I. Civil Wars and the Unipolar World:
1. Regimes in many countries are fighting civil war against one or more rebel groups, and as a consequence state machinery has ceased to function or even exist in these unfortunate countries. Afghanistan, Angola, Burundi, Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia are among the victims of this kind of instability. Some of them have been branded as "failed states" of worry to the rest of the world. - a source
2. At the same time some countries continued to face threats of interference and military intervention from outside. The delicate situation of Georgia in Europe and Zaire in Africa illustrates this trend.
3. The civil wars are being fought in the most brutal and uncivil fashion. Reports are available about reckless use of small arms (like AK-47s), hand grenades, and landmines, which have brought misery to the millions of unconnected and innocent men, women and children.
4. Nearly 20 million lives were lost in violent clashes in the past 15 years. According to estimates 95 out of a hundred deaths in these wars are innocent civilians. Clearing a city or town of ethnic minority groups through mass killings, forcible use of children as soldiers, gang rapes of women are key and inhuman features of the civil wars.
5. Human rights violations by the official troops or rebels have now become a central concern for those interested in security and stability as components of the post-Cold War global order. The focus clearly shifted from the state security during the Cold War era to human security.
6. On the other hand, a number of countries fear that human rights could be used as a pretext for foreign military interventions. In 2003 the United States invaded and occupied Iraq after accusing the regime of Saddam Hussain of using deadly weapons against Shia and Kurd sections of Iraqi population.
7. A vast majority of countries criticised the US action as illegal and unjustified, and also accused the US of misusing the human rights plank for its own selfish interests. Ironically thousands of Iraqis and Americans lost - are losing their lives because of the continuing warfare between the American coalition and the Iraqi resistance forces.
8. There are apprehensions that the Iraqi venture could turn out as the biggest mistake of the United States comparable to its defeat in the war against Vietnam (1963-73).
II. Terrorism and Unipolar World:
1. Among other factors, religious intolerance is contributing to instability in the contemporary world. Though religious extremism is commonly identified with Islam,it is not true that is confined to one religion alone. Many of these groups enjoy wide network of patronage cutting across national boundaries encompassing supply of military hardware and funds. This network is said to include mafia connected with drug trafficking, arms dealing, etc. In other words, the internal disorder faced by many countries often has cross-border linkages.
2. It is these linkages that made international terrorism the most dangerous aspect threatening security of not just one or the other state, but the world order at large. Al Qaeda under the leadership of Osama bin Laden is one of the most feared terrorist organisations in the world today.
3. We all are familiar with the daredevil attacks planned and organised allegedly by Osama bin Laden's followers against the World Trade Centre in New York and other locations in the United States on 11 September 2001. Although terrorism as a menace existed much before 11 September 2001, the incident demonstrated on the television screens how the mightiest power on earth was so easily shaken.
4. In South Asia, India and Sri Lanka have been fighting terrorists for more than a decade. And now terrorism has spread to other countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan in South Asia, Malaysia and Indonesia in Southeast Asia, Palestine, Lebanon and Egypt in West Asia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan in Africa and so forth.
5. In a shocking incident in September 2004, Chechnya-associated terrorists seized a school in southern Russia and in an unfortunate showdown with Russian commandos caused death to 350 young school children.
6. In short, these aspects of instability point to the need to look at security in a new way. The scope of security has expanded; it includes not only absence of foreign aggression but also internal stability.
7. Security does not just mean building up strong military force to protect state; it has to ensure economic, social, environmental well being of people. Moreover, all these problems including terrorism cannot be tackled alone by a state but all countries together.
