Failed and the Failing States - Essay Example

? Failed and Failing s: Somalia, Chad, and Afghanistan Word Count: 2095 (8 pages) Discuss the phenomenon of failed and failing s in the 21st century, and explore how their citizens and the rest of the world should react to the challenges they pose. Your answer should draw on supported examples, examining causes, patterns and possible solutions. ? I. Introduction As has been recently seen in the news, people from countries all over the world are in revolt. Egyptians struggled to gain independence from their dictator, Hosni Mubarak, after over two weeks of protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Almost 100 people were killed in Libya following protests, including one incident where police simply fired into a crowd and 18 people were killed instantly. In addition, numerous countries—including, but not limited to Iran, Bahrain, Yemen, and Thailand, have been making the news headlines lately—for their people having protested governments that are in dire straits and are in danger of failing or are already failed. A discussion of the failed and failing states of Somalia, Chad, and Afghanistan will be held, including in this discourse an evaluation, for each nation: the phenomena of the failed and failing state; how the citizens should react; and how the rest of the world should react to the challenges failing states pose. II. Somalia A. The Phenomena Nonprofit research & educational organization , Fund For Peace publishe[s] [the] Failed State Index every year. “Somalia [is] featured in [the] most unstable country... It tops [the] failed state list for third consecutive time. Somalia's pirates have become problem for all countries while civil war has displaced thousands of people” (“Top Ten Failed States,” 2010, pgh. 5). Many people remember years ago when Somalia came into the spotlight due to the famine there, and food was airlifted to the Somalia from the United States. Now Somalia is facing scrutiny again, mainly this time due to the pirate problem on the high seas as well as people having been left homeless after the civil war that happened there. B. How Citizens Should React Somali citizens should probably react by using grassroots organizing strategies in order to better their communities. They should also form societal organizations that encourage the fomentation of education. If there were a more educated populace, it might be true that a lot of the problems associated with living in abject poverty could be eliminated, except for perhaps other than poverty itself. In bleak cases, Somalians should take refugee status and emigrate to another country where there are less problems with social unrest. C. How the Rest of the World Should React People should give support to the Somalians. They should stand with them in their quest for justice. People should support their attempt to become a country that can compete in the African and international economies. Right now they are languishing in squalor and ignorance. The UN should take some sort of action in order to ensure that Somalia does not stay on the list of failed states, because if it does, this could affect the country’s ability to be recognized as a competent nation. III. Chad A. The Phenomena Chad is a failed state that also has multiple problems. Regarding Chad, Fund for Peace also reported that “…[the] Republic of Chad is [a] landlocked African country. Chad has been facing humanitarian crisis. Refugees from Sudan, [the] Central African Republic, and [its] own internally displaced people make half a million. [The] United Nation is highly concerned about the matter” (“Top Ten Failed States,” 2010, pgh. 6). Being just south of Libya, the same kind of thing that happened in the “Days of Rage” in Libya could also just as easily happen in Chad if there is an uprising. B. How Citizens Should React It makes more sense that citizens should try to do grassroots organizing while, at the same time laying low—out of sight of people like the military, who are likely to open fire on protesters, like what happened in Libya. It makes sense that citizens don’t directly contradict the government. However, it is important that some type of action be taken by the citizens, however furtively. The key is to stay under the radar of the established government or risk death. C. How the Rest of the World Should React The rest of the world, including the UN, should support Chad. The last thing that anyone wants to see is to see the same thing happen in Chad that happened in Libya. A repeat situation could be possible, considering how close the two countries are. It only makes sense that the international community should stand by Chad. Chad has many opportunities for becoming a great nation but it needs to take advantage of those opportunities when they arise. Without international support—which is very important—Chad could become a failed nation subject to military coup and potentially civil war. IV. Afghanistan A. The Phenomena Aghanistan is number six on the Fund For Peace Top Ten Failed States list (“Top Ten Failed States,” 2010, pgh. 10). The United States cannot afford to continue spending such an enormous amount of money for military projects. Below is a table which accurately shows the military spending for war operations for the past nine years: Table 1.1. Source: U.S. Department of Defense. As if to only had fuel to the fire, the spending in Afghanistan has become quite outrageous as well. "The military command overseeing $15 billion in U.S. programs to develop Afghanistan's security forces cannot be sure the money is being managed effectively, a top government watchdog warned [in 2009]. In its first audit report since being formed a year ago…SIGAR…says the Combined Security Transition Command 'lacks effective contract oversight capabilities.'” (“U.S. Audit Faults Security Spending in Afghanistan,” 2009). Afghanistan has become a money pit for the United States. Often the fact that the fighting is being conducted in large valleys and hilly, rocky areas makes the combat even tougher than usual. Afghanistan is a country that is highly mountainous. It also has rocky terrain that is, at worst treacherous in winter due to snowfall, and hellish in summer due to the 100-plus degree heat. Spending on Iraq, Afghanistan, and other Global War on Terror (GWOT) Operations has become astronomical. Iraq, not just Afghanistan has become a money pit as well. Iraq is one of the most expensive wars in which the United States has ever engaged. That being said, it is not surprising that the U.S. is suffering from a budget deficit of well over a trillion dollars. For awhile, there was not much good information on the spending in Iraq. Even after there was, the media refused to cover much of what was going on in Iraq and/or Afghanistan principally because it cost media outlets too much money to have continuing coverage on the war. Table 1.2. It should be noted that, “Pro-Government Forces (PGF) include Afghan Government and all international forces. Figures from 2006 are from Human Rights Watch. Subsequent figures provided by UN Assistance Mission for Afghanistan” (Campbell, et al., 2009, p. 4). Additionally, “HRW’s estimate for 2007 was 1,633 total such civilian fatalities, with 434 (27%) attributable to PGF and 950 (58%) attributable to AGE. ‘Non-attributable’ deaths refer to those caused by such things as crossfire, mines and any other violence not directly connected to a conflicting party” (Campbell, et al., 2009, p. 4). The results are clear. The United States is spending quite a bit of money, losing lives, and anti-government organization forces are currently who is waging the war in Afghanistan. “Safe humanitarian space is contested terrain in Afghanistan, where the independence and impartiality of aid work comes under daily challenge in the country's ongoing conflict” (“Afghanistan: High Risk Humanitarianism,” 2009). In order to secure America’s borders, illegal immigrants who participate in these AGO’s in Afghanistan must be stopped, in order so that violence does not spill over into the U.S. It was Osama Bin Laden—whose roots supposedly now lie in Afghanistan—that was considered one of the masterminds behind Sept. 11th. The U.S.’s inability to capture or kill him has crippled the United States’s ability to look credible in the eyes of the world as it wages one war (in Afghanistan) and ends another which leads to in-country occupation (in Iraq). B. How Citizens Should React It is quite obvious—and rather astonishing—that most of the injuries, incidents, and fatalities that happened in Iraq in the last forty years happened between 2000 and 2006. That is stunning as well as it is shocking and unacceptable. Terrorism in Iraq should be of concern to the U.S. in terms of the U.S. trying to secure its own borders. If there are problems in Iraq in terms of high amounts of terrorist acts, chances are higher that those same terrorists involved might think about attacking the United States. As of this writing, “Eight years later [since 9/11], threats to the United States and our allies abroad are persistent and evolving. Homeland security remains a responsibility shared by every individual, community and business" (“Statement by Secretary Napolitano on the Eighth Anniversary of the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks,” 2009). The apparent relationship between members of Al Qaeda, in whatever form they take (whether it be in Iraq or Afghanistan), continues to plague the U.S. abroad in both countries. According to Johnson (2009), “Al Qaeda has morphed into a fractured network of small terrorist franchises strew across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. In Yemen, according to Senate testimony by Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, a ‘jihadist battleground’ is rising amid growing political upheaval and poverty” (pgh. 3). Al Qaeda, since it is branching out into the world, still remains a major threat to the U.S. It should continue to be investigated and researched as one of the largest main terror groups of the 21st century. So, what are the patterns of terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda? There are a few identifying characteristics. According to Conetta (2002), “What is uniquely worrisome about al-Qaeda is its size, resource base, energy, sophistication, global reach, and inclination to conduct mass casualty attacks. Of particular concern to the United States is that the organization has specifically targeted US assets and the US homeland (pgh. 7). There are more aspects that are worrisome about Al Qaeda, which concern illegal immigrants coming over U.S. borders. “Moreover, some members and associates of al-Qaeda had been able to gain facilitated entry into the United States and even the US armed forces…Al Qaeda is estimated to have affiliations or operational cells in more than 40 countries” (Conetta, 2002, pgh. 7, 9). C. How the Rest of the World Should React People all over should be incensed about what is going on in Afghanistan. What is disturbing is that Al Qaeda is recruiting illegal immigrants in order to carry out its dirty work. This could potentially be problematic for the United States, if people were recruited to specifically bomb places in the U.S. People have been recruited already, for example, to set off bombs in Europe. As one can imagine, this is alarming for the EU. “The Algerian Ennahar daily quoted European sources as saying that there were a number of signs indicating that al Qaeda is trying to recruit Algerian, Moroccan and African illegal immigrants and ex-cons in Italy, Spain and France in order to use them in suicide attacks throughout Europe” (“Report: Al Qaeda Seeks to Recruit Illegal Immigrants in Europe,” 2009). Luckily, it seems that tough penalties are being imposed on illegal immigrants who do commit terrorist acts in the United States. Just recently, on September 1, 2009, “A jury picked life without parole instead of the death penalty for two illegal immigrants convicted of a fatal bombing that killed a hot dog stand vendor in a Las Vegas casino parking lot” (“Jury Recommends Life Sentence for Bombers,” 2009). It is obvious that the problems in these failed nations are serious. The phenomena of the failed state has been discussed, as well as how citizens and the world should react—with regard to the failed nations of Somalia, Chad, and Afghanistan. BIBLIOGRAPHY Afghanistan: high risk humanitarianism. (2009). Online. Available: http://ow.ly/p4RO Campbell, J (2009). Afghanistan index: tracking variables of reconstruction & security in post-9/11 Afghanistan. Online. Available: http://ow.ly/p4iC Conetta, C (2002). Dislocating Alcyoneus: how to combat al Qaeda and the new terrorism. Online. Available: http://ow.ly/p52f Johnson, K (2009). Weakened al Qaeda is still a threat. Online. Available: http://ow.ly/p4ZZ Jury recommends life sentence for bombers. (2009). Online. Available: http://ow.ly/p53S Report: Al Qaeda seeks to recruit illegal immigrants in Europe. (2009). Online. Available: http://ow.ly/p53i Statement by Secretary Napolitano on the eighth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (2009). Online. Available: http://ow.ly/p4Xp Top ten failed states. (2010). Online. Available: http://hubpages.com/hub/Top-Ten-Failed-State-2010-Failed-State-Index U.S. audit faults security spending in Afghanistan. (2009). Online. Available: http://ow.ly/p3JN Read More