Technology & Global Society: When Technology & Globalization meets Terrorism…

Terrorism has been around for centuries. Feudal lords used it as a means to put off opponents and gain resources. Hitler and Stalin used terrorism to wipe out opponents and control the people. However, terrorism first shocked the whole world when the Twin Towers collapsed in New York City in 2001. The formidable America was undermined. The horror and fear gripped people from different nations as the media from all over the world rushed to report, and perhaps exaggerate their own views, on the incident. People believed, or have been politically and socially engineered to believe, that it was the act of the notorious Osama bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda. With that, the US justified itself into an invasion of Afghanistan, where they believed Osama is hiding and to remove the Taliban regime of Afghanistan too.

Osama had led terrorist attacks too in Tanzania, Kenya and more, prior to the September 11 attack. He didn’t like the ideologies of capitalism and globalization which had allowed the West to rise as the powerful and rich. He believed that a Sharia ruled state like that of the Taliban’s should be the model for the Muslim countries.

Osama was born in Saudi Arabia, which was not colonalized by the West (unlike Afghanistan), but was also caught in the capitalist system which was so often associated to the West. As seen widely, the capitalist system led to pursue of personal gains and wealth. Individualism was also part of what the system spreads. All these are opposed in the Islamic-ruling state. All these threatened the very rule of the Muslim States and the very teachings of the Quran, as Osama, a firm believer of Sharia thought.

After the Industrial Revolution, there was an increased emphasis on the use of machines for mass production. To drive the machines which were created to suit human needs (or maybe the people in the West’s needs), energy, particularly, oil, was in high demand. With technology, humans knew how to extract oil and were able to find places where oil could be tapped- the Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. With the capitalist mindsets, the Middle East countries turned into countries specializing in tapping and selling oil. That meant importing of western technologies to extract the oil and the entrance of the western MNCs into the Middle East. This further affirms the mindset that capitalism is the best way to seek profits and better living standards. Globalization is setting its foot in Middle East too.

However, the capitalist system created economic and social gaps between the people in the Middle East. As only the political elites have control of the oil reserves, not everyone can benefit on the oil trade. Worse, with the advent of technology, people can see that the West is better off than they were, despite the profitable oil trade. Satellites, cables, television programmes, radio broadcasts or even just the presence of the Western traders in the Middle East made it more convincing that capitalism was the best, the Western ways of living were the best. All these threatened the Islamic religion which most of the Middle East countries embraced for centuries. Some, like Osama, saw the trend of losing the Islamic traditions and spread of globalization as undesirable.

Eventually, to revive Islam and throw out the “Western invaders”, Osama believed in Jihad and justified the use of violence and human suicide bombers for the “greater good of the future”. That had led to the September 11 and him being termed as a terrorist. But like what Prof mentioned, the irony is that if Osama rejected the ideals of the West, he certainly did not reject the use of weapons created by the West to achieve his means.

As said, terrorism has a long history. What caused terrorism to take a new face today is due to the advent of technology. Till today, we still can’t track down Osama and other terrorist leaders. Terrorist ideals can be spread on the Internet, reaching to anyone in the world, and the website would be closed after a day or so, leading checks to be ineffective. Funds can be channeled for terrorism purposes without even needing to state that it is specifically for a terrorist group, again, rendering checks useless. All the security checks embraced by countries against terrorism had led to high levels of unhappiness among people too-wasting of time, invasion of privacy and prejudices against all Muslims.

Capitalism had lead to search for more profits globally. With technology came the increased mobility of people yet also the painful awareness that some of us are excluded in the capitalist system, and thus at a disadvantage and in misery. The spread and exchange of culture that came along when people interact more led to discomfort about others’ culture, leading to fundamentalism which terrorism founded on. Terrorism, armed with technology, is getting more difficult to contain and control. In this trapped cycle, whose fault would it be? Capitalism, technology, globalization or just humans’ need to feel superior?