The "Age of fear" written in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center And the Pentagon, is an accessible commentary intended to provoke thought and debates on the topic of terrorism.
Authored and first published by Prof Amitav Acharya in 2000 in the immediate wake of 9/11 terrorist attack, the "Age of Fear" is not a book about terrorism per se. the main idea of the book is built upon the premise of the rise of the America as a sole superpower in the world and its advance towards unilateralism and the US hegemony, as implied by the policies and decisions of the then Bush Administration.
The author has rightly nomenclatured the post-9/11
Era as an Age of Fear. The face of terrorism is changing and at a result, the ever
more elusive definition of the term "terrorism" is becoming more
difficult to define in the universal terms. It is becoming even more
controversial. The old cliché “one man's terrorist is another man's freedom
fighter" is coming in to play.
In fact, this controversy and lack of universally
accepted definition of terrorism has been played to the advantage by the
countries around the globe. The United States of America tops the list.
The book explores various subjects such as who is
a terrorist, what qualifies as a terrorism, what are the causes of terrorism and
why postmodern terrorism is different. The author further contemplates on
whether or not there really is a clash of civilization as theorized by Samuel
Huntington where the later argued that the civilizations will eventually come
into conflict. Above all, and in large part, the book focused and revolves around
the international terrorism in general, and explores deeply into the
implications of the War in Iraq to terrorism.
The book is organized in three key sections for the readers’ convenience. The first section investigates into the civilizational roots and dimensions of contemporary terrorism. Then it examines the Bush Administration’s approach to managing international order and relations. Finally, it considers the complex and changing relationship between fear and freedom.
Building up on the post 9/11 terrorist attack,
America was successful in securing the support from the international
community, which the Bush Administration declared as the Crusade—the holy war
against terrorism. In fact, the status of the US as super-power, following the
Cold-war era and the fall of the Soviet Union, has been upgraded to the status
of “Hyper-power” in the world. The United States of America, and the Bush Administration
in particular capitalized this Age of Fear to advance its American way of
managing international order—focusing on the US Strategic primacy. This is
clearly evident from the Bush Administration’s decision to declare war on Iraq
for the alleged linking of the then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with the Al
Qaeda, in which the later was responsible for the September 11, 2001 attack. It
appears that the age of fear has come as a blessing in disguise.
There is no doubt that international and
transnational terrorism is the global common problem. Yet, at the same time, it
is becoming increasingly apparent that the politicians and the leaders around
the globe are exploiting the threat of terrorism to advance their own selfish
agendas.
Take for example, the USA—how it advanced its
strategic primacy. In the case of striking and occupying Iraq, instead of
opting for collective security, Bush resorted to the right of national
self-defense under the UN Charter to bypass the Security Council Authorization
for conduct of the military campaign. Bush was more than sure that the Russia
and China would use their veto-power against America’s proposal, thus
withholding the strike on Iraq.
Though America garnered sympathies from around the
world, each of its key regional allies demanded and secured something in
return. China and Russia demanded that their domestic insurgencies be viewed as
terrorist rather than the human rights issue. Similarly, India seeked the US
Support on its war against terrorism including Pakistan supported Kashmiri
militants.
All these instances gave rise to a new sort of
world order. The question remains—what sort of world order is emerging and how
will this affect other nations around the world. In the name of war against
terrorism, the role of the United Nations (UN) has been ignored. The human
rights issues have fallen into the shade of American power and influence. Take
for example the Guantanamo Bay. The world is turning unipolar driven by
unilateral American Hegemon.
The time has come to choose between fear and
freedom in the context of modern terrorism. The Homeland Security exposes this
American fear. American response to terrorism continues to focus heavily on
surveillance and securitization, which is far away from addressing the causes
of it. Here, once again, fear has triumphed over freedom. It is ironic as well
as worth noting that the most powerful nation in the world is also one of the
most fearful. This raises the question of whether or not power is sufficient to
overcome fear, or whether a large amount of power leads to greater fear. The steps
of the governments to strengthen security against terrorism is making people even
more insecure.
The book has been largely focused around the Iraq
war. Bush Administration had given three main justifications on it:
-Iraq’s suspected development of
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
-Iraq’s alleged link with
terrorist groups
-Repression and misrule of the
Iraqi people by the Saddam Hussein Regime.
Though it is difficult to argue against the third
reason, America had gone to war with the first reason of Iraq possessing the
WMD which couldn’t be proved by the UN Inspectors. But such a war could only be
justified under UN authorization and when all other means like diplomacy and
containment has been exhausted.
Instead America formed the “coalition of the
willing” and declared war on Iraq. However, such coalition was doubtful in
itself as other countries were joining just to serve their national interests
like security dependence on the US and the foreign aids flowing in from the
America.
It is worth noting another prominent member of
Bush’s “Axis of Evil”—the North Korea. In fact, the North Korean nuclear
program is more evident and advanced than that of the Iraq. SO the question is—should
America now declare war upon North Korea too? The instance of North Korea meets
the requirements on which Bush justified his military campaign on Iraq. This is
creating a strategic dilemma for Asian countries. Asia cannot afford another
Gulf War.
The Bush Doctrine that led to Iraq War has significant
percussions, especially in the Asian context. The terrorism in South Asia is much
more localized and unique from the rest of the world. If the pre-emptive use of
force to deal with the threat to national interest is to be justified as America
did, especially against state-sponsored terrorism and the WMD, is India right
in declaring war on Pakistan? Since the independence of India and separation of
Pakistan and Bangladesh, the sense of terror has always been around the South
Asian Sub-continent. Instead, the author argues that America is biased in its
fight against terrorism in which a country which had no WMD was invaded and the
one which not only had such weapons but was spreading it, had been rewarded.
Hence, by examining the issues in the book, it
allows us to understand the three main issues of fear that we face:
-The fear of modern terrorism
-The fear of unilateral foreign
policies
-The fear of how states are using
the excuse of terrorism to implement domestic policies that would otherwise be
deemed unacceptable.
The New Decade of Age of Fear:
Even after more than a decade and a half since the
book was first published in 2004, the age of fear still lingers on. The modern
form of terrorism is uprising. The author has attempted to address the aspects
of international terrorism, but the book is not about the terrorism per se. it
is largely focused on Bush Doctrine of pre-emption, American unilateralism and
American Hegemony. That’s it. Even though the book was written in the aftermath
of 9/11 attack, it hardly provides any insight and analysis of the events. Rather,
the author seemed to be in a hurry to write about Iraq War. Al Qaeda is largely
ignored in this book. Osama-led AL Qaeda, which was in fact, created by the US
itself did strike back on its own creator. The author should have put some
light on this. The CIA and the US Armed Forces helped him organize the force in
Afghanistan to fight against the Soviets. Today that money and those weapons
and logistics have helped build up the Taliban.
The same is the case of Saddam Hussein. In the
1980s, the US and the Britain backed Saddam in the war against Iran, giving Iraq
arms, money, satellite intelligence and even CBRN (Chemical, Biological,
Radiological and Nuclear) weapon precursors—the same WMD allegations the US had
put on to overthrow Saddam Hussein in the aftermath of 9/11. None of these
facts were mentioned by the author. Inclusion and focusing on these events that
developed near the end of 20th Century would have helped the readers
to understand the role of the US in creating terrorism. Most notably Osama bin
Laden and Saddam Hussein.
The New wave of terror:
ISIS is now emerging as the new face of terrorism
in the 21st Century. The people of America have elected new Presidents
after Bush. In this regard, America should not be identified with Bush Doctrine.
That period is over. Barrack Obama’s regime was successful in promoting the
global peace to some extent by withdrawing the Military Troops back from the
Middle East. Secret Operation by US Special Forces that killed Osama bin Laden
was one of the appreciable events that happened in Obama’s presidency.
But terrorism just doesn’t die with the death of
either Osama or Saddam or any terrorist leader. America doesn’t seem to learn
from the lessons of the past. The Syrian Civil War is another chapter in the
Age of Fear today.
Like with Saddam regime, America is fighting
against the Syrian government, but this time the strategy has changed. Wars
have turned into “proxy-wars”. With its “coalition of wiling”, the US, the UK
and France initially provided support for the opposition rebel groups in Syria.
It is worth noting that the jihadists have become the dominant force in the
armed opposition which the US-led coalition is backing. On the other side, Russia
is generously supporting Syrian government in all possible ways to turn the
tide of the war in the government’s favor. This for and against venture is once
again taking the global politics to the pre-Cold War Era.
To conclude this discourse, the author is right in
stating that we are living in the age of fear. Instead of attempting to answer
the routine questions regarding terrorism and its causes, the author has aimed
to problematize them because the answers to the questions of terrorism are always
contested, producing confusion, uncertainty and answers that are based more on
emotions than reason. The global trend of terror lingers on and there is no end
to our fear. In fact, we are living at the mercy of pain and fear—forging our
freedom for security.
God Bless Us.
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