The region is in a war of ideas. And extremist ideas have become the key commodity in this war, which is destroying the region and threatening the disintegration of countries.
The spread of social media tools has made it easy for terror merchants to recruit the young and seek finance.
Therefore, the list of terror groups issued by the UAE on Saturday is an important milestone in the fight against terrorism and attempting to put out the fires raging across our Arab region.
The UAE has always projected an example of the prosperous, moderate and innovation-driven state that should be followed by other countries in the developing world.
Its success story should be imitated by other countries that have instead engaged in policies that lead to either violent uprising or civil wars.
Today, the UAE is spelling exactly the remedy to regional ills.
Terrorism must be fought hard and terror groups must be stopped. The UAE anti-terror list, which designates 85 groups as terrorist, shows the seriousness of the country in fighting this evil and an attempt to tell other countries to join the just fight against war mongers and terror merchants.
The UAE cannot do it alone.
Other countries have to step in and shoulder their share of responsibility in stopping these terrorist groups from further waging ideological wars and sucking in our youth into the inferno.
The West has a responsibility too. Groups that operate in western countries, exploiting the relaxed rules, must stop the influx of money and recruits to radical groups fighting in Syria, Iraq, Libya and other hotspots.
Today, the UAE made it very clear it will not tolerate such activity on its soil or by its citizens.
Other countries, especially in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) must do the same. Because it is futile for one country to ban a group, designated by the international community as terrorist, while the same group is supported by others.
