Terrorism: A Minus of Globalization

By: Usman Ali - [social]
Terrorism: A Minus of Globalization?

An US soldier said recently in a TV interview, 'we are living in a very dangerous time, no one knows who might be the next victim at the hands of terrorists. No one knows on which unseen bullet one's name is written.'

Acts of terrorism in the world are increasing in number day by day. But these terrorist attacks seem not to be centered towards the soil of one country or towards the citizen of specific state. On global level these acts of terrorism create many ups and downs in political and economic arena for the world in no times.

As usual every act of terrorism leaves many unanswered questions like why did it happen? What are the motives behind these attacks? Why often people from third world are suspected to involve such sort of activities? What are major causative forces behind these kinds of acts?

The question is still alive that what are the deep-rooted factors behind the phenomena of terrorism? One identified religion per se as the root cause of terrorism. But which religions are so problematic? Certainly one didn't consider the Dalai Lama part of the terrorist wave. Nor did one consider Christian missionaries and Muslim scholars who traveled the world over the last many centuries to be part of the problem. The problem may not be religion, but rather our difficulty in discussing about other factors in broader sense, and its diverse explanation.

In the world, we are living; changes are coming very rapidly in every tier of life and at every level. These changes are outcomes of globalization. As a result of globalization integration among countries has increased and it has become possible to contact all countries with a single fiber. Globalization refers to the increasing integration of economies around the world, particularly through trade and financial flows. The term sometimes also refers to the movement of people (labor) and knowledge (technology) across international borders. Countries, who integrated rapidly and efficiently with the prevailing world economic system, get benefit of globalization. They are now considering as developed nations. For those nations who are unable to get benefit of globalization, in these countries globalization, acts like a catalyst to promote social evils like inequality, unemployment and poverty. Globalization has become the order of the day. It is creating imbalance in the economic resource of the world especially for the third world countries. They are the victims of low literacy rate, less usage of hi-tech technology, lack of basic health facilities, inequality, inflation, lack of income generating opportunities, low flow of capital and global economic stratification. For example Only OECD countries produce 77% of the overall GDP in the world and constitute merely 15% of world population. The total GDP of Great Britain is 1557billion $ which is greater than 34 countries including the UNDP Human Development Report of the year 2003.

Even this gap at individual level is very high like Per Capita income in Luxemburg is 45,778 $ which is highest at this time in the world is 480 times greater than the world's most lowest GDP per capita holding country i.e. Ethiopia with 95 $ only. World Economic Outlook studies 42 countries (representing almost 90 percent of world population) for which data are available for the entire 20th century. It reaches the conclusion that output per capita has risen appreciably but that the distribution of income among countries has become more unequal than at the beginning of the century and these inequalities are due to globalization.

With this process of rapid globalization, resources of the world are going into the hands of few one. This transformation of resources through globalization occurred in such a systematic way that it develop one part of the world and left the other undeveloped. The extraction of resources from less developed countries of the world towards the advanced developed center create chronic deprivation in the masses of poor and less developed countries while the elite of these countries enjoy luxurious life.

On the other hand, masses of third world countries have been deprived of the use of their basic resources, which they own. They are also told what to do and how to do but not why to do?

This sense of deprivation from the resources is creating an apathetic condition in the youth. As they are hopeless, having no emotions towards their major aims in their lives, without any future plan and deprived of from basic necessities of life. They have becomes the victim of apathy--it means insensitivity, helplessness and hopelessness, (Bay Hissi and/or Bay Bussi) it is defined as lack of interest or concern especially regarding matters of general concern or importance. It also relates to lack of feelings or emotions, and having impassiveness). This apathetic condition, which creates hopelessness, helplessness and denial of social realities, are creating frustration into the youth of these countries. These apathetic conditions that are consequences of globalization compel people to take such sort of initiatives, which are terrorist activities in the eyes of 'Civilized World'. The dilemma of the world and especially on the part of social scientists is that they are unable to define the both terms in an adequate manner, which could be acceptable by everyone throughout the globe. Both the concepts of terrorism and of globalization have become almost 'empty signifier' meaning at the same time everything and nothing.

The attacks in Madrid and Floja were also outcome of apathetic conditions of one of the group and to get rid of their apathetic conditions. As this group would be unable to bring change for large segment of the society so they choose other way to attract the world towards them and register their protest.

Actually Terrorism is always a weapon of politically disempowered and desperate those feel that they are unable to voice their grievance through conventional political process. In order to combat them effectively, the world needs to understand the terrorists' frustration.

What Madeleine Albright former secretary of States suggested in a conference's opening: 'that the assault on dignity, on the one hand, and the lack of hope for the future, on the other, moves people to the desperation that is associated with terrorism.'

Focus should be on the route cause of these apathetic conditions rather handling violent people with power, as by using force it would foster terrorism rather to combat it. In many countries criminal are not send to jail, but towards some psychologist who try to know the main factors behind criminal's motives which create an urge to commit criminal act. Then why USA and allies are not using the same methodology in case of terrorist activities. They should treat this phenomenon of terrorism like a professional psychologist to know the main factors behind terrorist activities and then set the objectives to eliminate those factors, which compel one to do act of terrorism. And the world is going to consider unjust globalization as one of the main factor.

Globalization is no doubt a blessing from disguise for poor and less developed countries, if it is justice based. Globalization from which both poor and rich countries could get equal benefit is in the best interest of the world peace.

With all these due facts and figures, the process of globalization does not seem to have stopped and the form of it is not much different from the one experienced before the 9/11. An expensive economic globalization agenda is one of four policies priorities United States President Bush ask congress to address immediately following the attacks of September 11.

It could be argued that globalization has an effect on terrorism, but exactly a reverse one that intended, that instead of weakening the position hegemonic power, it actually reinforces it. Hence, again it could be argued that we are spinning in some kind of vicious circle where the shape of globalization, which we witness, engender terrorism and terrorism itself enforces exactly this kind of globalization- based on a hegemony of the developed nations especially United States.

the author is an development analyst and is student at Department of Sociology, University of The Punjab Lahore.

Currently he is in final semester of his Masters in Sociology.

contact usmanali2009@yahoo.com

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