Globalisation and security (Essay Sample)

Globalization and Security: Terrorism in the UAEStudent’s Name:Institution Affiliation: Globalization and Security: Terrorism in the UAE Introduction: The term transnational threats describe those security threats that do not originate from a single country nor are they localized to a specific region thereby gaining the common term “threats without borders.” They are thus security challenges that face the global community. The threats can be either military or nonmilitary in nature, and they evolve slowly over time influencing and having a certain degree of impact on the political, economic and social integrity of a nation. Transnational security concerns have however increased in the modern era due to an increase in globalization as well as the advances in technology. These two phenomena have created a borderless global community with decreasing physical borders or a flat world as observed by Thomas Friedman (Friedman, 2006). The term borderless does not, however, mean the removal of physical boundaries but it refers to the free and easy interaction of people from the different racial and geographical backgrounds. One of the most dominant transnational security threat facing the human society in the 21st century is terrorism. The term has been used to refer to the unlawful use of indiscriminate violence by specific groups as a form of coercion to gain a political, social, economic or religious goal. The use of violence is meant to spread terror in a social establishment and thus use that fear to further their goals. Terrorism is defined as a transnational security threat due to the fact the modern terrorists do not discriminate national borders. Additionally, the increase and rise in the number of terror groups operating in the world thereby making it a global catastrophe. This essay looks at the terrorist threat and how it is affecting the national interests of the United Arab Emirates. Source of the Threat There are various factors that have been established as the primary causes of terrorism in the modern world. They mostly depend on the type and motive of the terrorist activity being undertaken by the terrorist group or individual. However, the most significant source of terrorism in the UAE is Islamic radicalization in the Middle East in general (Yaphe, 1996). Radicalization, in this case, refers to the adoption of extreme social and religious ideals that are in most cases militant in nature. These ideals are meant to create an environment whereby individuals reject the socio-political status quo leading to the employment of violence to achieve the group's objectives. However, contrary to popular belief, radicalization in the Middle East has nothing to do with religion but is founded on the socio-economic realities in the region. The unequal distribution of resources has contributed to a large extent to the development of terrorism in the Middle East. A large portion of the blame is pointed to the capitalistic notions of the West which has been adopted by many countries like the UAE. Proponents of this notions believe that the U.S. and the West have unfairly benefited or are profiting from the resources in the Middle East. Thus, their prime ideology was not for the furtherance of Islamic ideals, but it was meant to fight against western capitalism which they identified as their oppressors (Crenshaw, 1989). Those looking to challenge this perceived injustice use religion in order to influence people to join their cause. They have however turned the fight into a conflict between religions (Islam and other religions) and between civilizations (Islam versus the West) (Hoffman, 2006). It is thus apparent that terrorist activities are borne out of a myriad of ideological factors that include religious, social, economic and political reasons. Security implications Terrorism in the UAE has had some negative impacts on the country’s economic stability. The UAE is heavily reliant on tourism as one of its national economic activity. Tourism is the country's second-largest foreign exchange earner, and it is being extremely affected by the rising rates of terrorism in the country. Consequently, it has seen an increasing rate of travel advisory from foreign countries to their citizens to avoid or not to travel to the region. This has lowered the number of tourists visiting the nation thereby reducing the amount of foreign currency collected from the tourism industry. Similarly, increased rates of terror in the nation have also contributed to low investors activity in the country. Terrorism furthers the notion of political and economic instability which adversely harms the business environment (Jongman, 2017). Even though the business environment is highly characterized by risks, the risks that follow political instability are so high that they are not viable prospects for investors. As such the nation’s economic growth stalls due to lack of funds and revenue for development projects. Terrorism also creates a ripple effect that helps the spread of poverty in the society due to the fact that derailed growth affects the whole nation as a whole. Thereby, poverty spreads from the top to bottom which in the destabilizes the whole nation as is evidenced by Somalia. Policy Options The UAE community has taken active measures to combat the threat posed by terrorism and growing extremism in the region. It achieves the above by employing policy measures that are meant to strengthen the laws guarding the community and its member states (Passas, 2003). For example, it has been actively involved in the military action employed by the West to root out extremist groups like ISIS in the region (MaCle...