Good Essay About Synthesis: Should Certain Countries, Like Somalia, Deemed Havens For Terrorists Be Banned By The UN From Global Economic Participation?

Lately, the worldwide press has briefed the global community on the scattered bellicose atrocities carried out by the Islamic terrorist group-nation known ISIS. The apparent crimes against humanity, including the raping of children and beheading of individuals who partake not of their faith, has left many confused and stunned – particularly in the West. While exploring for a topic of global interest, it came to the attention of this mind, of how little is personally known about the Muslim faith and why terrorists like ISIS are so enraged and secretive. Were there certain countries, such Somalia and others, who were dangerous sponsors or havens for such groups? Or was it a matter of a peppering of splinter organizations? Were they secretly being ‘sponsored’ and funded by (God forbid), the United States under the rubric of the President Barack Obama administration as some have rumored? Obviously, the latter question might represent a dangerous one to ask, but curiosity on this issue drives the choice of topic. While ideas floated around in my head about all the unknown factors, finally a thesis for this essay articulated the following. It is impossible to equitably sift out the terrorists activists, such as ISIS, in terms of extraction, from nations suspected of harboring them, thereby rendering an economic ban against any by the UN useless.
It was difficult to know where to start, given the factor that the issue of the ISIS particular brand of ruthlessness, and terror. Be serious. Who would want to behead a little baby kid? According to Arbe, the “global security environment is rapidly changing. Besides traditional actors in international relations, there is an ever-increasing number of new players” (21). The events of September 11, 2001 in New York City shocked and awed Americans first, before U.S. military actions aimed at Iraq. Certain countries have been earmarked by some as being hotbeds for the cultivation and harboring of terrorist activist groups of individuals. I wanted to learn how Somalia might fit it, after all common knowledge had deemed Mogadishu as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, so after a bit of investigating it was learned that a charity organization based in the United States, Oxfam America, had been providing a way for the families of loved ones in Somalia, which represented – according to the organization – “between 25 and 45 percent of its economy and are greater than humanitarian aid, development aid, and foreign direct investment combined” (“At the Margins of a Hot War”). Recently the banking infrastructure denied all access from money being legitimately sent in. In any case, it was learned that Oxfam America has opened its doors to fight the injustice of poverty.
Still, this did not explain how to find terrorists or weed them out from nations, who are suspected of harboring ISIS (or similar) criminals committing crimes of terror against humanity. One journal article by Kramer and Yetiv, in discussing the UN’s response to terrorism post-9/11, stated that probed a plethora of questions about whether the motivation was based upon strikes against Judeo-Christian religions, asking “What motivated the terrorists?” and admitting that an “overwhelming public and academic attention has focused on” those attacks (409). So perhaps the next logical step was to try and find out, for example, what ISIS really desires. Turning momentarily away from academic sources, to the well-respected magazine’s report (The Atlantic), helped to further examine the issue. Who were these people? What did they want? According to Graeme Wood, ISIS is “no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs,” and particularly that they are the “key” agents in an inevitably fast-approaching apocalypse (“What ISIS Really Wants”). The problem with this, rationally speaking, is that secular, non-religious scientists have been predicting the unsustainability of human life of the Planet Earth as we know it. In other words, they have been sounding the alarm that the time of earth’s death is near – nothing new, right?
However, according to one journal article by Amtaika and Ahmed, there is more to the story in the surrounding hinterland of Eritrea and Somalia. They write that their neighboring countries, in accordance with United Nations reports, have accused Eritrea’s government of sponsorship of “Islamic insurgents in the Horn of Africa” (53). The article proceeds to say that Islam is a “peaceful religion” and many African countries live side-by-side in harmonious relationships, yet the authors acknowledged that “most” in Islamic movements harbor “ambitions of establishing Islamic governments in their countries” (Amtaika and Ahmed, 54). One thing is certainly true. The issue is complex. How can one tell if Eritrea-Somalia national ‘neighbors’ are just bullying them, or if they have legitimate concerns? See the problem? Arbe states that “Countries involved in the struggle with terrorism would be ill-advised either to focus only on terrorist leaders or to neglect other elements of counter-terrorism,” and, “there are no clear answers,” but policy or strategic solutions could work in the future (22). While the greyish clouds linger on the horizon in perplexity, some facts and data remain clear. “The Security Council did not deal with questions of global terrorism until 1989” (Kramer and Yetiv, 412). A resolution associated with this first response came on the scene on the heels of a sheet-plastic explosives, sparking a discussion of the myriad ways in which terror could be realized, such as: chemical, biological, or nuclear weaponry means.
Feeling somewhat helpless at this point, and being no closer to a definitive answer than when starting this conversation, bring to bear yet another angle. According to Amtaika and Ahmed, other Islamic movement groups like “Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Mujahidin” are regarded as “freedom fighters in the Muslim world” (54). Yet, many Westerners feel most uncomfortable with the authors’ following claims that other such movements like “the Jihad Movements in Eritrea, the Muslim Brotherhood in North Africa, the Islamic Court Union and al-Shabaab and Hisbul Islam in Somalia” are more particularly affiliated with Al-Qaeda (Amtaika and Ahmed, 54). Religious bitterness and contentions will naturally arise, given the differences among people. Opponents of the idea that Islamic terrorists is a biased approach against Arab people, or demonizing an entire religion as worthy of damnation, would argue.
Answering the research question herein, only has brought you (us) around full circle again. Yet as far as gathering UN forces to ban all suspect countries from full global economic participation is ridiculous. It is like nuking an entire beachfront to track down a couple of individuals suspected of foul play, somehow. Once again, it is impossible to equitably and accurately determine how to extract terrorist activists by targeting certain countries, like Somalia by encouraging a dismantling of their global economic participation instituted by the UN. In review, the discussion made room for several questions, and it was discovered that the UN Security Council first starting looking into terrorist events in 1989. An attempt was made to unravel the various styles, kinds, and levels associated with different Islamic movement groups but we are back to square-one – as the Western mind would be more inclined to ask: Who would want to kill a little baby like that? Or, ask the well-publicized question of: Why do they hate us? At the end of the day, the effects worry many. At this point, we can only hope for the best, while expecting the worse. And what about ‘homegrown’ American terror? Perhaps the words of Malcolm X are apropos in closing.
Time will tell.

Works Cited

Amtaika, Alexius, and Mustafa Ahmed. “Is the Eritrean Government a Victim or a Sponsor of
Islamic Extremism and Terrorism?” International Journal of Peace and Development
Studies 4.4 (2013): 53-66. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
Arbe, Samuel. “Terrorism: A Need for Complex Response.” Polish Quarterly of International
Affairs 22.1 (2013): 21-27. Political Science Complete. Web. Feb. 2015.
Brooks, Risa A. “Muslim ‘Homegrown’ Terrorism in the United States.” International Security
36.2 (2011): 7-47. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
“Featured Stories & Updates.” Oxfamamerica.org Oxfam America, Inc., 2015. Web. 26 Feb.
2015.
Kramer, Hilde Haaland, and Steve A. Yetiv. “The UN Security Council’s Response to
Terrorism: Before and After September 11, 2001.” Political Science Quarterly (Academy
Of Political Science) 122.3 (2007): 409-432. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
Vives, Lisa. “At the Margins of a Hot War, Somalis Are ‘Hanging on by a Thread’.”
Globalissues.org – Social, Political, Economic and Environmental Issues that Affect Us
All. Global Issues Mag., 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
Wood, Graeme. “What ISIS Really Wants.” Theatlantic.com The Atlantic Mag., March 2015.
Web. 26 Feb. 2015.
*{baby photo download from Google images}.