Terrorism and the Safe Olympics in Brazil - Assignment Example

Summer Olympics in Brazil al Affiliation: Summer Olympics in Brazil Currently, the world is crumpling with the increasing levels of terrorism. In the past few weeks European countries which were deemed as safe has experienced the threat being posed by various terrorist groups. For instance, France and Denmark has experienced the attacks being staged by the terrorist groups. Furthermore, in the past five years, new terrorist groups have emerged. These are groups that have gained popularity especially in the Islamic states. ISIS, Boko Haram, and Alshabab are just a few of the new terrorist groups which are posing a great threat to global peace. Moreover, Al-Qaeda continues its underground operations. In the meantime, it is hard to know where these groups will hit next. Brazil is one of the countries with the highest number of Christian. Majority of the local population are Catholics. Terrorist groups have been using the religion aspect to try and widen the gap between the Christians and Muslim. Olympics attract people from different parts of the world. These are people who emanates from different cultural and religious backgrounds (Liotta & Miskel, 2012). This provides a platform for the terrorist group to stage an attack in order to drive a message to the whole word. The Olympics games are attended by high-level dignitaries who come from different parts of the world. Therefore, if the terrorists are able to stage an attack in such games, they can bring the whole world into a standstill due to the number of people who are likely to be affected. As a result, the organizing committee will be faced with a major problem of ensuring that security of all those who will attend this noble event is guaranteed. Rio de Janeiro is a city that has one of the largest populations of people living in slums. In favela, drug abuse is a common practice. These are areas that are so insecure. Olympics will bring a lot of tourists in the country. Many of these people are likely to spend their time in tourist destinations such as beaches. The residents in favela are likely to take up this opportunity to rob these tourists as majority of them believe that they will have carried with them a lot of wealth. Currently, the government is already strained having spent a lot of money to host the World cup. In addition, the security apparatus are strained by the wave of violence and robbery in different parts of Brazil. Therefore, the number that can be committed to secure the areas that are likely to be visited by the tourists is very low. Therefore, problems of robbery, murder, rape, etc are likely to characterize the Olympics in Brazil (Lenskyj & Wagg, 2012). This aspect will play a significant role in tarnishing the reputation of the country which had been built after hosting the World Cup successfully. Brazil faces a major scrutiny over its crime rate. The country has the seventh-highest homicide cases in the world. Reports indicate that only 8% of the reported cases are solved. Concerns continue to rise over the country’s readiness to host a competition of this magnitude. Since the awarding of the host rights, the country has been facing frequent protests which are characterized by brutal violence. Different visitors have been reporting to police stations after being robbed in the streets of Rio. However, the manners at which these cases are being handled have left many questions unanswered on the preparedness of the country to ensure that the visitors are protected during their visit to Brazil. The government has been stating that it has put in place the necessary mechanisms to ensure that all people who will visit the country are guaranteed their security (Lenskyj & Wagg, 2012). However, statistics of the crime in the streets of Rio alone is an indicator that the country is sitting on a time bomb. As a result, if the necessary mechanisms are not out in place the country reputation might be tarnished by high rates of robbery in the streets of the capital city. Brazil has just hosted the World Cup. The current resources are exhausted. For instance, research indicates that the amount of waste materials that were generated is very immense. Currently, the city is trying to dispose it. Health practitioners are warning that increased waste which is coupled by poor management by the relevant authority is likely to increase the risk of diseases among the locals and visitors. Therefore, disease outbreak is a major problem that is likely to face the organizers and the government especially if the necessary measures are not to be put in place. On the other hand, the world is crumpling with the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. Movement of people across the world has seen the disease infect people from US and Spain. Last year, Morocco had to withdraw from hosting The Africa Cup of Nations which was later held in Equatorial Guinea. Although no major incident was reported by the authority, the number of people who traveled to watch the AFCON matches is very low compared to the number of visitors who will visit Brazil during the Olympics. A single case of such a contagious disease will be a major setback to the organizers (Fontes & Hollanda, 2014). Although it might not be Ebola cases, the health check for any other related disease is likely to be one of the major hurdles that the organizers are likely to face during the Olympics games. With the increasing levels of global warming, the weather patterns have become unpredictable. In the past one decade, the world has experienced extreme weather conditions in some parts of the world such as US and Asia. For instance, Heavy snow has rocked parts of US in the past one year. In addition, hurricanes have become common phenomena in US and Asia. On the other hand, extreme drought has been experienced in some parts of Africa. Attempts to arrest the worsening trends have not been successful. This is posing a great threat to the success of the Olympics games. Brazil has not had a history of extreme weather conditions or natural hazards. As a result, the country has invested very little in tragedy preparedness. With thousands of people being expected in the country during the Olympics, the burden to protect these people in case of a hurricane or any other tragedy of a similar magnitude will increase immensely (Liotta & Miskel, 2012). Currently, the government is not even looking at this aspect as one that can catch the country off-guard. Therefore, the administration is only focusing on offering security and infrastructure. However, when hosting such an event, it is very important for the organizers to look at all dimensions that are likely to create havoc. Therefore, such a tragedy is likely to pose a great threat to the organizers, the country and even the neighboring countries. In the past five years, investors have been investing heavily on modern technology especially in restaurants and other commercial buildings. Unlike United States which receives constant cyber threats from Russia and North Koreans, the numbers of cases that are being reported in Brazil are minimal to force the government to put in place the necessary security mechanisms to protect the citizens. The arrival of the tourists with a notion that they are attending the Olympics will create an opportunity for cyber attackers to enter the country. The slums around the city will act as a haven for these criminals. Some of these slums cannot even be penetrated by the police officers. They are mainly manned by arm gangs which manages the drug business. In addition, they plan on how crime in the streets of Rio de Jenairo is going to be conducted. However, they have not diversified into online platform. Therefore, Olympics games are likely to introduce new crimes in the country. The cyber attackers are likely to gang up with the locals in order to terrorize the financial institutions which are not well prepared and other government institutions. Furthermore, they are likely to target the visitors, majority of whom have little information concerning cyber attacks (Fontes & Hollanda, 2014). Therefore, protecting the innocent visitors from the modern crime is likely to pose a major problem to the organizers and the government at large. The world cup offered a lesson of the problems that are likely to be faced during the Olympics games. One of the major challenges that were faced by the tourists was sexual harassment. Many of the tourists opted to visit the slums and other areas where poor people reside. This was in their attempts to experience the other side of Brazil. However, many of these people reported cases of sexual harassments. Majority of them were raped at gun point. On the other hand, the sexual business thrived in the city. School going children participated in commercial sex with an attempt to earn some money. Some of these children were forced by their parents to this business because the family could not raise enough money to pay for their fees or even put the food on the table. The use of children in commercial sex is likely to reoccur again during the Olympics. Despite the government’s assurance that this vice will not reoccur, the major cause of this behavior which is poverty is yet to be addressed. Therefore, the organizing committee together with the government is likely to face this challenge. Besides commercial sex, the demand for temporary workers in restaurants and other tourist attraction sites made some businesses to use child labor which was cheap and easily accessible (Liotta & Miskel, 2012). This is to ensure that they maximize their returns before the end of the games. This aspect is likely to reoccur once again because the necessary institutions have not put in place the necessary measures to punish those who were found guilty of this offence. Transport nightmare is likely to affect the city of Rio de Janeiro. Currently, the government is in the process of improving the current infrastructure in order to improve traffic movement across the city. However, the number of people who will attend the Olympics games is likely to strain the current infrastructures. During the World Cup, a bridge near the stadium collapsed because it was hurriedly built. Therefore, the necessary procedure and quality measures were not followed. During the Olympics games, accidents emanating from poor constructions works are likely to occur. At the moment the workers in the stadiums and other important structures are not satisfied by the terms of work (Lenskyj & Wagg, 2012). This is likely to have a major impact on the quality of the infrastructures that are being set up by these employees. In the meantime, some of the employees have gone on strike because of poor pay and lack of the necessary precautionary measures, an aspect that has led to the death of some of their colleagues. Consequently, the standoff between the two parties is likely to create gaps in the work that is being done. As a result, during the games the organizing committees are likely to deal with various accidents that will be caused by these gaps. Many of the people who will visit Rio de Janeiro will do so for leisure activities. During such periods, drug abuse is at its peak. With the slums being near these places, the supply of hard drugs will be at its highest levels. Tourists who came for World Cup were seen smoking bang, cocaine, and injecting themselves with heroine. However, the government did not want to interfere with their freedom. Therefore, it gave a blind eye to such behaviors. However, if the country is aiming at improving its reputation in the global platform, it must deal with this menace. Young generation is very fragile (Fontes & Hollanda, 2014). Therefore, the government and non-governmental organizations need to control what the local people learn from foreigners. This is through setting up policies that will curb drug abuse in local places especially those with young people. Furthermore, a special police unit will have to be formed in order to control the people and what they do in public. However, this will not come without resistance from the people who will feel that they have a right to have fun having paid to visit Brazil especially during the Olympics games. Crowd control is another major problem that is likely to face the country during the Olympics games. Unlike in the World Cup where the government has set up adequate funds to employ independent agencies to control the crowd within the city centre, the funds that have been set up for Olympics are not adequate to enable the necessary mechanisms to control the crowd to be put in place (Liotta & Miskel, 2012). Therefore, the organizing committees will be faced with a major hurdle or ensuring that the crowd does not get out of control. This is to prevent any form of violence which might lead to deaths, injuries, or destruction of public and private property. Emergency services are likely to be strained during the Olympics games in Rio de Janeiro. During such games, people tend to participate in parties, cheering groups, and demonstrations. This exposes them to accidents, some of which might be fatal. Initially, the government in partnership with private companies was offering services. Furthermore, the authority relied heavily on voluntary services. However, rifts have erupted concerning the relationship between the government and private companies. Many of these firms feel that they have been short-changed during the payment for the services they offered during the World Cup. As a result, this has acted as an early warning to any other firm which might be interested in offering the same services during the Olympics which will be held in 2016. Majority of the firms will likely to put up stern procedures to be followed by both the government and organizing committee in order to ensure that they recover their money after the end of the games. Therefore, lack of trust between the two parties is likely to create a problem during the Olympics. Although it has been ignored in other Olympics games, communication has been cited as one of the major problem that faces the organizers of these games. When the fans come together in the stadiums, the communication traffic tends to increase beyond the capacity of the local network providers. Hackers and other ill-minded people can easily take this as an advantage to get crucial information from some people who attend the events (Beal, 2013). Therefore, the organizing committees will be faced with a major problem of ensuring that all people who will be attending the events are safe when using their phones or other gadgets to communicate. Furthermore, online platform will require extra protection from the hackers who are willing to use this occasion to siphon money from innocent visitors. In conclusion, the success of Olympics games in Rio de Janeiro will depend on the partnership between all the parties involved. The World Cup provided an important platform for the Olympics organizing committee to learn from. However, since the event, little has been put in place in order to cover the gaps that were found. Therefore, these problems are likely to reoccur during the next event. Event Plan of Olympics games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Important Industries Transport industry Hotel industry Food and beverages industry Possible Risks Accidents, Security, Weather, Health, Food, Terrorism, Crime Possible source of the risks Confrontation between the opposing sides Poor crowd control Overcrowding in a single place Overdrinking of alcohol and other drugs Venue for the games The games will be held in the stadiums. However, the risks are likely to be high outside the stadiums and in the beaches. The participants will be people of all ages. However, majority of them will be young people from Brazil and neighboring countries. The police and other security apparatus will be aware of the possible risks. Therefore, they will respond on time. Special security consideration Open spaces will be left to be used as safe places in case one of the risk occurs The number of security personnel will be high in risk prone areas Resources to manage risk Increased amount of money set aside for the event Emergency services will be increased More volunteers will be trained Safety considerations Working together with private security company Reducing the number of entry points in order to enhance the security Police to be involved in managing crowd even in private premises References Beal, S. (2013). Brazil under construction: Literature and public works. Fontes, P. R., & Hollanda, B. B. (2014). The country of football: Politics, popular culture & the beautiful game in Brazil. Lenskyj, H., & Wagg, S. (2012). The Palgrave handbook of olympic studies. Liotta, P. H., & Miskel, J. F. (2012). The real population bomb: Megacities, global security & the map of the future. Washington, DC: Potomac Books. Read More