Britain believes more than 700 of its citizens have traveled to Syria and Iraq in order to join forces with jihadist groups like the Islamic State. Responding to the growing number of youths being drawn to the violence of terrorists, the British government has developed a new “counterextremism strategy.” Because the strategy involves preventing “radical material” from being posted online and creating a government panel to examine the application of Shariah to British Law, among other provisions, the impact on civil liberties must be examined and less damaging solutions developed, especially as other countries start to follow Britain’s lead.
Although it is alarming to hear a rising number of Britons are attracted to extremist movements, 700 is a partly sum when it comes to a nation of 64 million. England and Wales have around 40 thousand registered sex offenders and around 16 thousand violent offenders being monitored by probation services with that number on the rise, which makes these threatening individuals far more problematic than terrorist suspects. Like jihadists, however, the behavior of sex offenders and violent criminals is driven by socially destructive impulses, thoughts, and feelings. Just as sex offenders and violent criminals require behavioral retraining and healthy social pressure to avoid making harmful decisions, would-be recruits of extremists need the same.
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Germany and the rest of Europe are desperate for solutions to the Syrian Refugee Crisis and the political backlash it has inspired. To this end, the European Union is rightfully turning to Turkey, which serves as a gateway to Europe thanks to its lengthy border with Syria. As Turkey is a NATO member, the European-Middle Eastern nation is also the frontline for Westerners to the Islamic State threat and the Russian Intervention Crisis. Although the role of Turkey is unavoidable, there are major problems with Turkey’s current leader President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that cannot simply be ignored out of necessity.
Unfortunately, it appears European and Turkish political leaders see the issues before them as largely political in natural, so they are driven to seek political solutions. For Erdogan, the ability to attract European dollars and homage is a means of garnering voter support at a time when his position is threatened by upcoming elections. Although the need for money to help support millions of Syrian refugees is very real, it appears Erdogan is using the situation to force Europeans to open their borders to Turks and write a “blank check” with very little oversight into how the money is spent or how Turkey plans to actually solve the refugee crisis. Tensions over the Russian Intervention Crisis have temporarily eased as the US and Russia have made progress on a deal that would allow both militaries to operate safely within Syria. This will do little, however, to resolve the Syrian Civil War and the Islamic State threat as these conflicts are not about Russia or the United States. Despite massive propaganda campaigns that attempt to pin blame on the US, Russia, and other world powers, the violence in Syria is driven by domestic issues and grievances that affect the Syrian People.
Human have tended to blame higher powers when things go wrong since the beginning of history in order to feel a sense of control and security, i.e. war, poverty, and disease will end whenever someone chooses to stop allowing pain. Instead of blaming a god, world powers like the US are today the target of blame. Although it is true outside influences can help or exasperate a situation, and world powers do meddle far too much, conflicts happen for real reasons over real problems. With media attention shifting from Syria to the long running Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the root cause offers the world an important lesson. Putin Must Learn Obama’s Lesson: Why the US failed to build a force to fight the Islamic State10/13/2015 The United Stated has responded to Russia’s efforts to bolster the Assad regime by ramping up material support of Western-backed rebels. Instead of trying to change the dynamics of the Syrian Civil War by creating an artificial rebellion solely dedicated to battling the Islamic State, the failure of the $500-million training program has left the Obama Administration few options outside of supplying rebels with arms, directly attacking Assad forces, or supporting the Assad Regime. In doing so now, however, the United States has also accepted Russia’s invitation to use the Syrian Civil War as a proxy war.
Where Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently believed the US could be coerced into accepting the Assad regime as an ally, especially with Putin intensifying his propaganda war aimed at stoking anti-American sentiments in Russia and around the world, America is doing what it does best when cornered: adapting. Just as in the Ukraine Crisis, Putin’s impulse is to double down on his miscalculations and undermine any Russian support he has garnered from the International Community. Instead, he should take stock of the costly lesson the Obama Administration just learned. The Russian Intervention Crisis over Syria, the Syrian Refugee Crisis, the Islamic State Threat, and numerous other imminent threats are demanding so much attention from world leaders that they cannot give global initiatives the proper attention they need. Just as the victims of poverty and starvation do not concern themselves with retirement planning and long-term health issues, a world on the verge of war cannot focus on more constructive initiatives to address economic development, climate change, crime, terrorism, and nuclear arms. In accordance, world leaders should delay the implementation of the Iranian Nuclear Deal until the impact of the agreement can be reassessed.
Given the locations of Russia’s airstrikes make it easy to conclude Russia’s intervention in Syria involves the targeting of Western-backed rebels in an apparent attempt to force the West to support the Assad regime, Iran’s decision to support Russia’s military campaign and the Assad Regime raises new concerns about the Iranian Nuclear Deal. Not only is releasing up to $150 billion in Iranian assets at a time when Iran is undermining efforts to suppress the Islamic State and stem the cause of the Syrian Refugee Crisis a foolish idea, those funds could also be directed to help alleviate the pressure from Western sanctions on Iran’s partner Russia, which would also undermine efforts to address the Ukraine Crisis. |
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April 2020
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