Alderdice to explore links between terror and fundamentalism

TERRORISM AND religious fundamentalism can both be understood as a group response to disrespect and humiliation, according to psychiatrist, psychotherapist and politician Lord John Alderdice, who will speak at an international conference in Dublin today.

In his lecture at the European Symposium in Group Analysis, Lord Alderdice will suggest that the international "War on Terror" response to the September 11th, 2001, attacks may be deeply flawed in the way it sees fundamentalism as being directly linked to radicalisation and terrorism.

"Fundamentalism emerges in particular political contexts where there has been serious trauma and uncertainty which brings out fear and aggression," says Lord Alderdice.

However, the overwhelming majority of people who hold fundamentalist views do not support overt violence in the form of terrorism. Indeed, many of those who become radicals aren't religious fundamentalists to begin with, he maintains.

Through his work, Lord Alderdice has travelled to conflict zones in Latin America, southeast Asia, the Balkans and the Middle East, to speak with terrorist groups. "The notion of injustice, humiliation and disrespect comes through in all these places," he explains.

"Until people in any conflict [have already] begun to turn away from violence as a means of solving their predicament, they are unlikely to be prepared to accept that the prize of peace is worth the price of peace," he says.

The former leader of the Alliance Party in Northern Ireland, Lord Alderdice was one of the key negotiators of the Belfast Agreement.

He suggests the whole peace process was "a kind of group therapy in which people began to develop relationships with each other". He also argues that only a new culture of mutual respect can prevent violence from returning.

Lord Alderdice will speak about the rise of religious fundamentalism around the world and how when viewed as a group phenomenon, Islamic and Christian fundamentalism share many similarities both in their "cycles of regressive thinking and action" and in their connections to political instability and uncertainty.

There is hope in the new peace processes around the world, whose aims are not only to contain violence but also to build relationships between different communities, according to Lord Alderdice.

However, he remains concerned about a new generation of European leaders who are more interested in using the EU as a platform for economic power to rival the US, Russia and China.

• Lord Alderdice will deliver his paper at the 14th European Symposium in Group Analysis at Trinity College Dublin today. The conference continues until Friday.