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Saturday, October 02, 2004
Batuhan: Peacemaker-in-chief
By ALLAN S. B. BATUHAN
Foreign Exchange
DEBATES IN US. As I write this piece, I am watching the first in the series of debates between the contenders for the presidency of the United States of America. Perhaps what sets this one apart from those of earlier encounters between presidential aspirants is its fixation on one theme and one theme only–security.
Arguably a number of other issues concern American voters today. Oil prices have just reached their highest levels in recent memory. Jobs continue to migrate out of the US in record numbers, into lower cost locations like China and India. The American social security system is in danger of collapse within this decade. And American relations with its allies in Europe and the rest of the world have never been more strained than they are today.
But both candidates locked horns on one issue alone, and it all boils down to which one of them could best provide security for the country.
Now if all of these had taken place during the Cold War, when the threat of mutual destruction seemed to make the occurrence of conflict almost unthinkable, things would have been very different. Today, as the world is confronted with the new and as yet less understood threat of global terrorism, not only the Americans are interested in what the two opposing forces have to say, the rest of the world is as well.
Come to think of it, a lot of things today revolve around the issue of security. The price of oil is what it is because it includes a very high element of risk that the market has attached to its major sources. Industries as diverse as construction and tourism have been forced to incur a high cost of security in going about their business, significantly affecting their short-term competitiveness and long-term viability.
Which is why, like me, many people who were watching the debate tonight must have come away disappointed. For all the bluster about which one would make the most effective commander-in-chief, there were no new ideas about how to fight, much less end, the current global security threat.
If the terrorists are to be taken at their word, their grievances have a lot to do with the festering problem of the Palestinians in the Middle East. As long as this is not addressed comprehensively by the US and the international community, the purveyors of terror will always have a reason to justify their actions. Yet not one has addressed this obvious problem head-on.
Restarting the derailed peace process has to be the immediate priority. Israel says it is ready for it, and so do the Palestinians. However, both want it in terms that favor their own interests, hence the need for a powerful but impartial mediator.
Perhaps what is needed is not only a commander who can lead the US and its allies in the war against terror, but a master diplomat and peacemaker who could broker a lasting deal between the two factions that are the main catalysts to the current global insecurity.
(asbb.mbm91@aimalumni.org)
(October 2, 2004 issue)
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