Security-Based Approach to Development (SBA)

Global Insecurity and Issues of Personal Identification

Upali M. Sedere

Universal Publishers Boca Raton, Florida

USA • 2005

Security - Based Approach to Development (SBA): Global Insecurity and Issues of Personal Identification

Copyright © 2005 Upali M. Sedere All rights reserved.

Views, findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this book are entirely those of the author and should not be attributed in any manner to the agencies that the author is affiliated with, is

working with, or has worked with. The author takes sole responsibility for all views expressed in this book, and any queries

and concerns should be directed to the author only.

Universal Publishers Boca Raton, Florida • USA

2005

ISBN: 1-58112- 475-9

www.universal-publishers.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the millions of tsunami victims who lost their accumulated personal identity within a matter of 20 minutes and the global citizens generously contributing to reestablish them to regain the lost personal identity and dignity of life.

About the Author:

Upali M. Sedere is an author with diverse and far-reaching experiences in the field of development studies. He is a Sri Lankan who has served in many capacities for a wide range of international institutions. He was University don, UN Civil Servant, World Bank officer, and Team Leader/International Consultant to most of the reputed bilateral agencies and International NGOs. He has been a development adviser to many governments in Asia and Africa. He has served in sixteen countries. He also was an active politician in Sri Lanka. Currently he is serving the Ministry of Education in Malawi as Senior Policy Adviser.

Upali SSedere’s BBooks……

“Globalization and LLow IIncome EEconomies – REFORMING EEDUCATION –– TThe CCrisis oof VVision” (2000) www.upublish.com/books/sedere.htm

“For Sedere, the definition of ‘excellence in education’ in the future lies in theemployability, marketability and utility value of the graduate. Much curriculumdevelopment hitherto has proceeded ad hoc—and has been framed by nationalistpolitical imperatives to conserve culture and civilisation lost during thecolonial period. By contrast, Sedere’s curriculum frame is the ‘ExpectedStudent Profile’ (ESP). The ESP curriculum is explicitly oriented to thesurvival-skill needs of the poorest. The profile has four dimensions—timespectrum (past, present and future), operational domains (family, work, culture,and environment), horizons (immediate, extended, and global) and competen-cies (cognitive, affective, psycho-motor, and social). The ESP curriculum is alsooriented to the skill needs of survival in globalising economies.”

Prof. AAngela LLittle, University of London,Comparative EEducation, Volume 38 No. 1 2002 pp. 113–122

Sedere’s book is an impassioned plea for a dramatic re-thinkingof education policy for low income economies (LIEs).The overall structure proposed for this transformation reflects a realisticperspective on the considerable political and economic challenges faced,and endeavours to balance existing physical infrastructure with an evolvingeducational approach. In order to achieve such change the author urges theneed for inter-sectoral cooperation including government, private and publicsectors and communities. There are many elements of Sedere’s transformationthat could be undertaken in incremental stages and therefore would notrequire a system-wide change”

Svava BBjarnason, Head of Research & Policy at Association ofCommonwealth UniversitiesThe BBulletin OOf tthe AAssociation oof CCommonwealth UUniversities,No145, October 2000

VII

Table oof CContents

COPYRIGHT PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IILIST OF TABLES & FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XIACKNOWLEDGEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XIIIPREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XV

PART ONE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION ISSUES AND

THE POOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1CHAPTER ONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

THE DILEMMA – “SECURITY” VERSUS “DEVELOPMENT” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4WAR ON POVERTY VERSUS WAR ON TERRORISM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7THE FOCUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

CHAPTER TWO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13IDENTITY AND EMPOWERMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

IDENTITY AND EMPOWERMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16What Is Personal Identity? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Identity and Power: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Identification of a Person - The Key to Access. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

What Would Be the CaseIf One Has No Such Identifications? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Identity and Global Insecurity: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Identity and Corruption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Identity and Informal Living. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Identity and Disparity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Identity and the Human Rights-Based Approach (RBA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Can the Declaration of Universal Human Rights Protect Them? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Diversity and Discrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

LACK OF IDENTITY AND

THE FUTURE RISK OF SURVIVAL OF THE POOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31IDENTITY AND OTHER DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

CHAPTER THREE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL IDENTITY AND POWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

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PERSONAL IDENTITY AS THE BASIS FOR EMPOWERMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL IDENTITY AND POWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Inherited Identity (I-Identity) and Power:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Institutional Identity and Power—A-I Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Earned Identity – (E-Identities): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Associative Identities (S-Identities) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Collective Identity (C-I): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

IDENTITY: THE GATEWAY TO RIGHTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49THE IDENTITY CRISIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Identity Crisis and Sociopolitical Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

GLOBALIZATION AND THE NEW DEMANDS ON IDENTITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

CHAPTER FOUR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57THE IDENTITY CRISIS: THE VULNERABLE POOR

AND EMPOWERMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57AN ILLUSTRATIVE CASE IN IDENTITY CRISIS IN

A VULNERABLE COMMUNITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58The Unbelievable Situation in Personal Identity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

DIVERSITY, NON-IDENTITY, AND RIGHTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63CONSEQUENCES OF NON-IDENTITY IN

VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64LACK OF PERSONAL IDENTITY AND ITS EFFECT ON

THE INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65AGGRESSIVE IDENTITY-SEEKING BEHAVIOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Gangs and the Deterioration of the Law-and-Order Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Begging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Prostitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

IDENTITY AND CORRUPTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Lack of Identity in the Poor and Misuse of Power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Development Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Violation of Human Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

CONCLUSIONS … . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

PART TWO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79PERSONAL IDENTITY,

GLOBAL SECURITY, AND EMPOWERMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79CHAPTER FIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

IX

GLOBAL APPROACHES TO EMPOWERMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81CHARITY-BASED APPROACH (CBA) TO DEVELOPMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89THE NEEDS-BASED APPROACH (NBA): . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91THE RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH (RBA) AND EMPOWERMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . 96RBA AND POVERTY REDUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES AND

THE RELATIONSHIP TO EMPOWERMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107The Charity-Based Approach and Empowerment: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

The Needs-Based Approach and Empowerment: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

The Rights-Based Approach and Empowerment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

CHAPTER SIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117SECURITY-BASED APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT (SBA) . . . . . . . 117

THE RATIONALE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Assumption One: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Assumption Two: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Assumption Three: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Assumption Four: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Assumption Five: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Assumption Six: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

ISSUE OF SECURITY AND GLOBALIZATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

SECURITY AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

SECURITY AND DEMOCRATIZATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

DEVELOPMENT LIMITATIONS AND SECURITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

SECURITY-BASED DEVELOPMENT APPROACH (SBA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

LEGALIZATION OF PERSONAL IDENTITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

MEETING HUMAN NEEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

MEETING HUMAN RIGHTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Skills for the Twenty-first Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Terrorists and Human Rights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Child Soldiers and Human Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Refugees and Human Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

DEMOCRATIZATION AND GLOBALIZATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

MACRO-ECONOMIC STABILITY AND

INFORMAL SECTOR ECONOMY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

X

INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF NATIONAL IDENTITY SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

ANNEXTURE —1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147INSECURITY IS EVIDENT TO EVERYONE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Some of the Terrorist Attacks in Recent Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

XI

List oof TTables && FFigures

FIGURE 3-1: The Cycle of V’s - The Vicious Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

FIGURE 3-2: Comparison Of Gee’s And Sedere’sClassifications of Identity and Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

FIGURE 4-1: Common Anti-Social Behaviors Due To Non-Identity – The 3Vs of Poverty(Violence, Violations and Victimization) . . . . . . . . . . . 70

DIAGRAM 5-1: Charity-Based Approach to Development . . . . . . . . . . 91

DIAGRAM 5-2: Conceptual Framework of Needs-Based Approach . . . . 96

DIAGRAM 5-3: RBA—Conceptual Framework for Right-BasedDevelopment: (Source UN Dhaka, 2000) . . . . . . . . . . 102

TABLE 5-1 Relationship of Power Analysis to DifferentDevelopment Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

FIGURE 6-1: Conceptual Framework of Security-BasedApproach (SBA) to Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

XIII

Acknowledgement

The thinking inspired in me to address the issues of personalidentity is a result of my working as a Team Leader of a SwissDevelopment Corporation research study on ‘Brain-Gymnastics’ inBangladesh. The names of the children who participated in this studyof the two NGO- run Non-formal Schools, the Center for MassEducation (CMES) and the Under Privileged Children’s Program(UCEP), was the eye-opener to understanding the degree of deprivationof personal identity that contributes to the perpetuation of poverty andinsecurity among the poor. I acknowledge this incident and all thosewho were associated with it and I have narrated the true story inChapter three of this book.

Writing a book in a fully occupied professional life always happensat the cost of your family. It places a lot of demands on the family, par-ticularly when you live abroad. I deeply acknowledge the patience,understanding and the support that I get from my wife Mavis inparticular and daughter Anushka who was in her High school years atAIS in Dhaka. Often Mavis had to remind me to have my tea which wasgetting cold while I was at the computer writing for long hours andpush me to go for a walk. Also our son Channa and daughter-in-lawPriyadharshani always encouraged me to complete this book early.

If there is any one who really knows the beginning to the end of thedevelopment of this book it is my professional colleague Zia Us-Saburof Dhaka, Bangladesh who associated the Brain-Gym study and alsowas the closest professional friend that I had the liberty and theprivilege to discuss my thinking honestly and freely. My deep appreci-ation goes to Zia who is now serving in a Sida—Bangladesh project onNon-formal Education. Monica Malakar of Sida—Bangladesh has beenone colleague who has always genuinely encouraged me to write ondevelopment issues. This book has two manuscripts—one completedbefore 9/11 and this one which was re-written after 9/11. Zia andMonica would witness this. Otherwise this book could have beenreleased definitely a year ago. I appreciate and acknowledge their con-tribution to this thesis, although both Zia and Monica may not fullyagree with what I have stated herein.

It is with gratitude I acknowledge the contribution of Prof. Kamalde Abrew, now in retirement from the Open University of Sri Lanka,who has read this manuscript in its early stage and raised a lot ofconcerns and anti-thesis arguments those certainly improved thequality of this book.

XIV

I also wish to acknowledge my debt to my beloved teacher Dr.Premadas Udagama, former Principal Secretary of the Ministry ofEducation, Sri Lanka. Perhaps he is the one who inspired pro-poorthinking in me in the very early under-graduate days of my life, forwhich I am grateful.

I acknowledge the Universal Publishers of Florida for theirguidance in improving the quality of the manuscript. I particularlyappreciate and acknowledge the contributions made by AmyThornbury, who edited the manuscript and Shereen Siddiqui, who wasthe key person in on-line communication during the printing of thisbook. Without their assistance this book could have taken a few moremonths to publish.

Upali M. SedereSenior Policy Adviser, Ministry of Education, Lilongwe, Malawiupalisedere@yahoo.com , usedere@globemw.net , usedere@edc.orgwww.upublish.com/books/sedereJanuary 1, 2005

XV

Preface

I have no doubt that this book will arouse a lot of controversy. Thethesis of the book and the arguments towards the thesis are bound toannoy many of the third-world political leaders and bureaucrats as wellas the terrorists and their sympathizers. This is expected. I request thatthey read the arguments with an open mind. Particularly those of uswho live in developing countries have to understand that our leaders,officials, and even religious groups have not lived up to the expecta-tions of our fellow citizens. Their failures to do the right things fortheir own people have led our countries to instability, not only ineconomic terms but, even more so, in geopolitical terms. Their failureto institutionalize the necessary systems to ensure human dignity,human rights, equality, and equity has brought us to face more uncer-tainties than ever before. The deteriorating law-and-order situation, therising rate of corruption, the growing socioeconomic disparity due totax evasion and tax exemption, the concealment of assets and profits,and so forth are very common practices in most of the developingcountries. These situations have gone beyond our borders. The weakersystems have provided greener pastures for the anti-social elements andterrorists to grow and sustain their movements in developing countries,threatening global security.

Of course there is another side to it as well. The more powerfulnations have failed to perceive these problems in the right perspective.The growing geopolitical crisis is due to many political variables. Thisbook is not addressing those variables. We all know that most of theleaders in the developed nations need to understand that 99% or evenmore of the citizens in developing countries are neither fundamentalistnor terrorists. This is true for the Islamic nations as well. The averagecitizen contributes neither to fundamentalism nor to terrorism. Theyare simply the victims of the unfortunate geopolitical situation in theworld. Just the way innocent people were in the Twin Towers onSeptember 11th, thousands and thousands of innocent civilians indeveloping countries have given their lives and have been victimizedfor no reason due to terrorism, corruption, violence, and violationseither by the state or by insurgents. Indeed, in many of the developingcountries such behaviors are so common that today the practices havetaken root as part of the culture.

Though international terrorism is new, the civil wars and conflictsin developing countries have taken a serious toll for sometime. UntilSeptember 11th, the rest of the world did not do much to overcomethese domestic problems in developing countries.

XVI

Unfortunately, we in the developing world are at mercy of thedeveloped world. We have very little choice. More and more, our futurerests in the hands of the developed economies. The socioeconomicdevelopment of the developing countries to a large extent depends onhow well we can relate and link with the global economy and globalmarkets. Therefore, we need to understand that the flow of resources toour countries would largely depend on how best we could comply withthe developed world. The global insecurity situation is badly affectingeveryone in the world. However, the most adversely affected are thepeople in the developing world. The global development agenda hasbeen pushed to the backseat until the War on Terrorism is won.Developing countries that comply with the global request to fightagainst terrorism and assure national and global security will befavored not only in trade and investment but also in global relations.

Today the issue of security is largely one of personal identity. Eachand every individual has to prove who he or she is. Today we live in aworld where everyone is potentially suspected of having links withterrorists, fundamentalists, gangs, drug dealers, traffickers, smugglers,and many antisocial operations. Therefore, for one to survive in suchsituations identification of persons is of fundamental importance toeach and every one. It is the innocent one who fears all these becausewith no involvement whatsoever in such activities, an innocent personcould be accused or suspected of a crime that he or she nevercommitted. In many instances the innocent person has no way ofproving his or her innocence either because he or she does not havereliable personal identification, or a criminal has used his or herpersonal information to commit crimes. When one has no reliable wayof proving who one is, one often becomes the victim of the situation.Such cases are very common today. The law-and-order situation in mostof the countries has deteriorated and continues to deteriorate. This istrue of all developing countries in all continents. Living with frequentpetty crimes such as stealing, assaulting, threatening, looting, and so onis common in most of the cities and even in the villages. Those whocommit crimes easily escape and continue to disrupt the peaceful livingand peace of mind of the innocent ones. Killing, raping, and shootingare witnessed at all levels, yet the criminals get away and the victimscontinue to suffer.

The governments in developing countries have never reallycommitted themselves to safeguarding human rights and humandignity. Religion, ethnicity, and language are all used to discriminateone from another so that power-hungry politicians and religious andethnic leaders can try to capture and retain power. This is equally trueof the majority as well as of the minority populations in every country.

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It is the politicians who are in the center of safeguarding the criminalsand violators of human rights because they protect their power basewith the assistance of such criminals. Religions, which are meant tobring peace and to cultivate peace of mind, are in the center ofconflicts and are often mobilized by the extremist religious-politicalinstitutions to contribute to violence, disturbance, and crime.

Politicians use violence to rig elections and so violate the citizens’right to vote. Politicians and officials are corrupt and steal publicrevenue and development assistance, denying the welfare of the poor.The poor have no voice. Yet, the affluent politicians, officials andmusclemen get away with it and rarely are anyone caught andpunished. The big business tycoons get away with not paying taxes aswell as declaring false incomes. Under the Open Economy, businesscircles are minting money, making exorbitant profits, and not payingtaxes. Even the taxes collected on the sale of items as direct taxes donot get paid to the exchequer.

Although ninety-nine percent of the average people in developingcountries are clean and decent citizens, the law-and-order situationrapidly deteriorates.

Why is life in developing countries so insecure?

Why do all these evils flourish?

Why is it so easy to commit crime and get away from the legal con-sequences?

Why is election-rigging so easy?

Why can the rich get away with not paying taxes?

Why is it possible to rob development funds that are allocated forthe welfare of the poor?

How come the third-world nations have become a threat to globalsecurity?

These questions are often heard but not satisfactorily answered.

Having lived in many different countries in Asia and Africa andbeing involved in development work at various levels, I consider thelack of reliable personal identification systems in developing countries,and even in some of the developed countries, as one of the root causesthat helped sustain terrorism, crime, violence, violations, and victim-izations at all levels.

My analysis in this book highlights to what degree the lack ofpersonal identification contributes to terror, crime, violence,violations, and victimization of the innocent in developing countriesand causes global insecurity. I propose a “Security-Based Approach” or

SBA to development in which addressing the root cause of lack ofpersonal identity systems is seen as an essential, integral interventionthat should be built into development interventions to ensure empow-erment of the poor in developing countries and, in turn, to ensureglobal security through developmental financing.

XVIII

Part OOne

PERSONAL IIDENTIFICATIONISSUES AAND TTHE PPOOR

Secretary GGeneral’s FFirst PProgress RReport oon MMDG

The events of September 2001 gave new impetus to the resolve to take“concerted action against international terrorism” pledged in the MillenniumDeclaration. Terrorism strikes not only its immediate victims but alsoat the heart of what the United Nations stands for. It threatens sover-eignty, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and other principlesenshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. The organizationtherefore has a vital interest, and a vital role to play, in the struggleagainst terrorism: in dissuading disaffected groups from embracingterrorism as a means of achieving their goals, in denying groups orindividuals the means to carry out acts of terror, and in sustainingbroad-based international cooperation.

For the international community to respond effectively, it is vital notonly to suppress the financing, planning and implementation ofterrorism but also to understand, and seek to ameliorate, theconditions that generate it.

UNDP, July 31, 2002

CHAPTER 11

Introduction

Security aand PProsperity iin tthe TTwenty-ffirst CCentury…

“… On September 11th, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists used the forcesof interdependence – open borders, easy travel, easy immigration,and easy access to information technology – to turn a jet plane fullof fuel into a weapon of mass destruction, killing 3,100 people inthe United States, including hundreds of people from 70 countrieswho were in America looking for positive interdependence…. Theinterdependent world, for all of its promise, is inevitably unsustain-able. We cannot continue to live in a world where we grow moreand more interdependent, and we have no overarching system tohave the positive elements of interdependence outweigh thenegative ones.So, I believe all thinking people must ask and answer threequestions for themselves.What is your vision for the twenty-first century?What do we have to do to achieve it?What does America have to do?

(William J Clinton, 42nd President of the United States of America,Speech Delivered at Center for the Study of Globalization,

Yale University, on October 31, 2003)1

1 www.nationmultimedia.com (accessed November 7, 2003).

Chapter OOne

IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn

The DDilemma –– ““Security” VVersus ““Development”

Terrorism and insecurity are serious new threats to every civilizedcitizen in the world. As a result of the September 11th, 2001, terroristattacks bringing down the Twin Towers in New York, the global per-spective on development has reached a new crossroads. Terrorism as wellas the War against Terrorism have brought about new concerns for all, andpeople in many developing nations fear for their future. The impact ofthe September 11th incident on development financing in developingcountries is a serious worry for all developing countries, mainlybecause developing countries are so hopeful that development financingthrough globalization will be the modality to develop their economies andparticularly to address the issue of poverty and the empowerment ofthe poor. Global security and globalization are now are in conflict.Development financing is facing a dilemma between security and develop-ment. The real impact of this new dilemma will come in a few years, yetearly signs of the changing situation are now being witnessed by mostof the developing countries.

Thus security is a real concern for all and a serious concern for all.One cannot ignore it or argue against it. It is important for all devel-opment experts to find the best possible way out of this situation,ensuring security for all, not only in the developed world but also theserious threat on life in the developing world. Apart from terrorism,insecurity exists in many other forms. Many types of violence,violations, and victimization are integral parts of terror. These formsof terror are witnessed by many of the poor. It is not only an issue forthe developed countries.

This book proposes a new approach to development financing,which I have called the Security-Based Approach (SBA) to Development, in whichintegration of personal identification systems (PIS) and development financing areaddressed simultaneously to ensure national security and to assure the developed world ofcooperation towards global security.

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This book addresses the weak personal identification systems in most of thecountries as one of the primary root causes that allows terrorism to grow andsustain itself. To enable globalization for economic development, alldeveloping nations must address the insecurity situation in their homecountries. The insecurity situation is not only a threat to developednations; the deterioration of law and order is a major threat to most ofthe developing countries as well. Terrorism is directly linked withcorruption, poor governance, malpractice, all violations, violence, andvictimizations, and even state-sponsored terrorism in developingcountries. In developing countries, development finances are robbed,mismanaged, and unquestioned. Room for corruption as well as forterrorism are all interlinked and terrorists find their survival mucheasier in these vulnerable countries because they can easily find waysand means to sustain their movements and activities as there is hardlyany way of tracking them down.

Terrorists have many faces and many hats. They are in all “anti-social trades” – drugs, robbery, smuggling, money laundering, weaponstrade, forgery, killing, sex, etc. No matter what you call them,musclemen, gangs, state terrorists, the under-world, criminals, and soforth, “all those who take away the human rights and freedom of theinnocent civilians are terrorists.” Terrorists violate all social norms.They forge documents and live with false personal identities. Most ofthe terrorist movements are Fascist movements in which members arebound to carry out orders without questioning. The biggest challengefor the law enforcement authorities, both at home and abroad and forall nations in general, is the difficulty of tracing (tracking-down)terrorists. Terrorists hide. They live in disguise by camouflaging. Mostof the countries where terrorists survive are also the most corruptcountries. Any country that harbors terrorists is also a threat tosecurity. In these countries with or without the support of the rulers,terrorists can easily manage to have legal documents to camouflagetheir personal identity for survival. The most common is the forging ofpassports and travel documents to enable the terrorists to survive whilethey move around.2 This is the root cause of deteriorating law-and-order situations in world. These have gone beyond the nationalboundaries and today closely linked with international terroristactivities. Terrorists have established networks. Therefore, identifica-tion is difficult mainly because they take advantage of the lack ofPersonal Identification Systems in vulnerable developing countries. Thefragile and fluid system of identification of persons in most of these

2 See “Captured: Ahmed Khalfan Ghailain,” Time, August 9, 2004, 21.

developing nations has made it very easy for terrorists to survive andsustain their movements.

Most of the developing countries do seriously suffer due to terroristactivities at domestic and regional levels. Unfortunately, some of thestate machinery in some of the developing nations also use state-sponsored terrorism and violate civil rights. As per UNCHR statistics(January 2003), over 20 million people in developing countries live as refugees dueto national and regional conflicts.3 Fundamentalists and terroristsharming innocent lives today lead most of the civil wars in developingcountries. Most of the so-called liberation movements have adopted thesame terrorist tactics and harm lives of the innocent, no matterwhether it is the poor or the rich. Planting a bomb in a public bus,train, bus-stand, railway station, public marketplace, or temple ofworship kills the innocent.

Terrorism has now reached a new climax with suicide killings.Suicide terrorism is a global threat. Traditionally viewed as a problemaffecting the Middle East and South Asia, the threat posed by suicideterrorism is spreading around the globe. With enhanced migration ofterrorist groups from conflict-ridden countries, the formation ofextensive international terrorist infrastructures, and the increasedreach of terrorist groups in the post-Cold War period, suicide terrorismis now affecting Western Europe and North America and may evenincrease in the foreseeable future. All the suicide terrorist groups havesupport infrastructures in Europe and in North America. Leaders andmembers of these groups are known to travel to the West, and keyactivists live either in Europe or in North America distributingpropaganda, raising funds, and, in some instances, procuring weaponsand shipping them to the various theaters of conflict.4

Genuine and innocent migrants and travelers from developingcountries are faced with serious identity problems because terrorists useforged, yet legal, documents to travel on terrorist missions. The fragile,weak or non-existent “personal registration system” is the privilege thatthe terrorist movements are enjoying. Many of these countriesharboring terrorists do not have a birth registration system, and manydo not have even a registered name. So, crime after crime, they can live

6 Upali M. Sedere

3 http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/template/+jwLFqY5BwBo5Boq5eUh5cTPeUzknwBoqeRzknwBo5Boq5e6yBDX+eRzknwB+XX+eIybnM

4 Rohan Gunaratna assesses the nature of the threat, preventive and reactive securitymeasures, and examines future trends on the Web site, www.Janes.com. See “SuicideTerrorism: a Global Threat,”http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/usscole/jir001020_1_n.shtml

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changing names, changing birthdays, changing identity, and so on.Further, these countries are so corrupt that any legal document can beobtained for a bribe. Often, state machinery itself supports such docu-mentation. Nothing is impossible in such countries.

The issue of identification of persons needs to be addressed to curb terrorism at homeand abroad, as well as to stop corruption and bring good governance, democracy, and afull flow of development financing to developing countries to enable their governments toaddress the issues of poverty and empowerment with honesty.

This may not bring about immediate control of the insecurity situation. However, it will stopits spread and ensure security of all in the decades ahead. The future of thedeveloped and developing world is the main concern of all investmentsof today. Why invest in people? It is for the betterment of their future.Why invest if there is no assurance of establishing a solid foundationof security of all? Security is the fundamental right of people and anydevelopment investment should be reexamined from security perspec-tives with a futuristic view. Otherwise, investment could easily contributeto a more vulnerable future than what we already have.

War OOn PPoverty Versus WWar OOn TTerrorism

The terrorist activities have pushed the development agenda to theback seat. The UNDP Human Development Report of 2003 rightlyhighlights the development dilemma as follows:

The new century opened with unprecedented declaration of solidarityand determination the rid the world of poverty. In 2000 The UNMillennium Declaration, adopted at the largest ever gathering ofheads of state, committed countries – rich and poor – to doing all theycan to eradicate poverty, promote human dignity and equality andachieve peace, democracy and environmental sustainability. Worldleaders promised to work together to meet concrete targets foradvancing development and reducing poverty by 2015 or earlier.

By 2003 the world has seen even more violent conflict, accompaniedby heightened international tension and fear of terrorism. Some mightargue that war on poverty must take a backseat until the war on terrorism has beenwon. But they would be wrong. The need to eradicate poverty does notcompete with the need to make the world more secure. On thecontrary, eradicating poverty should contribute to a safer world – thevision of the Millennium Declaration. UNDP, HDR 2003

Though the UNDP perspective presented in the HDR 2003 presumesthat the war against terrorism would force the war against poverty to take the back