International conflicts
Author
Stefan Zhelyazkov
Description
In this article conflict, tension and dispute are used interchangeably.
International conflicts have been a driving force for all major changes in the world's political and social or technological map. Solved either by military resolution or peaceful agreement, every dispute has a long lasting effect in the minds and hearts of people. Basically an international conflict is a disagreement between two or more (sovereign) countries on a certain topic (most of the time territory or resources). It is a common practice international legal bodies to mediate/influence the outcome of such a dispute. Such international interference is not always welcome, and it is not a surprise if it further complicates the matters. Usually many interests and lives are affected by such conflicts and it is extremely difficult to come with a fair solution. There is always a party that is not satisfied by the outcome and in order to express its discontent, it turns to alternative sources of action.
With the development of technologies many of those international conflicts are accompanied by cyber activities. The Internet is a excellent platform to gain popularity or to harm others' public image. One can go even further by actually endangering lives and causing financial disturbances by using the global network. Each time, such activities are defined differently - cyber war, cyber crime, or cyber terrorism (it depends which side is defining them). Nevertheless, the results are the same - a computer system has been attacked and taken over even for a period of time.
Enablers
There are many reasons that can cause an international conflict. Due to the level of globalization and availability of information, states starting a international dispute try to present their reasons as credible as possible (War on Terror, for example). I will try to summarize the most common reasons that lead to international tension:
- Territorial disputes - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict; Afghan War (part of America’s world-wide War on Terrorism); War on Terrorism (Any place, where the USA suspect there is a terrorist presence);
- Terrorist Acts - U.S. Embassy Bombings –(August 8, 1998); Attack on the USS Cole - (October 12, 2000); Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon - ( September 11, 2001); Tunisian Synagogue Bombing - (April 11, 2002); Bali Bombing —(Oct. 12, 2002); and many others...
- Ethnic Intolerance - Hindu-Muslim Sectarian Violence—(1947-Present); Kashmir Conflict — (1991-Present); China-Tibet (2008)
- Human rights violations - Kosovo War — (1998-1999); Israeli Occupation of Southern Lebanon –(1982-2000);
- Natural resources - Iraq - Kuwait conflict; (All USA interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan?).
Inhibitors
Basically no country wants to be involved in international conflicts. These are the major drawbacks that inevitably occur:
- Economic instability - conflicts are expensive, if the dispute results in military actions, then the economic stability of the country is endangered by attacks on its infrastructure. Attention is drawn from development to survival.
- International legal bodies - the whole purpose of such entities is to prevent international conflicts. Often the sever possible sanctions such as trade embargoes are reason enough to avoid further complication of matters.
- Global economic unions (such as EU) - it hard to imagine a severe international dispute between France and Germany, for example.
Paradigms
Experts
Timing
International conflicts have been always present through out the history of men.
Web Resources
http://geography.about.com/cs/intlconflict/
http://geography.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.historyguy.com%2Fnew_and_recent_conflicts.html