It's already been 2 days since my last post on Sunday about the incident involving Yemen ink cartridge bombs and already bombs seem to be travelling across Europe! From small letter bombs being delivered to Athens, Greece (in Russian and Swiss Embassies) and in Berlin, Germany to the Chancellor; (Angela Merkhel 's) office . All in the while, America is busy engaging in mid term elections, trying hard to decide its fate and does not seem to be doing anything about the the rise of potentional terrorist attacks in Europe.To me this all seems like the perfect time for terrorists to strike
On another note, if memory serves correctly, earlier this week, cargo bombs were being sent via ink cartridges on commercial planes. Now, Britain is taking matters into her own hands and banning ink cartridges (greater than 500 g) cargo parcels and limiting flights from Yemen and Somalia. What does this mean? In my opinion, it simply means that even with the measures imposed, terrorists will try and find other means of trying to infiltrate secuirty systems and may even do so from other countries besides Yemen and Somalia. I am of the hope that the UN can come together and unite all countries in the world to implement a state of the art security to detect such catostrophic, lethal bombs. If anything, I am of the view that there is definetely a need to revise or reform the current law related to terrorism acts.
In the meanwhile, how does this affect international trade as a whole? Clearly, Britain's policies will hinder trade between both Somalia and Yemen but the question is, does this act as a detriment to this nation? I am of the belief that this does not affect any trading relationships between Somalia and Britain (I could be wrong) but it could have a detrimental impact on Yemen. Accordingly, in June 2010, the government of Yemen was implementing policies to improve business relations, investment and thus, overall trading with Britain. However, in light of recent events, it could be argued that as relations between both nations will be inevenitably strained, so will trading and investment. I am not an economist but I know that the world is far from recovering from the recession and if Britain is severing trading ties with countries like Yemen, what will this mean for other countries ? Will terrorism forever dictate the kind of economic and foreign policies each state will implement? Globalisation will continue to evolve and as it does so, it will be clearer that terrorism will forever act as a huge disadvantage to international trading. It is up to us, academics and legal scholars to find a way to improve this situation.
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http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Cargo-Plane-Bomb-Plot-Al-Qaeda-Militant-Jabir-al-Fayfi-Gave-Tip-Off-Cobra-Held-Emergency-Meeting/Article/201011115788938?lpos=World_News_Right_Promo_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15788938_Cargo_Plane_Bomb_Plot%3A_Al_Qaeda_Militant_Jabir_al_Fayfi_Gave_Tip-Off%2C_Cobra_Held_Emergency_Meeting
http://www.moit.gov.ye/moit/node/1056
Interesting read Vanessa. I seriously doubt a reform of laws would do much to actually stop acts of terrorism from happening though. In my humble opinion, the terrorists have the upper hand because they always seem to be one step ahead of the authorities. It is practically impossible to predict what ingenious type of explosive device they are going to come up with next and that leads me to one question; How can we guard against the unknown?
ReplyDeleteOn the issue of globalisation, like yourself i am not an economist but I am of the opinion that it is an unstoppable force. Acts of terrorism like what we have witnessed over the past fortnight might put a dent in the process of globalisation at least with respect to the countries that are involved but businessmen (like the above-mentioned terrorists) will always find a way around an obstacle. After all, at the end of the day, it is always about the green, no?
Some interesting thoughts. I especially liked your comment about the fact that reform would not be trivial but, at least, if there is a breach of an international treaty or regulation, there is recourse or redress available. Even so, perhaps it won't solve the underlying issues here.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to globalisation, the green makes sense.