Recent Events that Changed the World - Essay Example

Critical Analysis Paper: Recent Events that Changed the World Arab Spring In the recent past, there have been finite political and economic events that have caused significant impacts across the world. Towards the end of 2010, precisely in December 2010, pro-democracy upheavals rose up in countries across the North Africa and the Middle East regions. Primarily, the pro-democracy unrests started in Tunisia, after a 26-year old vegetable vender burned himself for reasons associated with economic turmoil in the country. The selfless act by the young Tunisian acted as a detonator, leading to spontaneous explosion of nationwide discontent with the Tunisian political regime (Lindsey and Smith 37). By January 2011, the Tunisian president was toppled through violent protests. After the successful pro-democracy campaign in Tunisia, the upheavals would then gain momentum, spreading exponentially to Arabic nations like Libya, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain among others. The period for these popular pro-democracy uprisings would later be referred to as the Arab Spring. Primarily, the Arab Spring led to destabilization and toppling of dictatorial regimes like the Gadhafi regime in Libya and the Mubarak regime in Egypt (Lindsey and Smith 39). Unfortunately, the Arab Spring triggered secondary consequences which include but not limited to the rise of Sunni-Shiite conflict, growth of political activities, and general instability attributed to secular divides in Islamic societies. European Union Economic Crisis Besides the political incidents surrounding the Arab Spring, other course-changing challenges have rocked separate regions of the world, specifically the European Union zone. In 2010, the European Union experienced a debt crisis; a crisis that would later be referred to by the IMF as the biggest economic problem since the creation of European Union in 1999. Primarily, the European economic crisis was characterized by severe economic downturns, massive bank losses, and unprecedented rise in government debts (Hagen 21). The worst hit nations were Portugal and Greece, where economic related protests spread across the entire nations. Generally, the European Union economic crisis caused an overall fall in GDP and a corresponding rise in sovereign debt across European Nations. Consequently, interest rates soared high. In response, creditors across the world were intensively involved in the bailout of governments and financial institutions across European nations. Unfortunately, the European Union features as one of the most active players in global economic platforms. Therefore, economic problems in Europe spilled over to other economic regions in the world (Hagen 21). Technically, exports and stock markets in other regions of the world were indirectly impacted by the European Union economic struggles. Current Trends attributable to the Arab Spring Undeniably, the aforementioned political and economic events that have taken place over the past five years have presented identifiable consequences experienced in current times. For example, current rise in violent extremism within the Middle East and other parts of the world can be attributed to secondary effects of the Arab Spring (Kappes 01). Currently, there is increased activity in violet extremism campaigns conducted by Islamic militant groups like the ISIL in Iraq and Syria, the Al-Shabaab in East Africa, and the Boko Haram in Nigeria. Basically, all of these three Islamic militant groups were either nonexistent, or weak before the Arab Spring. For example, the Islamic State started in April 2013, shortly after the Arab Spring period ended. On the other hand, the lethal potential of both the Boko Haram and the Al-Shabaab have intensified since the two militant groups pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The current increase in the lethal potential posed by Islamic militant groups is witnessed by the recent terror attack on a Kenyan University. On April 2, 2015, Al-Shabaab attacked a college university in Eastern Kenya where more than 147 university students were brutally murdered by four Al-Shabaab suicide commandos. Besides the April 2nd Al-Shabaab attack, Boko Haram in Nigeria is reported to have massacred at least 2000 people in February 2015, the highest number of terrorism death toll since the 9/11 attack of New York. Also, violent extremism campaigns sponsored by the Islamic State led to the daytime shooting of a magazine store in France in February 2015 (Lindsey and Smith 41). Recently, a United Nations report released on April 1st 2015 indicated that the number of foreign fighters joining the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria grew by 71% within a period of under 12 months. Therefore, the threat posed by these violent extremism groups is bound to increase exponentially in the foreseeable future. Undeniably, these recent statistics ascertains that there is an unprecedented increase in the violent campaigns by Islamic militant groups. In essence, the recent increase in the violence power of groups like Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda is attributed to the corresponding increase in the extremism campaigns by the mother group, ISIS. On the other hand, the ISIS has its roots in the secondary consequences of the Arab Spring, especially the consequence of Sunni-Shiite conflicts across the Middle East. Technically, the Arab Spring triggered political and social tensions in many countries across the North Africa and the Middle East regions. As a result of socio-political tensions, many people sought refuge in their respective religious sects. In Islamic states like Iraq and Syria, the main religious sects are the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam. An example of Sunni-Shiite conflict is currently witnessed in the Middle East nations of Syria and Bahrain (Lindsey and Smith 29). In Syria, the Shiite minority sides with President Bashar’s regime, while the Sunni majority in association with the Islamic State is battling the Syrian regime. Sunni-Shiite tension is currently real in nations like Iraq and Bahrain, and may soon spill over to other Middle East Islamic nations like Saudi Arabia and even Qatar. Current Trends attributable to the European Union Economic Crisis Apparently, there could be an intricate relationship between the rise of violent extremist groups like the ISIS, and the effects of European Union economic struggles. In 2001, when Al-Qaeda attacked the United States, both the US and European nations like Britain, France and Spain deployed thousands of ground forces to fight Al-Qaeda in the Middle East nations of Afghanistan and Iraq. Undeniably, the campaign against Al-Qaeda by the United States and allied European partners presented huge economic burdens to Western governments, leading to the recent massive withdrawal of Western military forces in the Middle East battlefields (Hagen 17). Currently, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is rising at an unprecedented rate, and multiple security agencies across the world has termed the ISIS as the fastest growing, and the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world. Despite such assertions and projected threats posed by the rise of ISIS, Western governments are yet to intensify the fight against the terrorist organization. The United States and European nations like France have only provided air support to Iraqi and Iranian forces. Supposedly, significant defeat of the ISIS and other franchise Islamic militant groups would be achieved swiftly only if the United States and its European allies provide substantial financial and human resources. However, most European governments are deeply indebted as a result of the European financial crisis. In an effort to solve current problems like high interest rates and escalating unemployment rates attributable to the European Union sovereign debt crisis, governments of most European nations resolved to cut down on their budgetary spending (Hagen 24). Presently, such drastic economic actions forbid European nations from engaging in unnecessary military campaigns. On the other hand, the United States is still recovering from the economic burdens of military campaigns after the 9/11 attack. In addition, exports and stock markets in the United States have slowed down as a result of current European Union economic struggles. In this regard, the synergistic effects of events like the Arab Spring and the European Union economic crisis may indirectly cause political, social or economic challenges in other nations across the world. Potential Impacts on the Future of Qatar and the World Admittedly, the consequences of Arab Spring and economic challenges trailing Western nations will eventually dim the light of political stability in Qatar and other countries across the globe. Presently, the political and economic prospects of Qatar are not only attractive, but also promising. For example, Qatar is preparing to host the 2022. Also, Qatar feature as the world’s richest nation in terms of GDP. However, these political and economic strengths of Qatar can be detrimentally erased by the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Presently, 71% of Qataris belong to the Sunni arm of Islam, while 10% of its population is Shiite Muslims (Lindsey and Smith 19). As aforementioned earlier, there is a practical war between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the Middle East. Neighbors of Qatar, especially Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are already involved in the Sunni-Shiite conflict. Soon, the ideological influence of the Sunni ISIS and opposing Shiite militant groups may activate sympathizers in Qatar, sparking a religious conflict in the currently peaceful nation. In other parts of the world like France, the sympathizers’ effect has already materialized. In the not so distant tomorrow, sympathizers of groups like the ISIS may carry out terror attacks in Western nations like the United States and Britain; hence undermining the political stabilities of other regions across the globe. Works Cited Hagen, Michael. Government Bond Risk Premiums ion the EU: Domestic and International Impact of the Financial Crisis. Social Science Research Network Quarterly 5.7 (2014): 17-25. Kappes, Andreas. “The ISIS Propaganda War and its Moral Consequences.” Political Ethics, October 9, 2014. Web, April 7, 2015. http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2014/10/the-isis-propaganda-war-and-its-moral-consequences/ Lindsey, Sandra and Smith, Adams. Arab Spring, Democracy and Security: Domestic and International Ramifications. Pittsburg: Cengage Learning, 2015. Print. Read More