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Friday
October 26, 2001

New dimension to Globalisation

This morning (Thursday 25 October 2001) I learned with great dismay that the United States has started using cluster bombs in Afghanistan. According the United Nation, Cluster Bombs were used last night attacking the village of Shaker Qala. The news was relayed yesterday but it was difficult to believe that after the tragic events of September 11th, the U.S. policymakers could be so insensitive to the faith of civilians Afghanis.

Almost immediately, the latest developments in Ireland were announced. The IRA the Irish Republican Army) had been asked by the Political wing of the Republican movement to start a "Limited Decommissioning" of their weapons. And finally the news that Israel is pressed to refrain from escalating the crisis in the Middle East. While the first and the third item are clear in their interdependence, one may think the new drive for a peaceful settlement in Ireland may be unrelated to the events in Afghanistan.

However, one could argue that this new development in Ireland could be the outcome of the September 11th attack on the United States, the unconditional support of British government for the U.S. administration especially its bombing campaign in Afghanistan and the understanding that in the past, some of the money raised by the Irish sympathizers in America may have been spent on paramilitary activities aimed against the civilian population in England and Northern Ireland. One could further argue that in future fund raising in the United States for the IRA will be much more difficult and as a consequence, the hawks in the IRA had to recognize and accept the reality that the time for a political settlement has arrived. Of course this does not devaluate the merits of their decision.

The point is that in a globalized economy with increased movement of people following business expansions, political conflicts and crises will be no longer contained to their local origin and they will cross over national boundaries. Furthermore, the near total integration of media, especially soft-media, (T.V., Cable, the Net) has enhanced the access of the populace of the less economically developed countries to facts, quasi-facts, arguments, and less-managed policy analysis. This in turn has reduced the gap between the public opinion in different countries where their governments are not directly engaged in the conflict. Conceivably, in future the spinover effects from regional conflicts are more likely to have a more direct and pronounce impact in the West in particular in the United States since more than ever, the global conflicts will be rightly or wrongly blamed on the United States for either its direct involvement or its indifference!

What has finally transpired in the United States, though not absorbed by all, is the fact that the post cold war era is a world in which events directly affect the life style and well-being of those who are continents away. The knock-on effects of September 11th and the war in Afghanistan are yet to be appreciated but what is already abundantly clear is the poor management of this conflict, and the insensitivity of the administrations in the United States and Britain to the future of Afghanistan by examining the proposed scenarios which seem to be under consideration for the post-(radical!!) Taliban era, since we now are told that some of the Talibans are going to be included in the future government of the country. The indications are that the spin doctors have once again managed to stir the policy away from addressing the real issues and instead focusing on crisis-management. Unfortunately, the Iranian community outside Iran appears to be unaware of the significance of the new crisis in making in Afghanistan and its potential impact on Iran.

There are a number of issues which should be given some thought to when we discuss the current situation in Afghanistan and may be some of these should be incorporated into an prescribed solution if the intention is to avoid the mistakes made in the past.

1. The September 11th attacks on the United States, though completely indefensible, have sped up and refocused the world attention on the situation of Palestinians and their treatment by the Israeli government. The isolationist policy of President Bush, Jr. gave the Israeli government added impetus to harden its stance with regards to self-governance and other issues raised in Oslo agreement which itself was an incomplete recipe for treating the crisis in the region. In this respect the public relations war has been won by Bin-Laden eventhough his starting point years ago was not about this issue.

2. The U.S. policy in the Persian Gulf, especially since the fiasco of ignoring the situation of Kurds in the Northern Iraq and the Southern tribes after repelling the army of Iraq out of Kuwait and the declaration of a "New World Order" more than ever convinced people in the region that all the U.S. was interested was cheap oil and as long as the availability of cheap oil was assured, the U.S. government had no interest (or reason) for a policy of "Positive Engagement" that would address the sources of the problems in the region and utilizing of the local populace and helping it to develop a more accountable, transparent, and democratically-elected and -managed institutions for self-governance. The sense of disappointment and betrayal felt by people in the region helped to radicalise those elements which were persuaded that only direct and hostile action will yield a change in the policy or improve the situation by forcing the U.S. government to re-evaluate its policies in Middle East and the Southern Coast of the Persian Gulf. Again, the unfloding events, unfortunately, proved these people's point the U.S. responded to crisis and not to injustice.

3. The military infrastructure of the organizations under Bin-Laden is the outcome of training provided by the U.S. and British intelligence communities who used these people to fight off the Soviet army in 1980s. However, Taliban has been the product of the Pakistan's intelligence service's policy of insuring a greater influence for Pakistan in the management of energy resources in Central Asia, Caspian Sea and Eastern territory of the former Soviet Republics. In their efforts to strengthen the hold of Taliban over Afghanistan, governments in Pakistan over the years received regular financial support from the United Arab Emirate, certain segments of the government in Saudi Arabia as well as using some of the military aid given by the U.S. government. The U.S. government, especially its intelligent community could not have been unaware of the flow of funds to Taliban from UAE and Saudi government sources. If any thing, the U.S. administration encouraged this process thinking that this would help the containment of the radical clerics in Iran.

4. The unresolved situation in Iraq where none of the key issues have been resolved in conjunction with the economic embargo (self-imposed and otherwise) has eliminated any potential credit enjoyed by the U.S. and Britain from driving Salaam's army out of Kuwait. What is most remembered now is the loss of life of Iraqi children and elderly who are most affected by the current situation. The impression one is given by the present policy stance is that the U.S. and British governments wish to see the continuation of the statuesque as long as they do not have in place an alternative that would be sufficiently harmless, and hopefully accommodating toward the energy interests of these countries. However, the present situation in Iraq has had a measurable effect on increasing the hostility toward the U.S. and to a lesser extent toward Britain.

5. A significant position of the present flash points are funded, managed and fine-tuned through organization which have bases or active agents in the West. The "Western intelligence" has always known about the scope if not the exact target of these organizations. Yet some of these organization despite actively recruiting and raising funds for paramilitary activities in other countries have been left to operate.

6. The management of crises encountered by the U.S. and Britain in the region induces one to question the competence and capability of advisors, policy-analysts, regional experts who are supposed to not only inform policymakers of the nature of the problems but also help the Administrations in these countries to broaden their spectrum of alternatives and consider new possibilities, including fostering of motions toward a more democratic and stable form of governance. For too long, we have heard of the cultural dependence of human right issues. Recognition of the basic rights of people in the countries of the region and the world for that matter and inclusion of these rights and their treatment by government with whom the U.S. and Britain do business not only would help to prevent an escalation of radicalisation of the political debate in the region but it would also put pressure on France, Germany and Italy to move toward a more human-right sensitive foreign policy.

6. Finally, the process of globalisation can no longer be treated as a broadening and deepening of business interests and hence it should not be left to corporate managers to manage and complete it. Globalisation has political, social, and cultural aspects which make it more pressing to respond to the on going crises in Middle East, Africa, South East Asia and South America. G7+Russia have to accept the fact that now that they have lost the opportunity of creating "The New World Order" the creation of a new world order has begun by radicalised people who feel fed up or are deeply frustrated by the indifference of the Western governments toward problems which in most cases the West has had a strong role in creating or compounding these problems.

For us, staying a member of the silent majority is not an option if we wish to live in peace. The present and the future lives of our families, communities and countries are intertwined with the events occurring around the world. We do need to communicate with our elected representatives and make ourselves heard that people everywhere have a right to basic necessities and if they can not afford it then the better-off nations have to help to construct the infrastructure, both economic and political for transition to a more participatory and accountable form of government. MARSHAL PLAN in the post-war Europe was as mush about helping to construct these countries to resist communism as it was about creating a stable Europe with which the U.S. could trade and interact and prosper. Every one of us Iranians who live abroad has a twofold reason for helping to influence the public opinion in the countries we live regarding the present crisis. First, no matter where we live an escalation of violence WILL affect us by affecting our jobs, businesses, safety of our families, our taxes, stock-market portfolio etc! And second Iran is and has always been affected by what has happened in Afghanistan. We share out language our interpretation of religion, music and so may other values with our Afghan sisters and brothers. We still, at least most of us have families in Iran and love the country regardless of the form of government it has.

By staying indifferent to the events in Afghanistan, we are being indifferent to our own interests. Please contact your political representatives, the media, and those involved in local and national politics and let them know that you expect them to do more and do better in the present crises. The post-Tailbone provisional governenment should have represented by all segments of society and not only tribal leaders and political organizations. Half of the people of Afghanistan are WOMEN and they have a right as any segment if not more to be part of the solution to the problems of the country. Moreover, it will be another time-bomb if we allow the political interests of the intelligence community, whether in D.C., London, Islamabad, Tehran, or Riaz, to over ride the true interests of the people of Afghanistan. It is only through helping to construct its human and physical infrastructure that we can hope to bring about lasting peace. And let the management of this terrible situation be marked by stopping the use of cluster-bombs on the civilian population of Afghanistan and declaration of recognition of basic human rights for its people during and after the conflict.

PLEASE DO NOT SAY "WHAT CAN I DO OR IT IS NOT MY CONCERN". IT TAKES ONLY A PHONE CALL OR A NOTE TO YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE, GOVERNOR, AND THEY WILL RESPOND.

M. Emadi-Moghadam

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