New York – Liberia has called for a fundamental shift in the global fight against terrorism, urging the United Nations Security Council to move beyond reacting to attacks and build a proactive system of resilience capable of confronting extremist recruitment, illicit financing, emerging technology and the social conditions that allow terrorism to take root.
Liberia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Lewis G. Brown II, made the appeal during a Security Council meeting on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts on September 11, 2026, marking the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.
Brown said the anniversary offered the international community an important opportunity to remember the victims while also examining whether the international security system created after September 11 remains sufficiently prepared for the terrorism threats of today.
He acknowledged the decisive action taken by the Security Council following the attacks, particularly the adoption of Resolutions 1368 and 1373, which strengthened international cooperation against terrorism and established measures targeting terrorist financing, safe havens and international cooperation. He also pointed to subsequent resolutions addressing foreign terrorist fighters, illicit financial networks and organized crime.
But Brown said the nature of terrorism has changed substantially over the past quarter century and that the international response must change with it.
According to the Liberian diplomat, terrorist organizations are no longer dependent solely on traditional structures and physical networks. Instead, they are increasingly decentralized and digitally connected, giving extremist actors new opportunities to recruit, finance operations and coordinate activities across borders.
Brown said terrorist groups are exploiting online environments, digital financial systems, artificial intelligence and commercially available unmanned aerial vehicles, creating security challenges that were not at the center of international counterterrorism efforts in 2001.
His assessment placed technology at the center of the changing security environment. Brown argued that violent extremist organizations are adapting rapidly to technological developments and that governments must therefore improve their own ability to detect and disrupt terrorist activity in digital spaces.
Liberia called for deeper cooperation between member states, the United Nations and responsible technology companies to prevent online recruitment and disrupt illicit digital financing. Brown said such cooperation must be accompanied by safeguards to ensure that counterterrorism policies do not become instruments for restricting legitimate civic activity or violating fundamental rights.
He stressed that security and human rights must remain connected, arguing that measures taken in the name of counterterrorism must be necessary, proportionate and consistent with international law.
Brown’s call for a new approach extended beyond technology and military operations. He argued that terrorism feeds on local grievances, economic desperation and ungoverned spaces, meaning that a successful long term response must address the conditions that allow extremist groups to attract and retain support.
“Terrorism is fundamentally a parasite,” Brown told the Council, emphasizing that extremist movements do not create schools, provide healthcare or build productive economies, but instead survive by exploiting weaknesses within communities.
For Liberia, that means prevention must become a central pillar of international counterterrorism policy. Brown urged the international community to place women, young people and local communities at the center of prevention strategies, rather than relying primarily on security operations after violence has already occurred.
He drew on Liberia’s own experience of conflict and recovery, noting the role women played in rebuilding social cohesion and bridging divisions during the country’s journey from war toward sustained peace.
Brown said young people should be approached through education, digital literacy and dignified economic opportunities. He argued that creating opportunities for young people can reduce the vulnerability that extremist organizations exploit while strengthening communities against radicalization.
The Liberian diplomat also called for stronger support for countries that are expected to implement international counterterrorism obligations but lack sufficient resources and technical capacity.
He said international commitments should not become unfunded mandates for developing countries. Instead, assessments of security needs should be linked directly to sustained and demand driven capacity building.
Brown specifically called for investment in judicial integrity, border technology, digital forensics and financial intelligence units, particularly across countries that serve as frontline or transit states.
The appeal carries particular importance for Africa, where Brown said terrorism has placed an enormous burden on communities and displaced millions of people. He warned that instability in the Sahel is increasingly moving toward coastal West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea, creating a security environment in which countries such as Liberia must strengthen their preparedness.
Liberia also stressed the importance of African regional institutions in responding to terrorism. Brown reaffirmed Liberia’s support for African Union and regional counterterrorism mechanisms and said regional organizations bring advantages that cannot easily be replicated from outside the continent, including proximity to affected communities, knowledge of local conditions and the ability to respond to threats within regional contexts.
He argued that African regionalism and United Nations multilateralism should operate as partners rather than separate systems. Stronger cooperation between the two, he said, would create a more effective response to terrorism and transnational crime.
Brown’s remarks also carried a warning against treating terrorism exclusively as a military problem. While acknowledging the need for security responses, he argued that kinetic force by itself cannot eliminate the conditions that allow extremist movements to survive.
The Liberian position therefore places prevention, institutional capacity, economic opportunity, technology and human rights alongside traditional security measures as essential elements of the international response.
Brown said the international community should judge its commitment to preventing terrorism by the strength of the systems it builds before the next attack occurs rather than by the statements issued after lives have already been lost.
On the 25th anniversary of September 11, Liberia called on the Security Council to change the emphasis of the global response from reaction to preparation, from condemnation to resilience and from isolated national action to coordinated international and regional prevention.
“Libera calls on this Council to move from reactive condemnation to proactive resilience,” Brown said.
He urged the international community to ensure that terrorist organizations cannot find safe havens, access illicit financial resources, exploit technological systems or recruit from communities that have been left without meaningful opportunities.
For Liberia, the central message at the Security Council was that defeating terrorism requires more than defeating terrorists on the battlefield. It requires building societies, institutions and regional systems strong enough to deny violent extremist groups the conditions they need to survive.
