Whole world needs to come together
In Britain recently, scores of people died in a bombing incident in Manchester city: while the bomber appears to have been inspired by conservative and hard-line preaching’s of the Islamic State in the Middle East, the case of Manchester bomber is another story which depicts the isolation of a mindset where killing and bloodshed is taken as justifiable act
A vast majority of terrorist attacks and diplomatic rifts that have taken place globally in the last few weeks have engendered a troubling discourse that has started to question the world’s ability to tackle rapidly rising varied threats such as militancy, climate, economic, political and other issues.
In the midst of these challenges, the growing challenge of terrorism is the one issue that is likely to unravel the world in the coming years. A global polarisation is occurring with regard to violence and terrorism. The reasons that terrorism has continued to grow despite the availability of modern, sophisticated and lethal war ware-withal which states possess is due to the deepening social, cultural and ideological splits of global community where non-state actors feel fundamentally motivated to carry out violence to achieve objectives that couldn’t be achieved in any other way.
This dangerous phenomenon is not only limited to one religious groups willing to carry out violent acts against another group; rather, it has inspired violence and militancy against groups which believe, practice and belong to one tribal, ethnic, cultural or religious backgrounds. For instance, the recent attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan which killed more than 150 people were carried out by an insurgent group that shares ethnic and religious affiliations of the people who died in the incident. In the Middle East, the ongoing civil war in Syria has consumed hundreds of thousands or lives while millions of families have been displaced. Majority of the militant groups which are fighting in the country, either have religious associations with groups that they are fighting against or share cultural or political ties. In Britain recently, scores of people died in a bombing incident in Manchester city: while the bomber appears to have been inspired by conservative and hard-line preaching’s of the Islamic State in the Middle East, the case of Manchester bomber is another story which depicts the isolation of a mindset where killing and bloodshed is taken as justifiable act.
Now these incidents bring us to the most important part of this whole debate: why all of these incidents have occurred in the first place? Sadly, the rise of terrorism as global phenomena is by and large the result of how states have gone on to exploit and utilise the economic, cultural and ideological diversities as agents of discord and conflict. While it’s true that ISIS is losing territorial grounds in Iraq and Syria, the group’s ideological appeal has clearly intensified globally with suicide bombers striking in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Yemen, Turkey, France, Britain, and the United States among other states.
Such ideological motivations and grievances primarily led by states, which are drivers of borderless militancy are not likely to come to halt unless a unified global effort is put in place. While there is an imminent need of a joint global counterterrorism approach, it’s condemnable that states continue to formulate their policies in zones that can only exacerbate the challenge of terrorism on global level.
A very recent example of how discords among states have given birth to militancy as the most threatening phenomena of the 21th century is the confrontation between Qatar and number of other Arab GCC states, particularly Saudi Arabia. The rifts among the GCC states have widened after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt’s announcement of severing diplomatic relations with Qatar and effectively blocking majority of the country’s trade and commercial links.
The development has forced other Muslim states into choosing sides. In an apparent show of support for Qatar, Turkey has principally agreed to deploy troops to Qatar, a move which is surely going to enrage Riyadh and other GCC member states supporting Saudi Arabia’s stance. Iran, which is the chief rival of Saudi Arabia, has offered to help Qatar in an effort to showcase diplomatic support for the country. Moreover, while countries like Pakistan are not likely to choose sides in the recent Gulf States crisis, on Pakistan’s behalf, the mere act of giving public statements, saying that Islamabad doesn’t support one side or the other, shows the intensity of pressure, direct or indirect, which Pakistan’s leadership may be feeling at the moment. Incidents such the recent crisis among the GCC states leave implications for states that are not even involved directly. This happens when public pressure or support in favor of one country or the other piles up, dividing the population on ideological lines. Pakistan has gone through this phase before particularly during the time Iranian revolution which divided Pakistan’s Sunni and Shia population on religious lines.
Diplomatic and political tussles such as the one which is currently underway in the Middle East, is only going to help militants by making their mobilisation drives more effective, which is directly counter-productive for any peace efforts in the region. To eradicate the threat of global terrorism, the world needs to come together as one rather than supporting militancy in one form or the other.
