Global politics (Essay Sample)

Contemporary Global Politics Name Institution Has there been a recent ‘rise’ of violent non-state actors or simply a ‘re-emergence’? Which term (‘rise’ or ‘re-emergence’) helps to shed more light on their role in the world today? The world today is coming to terms with unprecedented levels of insecurity incidents. In response to this rise in global insecurity challenges, researchers in regime stability are focusing on the role of non-state armed actors in the growing security instability across the world. Davis (2009) notes that the study of non-state actors has been eclipsed by a preoccupation with national political Dynamics. According to this author, non-state players struggle to achieve economic dominance and are connected to more powerful international networks than the states they operate in. Non-state actors proliferate even in more stable regimes including in middle-income nations of the global south. These groups include private police, mafias, mercenaries, and violent gangs. Scholars continue to investigate the levels of insecurity and the nature of violence caused by these groups in relation to more conventional and politically based non-state groups (Davis 2009). According to Vinci (2008), failed states have independent armed actors carrying out violence within and outside the borders. As such, such states qualify to be anarchic systems. The domestic violence executed by such groups is linked to the global anarchic system. This connection sheds more light into the association between armed actors and external states. Vinci (2008) asserts that there exist mixed security dilemmas between armed actors and political regimes governing countries (Vinci 2008). Some of the countries that were previously not known for registering conventional forms of conflict are currently suffering from highly fatal incidents of armed violence. Moreover, new episodes of armed conflicts in countries such as Mali and Syria have been influenced by factors unrelated to political rivalry including criminal attacks, violent factionalism, and extreme religious beliefs such as Jihadist ideologies. Global security experts are currently grappling with achieving an understanding of the hybrid nature of both armed violence and conflict. Also, peace and development scholars are yet to decipher the specific challenges brought up by armed violent groups in areas previously unknown for conflict. Non-state armed actors exert so much cohesive power on communities and regions that it becomes impossible to negotiate anything better than short-term peace deals and the distribution of humanitarian aid to affected territories. These violent groups are also connected to transnational networks, and this makes the resolution of conflicts even harder (Cronin 2006). Williams (2008) points out that various regions of the world are currently experiencing a proliferation of criminal groups. For instance, in central America, the gang is undoubtedly the most common source of criminal violence today. Popular violent actors are known for homicide, muggings, theft, and intimidation, to rape, racketeering, extortion, kidnapping and the narcotics trade (Williams 2008). Current global surveys indicate a surge in violent non-state actors across the world. This increase is causing a pervasive challenge to many national states in the world. In places such as Madrid and London, violent extremism by Jihadist terrorist organizations have resulted in dramatic and overly publicized attacks. Authorities in these territories continue to use proactive intelligence and the law to avert further terror attacks. In Mexico, the state continues to grapple with merciless retaliatory attacks involving the execution of police officers involved in cracking down of drug trafficking. Calderon administration’s endeavors to disrupt the activities of local drug lords have been met with brutal counters that have resulted in the killing of multiple high profile police officers (Williams 2008). In international relations, as explained by Kaldor (2013), non-state armed groups, also called violent non-state actors (VNSA), are individuals or teams of people that operate fully or partially autonomous of national governments. These rogue groups usually threaten and deploy violence to procure their objectives. Violent non-state actors exit in different sizes and their methods and aims vary. These groups may include drug cartels, liberation activists, religious organizations, ideological groups, private military contractors, paramilitary movements, as well as self-defense militia (Kaldor (2013). According to Williams (2008), many of these groups are created by state governments with the intention of advancing their goals. As such, while some non-state actors work against the government of the day, others are linked to the government and operate under the support of the government state. Indeed, studies show that some of these non-state actors deploy techniques akin to those of state armed forces. They also adopt a structure more like that of the national defense forces. However, there are also other violent non-state groups that engage nonconventional methods in their operations including the use of kidnappings, deployment of improvised explosive devices, and hacking of computer networks (Williams 2008). William’s school of thought is affirmed by Davis (2009) who explains that violent non-state actors usually execute a prominent and usually destabilizing activities in almost every political and humanitarian crisis afflicting the global community. It therefore means VNSAs employ tactics that are different from the traditional Westphalian sovereignty system of states in various ways. Firstly, they offer an alternative to the governance of the national governments. Additionally, they work to challenge the monopoly of violence by the state (Davis 2009). A study conducted by Kaldorn (2013) concluded that almost all new violent non-state actors are offshoots of earlier defeated terrorist organizations. Moreover, and interestingly, many claims by political leaders that various violent groups are defeated usually turn out to be false. For instance, President Trump's claims that ISIS had been eliminated by anti-ISIS coalition forces should be met with skepticism. Trump made these assertions to justify his move to pull America's military from Syria. In less than one month, Trump's claims were proved wrong when four Americans were attacked and killed by the same group in the Syrian city of Manbij. This incidence raised fresh doubts about the allegations that ISIS had been beaten. Certainly, beating a terrorist organization that deploys gorilla techniques and terrorism is extremely hard. Most conventional armies are trained on the elimination of violent groups that seek to hold ground in various territories (Kaldor 2013). The case of Al-shabaab further cements the argument that violent non-state actors are simply re-emerging as opposed to being created a new. This terror group was formed in the year 2006 after the claimed defeat of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The earliest documented attacks by the ICU occurred on March 26, 2007. The group used a car bomb to attack Ethiopian forces that were stationed in Mogadishu. In the attack, 73 Ethiopian solders were reportedly killed. Although Al-shabaab has been majorly degraded following the incursion of the southern Somali region by Kenya's defense forces, it continues to recruit massively and is in control of various areas in Somalia. The group has many training camps inside Somalia including in Laanta Bur village near Afgooye (Kaldor 2013). In October 2017, Al-shabaab carried out a deadly attack in Mogadishu in which twin bomb explosions killed about 500 people in Somali's capital Mogadishu. In 2019, another explosion in Mogadishu involving the use of vehicle Bourne IED claimed the lives of 94 people. Most of the casualties were students and about 147 more individuals were injured. The group also executes attacks outside Somalia. For instance, on January 15, 2019, the group claimed responsibility of an attack in a Kenyan hotel in which a total of 21 people were killed and several others injured (Ibrahim Shire 2020). Al-shabaab has links with other international terrorist organizations including Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Studies indicate that multiple young people from across the world including from US and Europe cross to Somalia to help Al-shabaab. The United States and UK have banned this group. Security experts estimate that this terror group has between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters. Al-shabaab supports the Saudi-inspired Wahhabi version of Islam (Ibrahim Shire 2020). ajority of Somalia residents are Sufis and do not support the rules and methods used by Al-shabaab. The group is known to utilize very inhuman techniques including amputating the hands of those confirmed to be thieves and killing adulterous women by stoning (Kaldor 2013). The Boko Haram insurgency is also not an entirely new group. It started its operations in 2009 with assistance from al-Qaeda and Al-shabaab. Following the relentless crackdown on al-Qaeda and Al-shabaab, these groups are creating offshoots in other regions of the world to avoid their extermination. Boko Haram seeks to establish an exclusively Islamic state in Nigeria and is influenced by the long-standing conflict between Muslim and Christians in this country. In 2012, this group drastically expanded its operations in Nigeria and beyond and captured many more territories. More killings have been reported this year, with growing presence in multiple other nations including Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. Many scholars have researched and documented the genesis and the Drivers of VNSAs. It is worth noting that VNAs have existed for millennia now. For example, Rome was forced to deal with such groups at the height of its power. Several roaming criminal groups and mar...