THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE PROBLEM OF GLOBAL INSECURITY 1990 – 2015

THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE PROBLEM OF GLOBAL INSECURITY 1990 – 2015

ABSTRACT

The study explored the Middle East and the problem of global insecurity. Takening notes of the conflicts between regimes The objective of study were examining the Indicators of Failed State and implication for insecurity in middle east, determining the global security implication of Arab uprising in the Middle East, investigating the impacts of terrorism and insecurity of the middle east on the world’s peace and security  and evaluating the global Responses to the problem of terrorism and insecurity in the middle east. The research design adopted for the study was a is qualitative research design which involved the reviewing of relevant articles and journals to describe a current situation or draw inference about a phenomena. From findings the study revealed that failed state are those nations that  are extremely poor, devastated by unjustifiable wars, ravaged by corruption and lack of good governance, failing to meet basic needs for their citizens, and  the Arab uprising in the Middle East has lead to promoting Geopolitical interests and open antagonism between Iran and Israel. also study discovered that that terrorism and insecurity of the Middle East poses a very big threat to the world.

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The Middle East areas have been in chaos since 1950s, when the Suez war and Yemen war revolution before the ruling of the Arab state system. Due to the long building trends, the constraints still existed and it is undermined that the authoritarian bargain which cars maintained by the societies, were produced widespread and it was opened in 2010. The Arab spring cannot be blamed to have caused this turmoil and violence, but it looks transparent now that we are currently witnessing the result of a long-standing vengeance and the crisis in the relation between the state and society in most Arab countries. The broken bond between the states and society in Arab countries must be attended immediately and solved in order to bring the Middle East into a position of stability (Jonathan 2001)

The broken social contract between state and society occurs because of the roots of the region’s spending. The phenomena of insecurity and terrorism is known as a symptom of an underlying disorder and disharmony where the leaders have the capacity to govern lacked legitimacy and that the public is submissive because they have no channel to make their voice heard (Amir, 1999).

With the breakdown in states, it can be seen that the regional order has been in place since the Second World War ended in 1945. The conflicts raging across the region of the borders of the Middle East can be classified as: (1) the nature of the state where conflicts between conventional government and the political Islamic movement; (2) the conflict pertaining to balance of power between the conventional Arab-led Sunni and revolutionary Shia Islamic Republic of Iran and its allies; (3) conflict regarding the purpose of life between the apocalyptic ISIS ideology and the moderates.

In facing the uprising Arabs, national governments in the region found a sectarian narrative ways of justifying their act and in rallying their populations. Iraq was fortunate enough to witness the crackdown in Bahrain in March 2011, and the Bahraini and Saudi media conducted anti – Shia campaigns in order to show protest against their enemies with a legitimate grievance. On the other side, with the assistance of Iran, Syrian President Bashar Assad was brutally suppressing Sunni protesters. The sectarian narrative has extended their assistance and also helped the Sunni countries with minorities of Shia to deter plate and to punish and domestic Shia dissent. The government problems welding with sectarian narrative are the most fulfilling prophecies and the fact that it increases the actual power of competition in the battle [Tarak 2006] .

The growing threat of terrorism by Islamic State is worrisome and it’s a call for concern to neighbouring countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other countries in the Middle East. As ISIS increases terrorism activities in Iraq and Syria, it proliferates millions of refugees who seek refuge in neighbouring countries and the rest of the world. The end result is a massive migration [Michael 1998] .

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Across the Arab world, societal actors often understand the sources of insecurity they face in ways that differ from those of Arab state elites and political regimes. This is due in large part to the way that the region became integrated into global political and economic structures (Niva 1999). This disjuncture is a long-standing product of patterns of state-building in which regimes gain security directly from external powers and/or gain needed arms and resources from rentier sources (e.g., oil receipts and foreign aid). This process short-circuits European-style state-building as understood by Charles Tilly (1990), in which rulers provide security for their societies in exchange for the ability to extract the needed resources and labor to promote it. In contrast, state elites across the Arab world often define their interests in relation to external patrons rather than to their own societies, whereas societal groups often view external forces, rival societal groups, or even the state as primary security threats.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, for example, conflicts between regime and societal understandings of insecurity were defined by the rise of radical-populist Arab nationalism, which sought to challenge the role of Western powers in Arab regional politics (Ajami 1978; Kerr 1971). The mobilization of Arab nationalist forces compelled some states to follow Arabist policies even when they challenged the regime’s own interests, often tied to their external patrons. By the 1970s, the consolidation of state power and the suppression of dissenting social forces resulted in foreign policies more reflective of regime preferences, often tied to the security interests of external powers. However, new disjunctures between societal groups and regimes about the understanding of insecurity arose by the 1990s. The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the rise of Iranian regional influence further fragmented political order in Arab states. These disjunctures drove the Arab uprisings and their subsequent slide into civil war (Hazbun 2015). Seeking to account for them and explain their implications is a central task for scholars of security politics in the Arab world.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Broadly, this study explores the middle east and the problem of global insecurity, evaluating the problem of global insecurity taking into consideration the problem of insecurity and terrorism in the middle east. The specific objectives include the following:

1. To examine the Indicators of Failed State and implication for insecurity in middle east
2. To determine the global security implication of Arab uprising in the Middle East.
3. To investigate the impacts of terrorism and insecurity of the middle east on the world’s peace and security
4. To evaluate global Responses to the problem of terrorism and insecurity in the middle east

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

In this regard our significance of study will be both on the theoretical levels and

practical levels. Theoretically, this study seeks to highlight and widen scholarly perceptions of insecurity and international relation in the Middle East,  Thus, the study will be a response to the intellectual challenges involved in enhancing an understanding of the unending but continually and changing new forms of international political economy and social relations.

More importantly, the study intends to critically examine the various efforts by international organizations and the inter-governmental organizations such as the UN, European Union (EU), United States, Arab league and other non-state stakeholders to curb the problem of insecurity especially in the Middle East region.

Basically, this study will be of vital importance to scholars on Middle Eastern affairs, strategic and security studies researchers and the global reading public, and as such serve as a further take off point for future inquiry in the study under review.

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