Failed states propose a great threat to global communities today. The notion of this threat comes from international terrorists, drug barons or weapons or arsenals (Anonymous, 2005) harbouring in failed states, which can bring harm to neighbouring or powerful countries. Somalia appears to be the very definition of what we call a failed state. The last time this desert country possessed anything approaching a “normal” government, with tax collection, social services and law enforcement was a under a bloody dictator named Siad Barre (Cockburn.2002). Now Somalia proposes the risk of consequences to the global community. Like Somalia, Pakistan is one of the failed states that are proving to have major consequences that we are seeing today. Terrorist Groups such as Taliban, Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba have established themselves as a state within a state (Boot 2008). These terrorist groups can now make major attacks, which killed more than 170 people in Mumbai alone (Boot 2008). This has become a subject of concern for that western countries have being debating over. The difficulties of trying to bring justice to these failed states is because of the odds of success are low and the risk of unintended consequences is very high (Zakaric, 2010). Since there is an awareness of being passive to these countries to avoid unintended fallouts, rather than taking action to implicate a justified government, there will be an ever-lasting threat to the global communities.
Somalia is a failed state that poses risks to the global community without dispute. Foreign Policy just published its annual failed states index, and for the third year running, Somalia ranks number one (Zakaric, 2010). Why is Somalia ranked first compared to all the other failed states? The main reason is because of a huge absence in law and order. This results in an huge increase of being attacked by pirates on the coast. These pirates are well known to loot, hijack and attack WFP (World Food Programming) convoys and other humanitarian relief shipments (Country Reports on Human Rights, 2007). Since there is such lack of law and order within Somalia the brewing trouble of an increasing of a terrorist breeding ground can occur (Anonymous, 2009). Al-Shebab, a leading terrorist organisation in Somalia released a video pledging there full allegiance to Al Qaeda (Anonymous, 2009). The video had a American spokes person showing footage of a terrorist training camp staring a former University of South Alabama student. The real threat global of this situation is if Al-Shabab wants to aspire to launch attacks against western countries the idea seems to be more plausible when Al Qaeda draft American passport holder into their own missions.
Somalia is also poses a threat to its neighbouring countries. Islamic militants in Somalia have threatened to come into Kenya, if Kenyan forces do not leave Somalia. This was written on an online message posted on a jihadist website (St Joseph News – Press, 2012). This was a result of Kenya attempting to intervene and bring a stop to Al Shabab terrorist groups. It also poses threats to global communities, showing the extreme the aggression of terrorist groups with in Somalia and how neighbouring countries have an immense risk of being attacked on their own soil.
The Danger that threats the global communities from countries in the middle east like Pakistan, is the weak economy and dysfunctional political system will feed off each other, with corruption and mismanagement stagnation and poverty that, in, turn, create and fuel more extremism.
Nearly a year on from the raid from the navy seals and the killing of Osama Bin Laden, Pakistani territory has fuelled public opposition towards the war on terror. The government is shaken and lacking the ability to control the country. Terrorist attacks have been on the rise besieging the economic capital (Phillips, 2011). As daunting as this is Pakistan’s problems are every bit as bad. Maha Khan Phillips the author of Pakistan: Failing Economy, Failed State that Pakistan’s “Growth has slowed to a crawl in recent years, unemployment and inflation are both high and rising and investment has plunged to a 40 tear low. Fully 60 percent of the country’s 187 million population are getting by on less than 2$ a day.”
Failed states in the Middle East are still pose major threats to global communities. Pakistan has been noted as the 12th failed state (Anonymous 2005) and has also been rumoured to be a new host country for the Taliban (The Economic, 2011). This growing threat has lead to the idea what happens if the Taliban do invade Pakistan and claim of their Nuclear weapons and Ballistic missiles which can have an outcome of the terrorists firing at countries thousands of miles away. Given these varies of threats of ruthless terrorist groups gaining control of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons it should be actively worrying India, Then United States, Europe, Russia and even Pakistan’s ‘all weather friend’ (China Economic Times, 2012). This is why it is in the global interest to do any means possible to stop an event like this from happening, because such outcomes will catastrophic. The other problem that the global community faces is the corruption of the government. Transparency International gave a definition of corruption being “The abuse of entrusted power among private gain” (South Asia Media, 2011). To their findings Pakistan stands at 123rd corrupt country, even more corrupt than several African countries. The corruption in Pakistan is deep rooted within the civil and military servants, public officials and Politian’s. This becomes a global community threat because with a corrupt government within Pakistan in places it can lead to military leaders and Politian’s to take bribes and could lead to extremists getting into power, which also may lead to an advantage for the terrorist groups.
The very big that shows the extent of how dangerous failed states of being a global threat, it’s the super powers countries not finding a solution to the problem at hand with failed states. Saundres Doug wrote in his article Failing to Find a Solution to Save a Failed State, “After 22 years of collapse, civil war, warlord armies, piracy, international terrorism and mass starvation emerging from Somalia and a string of often disastrous military and political interventions, big schemes of nation-building, humanitarian intervention and rapid regime change have lost their appeal.”
For countries like Pakistan and the Somalia, what can outside powers do to bring the rule of the law to these failing countries? In the 19th centuries, Western countries had a simple answer. The article “Somalia a Failed State” by Andrew Cockburn wrote: “European imperials would plant, their flag and impose laws at gun point. The territory that now comprises Pakistan was not entirely peaceful when it was under British rule. Nor was Somalia under Italian and British governors. But they were considerably better off than they are today – not only from the stand point of western countries but also from the stand point of their own countries.” However now the closest western countries have come to this is the invasion of Afghanistan. As time progressed countries have learnt of the high risk factor with trying to bring justice to failed states. As Cockburn writes again, “The difficulty with emulating these examples is not a lack of legitimacy. That can always be conferred by the U.N. or some other multilateral organization. Harder to overcome is a lack of will. Ragtag guerrillas have proven dismayingly successful in driving out or neutering international peacekeeping forces. Think of U.S. and French troops blown up in Beirut in 1983 or the "Black Hawk Down" incident in Somalia in 1993.” Countries that hold the power brings change can’t ignore the high fail rate and the immense risk factor of trying to implement forces to save these Failed States.
It is not only states that have failed but the interventions from other states have failed. With states standing passive around the issues of uprising extremists within Failed States, day by day the increased threat to global communities becomes larger. For years countries similar to Pakistan the response has been limited and inaffective. But we should not fool ourselves into thinking that any of these measures has much chance of success. Until we are willing to place more ungoverned spaces under international administration, evils such as piracy and terrorism will continue to flourish.