War And Terrorism As A Social Prolem Essay Example for Free

War And Terrorism As A Social Prolem Essay That war and terrorism remain the worst fear of man in the 21st century, is a truism that calls for no dispute. In fact almost every country in the world today has put measures into place to curb this ever emerging catastrophe. The united states of Americas top agenda has also in the recent past become to be the war on terror hence the war has been an age old phenomena facilitated by a myriad of reasons, terrorism is a rather new phenomena characterized by many reasons some of which are ambiguous and misplaced as will be discussed later in this paper. Many authors have not drawn a line between what should be viewed as war and what is to be classified as terrorism. Too many of these authors, war and terrorism are inextricably intertwined and thus affording no distinction one such author is Chris Toms. All players though acknowledge that terrorism mad war is a social problem that needs to be Addressed urgently. The was a result of the Second World War and especially the August 1945 bombing of two Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Here the deaths, maiming and damage of property all a result of war made nations come together to avoid future occurrence of horrid incidents such as the bombing. This paper boards on the Thesis that war and terrorism are related issues. And to be able to successfully address them distinctions should be made carefully further the paper will show how terrorism springs form war and vice-versa. Lastly the paper will strive to elaborate how war and terrorism are indeed a social problem. War and terrorism go hand in hand,and their results have been the worst in the whole world because of their impact in general. Many leaders have used war and terrorism to assend to power or to communicate with their enemies,but all in all war and terrorism should be the thing of the past for better society. People see war and terrorism from different percepctives, they are those see it from negative percepctive,that is those who see it from bad effcts it brings to community or natio, more so to woman and children. And there are those who see war and terrorism from positive sides. This comes from seeing what the war and terrorism will bring to their lifes,or seeing it as the one which will solve their problem. CAUSES OF WAR AND TERRORISM As stated in the introductory paragraphs war has been an age old problem in fact strong empires like the Roman Empire, the Soviet Union and others become powerful as a result of war. Readers of the Bible will also at least to the fact that wars have existed since the history of man. Causes of war and terrorism can be many,can range from poor leadrship to poverty ,which are the main causes. Every war and terrorism which have occurred has its causes. War and terrorism has been there from time memorial,it never started recently. The first war therefore according to the scriptures pelted Cain against each other in the womb (Genesis, 25:22). Reasons for wars are varied as can even be seen from the two bible incidents. In the first instance for example, Cain killed the brother out of sheer jealousy while in the second scenario, it was a battle for supremacy. WAR AND TERRORISM DEFINED War has been defined from the military standpoint to mean a continuation of political intercourse in addition with other means (Carl von Clauswitz). Terrorism on its part has been defined to mean those acts which are intended to create fear are perpetrated for a group (as opposed to being carried in one attacks) and which are deliberately target or else disregard to safety of civilians (wikipedia the dictionary) The wikipedia definition no matter how excellent it may look and sound, it misses out on the fact that a lone attacker can perpetrate an act or acts of terrorism. Secondly an act of terrorism can at times not be motivated by an ideology. In the US acts of terrorism have been committed by one attackers with otherwise no sound ideological backing for instance, Tim Mc veigh to name just but a few. What needs to be known is that terrorism can be carried by lone attackers and that it matters not whether or not an ideology is attached to attacks. In fact many attacks in Iraq on US soldiers arent backed by the jihads ideology but from sheer despair in life by Iraq youth. This can also be evidential by the fact that many attacks are carried out by youths and not middle aged or old men and women. So if Jihad is the motivating factor in Iraq then the old folks should have been at the forefront because it is they who understand the religion better not the youth. ON WAR AND TERRORISM WHERE DO WE DRAW THE LINE Terrorism and war as earlier stated are closely related issues because both can be viewed as a continuation of intercourse and or ideology. Take the September 11 attacks on US soil for example. After the Taliban regime whom it accused of harboring terrorists mastermind Osama bin laden. This led to invasion and overthrow of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. But did terrorism end there? The answer is no. Attack after attack has been launched in US soldiers in Afghanistan. It has also been reported that in the Tarboro mountains where Osama is believed to be has become the recruiting haven of would be/prospective terrorists. When a war is declared on areas or states suspected tope conducting terrorist activities, two things takes place. One two fronts are created in the war, putting the offended state against the offending state. Two another war is created as a counter attack to the offended state. Succinctly put, there is a shift of goal posts and the hunted becomes the hunter. Take the Taliban overthrow by United States as an example for another time. The Taliban regime did not go to oblivion but regrouped and started sponsoring terrorist’s attacks on us and her allies, e. g. Israel and Britain. Much that these terrorist activities are purely seen as such (terrorists) they are truly speaking and according to their sponsors a war on America. It therefore becomes difficult to draw a line between war and terrorism. But as a matter of fact a line should be drawn because war can at times be necessary but terrorism is simply unwanted. To draw the line therefore, International war standards must be invoked only then will be able to distinguish between a â€Å"right full† war and terrorism. So that if a war springs form that â€Å"rightful† war it is unanimously branded terrorism. CAUSES OF WAR AND TERRORISM Politics: Carl von clau sewitz, a profound military theorist once said that politics was the main cause of war. He went on to state that war is a continuation of political intercourse. (War and terrorism: The never ending fight for freedom) Personally, I cannot agree more with the author because even the Tibet and China conflict is motivated by the politics of independence. This has been to some extent of the motivating factor in the recent time in the conflict between the Tibetans and Chinese has been the sociological imagination among the timberworks that it is the opportune time for them tope granted independence. The problem has also been worsened by the fact that Tibetans are a minority group this other factors make them to imagine sociologically of course that they are oppressed hence their uprising. Given the fact that the Olympic Games will be held in China the Tibetans see this as an opportune time to press for their â€Å"rights† Cultural differences: This is yet another cause of war and terrorism. The world is full of different diverse cultures and each society considers their culture as the superior, but with globalization the cultural way of life is fast headed for the dogs with more and more societies now at home with the American cultural way of life. At this point we are faced with a situation where we have a dominant culture versus the society/societal values, dissenting voices maybe heard and is not addressed, conflicts resulting to war and even as the scarf’s were banned and people obliged, there is still disgruntling among the Muslims in France. Further the social structure can also in itself and with other factors be a brewing factor in wars. Take for example Muslims are taught that when one dies in a holy war, then they go to heaven while a holy war might include the killing of people. Christians on their part have been socialized to adhere to the Ten Commandments. Among Africans wars were seen as arenas for providing self worth ferocious warriors would marry the prettiest girls around and be made chiefs. The social structure was such that the lazy men were considered outcasts. And to prove bravely chiefs would send men for raids in neighboring community (proof. Mbithi, P. Africa religious philosophy) so the social structure should itself be a factor in wars. Change in balance of power: This is another major cause of war. In most developing countries wars arise when a tribe or community feel that one of their own has been denied that which belongs to him or them. This even motivated by history especially where a dominant class has oppressed the other groups. As earlier stated wars are not absolutely unnecessary because even if it is a social problem, states must protect their borders form external aggressors but then again there must be justified cause before going to war others have argued that wars are avoided and barbaric (Chris toms and terrorism, the never ending fight for freedom). This is actually true given the consequences of war e. g. deaths, tape loss of property and so on. Besides other avenues can be used like mediation and so on. Marginalization of communities or states can be another causation of war. The growing gap between the haves and the have not is another major challenge. Revolution world over have been informed by levels of poverty and inequality in distribution of resources thereby creating two classes of people that is haves and the have notch. This problem is vicious in that as it progresses the status quo is changed and the cycle starts all over again. In that the previous haves become the have knots and vice versa. So that the recipe in itself will guarantee endless wars in the future BREAKDOWN OF BODY POLITIC: Yet another cause of war is the breakdown of the body politic. When the body politic breaks down wars may arise to fill the vacuum. A good example is Somalia. After the overthrow of said Barre and in abides by the warlords to take the place of the deposed president there has been a war since 1991. Terrorists have taken the opportunity and now Somali is a perfect haven for terrorism activities. Natural resources: Apart from politics which is thought to be the main factor in many wars and terrorist activities, from the Iraq war which is said to have been motivated by oil to the Niger delta conflict (Nigeria) The Angola diamond crisis and so on, Again wars necessitated by fight for mineral resources should be resolved by both parties and all must be willing to work together by either equitably sharing the resources or by vesting them in people where they are found because wars brought about by the fight for minerals take many years to come to and end. The Angola war took nearly three decades to stop and this has far reaching social consequences like illiteracy, disease and untold poverty among the society. SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF WAR AND TERRORISM A social problem is a condition that at least some people in a community view as being undesirable. This definition when used to weigh whether or not war is desirable products mixed reactions with others viewing it as desirable while to others it is undesirable but the truth is that war is undesirable given the ramifications that come with it. So how do we solve this problem? Since the society has diverse cultures, and that war and conflict not to mention terrorism spring from the differences, there should be a cultural exchange at a very early age. Here children in schools should be allowed to mingle and grow with children form other cultural background by that, they will grow respecting other cultural background by that, they will grow respecting other peoples background and cultures. Social exchange to this end is in available. The second step in addressing the issue is encouraging peaceful 7 co-existence Governments should urge citizens to live in harmony and peace with their neighbors if this is needed then undesired wars will come to a stop. Another way would be engaging in peace negotiations and agreements. Here warring parties are to be given an opportunity to present their thoughts on negotiations and allowed to express their thoughts. (Women Building peace and good neighbors) To solve problems, all dispute evoking situations must be avoided so as avoid undesired conflict situations. Another option is to have in place; mechanisms for early warning and early response of would be war or terrorism situations (NURTURES OF PEACE, SUSTAINERS OF AFRICA) If this is done, then many disputes will be put to rest as quickly as they emerge. If done, then in the next 10-20 years the world would be moving to the dawn of a new era but the achievement wont fully be reached overnight (not even in 20 years time) peace building, perception changes and religious liberty takes time to come by. Having said that, it is prudent to note that it will need more time to have some degree of social order in the world and we should try as much as possible to avoid war and terrorism after seen its impact to the socity and to the whole world.War and terrorism should be condemed from every country ,solving any conflict should be done civized manner References. 1. Good News Bible 2nd Ed (1994) Gen 4:8, 25:22 (pg 6-27) 2. Chris Toms: (2008) war and terrorism: The never ending fight for freedom 3. Mbithi Philiph (1974) African religious philosophy: (p. g 67-72) 4. Women building peace and good neighbourliness: WICCE Report 18-29 sept 2006 MOZAMBIQUE. 5. NURTURES of peace, sustainers of Africa: A report by selected womens peace initiatives