In recent years, terrorism has been primarily viewed by the United States as an international and foreign policy issue. Numerous acts of state-sponsored terrorists and of foreign-based groups have given support to this notion. While U.S. policies, citizens and interest are prime targets for international terrorism -- in 2000 approximately 47% of all terrorist incidents worldwide were committed against U.S. citizens or property according to the U.S. Department of State - the vast majority of those acts took place on foreign soil. U.S. public perception of terrorism as primarily an overseas issue was dramatically changed by the September 11, 2001 attacks.

On April 30, 2001, the Department of State released its Patterns of Global Terrorism report (Patterns 2000). In 2000, casualties associated with terrorism worldwide were up from 1999 data. The report indicates that worldwide deaths from terrorist incidents increased from 233 in 1999 to 405 dead in 2000. The number of wounded increased from 706 to 791. In terms of casualties by region, Asia ranked first; Africa, second; and the Middle East, third. In terms of number of attacks by region, Latin America ranked first, Asia, second, and Africa third. In 2000, the number of terrorist attacks declined in significantly in Western Europe, and slightly in the Middle East and Eurasia.

Both timing and target selection by terrorist groups can have significant political and economic impact on many activities ranging from U.S. commercial activities to the Middle East peace process. Some analysts have expressed concern that radical Islamic groups may seek to exploit economic and political instabilities in Saudi Arabia. Other potential target nations of such groups include Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, India, Jordan, Turkey, and Pakistan.

Inherent in Patterns 2000 is a concern that a decline in state sponsorship of terrorism has moved terrorism eastward from Libya, Syria, and Lebanon to South Asia. The result: more U.S. policy focus on Usama Bin Laden and the alliance of groups operating out of Afghanistan with the acquiescence of the Taliban. A heavy area of focus remains the ability of terrorists to raise funds through non-state sources, often through charitable contributions, kidnapping, and drug trafficking.

The destruction of the World Trade and the severe damage to the Pentagon, together with other incidents such as the bombings of the U.S. Embassies in East Africa, of the World Trade Center in 1993, and of the Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires may indicate a desire to inflict higher casualties on what are generally less protected civilian targets. It may be that state-sponsored terrorism is decreasing significantly as, in a post-Cold War era, groups find it harder to obtain sponsors and rogue states are less willing to risk exposure to broad based and severe international sanctions. In this environment, access to private sources of funding for terrorist enterprises become critical.

International terrorism is recognized as a threat to U.S. foreign and domestic security; it also undermines a broad range of U.S. foreign policy goals. Terrorism erodes international stability, a major foreign and economic policy objective for the United States. Terrorist groups often seek to destabilize of overthrow governments, sometimes democratically elected - or friendly - governments, and such groups often draw their support from public discontent over the perceived inability of governments to deliver peace, security, and economic prosperity. Efforts by governments to enhance national or regional economic development and stability may become the object of particularly virulent attacks. In this regard, and because of their avowed goals to overthrow secular regimes in countries with large Muslim populations, extremist Islamic fundamentalist groups, and Iran’s support for such groups, are seen a s a particular threat to U.S. foreign policy goals and objectives. (See a complete overview in Terrorism, the Future, and U.S. Foreign Policy.)

There are 29 groups that currently are designated by the Secretary of State as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.

The designations carry legal consequences:

• It is unlawful to provide funds or other material support to a designated FTO.
• Representatives and certain members of a designated FTO can be denied visas or excluded from the United States.
• US financial institutions must block funds of designated FTOs and their agents and must report the blockage to the US Department of the Treasury.

Middle Eastern Foreign Terrorist Organizations