Role of the International Community in the Joint Regional Action Against Terrorism

The role of the international community in the Joint Regional Action against terrorism in the West African sub-region was examined in this study. Using the historical research design, secondary data was gathered from the corpus of existing counterterrorism literature. Based on the body of existing literature on the involvement of the international community in Joint Regional Action against terrorism in West Africa, this study employed a qualitative technique of data analysis. The analysis demonstrated that ECOWAS's political statement and shared anti-terrorism stance served as tools that provided a common operational framework for regional counterterrorism initiatives. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that influence of politics in that politicians hide behind religion, submit to the terrorist group as Islamists, and claim to be fighting the same cause as the terrorist group. In order to overthrow the opposition government, they consequently wind up financing terrorist operations. Given the results, the study suggests that governments allocate the required financial, human, and technical resources to the implementation of counterterrorism policies in order to show a strong commitment to implementing national counterterrorism programs. The analysis determined that the case for a regional army needed new evidence.