Terror and the World Market. (Pt 1)

This is a piece written on assignment for a course on globalization. Its probably not revelatory to most readers acquainted with the subject matter, but I need to keep this space a bit more active, and this fills it for now. Further, I wish I had done some further analysis of the international terrorist organization, but frankly, I simply ran out of time. Should I feel motivated, perhaps I'll expand on the work before publishing. This morning will be the first of several parts. The intro, below, really doesn't get to the meat of it at all, but, alas...

Terror and the world market: A Matter of perspective.

The powerful and multifaceted process of globalization surrounds us. It envelops our culture, connects us to corners of the world far and wide, it intensifies interdependent relationships in economics, and weakens the solvency of the Nation State at all turns. Today, Nation States are facing a world where borders are becoming increasingly irrelevant. The problems of the world can no longer be handled in a unilateral manner. Opportunities arise under these conditions, certainly. The development of alliances, the expansion of world markets, and the ability of individuals to freely move about the world are all emboldened by the ongoing processes of globalization. 

One of the most significant beneficiaries of globalization has been the multinational corporation (or MNC.) Today, MNCs operate throughout the entire world. The multinational corporation of today may acquire resources in one nation, refine these raw materials in another nation, perhaps still even manufacture or finish them in another nation, and then sell them to markets across the world. The investment of capital and monies knows no borders. Because of the general practices of these MNCs, citizens in the first world have access to an innumerable amount of cheap consumer goods, high-end tech devices and fashion items, and a myriad of other products. Much of these products are made from resources acquired in the third world cheaply and manufactured in the third or developing world for low costs. There are significant troubles to this system. Pollution, regulated far less, or less effectively in the third world, knows no borders. There are moral and human rights concerns regarding the acquisition of these resources and the exploitation of the labor force. The connection of the profits of the multinational corporation with brutal state repression, warfare, and other calamities is also a cause for alarm.

Another force has risen as a result of globalization: The international terrorist network. The international terrorist network can be said to “benefit” from globalization in two ways which seem at odds with one another- as globalization continues to expand in influence and scope, the terrorist organization increases its recruiting potential as a reactionary, anti-globalist movement. Secondarily, we shall see that international terrorist organizations use the very tools of globalization: technology, the internet, and the increasingly “borderless” nature of the world to expand their numbers, initiate terrorist activities, and filter funds to keep active. Although hardly the only international terrorist organization, much of the western media’s attention today focuses on Al’Qaeda and similar groups with an anti-western, reactionary, Islamic sociopolitical focus. The list of atrocities attributed to Al’Qaeda is well known. That the goals of Al’Qaeda are inseparably married to violence is another truth. International terrorist organizations like Al’Qaeda are generally believed to work without state sponsorship, and war action has been brought to nations believed to harbor them, thus destabilizing these states to varying degrees.

A set of questions, ones that at the outset the answers seems so obvious, but upon further analysis become more opaque shall be asked: Which of these two organizations does the greatest harm to the sovereignty of the Nation State? Which of these two organizations has the widest negative impact on human life, the ecosystem, and social stability?

to be cont'd...