Part 1 of 2 Globalization and the spread of conflict

Part 1 of 2 Globalization and the spread of conflict

Nasir Tamara, Chairman, The Center for Globalization
and Social Studies, Jakarta

The second war in Iraq is almost over. However, the world
appears to be entering a very dangerous era of global conflict
between the West and the Muslim world.

Many moderate democratic Muslims genuinely feel offended,
humiliated and angry about the many innocent victims of the war.
And they are in despair at the fact that no country or the United
Nations can protect them from the domination of the world's only
superpower.

The end of the war and the end of the dictatorship in Iraq
will not make many people in the West believe that Islam does not
promote terrorism and that Muslim countries are not breeding
grounds for terrorists.

Suspicion in the West of Muslims and their religion followed
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S. This attitude
stems from the fact that all the hijackers were Arab Muslims and
15 of the 19 were citizens of Saudi Arabia, a country that
teaches a conservative branch of Islam and houses Mecca, the most
holy place in Islam.

Many governments in the West, led by the U.S., have taken
strong measures against terrorist groups and their sponsors. The
war against Iraq, a Muslim country, is partly due to the
relationship of Saddam Hussein's regime with al-Qaeda, and the
fear that Iraq itself possesses weapons of mass destruction which
could be used against the West.

However, a sweeping perception of Islamic nations as
"factories of terrorism" would reflect a severe lack of knowledge
of Islam and Islamic societies. It is comparable to making a
gross generalization that all Irish Catholics are terrorists
because of the Irish Republican Army's attacks on Protestants in
Ireland.

The roots of terrorism must be found in the underlying
conditions of each society where violence in the form of
terrorism is found. The strong and chronic presence of poverty,
inequality, degradation and humiliation, the failure to provide
access to basic education, the absence of respect for human
rights and democracy; all of these provide fertile ground for
societal conflicts and terrorism.

Most of the societies in which such conditions persist are
dictatorial regimes, where a minority ruling class exploits the
local population for its own benefit and enrichment. To
perpetuate their existence, the dictators of such countries
provide a self-serving form of religious education, based on
narrow, uncritical and manipulated texts.

In dictatorial regimes, religion is often used to support
political goals. In such countries, the aim of religion is no
longer to create happiness and harmony among believers and
nations, but to create a scapegoat for the people's misery.
Through manipulation of religious symbols, dictators create
xenophobia, suspicion and hatred toward people who do not share
the same religion.

Major changes in the world economy, politics, culture and
technology have enabled people all over the world to learn more
about the living conditions of others.

Globalization has created extraordinary wealth for the Western
world and Japan. The globalization of the world market has been
used to promote political stability and peaceful economic
competition among certain countries.

However, in many of the UN member countries most people still
live in poverty and lack many basic needs such as clean water, an
adequate diet, health care, education and a healthy environment.

Many ask: As the industrialized nations have grown richer, why
has the developing world become poorer? And why have many of the
wealthier countries closed their doors to immigrants from poorer
countries?

The world is still divided among those who have benefited from
globalization, those who see the possibility to transform the
underdeveloped condition of their countries and those who live
without any hope at all of changing their situation.

The recipe for the economic success of Western countries can
be traced to three key ingredients. First, they have democratic
governments based on the principles of freedom, individuality and
the separation of state and religion. The second ingredient is
the pursuit of sound economic policies based on free market
principles. The last ingredient is the embrace of peaceful means
to settle conflicts in international relations.

These three ingredients have been adopted by the Confucian
world of Japan, Korea and Taiwan, as well as the former countries
of the Soviet Union. India, a democratic country that had a
closed economy for many decades, has rather recently opened up to
more competition.

However, many countries, such as China, have tried a different
approach. China, still a communist country, embraces
globalization but has thus far still been able to pursue it own
agenda. Singapore is another country that has become prosperous
although it is not yet ready to embrace democracy. Despite their
many differences, both China and Singapore are culturally
Confucian.