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| Beyond Terror: The Truth About the Real Threats to Our World |
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| by Chris Abbott, Paul Rogers & John Sloboda |
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| Rider
Conflict resolution |
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1.
A Clear and Present Danger?
The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.
Hermann Goering
Introduction
The sight of planes flying into the Twin Towers in New York on 11 September 2001 has become an iconic image of our times. That day affected people in so many different ways, but in most of the world horror, sadness, disbelief, anger and solidarity were the immediate responses to the events unfolding live on our televisions. The next day the French liberal newspaper Le Monde famously summed up the mood by declaring: ‘Nous sommes tous Américains’ – we are all Americans.
During the five years that have followed those attacks, the sentiments of that headline have been squandered. The ongoing ‘war on terror’ and, in particular, the invasion of Iraq mean that not many people feel the same way; the concern over al-Qaida is now almost equalled by the anger felt at America and its allies. However, one thing from that day which has remained is an almost unquestioned belief that international terrorism is one of, if not the, greatest threats to security that we face.
For example, an unexpected outcome of the build-up to the US presidential election in 2004 was the rebirth of the long dead Committee on the Present Danger (CPD). First formed in 1950, the committee focused on convincing the American public and politicians of the grave danger posed by the Soviet Union. Following the end of theCold War, the committee slipped back into the shadows. However, in July 2004 it re-formed to face what it considers another clear and present danger to the United States: international Islamic terrorism.
The organisation’s website, which flashes up photos of terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid and London, asserts that the organisation is dedicated to ‘protecting and expanding democracy by winning the global war against terrorism and the movements and ideologies that drive it’.2 The committee is co-chaired by former CIA director James Woolsey, who is well known to consider the fight against what the CPD calls ‘global radical Islamist and fascist terrorist movements’ to be World War Four (with World War Three having been the Cold War).
They, and others like them, have replaced ‘red under the bed’ with ‘terrorist at the gate’ – complete with the paranoia and climate of fear associated with such a mind-set. This climate sets the context for the claim that ‘terrorism is the greatest twenty-first-century threat’. This claim has become a mantra of Western leaders, and has been stamped on the public consciousness by constant press and media hype. However, is international terrorism really the single greatest threat to world security? If not, how can the ‘war on terror’ help us deal with the real threats we face?
Identifying Trends
Contemporary threats are often interconnected. Led, in large part, by the United Nations, there is growing international awareness that problems such as international terrorism or armed conflict cannot be dealt with in isolation from those of extreme poverty or environmental degradation.4 These are all global issues, which threaten human security as well as state security, and they recognise no national borders.
9/11 demonstrated in the most dramatic way that rich Western countries cannot insulate themselves from developments taking place elsewhere. It also illustrated the way that the different societies that make up humanity are interconnected and interdependent today as never before: according to the World Bank, the economic consequences of the attacks probably led to tens of thousands more children dying worldwide and millions more people living below the poverty line.5 So only by working together will countries be able to overcome the threats they face.
To do this, though, we need to understand the nature and extent of the various threats to both our national security and wider international security. It is not enough simply to insist that terrorism is the greatest threat to the world, when the evidence does not support this claim. In fact, our research paints a very different picture of the fundamental threats that we all face, with these threats coming from four interconnected trends:
climate change
competition over resources
marginalisation of the majority world
global militarisation
There are, of course, other trends to consider, but those we have concentrated on are the ones that are most likely to lead to large-scale loss of life – of a magnitude unmatched by other potential threats – and have the greatest potential to spark violent conflict, civil unrest or destabilisation that threatens the international system as we know it. These trends are also interrelated. Progress in mitigating against one of them can be undone by poor decisions made in relation to another.
Another important trend, that of international terrorism, is discussed throughout the book as it will continue to dominate Western security policies, particularly those of the United States and its principal allies. While terrorism is unlikely to be a major driver of global insecurity in itself, it can be encouraged by current approaches to security and the factors outlined above. As we will show, however, current approaches are based on a flawed understanding of movements such as al-Qaida. This means that the policies currently promoted to deal with the threat of terrorism are inadequate and inappropriate.
The task today is to develop global responses to these global threats. The Cold War way of thinking focused on security as ‘defence’. This approach has continued to dominate attitudes to international security, even though the global trend in major armed conflict and inter-state wars has continued to decrease in the post-Cold War era and new challenges have emerged to threaten peace and security. The failure of unilateral national solutions means we now need collective security which promotes a shared and sustainable responsibility for managing these new threats and has respect for international law and fundamental human rights at its heart.
Terrorism – the Greatest Threat to the World?
Many world leaders seem to agree that terrorism is the greatest danger we face:
'Terrorism is the greatest twenty-firstcentury threat.’
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, May 2003
'Terrorism is the greatest threat facing free democracies in the twenty-first century.’
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, May 2006
'The greatest threat this world faces is the danger of extremists and terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction.’
US President George W. Bush, September 2005
‘No challenge is greater than the threat of terrorism.’
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, May 2006
'Terrorism is the greatest threat to world peace.’
Russian President Vladimir Putin, September 2000
But are they right?
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| RRP £4.99 • Paperback |
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| Publication Date: 05/04/2007 •
128 pages • A format • ISBN/EAN: 9781846040702 |
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