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INTRAC CTM Analysis


Implications of CTMs diagram, adapted from Alan Fowler, Utrecht, 2006

The fallout from worldwide anti-terrorism measures, based on experiences from around the world, has been a central part of INTRAC’s work over the last eighteen months.

The aim is to track changes in the wider aid architecture and the implications for the development sector as a whole which stands as one of INTRAC’s central themes.

Key messages from analysis of the impacts of CTMs across the globe are:

• The concept of legitimacy and the role of the state is shifting and is being recast in the current security-led climate.

• The over emphasis on the threat of international terrorism is displacing priority issues of maldevelopment, a prime threat especially in the South and which is currently being overlooked and undermined through the blurring of the security agenda with aid policy.

• National legislation on counter-terrorism measures is systematically undermining international human rights law.

• The current discourse on insurgency and counter-terrorism has been cast in a way that is ahistorical and illegal. Learning the lessons from history requires recognising that in a context of terrorism the primacy of upholding human rights becomes even more important as well as reappropriating the role of the state in such a way to secure social development.

Here is a link to Pdf document Overview INTRAC's CTM Workshops.pdf (39Kb)

Implications of CTMs for NGOs, papers by Alan Fowler (2004)

"Assessing the Implications of CTMs for NGOs" by Alan Fowler provides a theoretical background on the impacts of CTMs for NGOs. A further paper, on CTMs as part of the new aid architecture by the same author is also available to download.

Pdf document Assessing the Implications of CTMs for NGOs.pdf (64Kb)

Aid Architecture: Reflections on NGO Futures and the Emergence of Counter-Terrorism

INTRAC Policy Briefing Paper 10

The War on Terror and the Onslaught on Development by Kasturi Sen

This paper outlines some results of workshops and research by INTRAC over the past year into counter-terrorism and its implications for development NGOs and civil society. The three main areas of focus have been to assess the implications of anti terror legislation on the function of NGOs and civil society organisations by region, both in terms of actual and perceived effects of the ‘war on terror’; to understand the implications of counter-terrorism for official development assistance; and to try and set the empirical evidence in a conceptual framework for understanding trends and assessing their policy implications.

Pdf document Briefing Paper 10 - WoT and onslaught on development.pdf (655Kb)

INTRAC Policy Briefing Paper 11

Developments in the Regulations of NGOs via Government Counter Terrorism Measures and Policies by Joseph McMahon

Some observers suggest that inconsistencies among CTMs and the sheer magnitude of requirements make full compliance impossible. No matter how scrupulously an NGO may comply with the guidelines, it may still find itself subject to legal or regulatory sanctions. Fear of appearing ‘soft on terrorism’ compels US agencies to maintain or enhance CTMs. Yet, the US government may refuse to engage in meaningful dialogue with NGOs on CTMs and their impact on US aid policy.

Pdf document Briefing Paper 11 - Developments in the regulation of NGOs.pdf (1098Kb)

INTRAC Policy Briefing 16: National Security and International Development

An abstract of this paper is provided below:

Counter-terrorism measures are only one symptom of the ‘War on Terror’ (WoT). This paper examines the key effects of national security issues and the WoT have on Northern NGOs in terms of human rights, legal frameworks and the current direction or zeitgeist in world politics. As part of this, it includes detailed sections on developments in the US, the UK and the European Union.

Pdf document Briefing paper 16 - National security and international development.pdf (189Kb)