Global Issues: International Terrorism and Alternative Energy Sources - Assignment Example

Question Clean energy is a debate issue that has seen the world clamor for alternative energy sources. More recently, it featured as a prominent issue in the just conclude election where President-elect, Mr. Obama has promised to actively pursue this cause of action. There have been various reasons put forward but chief among them is the stark reality of global warming. Oil is a fossil fuel and statistically contributes about 85% of the worlds' power consumption (Kloepelle, 2002). The U.S. is the biggest culprit when it comes to carbon emissions and has regrettably failed to uphold its own agreement in the Kyoto Protocol. If the U.S. leads the pack in hunting for cleaner energies then surely we would save face for our previous misdeeds. But global warming transcends merely saving face. The reality of the abnormal and harmful weather patterns is something we must live with today. Scientists have linked our current explosion of weather related tragedies to the global warming increase. Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and heat strokes have become a feature of summers are but to name a few of the extremes of weather. Statistically, the hottest years were experienced in the last decade (ESS, 2008). Other health risks have also been cited due to the continued depletion of O-zone, caused by global warming. Cancer of the skin caused by UV-radiations, cataracts and decreased immunity are some of the health risks you face as a result of depletion. The environment, especially animal live suffers from the same and this causes extinction of some species. Failure to recognize the role of organic fuels, chiefly oil, would lead to unprecedented weather and calamity increase, disease and massive financial strains in the efforts to repair (Jackson, 94). Another benefit of clean energy is the reduced dependency on foreign oil. The USA consumes the most amount of oil globally and is the biggest importer of the same. This has led to many problems including exploitation by the oil cartels, the biggest being OPEC. Oil has become an instrument of political and diplomatic exploitation, especially with matters concerning the Middle East. This has been so especially after the 6 Day War. A country bearing oil has become a major voice in international affairs as they can cause the destabilization of world markets practically overnight (Zycher, 2008). The last few weeks have borne witness to this fact where the impact of the oil fields of the remote Arabian deserts cause tremors at the very pinnacle of Wall Street. Reducing dependency has very obvious advantages in this light: it would reduce the bargaining power of these countries at the international and domestic front. Humanitarian issues such as modern day slavery, women emancipation and gross abuse of democracy by these countries are very difficult to handle since they have oil power. They can refuse to sell if they perceive you as hostile causing an energy crisis of great magnitudes. Mr. Obama is on the long term strategy road to finally rid them of their bargaining platform and allow them to be subject to the rules of humanitarianism. The third benefit as cited by the President-elect is the revival of the economy. This statement seems like an oxymoron bearing in mind that clean energies require expensive infrastructure. Though this is true, the long term benefits of this investment would pay off. Imagine having hybrid automobiles that run on electricity and hydrogen drawn from water. The electricity would be generated from nuclear energy and other forms. We would use solar energy to light our houses. Create proper insulation so that we cut down on heating costs and harness wind energy for various other chores. This dream of an oil-free energy sector would result in the saving of billions of dollars incurred in buying and importing this resource. This would result in savings from government, household and business levels. These savings from the household could be channeled to increase domestic demand or saved. Both of these options are good for the economy. The government's savings could be channeled to research and infrastructural development. Businesses would experience lower costs of production and therefore higher profits. Apart from causing cost savings, this technology could result in the generation of revenue through innovation protection, patenting. Since the technology for research and development of clean resource exist here at home we could create the technologies and sell the innovations. Companies could invest in this research and later on profit from the same. Innovation success stories such as Silicon Valley are testimony to this. (Alternative, Renewable, Energy, 2005) The fact that the oil price came down last week does not obscure the fact that we need the change now. The price of oil is as sensitive as the commodity itself. It is subject to a host of factors including the global political climate. The price of oil is also set to increase as the global oil reserves start to run out due to a rapid increase in oil consumption globally. In short the price today is not a guarantee of the price tomorrow. The need to switch to more eco-friendly energy sources also remains despite the price decrease. The longer we postpone the change to better energy sources the more the planet erodes. This is not acceptable. Also, by continually drinking oil, be it cheap oil, we remain politically tied in our relations to the Middle East. The measures that the President-elect has proposed are geared for long term advantages and are therefore necessary with or without the drop in oil price. By clearly ignoring this we would miss out on the numerous opportunities presented by clean energies. We would derail ourselves financially, politically and environmentally. It is true that clean energies do not come without their fair share of difficulties. The food verses fuel argument in the bio-fuel sector bears witness to this. All the same to sit back and not consider the long term is unfair to both us and our future generations. The decision to act despite the seemingly comfortable price position is a wise and long-term one. Question 2 The reality of the increasing political power of the Muslim faith is a truth today we cannot ignore. From its continued expansion even within our borders to the increased political sensitivity, this faith has started its political awakening. But this does not come without hitches. Despite the separation of state and religion, the latter influences a great deal of our lifestyle, politics included. The difference between the Muslim faith and the rest of the society is a subject worth noting, especially with the rise and spread of terrorism. One party would argue it from strictly a faith based perspective. Politically, the Islam way of life does not separate faith from state. In fact, the faith is the law of the state. Penalties are very corporal and include maiming and executions. The Muslim culture was birthed in violence and continues to exhibit the traits of its birth. Indeed the Quran, the Muslim's holy book, has passages where violence toward the enemies of the religion is encouraged. Not only does it encourage violence, but it also subjects the female to very low social ranks and consequent treatment. These are elements that modern society considers of the past civilization. On the other hand, the religious leaders of the Muslim society strive to show that Islam is a religion of peace. They dispel the arguments of violence with scriptures from the Quran that talk extensively about helping the needy. These two camps approach the subject based on two different time-lines. The skeptics approach it form the historical perspective where they use the previous cases of violent outburst to write it off. The proposers use current trends of senior clerics and the call for religious tolerance. The relation between terrorism and religion has been the subject of much security and political concern. The recent large scale terrorist attacks, done predominantly by Muslims, are very worrying. The recent Mumbai attacks were merely an escalation of the Hindu-Muslim wars that have darkened India of late. The truth is that whereas not all acts of terror are performed by Muslims, the largest and most scary are. Indeed it is also crucial to point out that not all Muslims are terrorists. A sect of the Muslim society has transformed itself into a spite-filled military outfit and perpetrates acts of terror. Apparently they interpret the Quran in such a way as permitting and encouraging them to do these heinous acts. They believe that they are acting on Allah's will and therefore are ready to give up their lives for the reward promised in the afterlife. But what has caused this growth of terror. There are circles that suggest that poverty in the third world countries breeds terror. This is a sentiment echoed by our leaders and politicians. The link between the two exists. The poor and uneducated populace is easy target of recruitment and brainwashing. The young poor man has noting to live for and would therefore find it easier to join such a militant union. This being said there are those who strongly disagree. They cite that the perpetrators of these crimes have on the other hand high education (at least high school) and that the supporters of terror activities were more likely to be drawn from the upper tier of the working class. The role of the population explosion is also related to poverty. The average fertility rate in the Middle East is high and large families are characteristic. The large population is faced with the poor education, lack of infrastructure and thus poverty. Another suggested cause is the U.S. foreign policy concept. The historical interaction of the U.S. AND Islam dates back to the era when the spread of communism in Asia was threatening the U.S. and consequently, the Mujahideen were called in to aid the struggle. The US helped arm and train the Afghan youth who in turn fought for them. At the end of the Cold War, the US withdrew and left the country torn up. They did not help to rebuild a country they had indirectly destroyed. This is where the bile started to grow from. Armed and bitter, the ally now became the enemy and the target was the hand that armed it. The role of poverty now comes into play. The leaders of the revolt were the elite but they used the poor and uneducated of the society to run the actual terror. They are the brains and the poor are the muscle. This is true only to some extent. WORKS CITED Alternative. Renewable. Energy. (June 24th, 2005) Renewable Sources of Energy. Retrieved on December 5th, 2008 from http://curtrosengren.typepad.com/alternative_energy/energy_economics/ EES (2008) Earth's Protection Shield is Being Destroyed. Retrieved on December 5th,2008 from http://www.ess-home.com/news/global-warming/ozone-depletion.asp Kloepelle Jim (October 31st, 2002) Alternative Energy Sources Needed to Mitigate Global warming, Scientists say. Retrieved on December 5, 2008 from http://news.illinois.edu/scitips/02/1031globalwarming.html Robert M. Jackson (2009). Annual Editions: Global Issues 08/09 (24th edition). McGraw- Hill/Dushkin. Zunes Stephens (1998). International Terrorism .Retrieved on December 5th,2008 from http://www.fpif.org/briefs/vol3/v3n38terr_body.html Zycher Benjamin (2008) OPEC retrieved on December 5th, 2008 from http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/OPEC.html Read More