The role of “positive action” in countering terrorism

The issue of terrorism as a global problem occupies a large space in everybody’s lives nowadays. Thus, many researchers from different disciplines try to understand its origins, causes, objectives, effects and means of countering it. In countering terrorism, initially hard power has been used by countries all over the world as the main strategy for a long time. Turkey also has tried this strategy and it is found to be ineffective. Then, the countries decided to try soft power as an alternative approach for countering terrorism. To some extent, the use of soft power has been found effective for countering terrorism but the desired outcome has not been gained. With the increase of terror threats at global and regional scale researchers started to search for more effective methods in the fight against modern terrorism, which is really complicated to counter. In this context, this paper is an attempt to provide a new approach in countering terrorism, which is “Positive Action” proposed by the scholar Bediuzzaman Said Nursi.  The Positive Action proposes that various instruments for fighting against terrorism should be used in a planned and coherent way within the framework of democratic, ethical and human values. It is believed that the positive action approach will be viewed by the people and the states as fruitful and will be credited with saving the countries and their people from terrorism. For this purpose, brief definitions of terror, terrorism, soft and hard power will be given. Then, the origins of terror according to Nursi will be mentioned. Finally, the role and principles of positive action in countering terrorism will be presented with practical recommendations.