Failure of global politics

Violence breeds violence. Isis asserts that its attack on Paris was carried out as retaliation. France says its air raids in Syria were prompted by Isis’ brutal massacre of innocent people in Paris.
Looking at the horrifying video clips of both Paris and Syria, the least one can do is feel ashamed of one’s humanity. The videos show screaming children and women running in utter panic for cover inside a raging fire lit up with bombs and bullets. What is not shown is the inhumanity of power-and-resource-hungry humans.
When any crisis deepens, a realisation emerges on how best to get rid of the situation. The existing order of things comes under close scrutiny, and new ways are explored on an emergency basis. People then find themselves at peace with any signs of salvation.
Today, there would be hardly any country that does not have security problems – all created and sustained by humanity either by omission or commission. Isis and what it stands for is the offshoot of an unjust world order. The powerful countries continue to exploit the resource-rich poor countries through puppet rulers, MNCs (multinational corporations), and supranational institutions (such as the UN, IMF, and World Bank). Economic and political deprivation in the Muslim world in particular lies at the heart of global terrorism.
Is it not ridiculous to call the UN the ‘United’ nations? Is it not more appropriate to label it as the ‘Divided Nations’ given the fact that it cannot agree on common problems and their solutions? Has it ever taken tangible steps to eliminate the risk of war by resolving outstanding political disputes?
What about eradication of nuclear weapons? Is the world not divided between poignant poverty and splendid affluence? Is climate change not a real threat to our existence? Yes, the UN is responsive and effective when the interests of the P5 are at stake. The UN, as it stands today, does not reflect the changing dynamics of contemporary world. It needs to be restructured radically if it has to remain relevant.
The most heinous crime committed against the Muslim world has been a sustained effort to enslave it by propping up dictators and kings against popular will. Most of the rulers in Muslim majority countries do not represent the aspirations of their people. They rule with an iron hand with no obligation, whatsoever, to empower their people through education and political participation. Their lifestyle is in sharp contrast to that of ordinary citizens.
The welfare of the people is never their priority. What, however, they never forget is their total submission to the US and other ‘masters’ in return for getting legitimacy to rule and ‘necessary’ support for survival. Whether someone likes it or not but hopelessness and dispossession in the Muslim world has provided the breeding ground for militant groups such as the TTP, Al-Shabab, and Isis.
It is extremely important to understand that terrorism has nothing to do with any religion, including Islam. It is quite evident that individuals and groups who decide to take up arms against a state will invoke religion or race to justify their actions.
It is also convenient and strategically important for countries fighting Isis and other such groups to make terrorism an ideological war. Ideological differences create conditions where people can hardly think and act justly. Ideology conceals real motives and distracts attention from real problems.
Tactical gains against the enemy are always necessary for boosting the morale of the soldiers and placating apprehensions of defeat but they are not sufficient to win a war.
War, according to Churchill, is too serious a matter to be left to the generals. Terrorism is not an ordinary war; it is complex, protracted, and illusive. Killing a few individuals here and there and hitting some hideouts from the skies may bring solace to some but it is nothing more than pushing the real problem under the carpet.
The writer teaches at FAST-NU, Peshawar.
Email: zeb.khan@nu.edu.pk