Threats to Global Security - Essay Example

Globalization and governance Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction The leadership of a strong state does not refer to the power or ability to coerce, but the power to attract other states to follow its action in the international affairs; the power basically includes political influences, the economic developing potential, cohesiveness of culture and the nation’s dignity (Michael & Fanny 2008). The purpose of this essay is to explore how a strong state is dealing with global security threats. The position of this paper is that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), for example, is ineffective in dealing with threats to global security and leadership is required to effectively address threats to it thus US leadership is needed (Heininen2010). This essay first examines the importance of solving threats to the global security, followed by the review of traditional and new security challenges; particularly on how localized conflicts or security issues can take on global significance in the 21st Century. Thereafter, an evaluation of the current state of the field of for and against leadership of a strong state such as the United States (US), as well as the situation of a unipolar and multi-polar world. Finally, as examples, this essay explores the lack of US leadership on civil conflicts and weapons of mass destructions (WMDs); and also terrorism. It is argued that the UNSC is addressing security threats but lacks the authority to act efficiently and effectively to address these threats; thereby the US leadership is needed for negotiating with threats to global security (Rafael et al 2007). Threats to global security Global security has been influenced by a number of factors. There are both traditional and new threats to global security. The traditional threats to global security include hegemonism, regional wars and ethnic conflicts. Hegemonism is where one state dominates over other states (Rodrigo 2010). In most cases it is the powerful states which dominate over other developing states. Through hegemonism, countries are colonized and are forced to follow and join some international treaties without their willingness. For instance, many countries were influenced to sign the non-proliferation treaty. This treaty hinders countries with less power not to manufacture nuclear weapons (Ron & Jacques 2008). This has led to conflicts between different states thus affecting the global security. Regional wars further have increased the intensity of global insecurity. Some regions in the world always conflict one another like the Middle East countries (Yuri 2005). Through these regional conflicts, they also affect the global security. There are curfews which are imposed on the conflicting countries affecting international trade. Furthermore, some regional wars are financed and sponsored by some super power countries for their selfish interests. This leads to spread of the war to other countries because conflicts arise as to why some states support some countries which are involved in the war (Philip 2006). Ethnic wars further influence the global security. For instance, if there are civil wars in one country, they are likely to affect the neighbors in terms of economy (Rodrigo 2010). When there are ethnic wars, the country cannot be able to transact business with other countries. The states which depended on it for food and other social amenities thus will not acquire them hence global instability. Nuclear non-proliferation is another threat to global security. This is a treaty which permits some powerful and selected countries to manufacture nuclear weapons and disarming nuclear weapons in other countries (Jain 2008). It also hinders any other country from importing or manufacturing nuclear weapons. This becomes a threat because the permitted member states to manufacture the nuclear weapons can decide to destruct the world because they have the weapons and other states do not have them. The new global security threats include terrorism, climate change and financial crime. Terrorism has been a major issue in the global security (Danks 2000). Along with globalization and since the end of the cold war, there has been increasing amount of new security threats globally for instance the attack of World Trade Centre on September 11. The insecurity trends have been on the increase due to terrorism activities thus threatening global security. There are also cyber crimes which have threatened the global security. Through the cyber technology, the criminal hackers are able to advance their criminal operations (Ajey 2008). The criminals are able to network and destruct critical infrastructure. This affects global economy a great deal thus global insecurity. Climate change has also influenced the global security (Hassol 2004). Effects of climate changes can be recognized from the rising sea levels, droughts and melting of polar ice. As a result of the climate changes, economic activities such as farming have been compromised. The yields are low which cannot sustain the global population leading to insecurity (Eferink & Donal 2001). Transnational crimes have further weakened the global security. The number of transnational criminals is on the increase (Dion 2008). Their operations are to conduct illegal businesses such as human trafficking, drug and smuggling of arms. This becomes a global security challenge because their operations promote illegal transactions. Finally, financial crimes have also threatened the global security. These are crimes which are conducted on the internet including money laundry (Dion 2008). These activities hinder building of economy as they affect individuals, organizations and states. The threat is that people loose money which they could have otherwise used to build the economy. Security issues have great impact on the global economy. There will be no stability in the world because there will no favorable climate to conduct businesses (Danks 2000). Imports and exports will be affected thus it will be disastrous to many states. Existence of any states greatly depend on the export and important therefore if there is no business taking place, there will be famine leading extinction of some species and also people perishing. US leadership in the global security There has been debate which has been going on as to whether US should continue being the global leader or not. Some support the leadership of the US and some oppose it. It is the responsibility of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to address any security issues globally (Kitchin & Wilton 2000). However, UNSC has not been able to act sufficiently because they lack the authority to address these issues or threats. Therefore, US leadership is important in checking security globally. Without the US support, UNSC cannot act sufficiently to promote security in the global world. Initially, the world supported the US leadership in the global security. In the year 1990, the world supported US in its efforts to help Iraq occupy Kuwait. It also collaborated with some Islamic religious states to support the Islam religion thus acquired much support (Emmerson 2010). The supporters of the US leadership argue that has helped to promote democracy and end dictatorship. The US has been on the forefront to champion for democracy from dictatorship regimes like in the case of the Soviet Union. US leadership globally is also concerned with observance of human rights. It is more concerned with the lives of many innocent people and that is why its leadership is of great importance. For example, US invaded Kuwait because the civil wars led to death of many innocent citizens (Aarsaether et al 2008). The civil wars threatened the global security but after the US raided the states, stability came into practice. The business operations continued as usual and the economy of the country was stabilized. The supporters of the US leadership further argue that the UNSC cannot act swiftly without the authority from the most powerful state globally (Emmerson 2010). So in order to improve security operations globally, US leadership is needed to give authority any security measures. Without its consent, the UNSC cannot be able ensure global security. There are also those who oppose the US leadership. The first reason why they oppose the US leadership is that they say it is arrogant. There have been efforts to influence US to join the world court or join the international efforts to address global warming issues but it is reluctant to join. The other nations feel that US is not leading by example and they are not ready to be told anything (Alfred 2009). They further argue that US is seen as hollow and they use mere cover to promote dominance. The US claims to be concerned with democracy but they don’t support some countries which are fighting democracy such as Ukraine and Georgia (Alfred 2009). In this regard therefore they argue the US leadership is not needed anymore as it does not help improving democracy globally. The US leadership is opposed because they engage in global security for their own selfish interests. After bringing down Iraq and Afghanistan, they have not been able to stabilize these economies. This is clear that they are dictators which cannot stabilize global security (Kitchin & Wilton 2000). Unipolar world is where there is only one powerful state which dominates over other countries and it is the leader. For instance, US leadership can be termed as unipolar because it is the global leader (Wright 2008). The advantage of unipolar is that it enables the powerful states to promote global security be giving orders and instructions. It acts as a guider to other states. However, the state may turn out to be a dictator and oppress other powerless states for its selfish interests. Multipolar world on the other hand is the case where there are many powerful states and leadership comes from many centers unlike unipolar (Ajey 2008). This is the situation which is being advocated by opposes of the US leadership. The advantage of multipolar world is that there is no state which will dominate over others. This promotes equality and fairness while the disadvantage is that, incase of any major global issue the states will be slow in responding to the issues which will affect global security adversely (Ajey 2008). In this regard, it can be argued that US leadership is needed in global security as it helps to promote economical, political and social stabilities. Examples There are various examples where we can learn that US leadership is important and the global security actually needs it. The first example is the Syrian civil wars. There have been great wars between the forces which support the government and those which want to oust it (Hinnebusch 2012). The civic wars began in the year 2011 and were started by an Arab movement called Arab Spring. The army was deployed to settle the countrywide demonstrations. By September 2013, the death toll rose to 120,000 people and several others jailed and tortured in state prisons according to the United Nations report. The international organizations have accused the government of Syria of using excess force to violate the human rights (Hinnebusch 2012). However, despite violating human rights and torturing innocent lives, US as the global leader is reluctant to act. This has made it difficult for United Nations Security Council to manage and end the civil wars in Syria. Chemical weapons have also been reported being used by the government to suppress the demonstrators and it has even taken innocent civilians. The reason why UNSC has not managed to settle the civil war in Syria is because they have not been given the authority by the world leader to do so (Landis 2012). This shows that US leadership is needed. First, it will help to destroy the mass chemical weapons being used by the government. The US will do act on this based on the non-proliferation treaty. Another reason why US leadership is needed globally is that it will help to uphold the human rights in Syria (Ziadeh 2011). Besides the government oppressing the demonstrators, it also uses chemical weapons which affect the lives of innocent people like the children who are not in the wars. Without the US leadership, the UNSC will not be able to end the civil conflicts in Syria as it does not have the mandate to act or use maximum force to end the disaster. In order for the US to end the situation, it has the right to use chemical weapons against those using it as stated in the non-proliferation treaty. Without the US leadership, the civil wars in Syria will be endless. Both global political and economical stabilities of Syria will be affected as a result of transnational crimes thus global security will be affected (Van 2011). In this regard therefore, the US leadership is needed to destruct the mass chemical weapons being used by the Syrian government. Another good example where the US leadership is required is the rising cases of terrorism in Pakistan. According to statistics, between the year 2003 and 2009, more than 35000 Pakistanis were killed as a result of Terrorism operations (Hassan 2004). The government of Pakistan has admitted that Terror has become a threat to their economy. The terror activities are intensified by the acquisition of guns such as AK-47 from Golden Crescent (Zahid 2007). Between the years of 2007 and 2009, many people were killed due to suicide attacks on the civilians. The reasons for these attacks include easy availability of guns and chemical weapons, presence of Islmist groups called Taliban and also sectarian conflicts between Sunni and Shia Muslims (Tariq 2003). The US leadership has not been actively involved in the Pakistan terrorism and civil war for some time. Being the leader globally, the US is expected to act alongside United Security Council to end the menace in Pakistan (Zahid 2007). US is among the nations which are entitled to manufacture and possess nuclear weapons. It can therefore use its position to end the use of those weapons in Pakistan. The US leadership will help to stabilize the state after ending the civil war. They can achieve this by signing trade agreements with the government of Pakistan and exchange business programs. Also US leadership is important as it will help to uphold the human rights (Ali 2010). It will destroy all the weapons used against the civilians by banning any entrance of weapons to Pakistan which could otherwise be used by terrorists to kill civilians. Without the US leadership, the government of Syria and United Security Council will not be able to manage terrorism activities in Pakistan. There will be continued flow and use of weapons against civilians thus affecting trading activities and the political stability of the region (Ali 2010). Conclusion Global security takes various dimensions. It can be political, economical or socio-economical security issues. The leadership of a strong state such as the US is crucial for addressing threats to global security. Through the leadership, there will be limited use of weapons and also terror activities. There are various factors which threaten the global security. These factors include traditional threats like hegemonism, regional wars, ethnic wars and transnational crimes. On the other hand, new threats to global security include cyber crimes where internet is used to conduct illegal businesses, change in climate which affects global sustainability, financial crimes where crime is conducted on the internet and money is obtained through fraud. It also includes terrorism operations, nuclear proliferation and transnational crimes. These factors have greatly influenced and the global security and that is why there is need for leadership. The US leadership has been crucial in overseeing global security. Without the US leadership, war against terror will not be won because United Nations Security Council which is concerned with global security needs the authority of the US to act in ending security menace. US leadership helps to promote democracy and end dictatorship and also promote human rights. An example where US leadership is needed but has not been acted upon is in Syria and also Pakistan. UNSC has not acted fully because it needs the authority of the US to act and disarm nuclear weapons used against civilians. References Aarsaether, N. Asbjorn, R & Synnove J. (2008). Practicing local governance: Northern perspectives. Hauppauge NY: Nova Science Publishers. Alfred, G. (2009). Peace, power, righteousness: an indigenous manifesto 2nd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press. Ali, N. (2010). "Books vs. Bombs? Humanitarian development and the narrative of terror In Northern Pakistan." Third World Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 541-559 Ajey, L. (2008). 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