Why Might Al-Qaeda be interested in the Darfur Region - Research Paper Example

Research Objectives General Research Question: Why might a terrorist organization such as Al-Qaeda be interested in the Darfur Region? Specific Research Question: How might the situation in Darfur involving Janjaweed affect the global war on terrorism in that region? Hypothesis 1: (Realist view) The Sudanese Government will continue to resist US and UN intervention on the internal conflicts occurring in Darfur region. Hypothesis 2: (Just War) The US and the rest of the international community will not allow the governments such as that of Sudan’s to use the threat of Al-Qaeda to prevent peacekeeping intervention. This research is aimed at presenting two competing viewpoints as given above in the form of hypothesis for the research exercise. The three year conflict in Darfur has left behind more than 400,000 people dead and more than 2 million people homeless. Since the early 2003, there has been a steep rise in violence in the region. The Sudanese government has used both its own armed forces and a militia group called the Janjaweed to fight the rebel groups in the country. These rebel groups are formed by two groups comprising of the Sudanese Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement. The armed forces of the government and the Janjaweed have responded to the growing fight of the rebels with crushing violence. They have killed a large number of people in and around the ethnic tribes who are supporting the rebel groups. Most of the countries around the world, particularly the US, have recognized this killing as genocide and have been forcing the Sudanese government to stop these atrocities. UN Security Council has passed a resolution, deploying UN Peace Keeping Forces to Darfur. This is the situation under which this research is being conducted. The primary question in front of us now is whether the Darfur situation will affect efforts in the global war on terrorism. With the known support for Al-Qaeda by the Sudanese Government and the Janjaweed, it is not a surprise that the Al-Qaeda has an on going interest in the happenings at Darfur. At the same time, the rest of world is also interested because of the large support that Al-Qaeda enjoys and its close link with the world terrorism. Method and Procedures To identify the various possibilities of the research question, consequently its impact on the hypothesis, a survey will be conducted with the interested parties. This will comprise of people who are directly involved and people who are knowledgeable on the said issues. Twenty people who are resident or were residents of Darfur will be picked up for the purpose of this survey. In addition to this, similar opinion will be elicited from twenty other people who are interested in the making of a solution for Darfur. Another ten people who are from the general public who are not directly or indirectly involved in Darfur will also be queried to identify the right kind of an impact that they have all had on the topic. The entire process will be completed in a month’s time and this would involve traveling to the relevant locations. Since this involves meeting some of the people who are directly involved in the fight at Darfur, there is a mild risk for the interviewer and for the participant too. But the impact is very minor. The survey will make use of a questionnaire that will have a Likert Scale in place. This would make comparison easy. However, there will also be five numbers of open ended questions posed to the participants which will bring out their thoughts on the subject. Participating in this study is not a risk for the participants. However, safety precautions should be taken up. If the subject or the participant has to travel and incur expenses for participating in this survey, then the same is refunded to the person. However, the researcher will be keen to avoid disturbing the life of the subject; instead, he or she will travel down to the location of the subject to interview him / her. Quantitative and Qualitative analysis methods will be adopted to make use of the data collected. The Likert Scale will enable quantitative analysis of the responses while for the open ended questions a qualitative analysis will be carried out to reach at the conclusions desired. The major objective will be to reach the objectives of the research. Subject Recruitment People who are to participate in this survey will be identified using the following methods: 1. Some of the people will be picked up from the Save Darfur movement in consultation with the organization. This would help in easily identifying the people who have been there and who have come back after traveling to the location. This way a first hand information will be reached and the information gathered would be authentic. The number of people picked up like this will be twenty. 2. The twenty others will be picked up from the United Nations and from the people who are involved in working out the next strategy at the UN. For this purpose, a trip to the UN headquarters in New York has to be made and the right people selected and the questionnaires are to be given to them. 3. Finally, ten more people have to be selected out of other forums and organizations in Middle East and Asia. For these people, the questionnaires will be sent online and the results are also obtained from them directly. The people are selected from all the stake holder groups. The Middle East, typically, Egyptian and the Saudi have closer ties with the Sudanese government. Their stand should reflect the stand taken by the Sudanese government. People are selected from the non-governmental organization to ensure neutrality of the selection at the same time providing the complete information. Benefits Darfur is literally burning with more than a million people displaced and four hundred thousand dead. A right understanding of the issue would ensure reaching of a solution to this suffering. It is important that suffering of people is understood. The terrorist groups and their interconnections have to be known to defend ourselves from them. Gaining of knowledge on this subject is important and such analysis would ensure complete understanding of the topic. For all these benefits, the research is being done. Risks to Subjects No major risks are foreseen for the people who are participating in the survey nor are there risks for the people who are conducting it. However, in case a travel to Darfur is undertaken for the onsite survey, then there is an excessive on the spot risk. The same should not be undertaken unless there is a protection for the entire travel and the subsequent activity. Informed Consent The purpose of the survey will precede the survey paper as given in the annexure. This would brief the purpose of the survey and will request the participant to take part in the survey only if he or she accepts the statement made there. Arabic translation of the same will also be made available for people who are of Sudanese origin. The consent is taken out of the written text. In case the survey is conducted over a telephone or a chat session, the text is read out to the person and their consent is taken and noted before proceeding. Confidentiality of Data The survey data will be maintained in a well locked room. Subsequent to the completion of the survey, the data is digitized and verified. After the verification has been completed, the survey papers are destroyed while the data is safely written on to a CD and maintained in at least two places. This information is used only for the purpose of analysis. Safe storage for later use if needed will be undertaken. Information will be marked out as classified and only reachable by authorized people. Appendix I Questionnaire for the Survey Name Why is Darfur Important to you? Date Location S No Description Not at all No May Be Yes Very Much 1 Janjaweed and the government are helping to restore peace.      2 Janjaweed and the government are supported by Al-Qaeda      3 It is the Al-Qaeda that is behind all these in Darfur.      4 The civil war is the cause of the death and destruction in Darfur.      5 Darfur is one more war front against terror.      6 Al-Qaeda recruits people here in Sudan and Darfur.      7 If US / UN enter Darfur, then the Sudanese Government will lose its interest in Darfur.      8 Sudan can not stop foreign aid to Darfur.      Will there be lasting peace in Darfur? How do you think it is possible? Signature Consent Document Please read the following lines carefully and give us your consent before proceeding with the questionnaire above. 1. We want you to answer all of the questions with utmost sincerity and to the best of your knowledge. 2. You may go through the questionnaire fully and if you think answering the questionnaire will put you at risk, either physically or mentally and unless you are willing to take that perceived risk of yours, please do not answer the questionnaire. 3. We are not a party to either of the sides. This questionnaire is purely for research purposes only. 4. However, the data that you provide will be gainfully employed in understanding the problem at Darfur and the possible solutions for the same might also be evaluated. 5. You have no reservations in answering any of the questions contained in the questionnaire. 6. You also accept that the information provided by you will be used for research purposes and can be used to bring back peace to the war ravaged country. 7. Please proceed only if you accept all the points listed above. Points for review of the researcher 1. The Likert scale will be comfortable for establishing quantitative data for the questionnaire. This will bring the answers to numeric format enabling the users to do a quantitative analysis of the information that is contained. This will also ensure that the information collected is more accurate and will also make sure the results obtained are also equally more accurate. 2. The questions are primarily directed at providing answers to the hypothesis and to the research questions. These answers since they can be translated to numeric values the same can be efficiently used for analysis using Excel or SPSS or any other such statistical packages. 3. One qualitative question, open ended one has been included in the questionnaire to identify the thought process of the respondents. This will also help in understanding the nature of solution people would like to have. Read More