FUTURE CHALLENGES TO INTERNATIONAL

SECURITY

The last decade has clearly demonstrated that the nature of threats to international security has changed significantly.

Structural challenges, such as Terrorism and Cyber-Terrorism, Nuclear Proliferation, China’s Rise, Crisis in the Middle East, Corruption and the Changing Climate.

TERRORISM Terrorism is not new and even though it has been used since the early

times of recorded history, it can be relatively hard to define terrorism. Terrorism has been described variously as both a tactic and strategy; a crime; a justified reaction to oppression and an inexcusable abomination. Terrorism has often been an effective tactic for the weaker side in a conflict.

Terrorism is a criminal act that influences an audience beyond the immediate victim. There is considerable confusion about the nature of the terrorist threat and this confusion leads to faulty policies, misallocation of resources, and not striking a proper balance between individual privacy and community security. There is confusion about whether terrorism is a law enforcement or national security matter.

CYBER-TERRORISM The world is getting flatter, transactions are held in

cyberspace, everything is going the electronic way. This new era is the next zone for wars and terrorist activities.

More and more terrorist are becoming tech savvy and have come to understood the true potential for waging war in cyberspace. Hacking financial institutions, decrypting military networks and gathering sensitive information has become the new theme for terrorists.

NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION Nuclear proliferation is the

spread of nuclear weapons , fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

 More than 2,000 nuclear tests have been conducted worldwide. Many areas that served as test sites continue to suffer from the horrific health and environmental effects of nuclear explosions. Nuclear weapons explosions cause radioactive fall-out, exposure to which can cause genetic damage spanning generations.

NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION(Cont…) Nuclear weapons are a crime

against future generations because they have the power to obliterate life on earth as we know it and cause unimaginable damage spanning many generations to come. Nuclear weapons must be abandoned in order to neutralize the existential threat they pose, so that future generations can enjoy their right to life, liberty and security.

CRISIS IN MIDDLE EAST The major crisis in middle east is Arab – Israeli conflict. The roots of the modern Arab–Israeli conflict lie in the rise

of Zionism and the reactionary Arab Nationalism that arose in response to Zionism towards the end of the 19th century. Before World War I, the Middle East had been under the control of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 400 years.

During the month-long war that ended with a cease-fire Aug. 14, Israel dropped thousands of bombs and missiles on Lebanon, devastating its infrastructure, killing more than 1 million people and driving hundreds of thousands from their homes.

CRISIS IN MIDDLE EAST(Cont…) There is no way to end the Middle East conflict except to

gain the enemy’s respect. Israelis, hated European aliens among Middle Eastern peoples, cannot arouse such feelings and might hope at best for respect engendered by force and fear. And Arabs, who equate strength with arrogance and hauteur, understand that and would take any other policy for weakness. While few Arabs hated Jews a century ago, they despise them now, because the Israelis combine weakness with anti-Arab ambitions, the worst mix possible in the Middle East.

CHINA’S RISE: China’s military budget has grown even faster than its GDP,

averaging over 12 percent for over a decade.  China’s vast pool of cheap labor, its absence of social or

environmental restraints means it can undercut the rest of the world

The world’s biggest polluter is also destroying the planet, its carbon emissions are up 171 percent since 2000.

China uses its immense economic power to get other countries hooked on handouts. Chinese aid and investment has secured an unhealthy hold over nations across Africa, enabling it to harvest their mineral resources and exploit their workforces.

China is a direct threat to European and US hopes of spreading democratic values. Beyond its repression of domestic dissidence, China has been a consistent barrier to UN efforts to curtail despotism from Burma to Sudan and Syria.

China GDP Annual Growth Rate The Chinese economy grew an annual 6.9 percent in the third

quarter of 2015

CORRUPTION Corruption is a threat to every

aspect of peace and stability - political, economic, developmental, environmental and military. Corruption underpins and exacerbates every major security threat.

It undermines public trust in governments and institutions and is a catalyst for violent revolutions such as those that have made up the Arab Spring.

It is a key driver and enabler of insurgency, including those of Isil and Boko Haram, and a core source of funding for international terrorism and organized crime.

THE CHANGING CLIMATE Climate Change is a

international security issue. What differentiates today’s

changing climate is the fact that the Earth is warming at a faster rate than ever before and humans have played a major role in the change.

Some regions of the world are experiencing extreme heat and droughts while others may be experiencing unseasonably cold weather.

Climate change will cause global instability; these disruptions will burden civilian and military institutions around the world.

According to the National Intelligence Council, by 2025 unprecedented economic growth, coupled with 1.5 billion more people will put pressure on the world’s resources particularly energy, food, and water raising the specter of scarcities emerging as demand outstrips supply.

THE CHANGING CLIMATE(Cont…) Over the next ten years, many states in these regions

will experience water problems such as droughts, floods and overall poor water quality. Weak states risk failure or increased regional tensions from the inability to cope with sudden shocks and long-term stresses, as can be seen from the Middle East and many areas in Africa.

CONCLUSION There are two additional factors that are often overlooked

to the understanding the problem: First, change at the current rate far outstrips the emotional

ability of the human being to cope with it. The result can take many forms from internal isolation leading to depressions, increasing suicide rates, addictions, youth violence and other plagues of modern society to religious fundamentalism that all too often is preparing the stage for terrorism.

Secondly, change at the current rate outpaces the ability of states to react and thus puts tremendous pressure on the nation state at the very moment when it is in a globalizing world paradoxically gaining again in importance.