Scope for optimism over war on terror (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Scope for optimism over war on terror

5:41am Wednesday 11th April 2007 in

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Bradford academic Prof Paul Rogers has co-authored a new book about the problems facing Earth and its inhabitants. But it's not all doom-mongering, as JIM GREENHALF found out.

It has long been an axiom of the media that bad news sells. Given a choice between a big fire and the construction of a hospital, most people will be drawn towards the blaze.

Reporting bad news may be a public duty; but choosing worst-case scenarios all the time indicates another motive or agenda. A worried nation is a divided nation; anxiety is easier to control than confidence.

At first sight Beyond Terror: The Truth About the Real Threats to Our World looks to be another contribution to the apocalyptic approach currently so popular - from environmental issues to global terror.

One of the book's three authors is Paul Rogers, Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University and contributor to the Oxford Research Group, an independent, non-government think tank.

He said the book, which identifies four causes of insecurity and future terrorism - climate change, world competition for resources, the division between rich and poor nations and the increased use of serious military force - was on the whole optimistic rather than depressive.

Even on the subject of global terror where all seems to be apocalypse soon and Armageddon just around the corner?

"There is a lot going on that gives grounds for optimism: low-level peace missions that get little publicity because bad news sells.

"The failure of the war on terror means that governments, including those of the United States and the UK, are beginning to open up in ways that they were not three years ago - although they are still treating the symptoms rather than the causes. The next five years are crucial.

"The whole point about the book is that there is plenty of time to act; there is plenty that can be done and we could have a securer world if we would look to it.

"It's not global warming but climate change that's important: parts of the world can be getting warmer while other parts get colder.

"There are things that people can do to conserve energy in the home, from recycling - Britain lags far behind Germany on this but we can catch up - to having proper home insulation that would lead to a decline in electricity bills.

"I would also go for Fairtrade. That's an important development that supermarkets are recognising. It's a good movement because it makes people aware that the trading system is orientated towards the rich countries which means that it is harder for poor countries to develop," he said.

But the book has a punch. By targeting the war in Iraq the peace movement, the authors say, is missing the point. Terrorism and war are symptoms of the inter-related problems of poverty, resources and climate change. A new approach is needed.

The book introduces the idea of sustainable security' - five ways of dealing with the causes of poverty, climate change, competition for resources, terrorism and global militarism; measures which the three wise men, the authors, describe as preventative.

This flows from their conviction that the war on terror is misconceived in its reliance on greater military might - the "surge" as some US strategists call it. This may give rise to the suspicion that the book is a thinly-disguised bash America' attack intellectual peaceniks.

In the chapter The Way Forward, the authors address this suspicion. "our analysis is not a left-wing' attack on US foreign policy. Neither is it an idealist's perspective: we are proposing realistic and integrated responses to realistic threats."

However, given the inherent corruption within the United Nations organisation, especially over the Iraq oil sanctions, the suggestion of replacement of coalition forces in Iraq with a UN stabilisation force begs the question of how such a body would actually enforce stabilisation.

This idea forgets what actually happened in Bosnia, when blue-helmeted UN troops stood by as Serbian troops rounded up Muslims and murdered them. Arguably, it was only bombing by NATO forces that prevented greater genocide.

However, the need to "think more creatively" about the real multiple threats to the world, of which terrorism is but one, has already been acknowledged by two American studies in 2006.

On the more general question of how can ordinary people, many of whom feel disenfranchised and unempowered, can make a difference, the authors say "On a personal level we can all consume less and do more" by altering lifestyles.

People can also make a difference by supporting charities, lobbying political representatives, buying locally and ethically and campaigning for change.

"New leadership in the United States and the UK in the coming years may well present the ideal opportunity for progress on this front.

"Genuine reform of regional organisations and the United Nations, particularly the Security Council, may also help governments move beyond the current narrow national and economic interests that are barriers to global stability.

"Furthermore, the energy and resources currently devoted to opposing war (anti-war) could be harnessed into positive efforts to promote peace and security (pro-peace). This is because an anti-war stance focused on a specific conflict does not address the structural changes needed to avoid future wars "it is no longer enough to focus on environmental issues in isolation from the threat of socio-economic divisions and marginalisationall these issues are interconnected "Working on one of these issues in isolation from the other two no longer makes sense; measures are needed which simultaneously ensure environmental protection, sustainable development and global security.

"This calls for a new approach, linking the peace movement with the anti-poverty and environmental movements."

There has never been a time in recorded history when the world has been without war, conflict and poverty; these are endemic to the human condition. But that's no reason to sit back and do nothing to make life better. We owe it to ourselves.

* Paul Rogers: Beyond Terror: The Truth About the Real Threats to Our World. With Chris Abbott and John Sloboda. Published by Random House on its Rider list at £4.99.

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