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| H.E Prince Frank Ukonga |
UN @ 70: Frank Ukonga Lecture 55: Terrorism and global Security Challenges: A functional Perspective: As the message to the UN_General Assembly @ 70 :
Introduction: We commend the United Nations Organization for piloting the entropy of the world for the past truculent 70 years which is perhaps one of the most turbulent eras of Human Legacies.
Certainly at this juncture with respect to the Freudian philosophy- that an unexamined life is not worth living- it is imperative to re-examine the chequered history of the world and the remarkable contributions of the United Nations as the sole organization saddle with the responsibility of leading the entire globe.
The United Nations was a child of circumstance established after the second world war seventy years ago in 1945 to replace the League of Nations with somewhat similar charter and orientation.
Quickly, it is praiseworthy the role of the United Nations more as conciliatory to the West and the Eastern block in the cold war era after the partitioning of Germany. This was the most difficult period for the entire world as the former Soviet Union and the western world led by the United States where constantly at daggers drawn over fight for supremacy and ideological concurrence. The role of the UN during this trying period of the cold war is praiseworthy as, arms race, economic and political and ideological wars were the norm and no part of the world was exempted.
Decades of Wars and strives of the Cold War Era: The battle ground between the West and the East kept shifting : Today it is Cuba, tomorrow it is Argentina as in fork land Ireland wars, the next day it is Asia as in Vietnam wars, the next it is in Latin America, next it is Africa as in the Apartheid, Congo wars, Patrice Lumumba, Samora Micheal, Agustinho Neto/ Savinbi, etc... next month it is in Sub Saharan Africa Ghana as in the toppling of Kwameh Nkrumah, and his partner Secou Toure of Cote D ivore,...next it is the Middle East as in the wars between the Arabs and Israel over Palestine...next it is Iran versus America or Soviet Union at war with Afghanistan...next it is the horn of Africa as in Somalia, Ogaden, Ethiopia next it is Uganda - Idi Amin ...next it is central Africa Republic, Sudan,Chard....next it was...in the Persian Gulf as in the gulf war of Reagan, George Bush versus Iraqi Saddam Hussein...next it was Yemen, next it was Assad Senior of Syria, next it was Anward Sadat vs Israel....and now it is Ukraine and Syria...and Isis....the list of crisis regions has been endless for the past 70 years...and somehow the United Nations Organization had always stood up to its leadership role and a solution evolved to resolve all these crises of the past 70 years of world history...this is praiseworthy and remarkable...kudos to the UNO...It had stood the test of time that United we stand as one human family while divided we shall fall.
International Terrorism:
At the turn of the 21 century precisely on 9/11, the world witnessed a historic turning point in the affairs of the concurrence where two twin towers in the United States was attacked by Terror organization named Al Qaeda...killing lots of people in the great city of New York of the United States. This heralded a novae strategy of warfare that became popularly known as Terrorism. International terrorism spread rapidly within the past 15 years to engulf the entire world...no concept or location is safe from terrorists...they have virtually tried all tricks of the element of surprise and of the games without rules under the sun including the suicide bombing of targets and locations on a global scale.
Terrorist Groups:
Al Qaeda: Under the leadership of Bin Laden was the most notorious terror brigade that set the ball rolling for the internationalization of terrorism and its subsequent universality. And within a few years several others terror groups began to link up with Bin Ladan which surprisingly were able to put up considerable resistance to organized state army and survived to the chargim of the entire world...they got hold of territories and form quasi-states like usurpers of the Medieval era and historians will find their organizational structure, invincibility,and tactical and strategic warfare and weaponry a school of interesting study in the future to come. This is not addressed to laud the beasts that cannibalize the peoples and coerce peoples to live in fear but it is a novel contribution to research and contemporary thinking.
Boko Haram of Sub Saharan Africa:
Other Terror group like the Boko Haram of Sub Saharan Africa,with affiliates in Mali, Sudan, Chad, , Niger Republic, Burkina Faso etc soon invaded sub Saharan Africa making the region virtually ungovernable for some period of times and are still regrouping after disgorgement by the efforts of the Joint Task Force,Regional command initiatives etc.
The Afghan Mullahs:
Afghanistan a relatively sedentary backward Nation at the outskirts of civilized Europe and Soviet Union suddenly became a point of international concern as it became a haven for Terrorist organization; sustained and protected by the hilly terrains and the growth of poppy crops to fund international attacks on our collective civilization
Yemen
Suddenly Yemen a landlocked enclave in the aspects of Asian Minor joined as another possibility of the training ground and operational headquarters for another version of terror brigade.
ISIS:
The ISIS is the most recent international version of Terror organization with claims to statehood and widespread influence on the growing redundant restive youth on an international scale.
Others'
There are spinster of terrorist all over the world in contemporary times as the use of terror to achieve financial and political significances has been given a maximum international interpretation and they somehow have claims to portable funding from the fifth columnist, drug peddling, robberies, ransoms from high profile kidnapping that are widespread on a global basis.
Causes of the rise of Terror groups: Ideology: Exoneration of Marxism:
The list of Terror groups may be inexhaustible; they all conform to the same underlying reality that perhaps they are agitating for one thing or the other and by the theory of Machiavelli where peaceful means fail to resolve the issue they go underground and become a terror to the community. The Marxist school of the doctrine of Revolution due to class struggles could be exonerated as not culpable in the context of ideological persuasions of the so far terror groups that abound...A close study of the reasons for the rise of terrorism and its subsequent internationalization is more tied to religious bigotry, poverty, illiteracy, homelessness, frustrations, indoctrination, redundancies of skilled and unskilled labor and perhaps the Machiavellian philosophy , this is on the side of recruitment of operatives and foot soldier terrorists but on a far-reaching scale the sponsors are mostly of the fifth columnist who has one diabolical quest or the other..depending on their persuasions and objectives to be attained. Some Arm dealers, Arm manufacturers for profit-driven reasons are as well culpable as the remote progenitors of terrorism; while of course state terrorism and its exports for reasons of expansionism, Domination, and control, is also of considerable scale that could be classified as possible reasons for the internationalization of terrorism.
Religion causes of Terrorism::
Religious extremist has been identified as a major cause of internationalization of Terrorism. though with historical and contemporary hindsight research has proved that the contemporary international and local terrorism is not confined to one religious extremist or another. Though, in general extremist Islamic groups have laid claims to a number of operations but then the study of the ranks and file of terrorist organizations have revealed that peoples of other religions like Christianity, paganism, free thinkers, et al are members of terror groups. Whence it would be appropriate to investigate other premises of causality of terrorism and its subsequent internationalization.
Political causes of Terrorism:
Close research at the modus operandi of terrorist organizations has exposed the politically motivated reason de entre of terrorism in many regions of the world. In some instances, some politicians use local terrorist groups to settle scores among themselves in the guise of terrorism. Other research has revealed that even multi-ethnic states are somewhat prone to the political aspects as one ethnic group may be attracted to use terror groups on a nationwide scale to make the polity ungovernable and to aid its access to political and economic control and domination of the region or to perpetuate themselves in power:; as in Mali , Sudan, Angola and Burkina Faso and some Latin American countries..and some other African states...
Restive Youth, Poverty, Hunger, Homelessness, and scavenging:
poverty, unemployment, hunger frustrations, are some of the major factors that breed resentments in the productive forces of a Nation or community; when the youth are unemployed, widespread poverty, hunger ,homelessness and scavenging due mainly to the fact that most of these Nation-states have been disinherited by both the colonial imperialist and their elite leaders, and as backlash to this, a hungry man is an angry man as the saying goes, whence the youth and productive forces of the community are seduced and indoctrinated to join forces with terror group for survival reasons and not necessarily for the ideology nor for the baseline philosophy of the recruiter and that is the case with many African countries as well as Asia, America and others and this inadvertently gave birth to the internationalization of terrorism. Take note that it is virtually impossible to recruit a gainfully employed happily married person into heinous crimes against humanity.
: Exacerbation of terrorism on a global scale:
The policy thrust of the powers and supper powers: Mineral Rights vs Human Rights:
At the turn of the century and long before this era of international terrorism many powers and superpowers of the world pursue foreign policy thrusts of National interests in particular in the truculent decades of the sixties, seventies, eighties, and nineties... Most powers and superpowers ware mainly interested in protesting the supply of raw materials to feed their industries irrespective of who is in power in these regions of primordial industrial resources...whence they did business with whoever can guarantee a steady supply and aid them to access the resources of developing regions of the world. This strategy promoted mediocrity to power and truncated the growth of democracy on a global scale, as one military junta took over from another and pledged loyalties to the imperialist...This bred hatred and resentments in the generality of communities as the remote progenitor of the rise of terrorism at a later date of future; as a reactionary backlash of mundane decades of living recklessly. As these policy thrusts of imperialism impoverished the communities causing a large chunk of unemployed redundancies of skilled and unskilled labor force roaming the streets of these disinherited enclaves that are now prone to terrorism...This conforms with the laws of Frank Fanon and Antonio Gramsci, the intelligentsia of Martinique as well as that of Che Guevera, but then these are mere adaptations of Marxism and could not fit strictly into the class struggles of scientific historical and dialectical materialism of Marxism.
The overreacting strategy of the Bush Administration in the 9/11 USA:
The 9/11 bombing of the twin towers of the united state by terrorists was a turning point in the history of the Human Race where terrorism was given an international interpretation. Most critiques and researchers into the events and reactions of the United States are of dual inferences as to whether the United States overreacted by declaring total war on terrorism and went ahead to invest heavily estimated as at today as over 10 trillion dollars to fight terrorism on a global scale. Those researchers that argue that the United States overreacting exacerbated and foster, fed and created the platform for the growth and internationalization of terrorism on a global scale.
But then the subjective view, and the conservative hawks are in accord with the strategy of overreacting by the USA mainly for reasons of patronage. Another view being orchestrated in some circle of critiques who were against the overreacting of the United States to the 9/11 attack believe that the ulterior motives of the attacker and motivator and sponsor of the 9/11 attack alleged to be Bin Laden of AL Qaeda has been ultimately achieved which is addressed to outspent the United states resources on an elusive flaw war on a global scale thereby creating fear,insecurity, out pending the human and economic resources of the only surviving superpower and humbling her through the front and back doors;
In contemporary times those that held that view need be revisited critically as perhaps historically and dialectically having the semblance and substances of truth. United state was the leading economic giant of the world before the 9/11 attack and suddenly having outspent it resources, ingenuity, etc in a shadow war fell back to economic problems and China is today the leading economic giant of the world. But then the mystery of American renewal may soon be plugged to reinventing the United States back to its halcyon days status...
International Expansionist policies of the superpowers:
Another major factor being exposed by researchers is the perceived expansionist policies of the powers and supper power faced with major political and economic problems in their polity sees the reverse to the old status of neo-colonization of the young emerging democracies of the world through the back door by promoting civil and social unrest, terrorism, to make the regions ungovernable for the frail gregarious democracies addressed to lure them back into the hands of their colonial masters de facto de jure to be recolonized...and exploited to improve the earnings and zone of influence of the former colonial powers...
Terrorism as a Neo imperialist tool:
In some quarters terrorism seems as an imperialist tool created by the superpowers to dominate and control the entire world through the instrument of terror, fear, death, and grief.
Cooperate Greed of Multi-Nationals:
Muti nationals and their obsession with the philosophy of return on investment to shareholders by whatever means possible have in some quarters been indicted as perhaps part of the fifth columnist sponsoring and fueling terrorism on a global scale. Otherwise, the brute exploitations of the minerals of the developing nations nonchalantly without care to improving the lots who own these resources is also a problem of great apprehension to the youth and elders of these regions who pick up courage through militancy/ terrorism to demand their rights and share of collective responsibility.
Lack of political will, equipment, military hardware, and logistics
The aspects of being proactive to nibbling the rise of terrorism at its bud as soon as it start germinating is also a great source of concern which is traced to lack of political will to tackle the situation immediately, or lack of adequate training of the states / regional forces in counter-terrorism, lack of military hardware and ammunition, lack of financial resources to engaged the terrorist and lots of problems can be adduced in these aspects to the growth of terrorism and its subsequent internationalization.
The panacea to global terrorism::
It is strongly advised that the world evolved a marshal plan to checkmate terrorists as in the theories Martin Luther King Jn that fire cannot put out the fire, it only exacerbates it. so the solution is to go back to the drawing board to solve the remote problems causing the rise of terrorism..which most have been detailed above in the lecture.
The strategy of positive constructive engagements: Through constructive Dialogue:
The existing terror groups and their leaders could be engaged in constructive dialogue with the bait of amnesty so that they can put down their arms in exchange for support to go back to normal lives- And those politically motivated could be seduced through union government resolutions.
