Impact of Terrorism on Kenya’s Foreign Policy Behavior, 2015-2019

In the recent years, Kenya has enacted various foreign policy changes in regard to tackling threats to national security. However, despite making adjustments on the country's foreign policy, Kenya remains attractive field for terror activities. Therefore, the study was motivated in examining the nexus between terrorism and foreign policy. It assessed the role of terrorist activities in shaping behavior of Kenya's foreign policy. The study was grounded on three theories: linkage, liberal, and realism theoretical paradigms. The study adopted longitudinal descriptive survey design. The study's 118 respondents were drawn from the ministry of foreign affairs, Kenya national counter-terrorism center, The 4 experts security from the Anti - terrorism Police Unit. The study employed a mixed approach to data collection and data analysis. Regarding the first objective, it was revealed that Kenya's foreign policy has continued to shift in relation to the varying patterns of global terrorism as a human security threat. It emerged that local institutions tasked with addressing terrorism were effective in their mandate due to the inherent structural challenges facing such institutions. Moreover, it emerged that Kenya was moderately prepared and the country had been responding well by benchmarking and adopting counter-terrorism practices employed in the rest of the world. Lastly, regarding the challenges, the findings demonstrated that Kenya struggled with weak regional support as well as lack of full commitment from a faction of the international community. Therefore, the study concludes that Kenya has been in the race of adjusting her foreign policy in the perspective of the realities presented by modern acts of terrorism. In addition, the study concludes that local institutors tasked with combating international terrorism have been less effective in executing their mandate largely due to structural challenges. Also, Kenya has aligned her foreign policy priorities to reflect the new patterns of terrorism activities as witnessed in the rest of the world. Ultimately, the study reaches conclusion that effective implementation of counter-terrorism foreign policy strategies have been slowed down by both domestic and internationally aligned obstacles. The study recommends that the Kenya identifies new opportunities for counter-terrorism collaboration at international level. Moreover, adequate resourcing of all the institutions mandated with fighting terrorism in the country is needed. Besides, through collaborative efforts with developed states, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can strengthen alliances on mutual collaboration on cyber-security and cyberterrorism. Finally, the government of Kenya should enhance financial and resource allocation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its pursuit of seeking long-term international collaboration in the war against terrorism.