One of the travesties of nation states is that each has its national interests to protect or pursue so much so that interdependence as an instrument of global cooperation becomes a difficult proposition to follow especially in the context of issues dealing with security. This is clearly the dilemma that presents itself when a global challenge has to be mounted on crucial issues confronting the international community. Nothing illustrates this better than the so called global war on terrorism. The United States for instance finds it more to its convenience and ‘national interest’ to work alongside its key allies of a few States rather than to pursue the matter within the framework of the United Nation system. It is hardly surprising therefore to see Washington riding roughshod over the UN and thereby ignoring the call for a more concerted and global effort to deal with the scourge of terrorism.
As one political analyst put it, Washington’s War on Terrorism “appears increasingly to be falling short of a coherent and logical campaign”, with its ambivalent attitude to States like Pakistan. Islamabad is known to harbour armed extremists including the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces directly responsible for major terror attacks on US interests including the September 11 terrorist attack on US soil. It is quite amusing that Pakistan’s infamous Inter Service Intelligence agency, which has had strong links with Islamic terrorists, was established with CIA help. This has further cast doubt on America’s real commitment to fight terrorism. All this make it obvious that American policy must change quickly in order to neutralize adverse elements propelling the terror campaign. Whether it is the Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan, Washington must realize that the ill thought-out campaigns launched for the purpose of regime change and economic self interest is only helping further division and hatred to a point of no return.
Against this backdrop of Washington’s ambivalent approach towards terrorism, the UN recently met in Vienna on May 17-18 to give shape to a global anti-terror plan approved by the General Assembly last year and more importantly, to weigh steps to translate this ambitious “plan of action” into reality. While the points included in the Vienna summit merits attention such as helping nations build their security capabilities while respecting human rights, however there is no mention on intelligence sharing between governments. This has to be corrected. Further, for effective implementation of any anti-terror plan, inter-state coordination is crucial. As rightly pointed out “the fight against terrorism has been very fragmented within the United Nations, with a lot of players not well coordinated”. It is therefore an opportune moment for overhauling the system in a way that will allow a well coordinated and timely response to the grave danger posed by terrorism in its various manifestations. Despite the US cold shouldering any attempt to involve the UN on the terrorism issue, the latter must find ways to explore alternate options by working collectively with the comity of member states so as to give shape to a truly global response to terrorism. Working out such an initiative is also important in order to ensure that the institution of the UN remains relevant to the new world order.
