There May be Better Methods to Curb Terrorism Than War Library: LIF-SOC Keywords: WAR TERRORISM AFGHANISTAN PAKISTAN ISLAMIC MIDDLE EAST IA Description: Reduced income disparities, improved public education accessibility, and a better U.S. foreign policy towards Muslim countries would help curb terrorist actions according to an assistant professor of Economics at Wartburg College in Iowa.
There May be Better Methods to Curb Terrorism Than War
Besides the current U.S. military action, reduced income disparities, improved public education accessibility, and a more "adequate" U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, Africa and other Muslim countries would help curb terrorist actions according to Dr. Rock-Antoine Mehanna, an assistant professor of Economics at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.
Also a trade consultant to The World Bank for Middle East economic issues, Mehanna did counterterrorism research last year in such places as Afghanistan and Pakistan -- studying how a model involving greater economic welfare would affect terrorism in that region. He examined how income disparities, Islamic ideologies, and public education were effecting terrorist actions in countries like these, creating an index of terrorist incidents over a year in the process.
According to one of his studies, "Intra-Middle East Trade: An Empirical Assessment," trade in the region is significantly low compared to the rest of the world - largely because countries there are faced with several trade impediments. Mehanna found that countries of the region - excluding those in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - have been lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of trade openness, infrastructure, foreign direct investment (FDI), and legal, banking and economic systems. The GCC consists of six conservative monarchies of the Gulf - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar - who combined in order to coordinate their economic, political, cultural and security policy. These wealthier member countries are often opposed to other smaller Middle Eastern countries, and have been much more successful in world trade.
"Despite the Middle East region's geographical proximity, common language (Arabic), religion - though diverse sects - and culture that are critical for trade in differentiated products, many regional differences remain due to boundary disputes (like Iran and Iraq), ideological conflicts, incomes disparities (e.g. between Yemen and United Arab Emirates), sectarian tensions, and many consecutive wars," said Mehanna.
"The Middle East region also lags behind the rest of the world in introducing political reforms, trimming bureaucracies and the role of government, improving infrastructure, setting out policies that would attract foreign direct investment, as well as stimulating the domestic private sector - strengthening accounting, legal and banking standards, and developing sound educational and health systems."
With all of the economic deficiencies of these countries producing poverty, their people turn to fanatic religious groups that could replace the role of domestic governments in providing free education, food, and health benefits. These religious groups are in some instances funded by other states.
"There are two categories of terrorists. They could be 'ideological leaders and organizers' who consist of educated, sometimes wealthy and fundamentally religious people. The other category is 'followers' that consist mainly of very poor, non-educated, fundamentally religious. Both categories are mainly mobilized by their aggression toward the U.S. due to its support to Israel against Arab states, the U.S. actions toward Iraq, and the U.S. presence in Saudi Arabia, which they consider against their religion," said Mehanna.
"In the case of Afghanistan, the Taliban do not have much in the way of local support for its core strength. Their strength is coming from volunteers from such countries as Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Algeria, Yemen, and other Islamic countries. Their support is raised from ideological differences with the U.S. - typically foreign policy differences. It (the volunteer support for the Taliban) also comes because of the disparity between the Kingdom states - such as Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait - which are very rich, and the poor countries like Yemen and Afghanistan. People in the poorer countries turn more to the Taliban and terrorism, and they're the ones that definitely feed the movement and often become the suicide bombers."
In order to help foster better relationships among the Middle Eastern countries - and diminish the threat of terrorism-related to income disparities - Mehanna believes the rich GCC nations along with the assistance of industrialized nations should finance public-good type projects such as highways, railroads, airports, seaports, and communications networks within the region. This type of financing would strengthen the weak infrastructure linkages in poorer neighboring countries, which will widen the regional market for goods, capital and labor. He theorizes these initiatives would bring per capita incomes of rich and poor countries closer to one another, equalize the wage rate and the cost of capital, and enhance technological spillovers across member countries.
"Middle Eastern countries should embark on trade liberalization policies by cutting their trade barriers, while initiating crucial internal reforms which would spur economic, financial, and political stabilities. Consequently, deeper integration should be sought - either by establishing a Middle Eastern trading bloc, or by expanding the current GCC to encompass other countries," he said. "By GCC members having similar factor endowments and production structures, the trade creation tendency result opens a new opportunity for the whole region."
He also recommends a Middle Eastern or expanded GCC trading bloc should build alliances with other blocs - especially with the European Union - to reduce the concern of what he calls the "Hub and Spoke" phenomenon. In addition, this Middle Eastern bloc should integrate with larger markets, such as the North American, to benefit from greater economies of scale that its market size cannot provide.
Mehanna reports that the U.S. was trying to cut tariffs on imports from Indonesia in an effort to build better relations with the largest Muslem country. A similar economic position toward poorer Middle Eastern countries might also help extinguish the terrorist movement, along with military pressure.
"By cutting tariffs on imports from Indonesia, the U.S. officials were trying an economic gesture to send a message saying 'we are not against Islam,'" he says. "A few months ago, the U.S. government gave Egypt around $1.1 billion in aid so it wouldn't stand against Israel, in addition to another $1.3 billion to Israel. The Taliban was trying to approach the U.S. before the September 11 incident, trying to narrow the gap of differences and get some financial support."
Mehanna, who has a doctorate in international economics in addition to one in international politics from the U.S., earned his bachelor's degree from Notre Dame University in the Middle Eastern country of Lebanon. He has extensively written on international and development economics as well as Middle East economic relations. He is also frequently invited to professional panels, and seeked for consulting projects.
He may be reached by calling his office at 319-352-8315, or his home at 319-352-1128. His email accounts are either mehanna at wartburg.edu, rockantoine at hotmail.com, or drmehanna at yahoo.com.
You may also reach me at 814-867-1963, or e-mail me at Mike at dickjonescomm.com if you have additional questions or needs. Dick Jones Communications assists Wartburg with its public affairs work.
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