Abstract: Vladimir N. Brovkin is a visiting professor at Ural State University and an executive editor of Demokratizatsiya.What is the nature of the problem the United States is trying to resolve? What are the methods chosen for the task? And what does the choice show about the prospects for the United States at the international arena? These are the three simple questions about the chain of events set in motion on 11 September.My thesis is that the United States did not define the problem for what it really is. As a result, the method chosen to deal with the problem will not resolve it, and the United States is risking grave repercussions on the international arena.The Problem: What It Is and How It Was DefinedAs soon as the World Trade Center came down, President Bush defined the problem the country faced in unequivocal terms. It was an act of war. Therefore, the United States was declared to be in the state of war against terrorism. Such an act allows fighting terrorism without defining exactly what terrorism is. Who is the enemy? Where is the enemy? What are our war aims if it is a war?The often-proclaimed war aim is to capture Bin Laden and the perpetrators of the terror attack, to smoke them out of their holes and to destroy those who harbor them, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. What is it, then: a general war on terrorism as such, or a war to capture a particular terrorist?This definition of the problem implies that once these objectives were fulfilled, the problem would be resolved. In fact it is highly naive to think that once Bin Laden is captured, the problem of terrorism would be resolved. On the contrary, it would become deeper. If he is captured and killed, he would become a martyr for the cause. If he is not captured, he would acquire a legend of invincibility. In either case we lose.The method chosen of going after him likewise does not promise an ultimate success. The United States approached the task as in 1991. Our military establishment went about this war as if it were a regular war. We built an international coalition, or so it seems, and went about the war with bombing raids, smashing the nonexistent infrastructure of the Taliban regime. European skeptics of this course point out that this is a replay of 1991. Yes, this approach may destroy a Taliban regime, but will it move us closer to eradicating terrorism or, more specifically, Bin Laden's infrastructure or his capacity to deliver terrorist attacks on the United States? Can anyone guarantee that after the Taliban regime is smashed there will be no attacks on the United States? Of course not. Going after the Taliban is pursuing a secondary objective that may or may not be helpful in dealing with the problem.The problem we face is much deeper than it appears at first. It is not just a matter of capturing a bunch of terrorists. It is not just a matter of smashing their organization's infrastructure, although this must be done. One cannot destroy a state of mind by bombing raids. The course the United States has chosen not only will not resolve the problem, it most likely will make it worse by antagonizing Muslims, glorifying Bin Laden, and spreading the curse of fundamentalism even further.A Religious Protest MovementTo choose a correct response one must first diagnose the problem. What we are dealing with is a state of mind, not of a fringe group but of a part of the Islamic community in scores of countries. Bin Laden is but a spokesman for a broad-based movement of the so-called Islamic fundamentalism. What is the nature of that movement? Why did it appear? What do these people want? Unless we grapple with these questions, we will not be able to develop a remedy that works.Islamic fundamentalism is a dream. It is a projection of wishful thinking about the way things should be and contrasting it with the sorry reality. Its appeal is precisely in the projection of the ideal perfect legend of the Caliphate. …
Publication Year: 2001
Publication Date: 2001-09-22
Language: en
Type: article
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