War on terrorism should focus on root causes: Experts<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
International experts have called for a new pattern of
\ncooperation among governments across the globe in their fight
\nagainst the root causes of transnational crime, saying no single
\ncountry would be able to win the war against it alone.<\/p>\n
Hans-J Geissmann of the German-based Institute for Peace
\nResearch and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg
\ncriticized world leaders for only tackling the \"symptoms\" of many
\ntransnational crimes, including terrorism.<\/p>\n
\"We know the risks we are dealing with. But the problem is we
\nhave only dealt with the symptoms so far,\" he said after
\npresenting his speech to close the Second German\/Asian Dialogue
\non Security Policy in Jakarta on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Geissmann said the governments should deal with the root
\ncauses of the problems, and find a new kind of international
\ncooperation.<\/p>\n
Some 30 participants of the two-day meeting from 11 countries
\nagreed that the root causes of transnational crimes included
\npoverty, injustice and social disorder.<\/p>\n
\"We need to find a new kind of cooperation in international
\nrelations, something that we are lacking now,\" Geissmann said.<\/p>\n
He also pointed to some \"private actors\", which he blamed for
\ninciting injustice in the world that led to hatred, radicalism
\nand fundamentalism.<\/p>\n
Many countries, he said, only focused on handling specific
\nissues -- which are all the symptoms of transnational crimes.<\/p>\n
\"We now learn that these specific issues are linked to each
\nother. Interference of various issues, which now have already
\nbecome complex, must be brought back into balance,\" Geissmann
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Similarly, researcher Kusnanto Anggoro of Indonesia's Center
\nfor Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said the dialog
\nconcluded that aside from political commitment, the governments
\nshould respectively translate their policies of eradicating
\ntransnational crimes into practical measures.<\/p>\n
\"Each country faces its domestic problems in implementing the
\npolicy,\" he argued, adding that each government needed
\ninternational support to fight transnational crimes.<\/p>\n
Kusnanto hopes such dialogs would continue in the future in a
\nbid to explore possibilities to root out terrorism and other
\nglobal crimes.<\/p>\n
\"Perhaps, we need to involve decision-makers in further
\ndialogs in the hope that they would be willing to accommodate our
\nproposals,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Monday, Rainer Arnold, a member of the German
\nParliament, told the same forum that all countries should respond
\npositively to calls for fighting the root causes of transnational
\ncrimes.<\/p>\n
Governments needed to enact consistent security policies of
\ndisarmament, arms control, and non-proliferation and resolutions
\nof regional conflicts, he said.<\/p>\n
Arnold said it would not be enough for them to merely work on
\nglobal disarmament and settling regional conflicts.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Sudrajat, the director general for defense strategy
\nat the Indonesian Ministry of Defense, concurred, saying that a
\nchange in security perspectives was essential to cope with
\nterrorism.<\/p>\n
\"We can no longer use coercion to fight terrorism and
\nextremism. It should be faced with ideology. We should also
\npromote moderation,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/war-on-terrorism-should-focus-on-root-causes-experts-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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