World Politics in a New Era

1
World Politics in a New Era

• Contemporary Security Issues

2
Proliferation

• The debate over proliferation
• The optimists
• Proliferation is beneficial in the international
  arena
• Any negative aspects of proliferation can be
  contained
• No better form of deterrence than nuclear weapons
• The pessimists
• The likely hazards of proliferation far outweigh
  any potential deterrent capability
• States cannot consistently recognize and act in
  accordance with what is in their best interests
• The threat of using nuclear weapons is empty
• Lack of arsenals necessary to create a condition
  of MAD

3
Proliferation

• Command and control
• Accidental use
• Unauthorized use
• Inadvertent use
• Several factors undermine security procedures
  designed to prevent these types of usage
• Organization and bureaucratic constraints
• Lack of availability or prohibitive cost of
  technology
• Deliberate deception of proliferating states

4
Proliferation

• Current proliferation concerns
• North Korea
• Iran
• Progress has been made in several areas
• Many states repudiated their nuclear ambitions in
  the 1990s
• India and Pakistan have stepped back from the
  brink of war
• Iraq has ended its nuclear program
• Libya renounced its WMD program

5
Terrorism

• Difficulty in defining terrorism
• Violence to make a point
• The ultimate effectiveness is questionable
• Ancient phenomenon
• Contemporary terrorism around the world
• No region is immune
• Improvements in transportation, communications,
  and modern weapons
• Groups use similar tactics, but they have varying
  objectives and political orientations

6
Terrorism

• State-sponsored terrorism
• Enforcement terror
• Sponsoring non-state actors to carry out acts of
  violence abroad
• State sponsored terrorism has been seen
  throughout history
• Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria

7
Terrorism

• Nationalist separatists
• Political objectives of national liberation or
  self-determination
• Tend to have clear ethnic, cultural, or religious
  overtones
• Elements that support nationalist causes by
  peaceful means
• Threatens the integrity and security of
  multinational states
• Rekindling old animosities

8
Terrorism

• Ideological terrorism
• Influenced by revolutionary doctrines
• Express anti-imperialist sentiments through
  violence
• Waning since the end of the Cold War
• Examples Action Direct in France and Sendero
  Luminoso in Peru
• Possible new wave of ideological terrorism

9
Terrorism

• Religious terrorism
• Prime ideological generator of international
  terrorism
• Examples Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and Aum
  Shinrikyo (Japan)
• Violence as morally justified and spiritually
  sanctified
• Particularly difficult to halt due to the fervent
  commitment of its believers

10
Terrorism

• Terrorism and weapons of mass destruction
• Serious source of concern
• Fear is reduced due to several factors
• WMDs are difficult to acquire and use
• Limited or banned by international treaties
• Regarded as inhumane
• The terrorists could destroy any public sympathy
  for their cause
• The actual use of WMDs by terrorists has been
  very limited
• Stepped-up efforts to combat these forms of
  terrorism

11
Terrorism

• Combating international terrorism
• Difficult to coordinate
• Two categories
• Antiterrorism
• Counterterrorism
• Coordination at the bilateral, regional, and
  international levels
• All states have an interest in combating
  terrorism, whether they know it or not
• Conflicts can easily spread across national
  boundaries
• States must abandon the support of terrorism

12
Organized Crime

• What is organized crime?
• There is no universally accepted definition of
  organized crime
• But there is a widely accepted set of
  characteristics
• Organized crime is a significant threat to
  international security
• Tens of thousands of organized crime groups
  worldwide

13
Organized Crime

• Transnational organized crime activities
• Extortion
• Protection
• Gambling
• Loan sharking
• Counterfeiting
• Trafficking in persons and organs
• Money laundering

14
Organized Crime

• The globalization of organized crime
• Groups operate across borders and wreak havoc
  globally
• Examples Japanese Yakuza, the Chinese Triads,
  Vietnamese BTK, and the Sicilian mafia
• One of the strongest organized crime groups
  operating outside its country of origin is the
  Russian mob
• Set up operations in more than fifty countries
• The FBIs most formidable enemy
• Adverse effect on efforts to combat the
  international drug problem

15
Organized Crime

• Combating Organized Crime
• Domestic legislation to assist law enforcement
  agencies
• Examples Japan, Canada, and the United States
• International cooperation bilaterally and
  multilaterally
• International institutions have made
  contributions to the battle against organized
  crime
• Efforts to combat proliferation, terrorism, and
  organized crime are complicated
• There is a lack of resources
• No universal acceptance of the means to combat
  the problems