OPINION: From shadows to shields: Why global collaboration in the war on terror is inevitable

When the world convened for the just concluded 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, there was immense consensus on key global issues as mirrored by the handshakes, differences of opinion and respect for the same that coloured the crucial eight decades of this critical meeting.

Kenya significantly featured in this discourse not only as a regional diplomatic hub from the African continent, but a significant player in emerging global issues, especially on peace and security.

During the forum, which I attended in the company of Kenya’s President William Ruto and other dignitaries, there was cognisance and appreciation of the country’s efforts in multilateral collaboration.

There was appreciation of Kenya’s resilience and adaptable reliance on key emerging global diplomatic fronts like climate change management, defence and global security.

I will, however, tilt this discourse to a tragic event that happened in Kenya in 2013, and whose anniversary, also coincidentally, fell on the same dates as the just concluded UNGA meeting in New York – the September 23, Westgate Mall terrorist attack.

It was a harrowing experience that tragically gave invaluable lessons on what is today one of the world’s greatest threats to humanity and human coexistence.

Lives were lost, innocence was shattered, and existing security paradigms were challenged with monumental repercussions.

It exposed more than just our physical vulnerabilities, but also asserted the necessity for not only deeper humanity, but the urgency for global collaboration and interdependence.

Within the corridors of the UN in New York, I reflected on the shared visions, challenges and diplomatic gaps that could have gotten us here as a world and a country and also how to collaboratively erase this global menace of terrorism.

While there, I picked a few lessons from the United States' global security and counterterrorism strategies and especially the evolutionary journey of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which incidentally mirrors and has been a reliable partner for decades with an integral Kenyan entity – The National Intelligence Service  (NIS) – oversighted by the National Assembly Committee that I chair.

Rising from the ashes of the August 1998 bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi and subsequent terror attacks, including the devastating Westgate attack that coincided with my reflective introspection at the UN, I realised that just like the CIA, Kenya’s NIS too has evolved to be a dependable, smarter, faster and agile counterterrorism entity in this global war to restore humanity.

As we evolve, however, so are the enemies to human coexistence and their methods, including but not limited to online–read global – weaponisation of ideology, turning innocent minds into lone wolves that strike without warning or provocation. Such was the Westgate attack.

Sadly, and more thought-provokingly, terrorism is no longer just about bombs, but such other and more potent emerging threats as cybercrime that now more than ever before calls for deeper collaboration.

The CIA journey offers valuable lessons on counterterrorism, and so does the NIS post-Westgate attack.

World over, the doctrine of intelligence is founded on the strength and credibility of those who produce it.

This has been the masterpiece of the indelible diplomatic connection between Kenya and global superpowers, including the United States.

In Kenya’s NIS, the world has a credible originator of actionable intelligence to deal with this monster called terrorism in whatever form - traditional or modern.

I summed up my reflections as my eyes panned across the UN General Assembly Hall, and in it, I saw not only the potential great minds of our generation in this resolve, but also the enclave of hearts where this collaborative will of the global war on terror can begin.

I reflected on home; rather troubled by this Westgate Anniversary, where, by the grace of God, and the little celebrated humble work of our very own NIS and other security agencies, largely went unnoticed, perhaps for the better.

I flew back from New York with one invaluable lesson. The world must collaborate to end the war on terror.

The writer is the Chairperson of the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations and MP for Belgut.