Essay Sample on Security and Realism

Introduction

What is security? This term is considered to be an elusive term whose definition mainly depends on the context in which it is used. Security can be considered as a human value that overlaps with the values of freedom, order and solidarity; of which a state is an agent, or instrument for the protection of the values that are proper to human nature (Brenner, 2006). In the modern society, security is often perceived in terms of military and diplomatic means, in the sense that a country that is considered to have a superior military strength is often perceived to be more secure in comparison to states with weak military strength. It is important to point out that security must be able to make sense at the basic level of an individual human being for it to be able to make sense on the international level (Brenner, 2006).

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Political realism is not only considered as the oldest theory in international politics but the most dominant one, especially when studying the concept of security. In realism, it determines that the main detriment to the promotion of international relations is the insecurity of states. For global or international security to be achieved, states must willingly provide security for themselves and their citizens as there is no international actor that can be fully relied upon to achieve this for individual countries (Hughes & Meng, 2011). However, realists offer different explanations as why security is scarce by providing a range of causal factors such as man's innate desire for power, conflict of interest between key stakeholders in a sovereign state, economic systems, political order, and 'the ordering principle' of international anarchy. There are also factors that can intensify a basic security problem such as polarity, shifts in the balance of power in a country, offense-defense balance, and the domestic politics (Hughes & Meng, 2011). In retrospect, realism provides a variety of strategies that countries can adopt in order to become more secure such as: establishing international alliances, maximizing their power, building strong diplomatic relations, socialization and innovation.

Realist theories define 'security' as the stability of a state and places particular emphasis on the preservation of the state's territorial integrity and physical safety of its inhabitants. For a state to be considered secure, it must be capable of defending against, or deterring a hostile attack, and be in a position to prevent other states to exert their powers on them, which will force them to change their core political values (Montgomery, 2006). The modern concept of realism is that if there are multiple states that are considered to ascribe to an anarchical form of governance, then it negatively affects the security of the other states in the region that have a stable form of governance (Montgomery, 2006). In this section it assesses the relationship between realism and security, why security is a problem for states and how human security in the Horn of Africa is affecting security of countries in the region, and its impact on global terrorism.

Why Security is a Problem for States

Biological realists such as Reinhold Niebuhr (1932) and Hans J. Morgenthau (1948) held the opinion that human insecurity is driven by the innate desire for power by individuals. Therefore, the sources of conflict and injustices can be founded on the ignorance of men. Morgenthau stated that human nature is a constant, and therefore it cannot be amended. This means that conflict is a key part in the political life, which cannot be eliminated (Guilhot, 2008).

E.H. Carr held a different opinion on the root cause of security problems. He believed that a conflict of interest between key stakeholders in a state based on use of resources, economic systems, and political orders can create insecurity issues (Carr, 1946). Carr believed that men will always form groups or align themselves to specific factions for the purpose of conflict. He noted that each country is susceptible to having insecurity issues. However, it is important to point out that according to Carrin security is not brought about by the human drive for power, but it is based on the existing governing systems, ideologies of the rulers, and personalities of the individual leaders (Carr, 1946).

Structural realists feel that the main factor that contributes to security problems in states is the absence of a central authority that can prevent country from competing, or attacking each other. Hertz (1950) stated that the absence of central authority led to countries developing security dilemma. The reason for this is that, for instance in a situation whereby one country is increasing its own security such as formation of alliance or improving its artillery, may make other states in the region to perceive themselves as less secure, leading them to undertake counter-measures that will increase their security levels (Montgomery, 2006). This may make the two countries to have increased suspicion of each other, and therefore less secure than was the case before.

Mearsheimer (2001) states that a state's security is affected by offensive realism. In this case, he makes the assumption that states are rational actors whose objective is to survive. This means that they are not aware of the intentions of other countries, but possess the capability to hurt each other. Mearsheimer goes on to state that states are constantly looking for opportunities to increase their power so that they are able to counter any attack that may arise against them at any point in time in future. In offensive realism, it denotes that security problems arise from anarchic condition that exists in world politics and the inability of individual states to know the intentions of other countries (Mearsheimer, 2001).

Security Challenges in the Horn of Africa

On March 13th 2018, Mr. Jean Michel, the European Union Special Representative for Sudan stated that the Horn of Africa countries and Yemen were at a high risk of terrorist attacks. Mr. Michel added that despite the defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, there was the likelihood of expansion of terrorism in the Eastern and Western African nations. In 2010, William Maclean, a security correspondent wrote an article in the Reuters whereby he listed Somalia as the country with the highest risk of terrorism attacks (Shay, 2017). This was based on a Terrorism Risk Index that indicated that there were increased dangers in both Somalia and Yemen in terms of terrorism attacks as a result of the al-Qaeda-associated violence.

In the travel advisory website of the US Department, Somalia is listed as 'Level 4: Do Not Travel.' A variety of reasons are provided such as crime, terrorism and piracy warning the US citizens against traveling to that country. The terrorism activities that are listed on this website are: plot kidnappings, and bombings (Shay,2017). Targeted areas are: airports, seaports, government buildings, hotels, restaurants, shopping areas, or any location where large crowds gather, and are frequented by Westerners. The U.S. government admits that it has limited ability to provide emergency services to its citizens in Somalia because it does not have a permanent consular presence in the country.

Factors such as globalization, cross-border flows of information, militants, communication, money and material transfer are reconfiguring the geopolitics and security in the Horn of Africa and Arabian Peninsula. Communities in the Horn of Africa are struggling to deal with a range of security challenges, persistent threats that are posed by transnational terrorism and violent extremism that are becoming serious threats to regional and the international community. The domestic and external drivers of conflict have increasingly become intermeshed, as the security challenges are transcending national boundaries, which cannot be contained in the affected states.

Previously, localized conflicts have developed into regional and trans-regional dimensions that are developing zones of instability. In addition to that, there is the development and growth of powerful and violent non-state actors that are challenging the existing security arrangement in these regions, and international order (Njoku, 2018). There are new mechanisms of collaborative and multilateral approaches that are emerging to tackle the security threats that are emerging to tackle these threats.

The sub-regional conflicts have created an unstable zone in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It has created an unstable zone in this region, cross border insecurity and informal networks. In addition to that, the growth of multi-billion-dollar business networks that span the Gulf of Aden have complicated the counter-terrorism and piracy strategies that have been developed to attempt to contain the threat of spread of radicalization in the region (Njoku,2018).

This is considered a threat to the future stability of the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council States, and the African nations that are within the Horn of Africa region. Currently, the international actors' attention is more focused on the threat that is posed by the reconstitution of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, especially in de-stabilized nations such as Yemen and Al-Shabab in Somalia (Mutanda, 2017). It is important to point out that the focus of the international community needs to shift to interconnected sociopolitical, economic and transnational challenges that are affecting Somalia, Yemen, and its regional environs. Currently, Yemen and Somalia are facing parallel challenges that are affecting these nations such as insurgency, economic hardship, terrorism, and ineffective governments that are perceived to lack legitimacy. These countries possess similar characteristics as Afghanistan that were once considered as a seedbed for terrorism before the fall of Taliban (Mutanda, 2017).

Impact of Terrorism on Human Security

Arguably, the terrorist attacks that normally make headlines on the largest news networks such as the CNN, BBS News, Fox News, Sky News, and MSNBC are those that are undertaken in the western countries. This is true in terms of the media coverage, and social media campaigns that were conducted after the November 2015 attacks in Paris that led to the death of 130 people, the Brussels terrorist attacks in March 2016 that led to the death of 30 people, and 230 others were wounded, and London attacks in 2017 that resulted in the death of 4 people after Khalid Masood drove his car into pedestrians and then proceeded to stab a police officer (Dobos, 2017, p. 146). There are thousands of terrorist attacks that are taking place in the Horn of Africa countries and Yemen such as Westgate shopping mall attack, Nairobi, in September 2013 that resulted in the deaths of 71 people, and 175 wounded whereby the al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack. On October 14, 2017, dubbed the 'October 14, massacre,' 512 people were killed, 312 were wounded and 62 people were declared missing in Mogadishu Somalia, after a terrorist attack that al-Shabab claimed responsibility (Njoku, 2018, p. 147). Also on 2nd April 2015, gunmen linked to al-Shabab attack the Garissa University College in Garissa, Kenya killing 148 people and injured 79 more people. These incidents illustrate the challenges posed by terrorist groups in the African continent that are gaining strength, while receiving little, or no attention from the global news networks (Shay, 2017, p.49). Failure by the Western nations to aid countries in the Horn of Africa (an Africa in general) in addressing their security challenges will have a negative effect in the fight against global terrorism internationally.

Islamic Terror Threat in the Horn of Africa

There are existing indicators that point to...