the Asia and Pacific region are most remarkable in this regard (UNCTAD, 2015). Apart from various economic factors, some sociopolitical issues have also been identified as influencing the FDI decisions. This study investigates the comovements of the standard measures of terrorist activities and MNCs’ decision on FDI in selected developing countries in the Asia and Pacific region by employing Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) estimation technique on constructing a balanced panel for 1990–2016. Results summarize that FDI inflows are negatively influenced by terrorist activities in the developing economies of the Asia and Pacific region.

This chapter analyzes the impact of terrorism in South Asian countries. The study is based on secondary data collected from South Asian Report, crime records, South Asia Terrorism Portal, and other reports. Descriptive statistics of South Asia shows that out of the total deaths due to terrorism, 52.63 percent of the deaths occurred among terrorists, 35.22 percent civilians, and only 12.15 percent among the security forces (SFs). Human Development Index (HDI) and total number of fatalities in the region are highly correlated with an expected negative sign. This means that terrorist activities have adversely affected human development in the South Asian region. Besides, human development of the SFs has been highly hampered by their fatalities, with that of terrorists being relatively low. Civilians are relatively less affected by the fatalities as the correlation results show a moderate (−0.543) value. Total number of deaths due to terrorism in India was 21,942 between 2005 and 2018 but was 57,840 in Pakistan, which is substantially higher compared to India. The number of deaths of civilians, SFs, and terrorists in Pakistan is almost double that of India during the same period. In India, civilian deaths due to terrorism have significantly reduced over time. In Pakistan, civilian deaths have increased from 2005 to 2013, thereafter reducing. Terrorist groups have been subjected to major loss due to more deaths among them. With regard to terrorism, Pakistan is the most critical country in the South Asian region. Regional cooperation in South Asia and multilateral discussions can reduce terrorism in this region.

Nigeria has been ravaged by terrorist activities which has made the country unsafe for Nigerians and foreign investors. The motivation of this study arises from the dearth of research applying quantitative empirics to the determinants of terrorism in a specific country. To achieve this goal, vector autoregressive (VAR) model was applied using data from Global Terrorism Database (GTD), International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) data, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) data, and Transparency International. Stata 13 software was used for estimation. The results show that ethnic violence, absence of good governance, presence of corruption, and rises in military expenditure are part of the causes of terrorism in Nigeria. It is, therefore, recommended that internal security should be maintained to minimize the occurrence of ethnic violence and ethnoreligious biases (sentiments) in the discussion of issues concerning Nigeria. Also, politicians should stop the proliferation of arms, as this will cease the violent reactions before and after elections. Finding lasting solutions to corruption using constitutional means will improve the quality of governance, which will improve the welfare state of the people and reduce restiveness.

Following the financial crisis, across the Western world, defense budgets have undergone substantial and far-reaching cuts. But in the emerging markets there has been a significant rise in defense expenditure (DE). Countries such as China, Brazil, and India have doubled or even tripled their defense spending during the past two decades. It has been generally argued that terrorism can potentially affect economic growth adversely in the short run through a number of channels. Terrorist attacks can increase uncertainty which limits the scope for domestic investments and also diverts foreign direct investment. In order to mitigate terrorism, increased government spending on security can crowd out more growth-enhancing public and private investments in social sectors such as health and education, which in turn may affect the long run growth of a nation. Terrorism also hinders growth by raising the cost of doing business in terms of higher wages, larger insurance premiums, and greater security expenditures. These higher costs result in reduced profits and, thus, smaller return on investment. Terrorist attacks can also destroy infrastructure, thereby leading to business disruptions. This study attempts to examine both the short- (SR) and long-run (LR) associations among terrorism, DE, and its impact on GDP taking time series evidence, using autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) model from some selected countries of Asia – India, China, Bangladesh, and Pakistan – during 1990 to 2014. The results show that there are LR associations among the three variables for Pakistan only.

Worldwide, the number of deaths from terrorism is rising at an alarming rate. Needless to mention, terrorism has a huge negative impact on the economy, mainly affecting price, output, employment, trade balance, poverty, inequality, military expenditure, budget pattern of the governments, sociopolitical environment, and several others. Calculation of the impact of terrorism on economic variables is undoubtedly important as primarily it portrays the vividness of the activity. This chapter concentrates on the impact of economic variables on terrorism because it is believed that knowledge of such an impact is necessary for initiating policies for reducing terrorism. This chapter finds that, especially in India, increase in the level of human development, which otherwise is believed to reduce the terrorist activities of a country, increases the number of casualties due to terrorist activities primarily because of uneven social and economic development.

The relationship between terrorism and foreign direct investment (FDI) has stimulated research curiosity given its effects on lives lost, injuries, property damaged, and the psychological aftereffects, which to a very large extent impact economic growth and development. The realization of the magnitude of its influence on bilateral economic ties engineered the study, which examined the impact of terrorism on FDI in Nigeria. The data for this study were sourced from Global Terrorism Index (GTI), Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) database, International Country Risk Guide (ICRG)’s Quality of Governance (QoG) database, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Bulletin, and World Bank Development Indicators (WDI) using autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach as described by Pesaran et al. (2001). From the results obtained, military expenditure, episode(s) of ethnic violence, and terrorist attacks have all been noted to have negative and significant impacts on FDI in Nigeria. The implication is that the reduction in FDI observed in the data is attributed to terrorism. Therefore, governments should overhaul the security apparatus so as to quell the menace of terrorists. This will go a long way to create a conducive environment for FDI to thrive, which will create more jobs for the growth and development of the Nigerian economy.

In the context of social sustainability, characterization of sustainable development embroils a process of growth not only without social disruption but also without the involvement of any severe risk of environmental collapse of the ecosystem. Economic, social, and environmental aspects in an interactive setup determine the different dimensions of sustainability. In this backdrop, this chapter focuses on the dimensions of social sustainability of the development process – particularly with an eye on the determining factors of social tension resulting in social disruption which in turn become noticeable through violent forms of different types of crime – homicides (murder), property-related crimes (dacoity, robbery, burglary, and theft), and riots. Although the occurrences of such crimes in an indicator of weakness in the law and order of the state, one needs to evaluate the significant role played by various types of deprivation and discrimination. This study attempts to find out the role played by economic deprivation for the incidence of such crimes in the presence of infrastructural and socioeconomic developmental factors. This analysis is performed in the context of India using generalized method of moments (GMM) structure with panel data of 16 major Indian states from 2005 to 2016.

This chapter examines Nigeria’s relationship with her immediate neighboring countries in the fight against terrorism. It probed the challenges of national security following the internationalization of Boko Haram terrorist threats, particularly around the Lake Chad basin, and the responses of countries such as Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. These countries, like Nigeria, share borders around the Lake Chad and are the core contributors to the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF). Nigeria is an English-speaking country (former British colony), while these other neighbors are historically French colonial territories. Hence, their political, cultural, military, and economic affinities are with France. The varying backgrounds have accounted for the challenges in the subregion including the Boko Haram insurgency and the efforts at military cooperation in tackling it. Consequently, these questions are examined: what factors led to the formation of MNJTF and what role has it played in the counterterrorism strategies of the country? In what ways has the nature of Nigeria’s relations with these countries impacted on the operation of the body? What are the roles of external powers such as France with her domineering influence on these countries in the war against terrorism and how has it promoted Nigeria’s national security interest? The chapter relies on documented materials to interrogate the questions and proffer necessary policy recommendations premised on the findings.

In this chapter, the relationship between terrorism and military expenditure and between terrorism and foreign capital inflow has been studied empirically with Indian data. We considered an index for terrorism based on the number of terrorism incidents, the number of deaths and the number of injuries. Data are collected from the period of 1977–1978 to 2016–2017 on the incidence of terrorism, obtained from the data released by Government of India in July 2016. Augmented Dicky–Fuller (ADF) test is used for unit root and stationarity checks. Johansen co-integration test is performed for testing the presence of co-integrating relationship between Index of terrorism and military expenditure and also between FDI flow and index of terrorism. As a result, a co-integrating relationship is also found between terrorism and military expenditure but not between terrorism and foreign capital inflow. Vector error correction model (VECM) is used to study both the short-run and the long-run relationships between the variables.

In addition to their effects on economic growth, prolonged terrorist activities can reduce government revenue. Apart from the destruction of physical infrastructure and human capital, terrorism also has lagged-effect on investment, which ultimately dampens the fiscal position and further affects the economic growth. This chapter is devoted to the discussion on the interaction between terrorism, growth, and fiscal variables in Nigeria using real per capita income, government revenue, government expenditure and defense expenditure. The findings show that terrorism is associated with low economic growth which has the potency to reduce government expenditure. It was also observed that government expenditure can be improved by fostering government revenue. In view of this, apart from domestic efforts, interventions of international communities are further needed to reduce the drastic effects of terrorism, especially in meeting and improving expenditure on growth-enhancing sectors.

Several factors have influenced the pattern of regional development in India. Among these factors, the incidents of terrorist activities, and the resultant disturbance in law and order which have caused serious harm to socioeconomic and business environment are supposed to be crucial. In this chapter, an attempt has been made to find out the extent of damage in economic activities as well as in the process of implementation of regional development programmes caused particularly by the “Maoist Movements” in the “Red Corridors” in India. The emergence of the activists of Maoist groups in some of the poorest districts of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana has given rise to this Red Corridor. In particular, the study attempts to bring into glare how the proneness to Maoist disturbance can jeopardize the objective in terms of fostering rural development in the backward regions of India through the formation of self-help groups (SHGs). In this study, the sample districts have been chosen from the drought-prone and backward regions of West Bengal. Further, these sample districts have been divided into Maoist-prone and non-Maoist-prone areas. The results show that the growth of SHGs formed particularly by the poor women of these areas under the rural development and self-employment program of the government was severely affected by the terrorist activities, and there is a positive correlation between the incidences of defunct SHGs (DSHGs) and the left-wing extremism in Maoist-prone regions of West Bengal during that period.

The phenomenon of “women in combat” is not such a novel one; it however has shattered the dominant perception of women as peaceful and nonviolent people. Indeed, it resulted in critical questions being raised as to why women are involved in patterns of extreme violent behavior, such as suicide bombers. In the wake of insurgent activities by an Islamist group in Nigeria (Boko Haram (BH)) in recent times, the feminization of terror that has come to characterise the activities of this group has generated much concern. Although there may not be easy answers as to why women are involved in terrorism in Nigeria, the threat that such a scenario poses to security is real, deserving a credible and scientific explanation. To investigate this phenomenon, data was gathered by the survey method, which conforms more to a qualitative research design. The data sources were determined through purposeful sampling technique and instruments such as interviews, focused group discussions (FGDs), and non-participant personal observation. Applying the feminist theory of international relations (IR) as the tool for analysis, the author seeks to unravel the hidden propositions about gender. Among the findings was evidence that the shift by BH to include women in its operations was in response to increased pressure on its male operatives. Since deception is key to the tactics employed by BH, the eradication of terror in Nigeria could be brought about by the identification and prevention of possible deceptive moves by the insurgents.

Feng found that political institutions (operationalized in terms of political repression, political instability and policy uncertainty) do matter for economic growth by constraining individuals’ decisions in their marketplace (Feng, 2003, p. 296). Political stability is also an important element among the World Governance Indicators developed by Kaufmann et al. as part of the World Bank project to assess good governance in 1996. Economic well-being is also dependent on political stability and consistency in governance policy. Loss of economic and political confidence is therefore accepted as a factor affecting economic well-being of a society. How far these hypotheses are supported or negated by evidence from Northeast region of India that has witnessed insurgency for six decades now is the object of enquiry in this chapter. Alongside pure economic indicators such as Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and FDI, this article looks at the play of political factors like stability of governments in the representative democratic paradigm sanctioned by the Constitution of India in the Northeastern states of India during the decade 2006–2016.

Recent evidences show that terrorism is becoming frequent in Nigeria, ranging from incessant Boko Haram activities in the North East; Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) activities in the South-East states, kidnapping and vandalizing oil pipes in the South-South, Fulani-herdsmen attacks in the Middle Belt, among others. In an attempt to tackle terrorism, the Federal Government at different times adopted military actions with little or no lasting solution. The Have and Have-nots hypothesis (Shahbaz, 2013) stresses the role of economic phenomenon in determining the causes of terrorism. It is on this note that this chapter investigates the linkages between economic growth proxy by gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC) and other fundamental variables such as inflation, unemployment, and inequality gaps, among others; and terrorism in Nigeria. We intend to know whether cointegration exists between the two constructs; and if it does, is there causality? The study employed both the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and the vector error correction model (VECM) approaches to examine the existence of or otherwise a long-run relationship as well as causality among the constructs. Results reveal that a compelling cointegrating relationship exists among the variables. It is further revealed that unemployment, inequality, poverty, inflation, among others, Granger cause terrorism. It stresses that the Have-not hypothesis explained the causes of terrorism in Nigeria. The study therefore suggests that policy makers should, in order to prevent or combat terrorism, focus on improving the economy by creating job opportunities through provision of conducive environment that supports businesses and reduces inequality gaps.

Terrorism has been practiced for centuries in different countries throughout the globe. The international struggle against terrorism started in the early part of the last century, and in 1937, the League of Nations concluded a Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Terrorism. It is now well established in customary international law that since piracy, slavery, war crimes, and crimes against humanity are so terrible and affect the peace, tranquility, and security of all States, any State has the right to try persons for these crimes, irrespective of their nationality or where the crime was committed. This is known as universal jurisdiction. Terrorism is not quite in that category, one reason being the lack of international agreement on a comprehensive definition of terrorism. Instead, universal treaties adopted by the United Nations (UN) specializes agencies and, more recently Chapter VII measures of the UN Secretary Council, have been the means by which international law contributes to the struggle against terrorism. This aspect is discussed in a Section. Besides, today, the impact of terrorism in maintaining law and order, in assuring peace and tranquility to law-abiding citizenry and in harnessing growth and development, both at the national and international level, is quite grave, gloomy, and alarming. Global terrorism has, in fact, become an unprecedented challenge to the human civilization itself. The present chapter tries to examine the nature of terrorism at the global level with special reference to India and proposes for formation of international laws and co-ordinations to combat it.

Good governance means securing justice, empowerment, employment and efficient delivery of services. So our governments ought to continue to work towards eradicating poverty, reducing disparities of income and wealth, eliminating corruption and indeed formulating good governance policies. On the other hand terrorism is a big challenge to nation’s rules and regulation, human rights more particularly it is a threat to economic – political – social system of a nation. India is a complex society to govern. The Central government and the State governments have their own jurisdictions on many matters and both share the power to legislate on many subjects. It is important to recognize that continuous terrorist attacks in India have affected the social and economic development of the country and more seriously, undermined the democratic fabric and the governance capabilities of our society. This paper will make an effort to provide a framework for good governance in India with the help of worldwide governance indicators and this will also try to identify its essential features and the major challenges before it. Particularly this paper will identify terrorism as a challenge to democracy as well as good governance in India.