Terrorism Threat and Business Continuity - Essay Example

Terrorism Threat and Business Continuity Introduction Business perpetuity or continuity is a concept that is faced with so many challenges especially in the contemporary world today. Businessmen and investors are wary of investing their resources in an environment with imminent threat to the operations of their businesses. The threat of terrorism ranks at the very top of this pyramid of challenges. Taking just one of the typical examples, after the September 11, 2001 terrorism attack on the twin towers in the United States of America, the business environment was affected drastically (Hurley-Hanson, 2006, p.480). Business stalled for some time. Many resources were used to re-stabilize the nation and start all over again. However, the main concern from the businessmen all over the globe who are faced with such challenges is whether their businesses will be affected in the event of such acts of terrorism befalling the nation in which they operate. The governments of the world today are tasked with the prerogative of ensuring that they maintain a state of stability in their nations. Billions of money are spent each year towards this effect. And the reason this is done is simple enough; without a state of stability, businesses fail and the economy crumbles. It therefore becomes a matter of paramount importance to curb the risk of terrorism if only to protect our own lives as well as sources of our livelihood. There are various ways in which governments of the world today have engaged themselves actively in the act of ensuring that they mitigate the threat posed by terrorists and in the process assure the business people of the guaranteed security for the continuity of their businesses (Crenshaw, 2000, p.405). On the same note, it is important to ensure that the measures taken to curb terrorism also fall in line with the human rights concerns. People understand that lives could be lost in the process and as such they ensure that maximum precaution is taken to align themselves with the concerns of the human rights in a civil or democratic society. To this end, this paper seeks to take an in-depth look into some of these risks and the mitigation measures applied and how they have had an effect on the business continuity as well as on the human rights concerns. It will define what terrorism is, connect it to how it is a threat to business continuity as well as human beings and finally discuss the ways of mitigating this risk. Terrorism defined Various scholars have come up with various definitions of terrorism that are all intertwined. Salazar, Rocco and Rio (2007, p. 327) state that terrorism is a deliberate and disastrous attack on key infrastructure in the world. Terrorists attack the basic infrastructure aiming at de-capacitating the nation. Such infrastructure includes the resources that are vital for the growth and development of the economy of any nation such as water and electricity. If these infrastructure are damaged through a terrorist attack, there is a high chance of the economic stability of the nations in which these happens would be affected adversely (Salazar, Rocco and Rio, 2007, p. 328). According to Etzioni (2010, p.1), terrorism is an act of terror conducted by people who use unconventional means to conduct warfare. Terrorists can neither be ranked as soldiers or criminals (Etzioni, 2010, p.2). This is because they use mechanisms that are not recognized by any institution. For example, during the world wars, the way the various nations conducted their warfare was governed by the conventions that were present during this period. According to Etzioni, 2010, p.2), one of the major convention was the Geneva convention that was designed to regulate the way nations battled and the kind of weaponry they used in this battle. According to Briggs (2006, p. 19) the major tenet and weaponry used in the terrorism activities was bombings. Bombings have come to be recognized as the main and major sign and weaponry that various terrorist operate within the current world. In an argument fronted by Briggs (2006, p.2) terrorist threat emanates from a certain tiny and marginalized minority group of people. However, Briggs (2006, p. 2) continues to state that these people are integrated in the communities in which they live in. the terrorists work in such a system and network that is recognized by the members of the communities in which they live in. Krieger and Meierrieks (2008, p. 4) concur with the definition offered by Briggs (2006, p. 19). However, Krieger and Meierrieks (2008, p. 4) goes forth to elaborate on this topic. According to them, terrorism is a situation where certain individuals deliberately use violent forms and intimidation measures to force a certain target to concede to pre-set demands. In other words, the individuals purporting to be terrorists apply pressure that could be idealistically be politically or even ideologically motivated so as to make a certain large group of people bow down and concede to a number of demands that they set upon them (Krieger and Meierrieks, 2008, p. 4). A report developed by the office of the president of the USA on June 2011, still following on the September 2001 attacks on the twin towers in the nation, stated that the threat of terrorism is concentrated among a select few of the Arabian tribes in the Middle East (The White House, 2011, p. 3). The Al’ Qaeda group that was purported to be led by Osama bin Laden was responsible for these attacks (The White House, 2011, p. 3). In the contextual definition of terrorism and terrorist activities extracted from this report, the act of terrorism is the utter destruction that stems from malicious and deliberate effort to bring destruction to the a certain place using weaponry of mass destruction(The White House, 2011, p. 4). The weaponry of mass destruction as recognized here that are preferred by these minority groups of terrorist are bombs. The following portion of this paper will look into the various mechanisms that are employed by these terrorists in their bid to exert pressure upon their targets. The portion will first take a look into the human rights convention in a bid to try and identify how human rights are upheld or disoriented in the process of countering terrorism. Business continuity will also be defined and then the three concepts, counter terrorism, human rights and business continuity integrated at a later stage of this paper. Human rights protection According to Dixon (2007, p. 28), it is important that human rights be preserved under all circumstances. The United Nations convention that came up with these rights and for which every country in the world was a signatory recognizes and upholds human rights. Every nation of the world is tasked with the protection of the human rights for the citizens of the country. Peace could not be acknowledged if there were no mechanisms in place for the protection of the rights of human beings. Terrorism threat is one of the greatest threats that people are faced with in the world today. It is the responsibility of the governments to ensure that they protect these rights by all means. Dixon (2007, p. 28) elaborates further on this matter by stating that human rights are the rights that a person is entitled to enjoyment just for the very fact of being a human being. The right to life is one of the most important rights that are recognized. It is a crime to take the life of a person arbitrary (Pedigo & Marshall, 2011, p.113; Johnstone & Haines, 2001, p.180). Life must be protected at all cost. It is even a crime to try and take out your own life (Dixon, 2007, p. 35). Business continuity Business continuity is a very important concept to the many stakeholders who rely on business for the development and growth. Several scholars had developed several intertwining definitions for business continuity. Business continuity is a concept that is used to describe the action of business attaining perpetuity. In other words, business continuity involves the process of ensuring that business activities continue regardless of the challenges that businesses face in the day to day endeavors. Since business drives the economy of a nation, it becomes important to ensure that the businesses are protected from imminent threats that could force them to collapse. The major threat that faces business today is the threat of terrorism. Terror does not allow business room for growth. Businessmen and investors will never invest their resources in a venue where they are not sure of the returns. This applies mostly to the risk averse type of businessmen. They do not want to gamble with their resources and as such they always shy away from the areas where such kind of risk is high. Human rights violation, business continuity and terrorism From the above definitions of the three concepts that form the basis of the discussion in this paper, it is evident that there is a huge linkage between the three concepts. Terrorism is the linkage between the two. Terrorism activities threaten human life and violation of human rights following this threat is an unwelcome scenario. Continued acts of terrorism threatens human life. In a typical scenario, when human life is threatened, people tend to move away from locations where such threat is built up on (Renard, 2012, p.2). People will tend to look for other areas which are not prone to such acts of terrorism and establish a form of livelihood there. The areas which are prone to terrorist activities are found to be lagging behind economically as business systems are underdeveloped. For instance, taking an example of Somalia, the country is among the nations that are prone to terrorism in the world (Stohl & Stohl, 2010, p.60). This is also one of the countries whose GDP is at an all time low every year (Stohl & Stohl, 2010, p.60). The reason for the dismal performance of the economy is that there are no well developed economic structures that are designed to tap into the energy of the people and harness it for growth. The main reason as to why it has become impossible to tap into this energy is because of the threat of terrorism. People fear for their lives. No person wishes to die arbitrary in the hands of a terrorist. As such, many businessmen engaging in legal business tend to shy away from offering their business services to such areas. Without the merchants in the economy, it is practically impossible for any economy to achieve any substantial growth. This follows that countries need the foreign exchange that results from trade so that they can be able to source for goods and even services from other countries (Engel & Burruss, 2004, p.500). Terrorism and acts of terror directly violate human rights. Loss of life through a terrorist attack goes against the human right belief and doctrines of all human beings entitled to protection of their lives at all times and by all means (Quiroz-Onate & Aitken, 2007, p. 60; (Dixon, 2007, p. 28). It is this fear that drives people to free areas where terrorist attacks are prominent. This forms the first connection between human rights violation, business continuity and terrorism. The second connection follows in the following paragraph. Terrorism involves the violation of human rights through the deliberate and blatant destruction and taking of innocent lives. When people die, the population is reduced if the rate of birth is less than that of death. In a case of a terrorist attack, usually the target is more than one person. This implies that consequent and repeated attacks result into much deaths and the birth rate does not go at par with the death rate. The implication of this into the business environment is quite straightforward and very adverse. You may find that these people were active actors in any of the following business fields; manufacturers or industrialists, investors, suppliers, consumers or even a combination of any of these fields. If they die from a terrorist attack, then a vacuum is created. The economy may lapse into a meltdown following inactivity. How terrorists operate Before solving a problem, it is important to know the cause of this problem so that one can devise a possible solution. Before discussing upon how terrorism threat is countered, it is vital to understand how the terrorists operate and the motives behind their engagement into these activities. According to the White house report (2011, p. 4), terrorism is a threat that emanates from a groups of groups of individuals who harbor a special disliking towards another person or people. This disliking comes about as a result of bad treatment these people, or their close allies and family, have received in the hands of their targets. America is the country that is the greatest target of many of these terrorist groups (Crenshaw, 1981, p. 380). The terrorism threat that America faces mainly comes from the Arab-speaking nations who have accused America of meddling with their interests and exploiting their resources. America suffered greatly both in form of loss of lives and the dilapidation of the economy following the September 11 attacks (Goll & Rashid, 2011, p. 948). According to Anais & Hier (2012, p.2), this loathing becomes a psychological issue. These people will not rest until they have inflicted pain upon their oppressors. Their minds become convinced that they are doing these attacks for a good cause.‘Jihad’ is the most preferred form of attack that these terrorist groups use(Crenshaw, 1981, p. 385). In this concept, the terrorist groups take one of their own and literally force him or her to take out his or her own life alongside other peoples’ lives too. This is done through a process of brainwashing here the ‘jihadists’ are made to believe that they do so for a good cause and that when they die in the process it is for the good of all and the blessing of their religious prophet Allah befalls them (Goll & Rashid, 2011, p. 952). These psychological phenomena could perhaps be the strongest weapon these people have. The urge to take ones’ life so that in the process one could take out others is overwhelming. Counter-terrorism and the impact on human rights and business continuity In this paper, much has been said about the acts of terrorism and how terrorism affects the human rights as well as undermining the continuity of many businesses in the world today. This section will now dwell on the prevention mechanisms that have been put into effect by the various nations of the world in a bid to curb this situation. It shall also measure how these counter measures affect the concept of human rights and business continuity. It should be noted here that the measures used to counter terrorism are done in a continuous process. Each dawn of a new day poses fresh challenges in the world of counter-terrorism. Terrorists are devising new and modern methods of inflicting terror upon other people. With the advent of new technology, it has become a race everyday to ensure that we are always a step ahead of the terrorists so that we do not give them room for conducting their affairs. Different countries use different approaches to curb terrorism. The approaches are mainly dependent upon the way the terrorism acts are conducted in these countries. According to Cronin (2011, p.128), terrorism is still one of the biggest threats that is faced by nations of the world and in particular the USA and its allies. Even after the capture and murder of the Al ‘Qaeda terrorist group, other smaller factions have evolved and the pose the same threat that the group Al ‘Qaeda did back in the year 2001 during the bombing of the twin towers. This has resulted into the USA government spending trillions of dollars in intelligence and military expenditure in a bid to curb this threat. As stated earlier, the threat of terrorism is real and its impact has been felt hard all over the world. As Kennedy (2003, p. 4) and Concolino (2007, p. 399) argues, it is important to ensure that we find ways and means to curb the threat of terrorism without endangering the lives of people and without violating the human rights of these people. This is a sensitive issue because it becomes extremely difficult to differentiate between a terrorist and an innocent person. When the USA sent its army to Iraq, the challenge of identifying who was a terrorist and who was not meant making a decision that was a matter of life and death. Shrivastava (2005, p. 64) states that the management of risks in the time of war is hard but also extremely important. Terrorism is depicted as warfare. Businesses should keep on thriving and surviving despite this threat. This because without the concept of business, the economy slows down. As such, governments must ensure that in their quest to counter terrorism, they give businesses the surety that all will be well and the continuous merchandising is guaranteed. A number of platforms are employed to fight the threat of terrorism today. Unlike some time back when people were kept in the dark about suck impending threats and the intelligence organizations handled these threats in their own hushed manner, today things have changed (Hadden, 2001, p11). People have become more aware of the threats around them. This awareness has resulted into the people acting as watchdogs. People no longer take things for granted and they know that their security is dependent upon their participation as well (Reitz 2003, p.25). They assist the government through alerting them on any suspicious behavior that they spot from other members of the public. Another platform through which the counter terrorism is affected is through actual combat. After the attack on the twin towers on September 11, 2001, America went in war, trying to flush out the perpetrators identified as Al Qaeda group led by Osama Bin Laden. Almost a decade later, the relentless efforts of the America army was finally rewarded with the capture and execution of the group leader (Kennedy, 2003, p. 5). Had the country not take the initiative to deploy its armed forces after the terrorist troops right in their home turf, perhaps Osama would never have been captured. The direct combat ensured that the terrorist troops were rendered incapacitated. Seizure, prosecution and conviction of the persons who are alleged to have participated in the terrorist activities is also another way through which the war on terrorism could be fought. Through the process of the courts, these persons could be convicted and harsh sentences given to them as a way of dissuading others who may wish to become involved in such activities (Bellemare, 2012, p.430). Conclusion The above discussion clearly offers the connection between terrorism, human rights and business continuity. It has been observed that the threat of terrorism impacts negatively upon the business continuity of any country and this leads to a poor economic performance. It has also been observed that the threat of terrorism undermines human rights. Several measures used to curb terrorism have also been identified in this paper and their connection to human rights as well as business continuity. It is important to understand that, as much as the threat of terrorism is being controlled from all angles possible, the concept of human rights protection through this process must be upheld. It has been seen that people have rights that must be upheld at all times even during the time of countering terrorism. Finally, it has been shown in this paper that terrorism counter allows for a peaceful environment allowing businesses to thrive and thereby ensuring their continuity. 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