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| Threats
That Confront the Modern State at the Beginning of the
21st Century
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Nowadays, in the beginning of 21st century most countries
of the world present democratic units based on rights and
freedoms of their citizens. It is hard to imagine that there
are factors, which can bring threats to modern states but
at the same time it is a reality of present moment. Constant
wars and conflicts break fragile balance in the world and
makes states participate in difficult political games. Conflict
in the Middle East, Israel - Palestine conflict and revolutionary
warfare break peace in the world and threaten safety of the
most world counties. Each country has to measure its warfare
in order to be ready to provide a prompt reaction on the changing
situation in the world.
The fall of Berlin Wall in 1989 became a beginning of the
new are. Due to immense effort of NATO the Warsaw pact has
been abolished. This gave push to the development of democratic
regimes in the countries of Eastern Europe. Next several years,
which followed this important change on the world scene, could
be characterized as comparatively peaceful and quite. Unfortunately
Kuwait conflict has broken fragile balance and gave start
to a serious conflict which included many countries. “The
actual conflict, six months later, was also short-lived and
itself heralded a further new era, the beginnings of Precision
Warfare“(Stone, 69). Western countries had to look for
the means to confront possible danger. A number of coalitions
and agreements have been used for this purpose. Some specialists
do not believe that these measures really reduced danger.
Bosnian conflict and crisis in Kosovo became next warning
signals for the world community. International organizations
works hard to save peace in the world but unfortunately they
are not always able to guarantee safety for all countries
of the world.
Events of September 11, 2001 have very vividly shown that
even the most powerful states can become the victims of terrorist
attacks. “The Global War on Terror” proclaimed
by President Bush ended post-cold war period and started a
new era. President Bush announced after the events of the
September 11 about the terrorist attack “on a scale
that has created a state of armed conflict that requires the
use of the United States Armed Forces. He also expressed an
opinion that “there is a necessity in effective conduct
of military operations and prevention of military attacks,
which makes it possible to detain certain non-citizens and
if necessary, to try them for violations of the laws of war
and other applicable laws by military tribunals” (Elsea,
123). So, terrorism became one of serious threats for modern
states. Not only the United States of America, but also many
other countries of Asia, Europe, Africa and Middle East live
under constant threat of terrorist attacks. Unfortunately
terrorism became widespread form of protest and it creates
serious threat for the peace in many countries.
Nuclear Weapon is another serious threat to all countries
of the world. When we talk about terrorism we can think about
some exceptions, while a threat created by Nuclear Potential
of some countries is a reality nobody can escape. During the
period from 1960s to 1990s many countries reduced their Nuclear
Potentials or even refused from Nuclear Weapons at all, like
Ukraine, for example. Starting from 1990s the situation worsened
again. India and Pakistan declared about their status as Nuclear
States. This change did not have great impact on the world
safety but symbolized turn to the new era in arms race. The
situation worsened when Iran and North Korea followed their
example and also declared about their status of Nuclear States.
The threat created by Nuclear Potential possessed by these
countries is only one part of the problem. There is a big
danger that other countries may follow their example and start
developing nuclear weapon as well. “It could also trigger
a chain of new nuclear states which, if it included Japan,
could fundamentally alter the security system of East Asia
for the first time in a half-century. The second could trigger
armed conflict with Israel, stimulate additional proliferation
in the Middle East, and reduce even further the low probability
of bringing peace and stability to the region” (Nacht,
45). So, the threat of Nuclear War becomes reality nowadays,
like it used to be during the period of Cold War.
Security is not the only subject of concern of the contemporary
governments. Major changes in the economic structure of the
world can also bring danger to the modern states. Globalization
is one of such modern phenomena, which can bring certain threat
along with definitely positive characteristics it has on the
development of the countries. Keniche Ohmae, the Japanese
business writer says, “nations have become mere fictions”(Ohmae,
125). The reason of all these transformations is globalization.
The global market develops with high velocity and globalization
plays an important role in this process. We can not compare
the world market and its turnover to those we had even two
decades ago. The turnover of the world trade grows with every
year and the range of goods and services presented in this
market grows also. It’s the first time in the history
of mankind when huge amounts of money, which exist in electronic
form can be transferred from one computer to another in several
seconds. The speed and technology are amazing but lack of
stability and unpredictability causes negative reactions of
skeptics. Those who support extremely negative view on globalization
state that it leads to inequality, poverty and increased threat
to the environment.
Another reason of negative attitude to globalization set forward
by its opponents is the danger of Westernalisation. Globalization
itself isn’t as frightening as Westernalization, when
the world economy is subdued to the interests of several Western
countries and these interests are promoted in all spheres
of life. Those, who set arguments against globalization state
that it can exhaust inner resources of the countries of the
third world who take part in this process. This happens in
countries like Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Natural
resources of these countries are exploited by richer countries
(Sullivan, 2001). These are negative results of in the world
globalization. From the others side opening markets can also
have negative effect for the countries as accepting good from
the countries where child labor is applied or labor units
are prohibited counties-importers support inhuman policies
of such countries.
As we can see, despite centuries of development and technical
progress, internal and externals wars and conflicts stay the
main source of threat in the 21st century. Like many centuries
ago people are afraid of wars, which have become even more
destructive due to technical progress. New forms of terrorism
create additional threat to many countries in the world. In
addition globalization can become a source of problems for
the contemporary society.
Works Cited:
Barkham, J. Information Warfare and International Law on the
Use of Force, 34 New York University Journal of International
Law and Politics 57, 2001.
Nacht, M. Confronting Gathering Threats: U.S. Strategic Policy,
Strategic Insights, Volume IV, Issue 9 (September 2005)GR74
- Some thoughts on 21st century warfare Major-General A.C.P.
Stone, CB, FRUSI, 2001
Ohmae, K. The End of the Nation State: The Rise of Regional
Economies: How New Engines of Prosperity are Reshaping Global
Markets (New York, NY; Free Press, 1995).
Elsea, J. Terrorism and the Law of War: Trying Terrorists
as War Criminals before Military Commissions. CRS Report for
Congress, 2001.
Sullivan, J. Jeremiah. The Future of Corporate Globalization:
From the Extended Order to the Global Village. Westport, CT:
Quorum Books, 2002.
Watson, I. Rethinking the Politics of Globalization: Theory,
Concepts, and Strategy. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2002.
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