A blurring of security concerns

A Chinese and a Russian scholar were recently in Karachi for seminars here and at Jamshoro on security issues. In conversation with Dawn both said the general sense of security had become blurred at both national and personal levels due to the growing trend towards unilateralism in a unipolar world.

The world is not the same since 9/11 and even countries like China and Russia were feeling the heat of terrorism, caused mainly by failure of the world to address its root causes.

Although both China and Russia are in their own ways supportive of the international coalition's war against terror and are coordinating with the world community, their individual concerns are different.

While China is more concerned with the spillage of militancy into its western province of Xinjiang and some south east Asian and Pacific Ocean countries, Russia is more directly affected by the Chechen revolt against Moscow.

Prof Zhang Li of China said: "Terrorism is a new issue since 9/11 which has led to new developments since then and has also produced some impact on China especially in the northwest province of Xinjiang, where in the last few years we face the problem of terrorism."

However, he was more worried about the situation in south east Asia and the Middle East which are not only faced with the problem of terrorism but also the effects of counter-terrorism campaigns.

Soft-spoken Prof Zhang said China was for a balanced approach by the regional countries in addressing the issue of terrorism but it "did not favour very strong outside presence in south east Asia".

"On countering terrorism China and the US and other countries have common interests and responsibilities. But that is different because China also watches out for any substantial military presence of the US in south east Asia, including the Straits of Malacca, so it is very complicated for China. We are following a comprehensive approach, trying to find a way in collaboration with other countries, including Pakistan, to counter terrorism."

Prof Zhang stressed that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization could play a significant role in curbing terrorism in the region which had emerged as a new launching ground for globally-linked terrorism.

The professor emphasised that the apparent penetration of globally networked terrorism and its connection with regional militants offered a basic dimension for tackling the issue.

In the south east Asian context, terrorism had associated local discontents and social grievances with a much broader agenda upheld by the well-organized, well-financed external Al Qaeda network.

The view from Moscow was presented by Dr Alexander Nikitin who focussed on the role of global and regional organizations in security matters. He pointed out the UN was not always able to deal with all possible violations of human rights and the role of regional organizations was growing.

In Asia, he said, the regional structures did not receive the same kind of importance as they did in Europe, and he advised Asian countries to promote regional structures to improve human security.

He said the crisis of terrorism was an ongoing phenomenon in Russia and referred to the Sept 1 incident in which several hundred schoolchildren were taken hostage in a school. Before that there was a explosion in the centre of Moscow in which several dozens civilians were killed.

His argument was that human security was not only about physical security. It was a concept which must be developed by providing economic well-being and social guarantees.

He claimed that the Russian Federation was moving slowly in that direction. The state, he said, was responsible for providing job opportunities and a change from the former Soviet system to the new market system. That was an important move because the traditional Soviet system was more focussed on collective community rights.

Dr Nikitin said, it was important to find a compromise now between individualism, stressed by the new market economy, and a pluralistic system and some minimal collective group guarantees which the state should give to minorities and individuals.

He explained that the Russian Federation still consisted of more than a hundred different ethnic groups and there were more than 100 languages that were spoken. To arrange for a peaceful way of coexistence between this multi-ethnic neighbourhood was one of the major tasks of the human security agenda.

"The danger of nuclear war has decreased dramatically, but the danger of internal conflicts, of clashes and frictions between different ethnic groups, has increased dramatically during the last 15 years," he said.

The Chechen crisis, the Russian scholar said, had affected Russia because some groups based in Chechnya undertook terrorist acts not only in Chechnya but also in Moscow and small and big cities of the federation.

Practically in the whole country special measures were taken to provide physical security in restaurants, schools, etc. Security measures have improved "but we not only have to think of security from the terrorist in Chechnya but also about the security of hundreds of thousands citizens who are tired of war.

They don't care on what political conditions peace will be achieved. They simply want stability and peace which are important human security concerns in the country."

He stressed the need for a collective approach by different regions in addressing the root cause of the menace. In this context he referred to the cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Central Asian Republics in anti-terrorist measures on both the military and security levels.

"We have also developed good cooperation with China in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Right now it seems that the US is also trying to make its presence felt in the central Asian region where Russian and American military bases are 30 kilometres away from each other."