As the world steadily become a global village, several aspects of humanity and the need to protect human rights from excesses of illegal activities in ungoverned spaces across the world. Reflectively, these spaces are characterized by failed governance, terrorist, piracy, drug trafficking, and abuse of human rights.
Thus, this reflective treatise attempts to explicitly support the activities of the western states towards building governance and rule of law often associated with massive resource use in these areas. Besides, the paper identifies the main reasons why these activities and investment portfolios are justified.
Ungoverned spaces in the current globe include the coastline of Somalia, the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and some remote parts in the larger Sub-Saharan Africa, among others. These places are often poorly governed due to inability to control its occupants, security lapses, or lack of resources to manage the same.
Due to minimal or complete lack of the rule of law in such areas, they become an immediate and substantial security threat towards international trade, control of epidemic diseases such as bird flu, and fight against terrorist that threatens existence of humanity1.
For instance the space between Afghanistan and Pakistan boarder has in the past been a fertile breeding ground for the radical Islamic insurgents who almost pulled down twelve planes in a day if their plot had gone unnoticed. Besides, in the last four years, western countries have lost billions of dollars due to loss and delayed business along the busy Indian Ocean route infested by the lawless Somali pirates.
These pirates often demand unrealistic ransoms in addition to taking lives at will when their demands are not met. Moreover, in the larger sub-Saharan Africa region, ethnic based competition for limited resources have made some of these places lawless and a fertile ground for atrocities against women and children.
Thus, “the most acute manifestation of state weakness is found not only in its dysfunction but also in its complete absence from places where it should be”. 2
Generally, despite the clear laws and regulations defined by the United Nations bill on human rights, the above mentioned areas have no means of implementing policy based security, trade, and health plans. Despite the lapse, these areas form part of the trade route, intelligence faculty, and world population.
The demographic patterns in these areas necessitate the action adopted by the western countries to rebuild governance that are inclusive of the universal laws and cultures of the natives. Through “capacity-building programs, involving training, institutional development and the introduction of new legislation, policies and practice”3, it is possible to facilitate a smooth population transition and growth patterns for better planning.
In practical essence, it is factual to assert that permanent solutions to diseases, terrorism, drug trafficking, and genocide are achievable when the genesis of the same is incorporated in the action plan. Thus, the actions by western countries to restore the rule of law in these areas are justified towards protecting the demographic patterns, resource misuse, and monitoring the global macro-economic environment.
This is because the “squalid living conditions that exist in the rings of slums that now surround many large Third World cities are becoming a fairly permanent condition”4 in these areas.
Though the outcomes for most of these intervention strategies are long term, the benefits are universal and facilitate sovereignty and acculturation5. Generally, resources directed by western countries towards ungoverned spaces has led to creation of safe havens for international trade and restoring resource distribution among the conflicting parties.
Bibliography
Nichiporuk, Brian. 2005. The Security Dynamics of Demographic Factors, Australia: RAND Press.
Ropp, Steve. The Strategic Implications of the Rise of Populism in Europe and South America. Web.
Schear, James. 2010. Fragile States and Ungoverned Spaces: Chapter five. Web.
The Global Commission on International Migration, Migration in an interconnected world: New directions for action. Web.
Footnotes
1 James Schear, Fragile States and Ungoverned Spaces: Chapter five.
2 James Schear, Fragile States and Ungoverned Spaces: Chapter five.
3 The Global Commission on International Migration, “Migration in an interconnected world: New directions for action,”
4 Brian Nichiporuk, The Security Dynamics of Demographic Factors (RAND Press, 2005).
5 Ropp Steve, “The Strategic Implications of the Rise of Populism in Europe and South America, “