What is the significance of international terrorism?

What is terrorism?

Terrorism is not a recent thing in fact it has been around since the first century. For example it began with dagger men from the Jewish Zealots against the Roman empire. However it was not until the 9/11 attacks that terrorism was reborn. We need to look at the definition of terrorism before going any further though. In the broadest sense of the word it refers to attempts to further political ends by using violence to create a climate of fear, apprehension and uncertainty. The most common forms of this being assassinations and bombings. However terrorism does not always have to result in death and destruction. As it can also be used to create unease and anxiety within society as minds are focused on future attacks that may bring great death and destruction. The IRA for example did not perform there attacks to kill a lot of people. For example in 1993 they detonated a truck bomb in London which only killed 1 person. The firms in the area of bishop gate then produced disaster recovery plans. Terrorism today still produces the same responses by the states and corporations within the state. For example strict border controls being implemented in the schegan area due to the threat of ISIS members walking into European countries. Not all terrorist organisations are global though. There are in fact four types of terrorism as follows:
1. Insurrectionary-Aimed at the revolutionary overthrow of the state.
2.Issue-Promotion of a single cause.
3.Nationalist-This aims to overthrow colonial rule or occupation, often with the goal of gaining independence for an ethic or religious group.
4.Global-This is aimed at inflicting damage and humiliation on a global power.

International Terrorism
For many this is now the principal threat to global security. I cant't say I disagree but I do think Syria and North Korea give it a close run. One of the reasons for this is that terrorism is clandestine in nature. This meaning that it has the element of surprise. This then causing people and international actors to be very precautious, which may lead to a build up in military capacity which can then lead to the security dilemma. The war on terror highlighted this as tensions rose around the world and terrorism look set to be the defining factor of 21st century global politics. The main reasons given for terrorism being the defining character is due to it now having a global reach and the potential damage of the attacks is now far greater than ever before. However there is one factor that has contributed to the rise of terrorism along with many good things that have come with it and that is the small matter of globalisation. This has allowed a dramatic increase in cross border flows of people. Also due to the spread of cultural globalisation and Americanization in particular, people in some nations have tried to not accept the western way of life and this has then promoted extremism. This is in fact one of Al-Qaeda's key policies to go against the USA.

What is it's significance? There is no doubting that terrorism is now an international problem which also requires a global solution, with attacks in the last 15 years in New York (9/11), Madrid (2004), London (2005) and multiple attacks in Asia and Africa showing this. The significance of it is indeed very high. As in many peoples mind it is the biggest threat to global security. Not only this but, due to the fear in which it installs in the general population it is thought of many when they now enter crowded areas particular in those cities/towns that have been effected before. So yes terrorism does cause death and destruction. It also brings major fear into peoples minds and this I feel is more powerful than any other crisis that we have in the world at this time. For example not many people will worry about the ongoing atrocities in Syria but many will worry about the recent terrorist attacks around the world such as those in Ankara (Turkey) and on holiday resorts in Tunisia and Egypt. Not only this but the recent P-5 unilateral agreement in November 2015 highlighted that this is a global problem and every nation faces problems with terrorism. No matter how large or powerful a nation is it feels it can no longer deal with these problems alone for example the USA and Russia supposedly fighting ISIS together.. All these reasons then highlight why I believe that the issue of global terrorism is a major one and increasing by the day. For example as this is written there has been a car bomb in Turkeys capital Ankara with early reports suggesting 27 people killed.

To what extent where the Yugoslav wars identity wars?

What was the Yugoslav War?

The war began in 1991 with the ten day war in Slovenia when on 25th June 1991 Slovenia confirmed its secession from the federation. The Yugoslav army was then ordered to secure border crossings in Slovenia. However police blockaded this move and there where several small fights broke out with several dozen causalities. The war was however stopped with negotiations on 7th July 1991. The next stage of the war was the longest section of it. This was the Croatian war of independence which went on from 1991 to 1995. Fighting in Croatia had begun a few weeks before the ten day war and it started due to Serbs in Croatia announcing there secession from Croatia following Croatia declaration of independence. This part of the Yugoslav war ended up killing just under 20,000 civilians and military personnel. The next stage of the war and by far the most bloodiest of the 10 year conflict in Yugoslavia was the Bosnian war. The war began in 1992 and was mainly a territorial conflict between the Bosniaks and Herzeg-Bosnia. The war only lasted for 3 years but killed just under 95,000 people in the 3 years. Then in 1998 the Kosovo war broke out lasting a year but it displace 90% of the Albanians living in Kosovo. The last action of the 10 year Yugoslav war was in 2001 when Insurgency took place in Macedonia killing around 250 people. This conflict took place in the city of Tetovo and was between the Albanian National Liberation army and the security forces of Macedonia. The outcome of this 10 year war was the creation of 8 new states (Kosovo included) and the end of Communism in Europe. The map below shows the former Yugoslavia and the countries that are their today.

Identity war?

An identity war is one which is fought on the basis of a quest for cultural regeneration, which is expressed through the demand that a people's identity is publicly and politically recognized as the primary motivation for conflict. The wars the broke out across Yugoslavia where based around the idea of people associating themselves with a particular social group. This then led to ethnic cleansing taking place in places such as Srebrenica (Bosnia) in which more than 8000 Muslim Bosniaks where killed. This then shows that Sen (2006) was corrected in the case of the Yugoslav wars by stating that "Identity politics is most likely to lead to violence when it is based on a solitaristic form of identity, which defines human nature to identify exclusively with their own monoculture, thereby failing to recognize the rights of people from other groups. There is therefore no doubting that the Yugoslav wars where very much Identity wars as different groups wanted to have there own nation i.e Croatia and Albania. This was because they could not except any other peoples way of living which led to the strong hatred in the region and therefore rising tensions and the 10 year war.

In what way is there a civilisation conflict between Islam and the West?

Introduction
The conflict between the west (Christians) and Islam has been on going for centuries. However it is only in the last 100 years or so that it has come to boiling point. It can be argued that the starting point was in 1922 when the ottoman empire unified. This then meaning that the colonial powers occupied much of the Muslim lands. The presence of these new rulers led to the formation of Arab nationalism. Then in 1928 in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood was formed by Hasan al-Banna. This brotherhood holds to a radical ideological view of Islam that rejects the modern world that the colonial powers represented and instead want to see a government based on Shariah Law. For example Al-Qaeda's second in command and ideological mentor to bin laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian with a Muslim brotherhood background.

What is the Issue?
The major issue is that both of these cultures/ideologies think that their way is the best and only way and everyone else in the world should follow their ideas and policies. For example the USA believes in Neo-Liberal economic policies meaning that there is minimal control from the government and nearly all businesses are privately run. Where as in Saudi Arabia it is mainly a government run economy with the government controlling its Oil exports (largest in the world). This is shown by the fact that in terms of economic freedom Saudi Arabia is ranked 77th in the world which shows the level of government control in one of the worlds richest nations. Not only do there economies differ but so do there views on humanity. For example the west promotes freedom of speech and freedom of women in particular. Where as Islam is all about government control and women are constrained with what they can do. For example they are not allowed to participate in sports. Although we may believe that we as the west are correct we may actually not be. It is just the way we have been grown up and the values that we have been told to respect throughout our lives. Were as in the Islamic states they have been taught differently and they cannot accept their being a different way to go about human life. This is therefore the major problem as neither ideology will accept the other and both want to gain world dominance with their views as they claim them to be correct.

The picture above highlights the extent of the problem. As people have grown up being told a way to live their lives and that the way they are doing it is the correct way. Women in the west where bikinis because most other women do. Where as Islamic women cover themselves one way or another including Burkas as most women do if they have Islamic beliefs. Your beliefs and what you think is right and wrong are directly effected by what you are taught when you are younger as you are not able to make your own decisions. So we as the west may moan and try to prevent propaganda aimed at children but we also do it ourselves? I know that this is a weak example but every child is taught about London being bombed during WW2 and the devastation that this bought to the city and millions of people. However what they do not tell you is that the British where doing exactly the same to German cities and the death toll was even higher. This again shows that with even just simply missing out little bits of information you are able to influence what people believe and think about other cultures.

Is the civilization conflict taking place? 
In my mind their is no doubting that the civilization conflict is taking place and will continue to take place until both sides can find some sort of middle ground and accept that they will not be able to change each other. For example Islam cannot rule the world and there can never be a complete westernization of the world either. This is because the current generation and future generations will be told that their way of life is wrong and if they do not comply then they will have a life of hardship. This however can then create extremism as both ideologies try to press their beliefs against a nation with the opposite views people will therefore come forward and try to protect their ideology. This then highlighting the reasons for 9/11 and the many other terrorist attacks in the west over  the last 15 years. Not only this but the western armed forces constant bombing of the middle east in retaliation or to prevent these nations from having something they should not have i.e WMD.

What is the Nature of the EU as a political entity?

Background of the EU

The European Union was formed in 1993 following on from a process that began just after the end of World War 2 which began with the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community. When the Steel and Coal Community was created there where six original members. By the time it came to 1993 there was 12 members. This then show the advance in which the European community made in such a short time frame. However even bigger steps have been made since the European Union was created. One reason is the fact that there are now 28 members of the EU with the biggest influx coming in 2004 when 10 more nations joined. It also now has many different institutions and a say in nearly all of Europe's actions. Examples of the various institutions include the European Council, European Parliament and the European Court of Justice. Future of the European Union? There is no doubt that the EU will continue to expand. There are currently 5 candidate states (Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey). Not only this but there are potential candidates along with states who have withdrawn from the EU or have frozen there application (Iceland) and then there are states that have signed and EU association agreement such as Ukraine which means they are recognized by the EU as having a European policy and may apply for membership. What about future policy's and decision making? Many euro skeptics accuse the EU of being undemocratic as the Presidents are not voted in and the citizens of the EU have no real say other than when voting for MEP's. Not only this but nations such as the UK find it unfair how many migrants come into the country due to it being one of the more developed nations within the EU. So the biggest change that may actually take place in the next couple of years is for the United Kingdom to leave the EU as there is a referendum set to take place before the end of 2017.

EU as a Political Entity
The EU is seen as a Supranational body as it reduces some of the nations states sovereignty. For example things such as fishing regulations are controlled by the EU, as Spanish vessels are allowed to fish in British waters. Not only this but the EU laws are followed throughout the nations within the membership. Also if they anyone is to break these laws they have to then appear in the European Court of Justice. Since Winston Churchill's post war speech which stated the a 'United States of Europe' needs to be created this idea has been in the back of many figure heads minds. As they continue there quest to bring the EU closer together. Although the EU is still a way off this target the single currency and the idea of an EU constitution have certainly increased the possibility. However some nations who where part of the EU did not become a part of the Eurozone, such as the UK. Also the idea of an EU constitution was vetoed by France and a couple of other members. So although the EU continues to grow in size and power. The idea of it being a United States of Europe and a Superstate in particular are along way off at this moment in time. As fractions continue to grow between the EU and the UK. Not only this but many nations are afraid that the EU is becoming or may already be a German dominated body. This was only highlighted by the amount of money that Germany put towards the EU bailout plans compared to other nations and the fact that it has more MEP's 96 than any other member.