Revision summary
Terrorism law is a bundle of sectoral conventions, not one world statute. UNSC 1373 and FATF gave post-2001 teeth on finance and safe haven. Hijacking and open sponsorship became harder. Definitional splits, Charter disputes, and weak territories cap efficacy. Treaties are a floor; politics and intelligence remain the walls.
Model answer
Introduction
Global conventions against terrorism are a patchwork of treaties, Security Council decisions, and financial rules. They have narrowed safe havens. They have not produced one agreed crime of terrorism or an end to the tactic.
Body
The legal web
- Sectoral UN conventions cover hijacking, hostages, terrorist bombing, terrorist financing, and nuclear terrorism, rather than one comprehensive definition.
- The 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the 1997 Terrorist Bombing Convention are the workhorses of extradition and criminalisation.
- Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001), under Chapter VII, bound all members to freeze assets and deny safe haven, a legislative leap beyond ordinary treaty pace.
- The Financial Action Task Force standards travel into domestic banking law.
Where efficacy shows
- Aviation and maritime conventions made hijacking a rarer diplomatic bargain.
- Financing rules, listing, and mutual legal assistance have raised the cost of open State sponsorship.
- Extradition webs and INTERPOL notices help when political will exists.
Where efficacy fails
- No comprehensive convention exists because “freedom fighter versus terrorist” still splits the General Assembly.
- Powerful States use exceptional self-defence claims and targeted killings that sit uneasily with the UN Charter.
- Safe havens persist in weak territories. Encryption and informal value transfer outrun old convention text.
- Human-rights blowback from emergency laws can feed the very recruitment conventions aim to dry up.
Net judgment
- Conventions are necessary floor rules. They are not a strategy. Intelligence, politics, and development sit outside the treaty page.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD T[Sectoral UN conventions] --> F[Financing bombing hijack] R[UNSC 1373 FATF] --> B[Binding finance rules] F --> E[Partial efficacy] B --> E D[No single definition] -.limits.-> E
Conclusion
Global anti-terror conventions work best as criminal-law and finance tools against named acts. Their efficacy is limited by definitional deadlock, the veto politics of listing, and the gap between text and ungoverned space. They constrain; they do not cure.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Identify and evaluate the reasons for deadlock in the WTO negotiations on fisheries between the developing and developed countries
Next question in the 2022 paper (Q4). View answer →
-
Did 1373 replace the need for conventions?
No. It bound members quickly. Sectoral treaties still supply extradite-or-prosecute detail and later ratifications.
-
Can conventions stop State terrorism debates?
They largely address non-State actors’ listed acts. State use of force remains a UN Charter and political question.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2024 · Q7(b) · PSIR GS 2 · 15 marks
Critically examine India's persistent refusal to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) despite being recognized as a de facto nuclear power. -
2023 · Q1(d) · PSIR GS 2 · 10 marks
What is the structure and functions of International Court of Justice? -
2023 · Q5(e) · PSIR GS 2 · 10 marks
What diplomatic steps has India taken to articulate the interests of the Global South in International Politics? -
2022 · Q2(c) · PSIR GS 2 · 15 marks
Describe the composition of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Discuss its voluntary jurisdiction -
2022 · Q6(c) · PSIR GS 2 · 15 marks
Discuss the reasons behind India's refusal to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT)
More from this paper
Q1(a) · UPSC Mains 2022 · PSIR GS 2 · 10 marks
Discuss the main limitations of the comparative method to the study of Political Science.
Comparative Politics
Comparison substitutes for experiment, as Lijphart argued. Mill’s designs fail when variables outnumber cases. Galton’s problem and conceptual stretching are standing limits. Official data and Eurocentric concepts add political distortion. The method is disciplined inference, not a controlled trial.
Q1(b) · UPSC Mains 2022 · PSIR GS 2 · 10 marks
What are the main challenges faced by the developing countries in the era of globalisation?
Globalisation
Globalisation opens markets and tightens external rules. Wallerstein’s hierarchy and Prebisch’s trade concern still describe many late developers. Capital flight, TRIPS, and farm subsidies in the North cut policy space. Inequality, informality, and climate costs are domestic faces of the same pressure. Regional and South–South bargains are the usual reply, not autarky.
Q1(c) · UPSC Mains 2022 · PSIR GS 2 · 10 marks
Discuss the commonalities between the Marxist and Realist approach to the study of International Politics.
Approaches to the Study of International Relations
Both approaches deny that trade and law automatically pacify world politics. Carr’s critique of utopia feeds realist and Marxist readings. Morgenthau and Waltz stress State power; Lenin and Wallerstein stress capital and hierarchy. Institutions are treated as masks or tools, not as a world government in waiting. The commonality is conflictual materialism; the split is State versus class.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.