Saturday, April 13, 2013

Understand The Manifestation Of Military Adventurism

By Camille Nicholson


Military adventurism is described as the desire by powerful nations to go to war with weaker nations in pretence of fighting off aggression. They pick minor issues and magnify them as a justification for armed combat. The intentions behind the attack are largely economic and suppressive, hidden behind the spread of democracy or humanitarian activity.

Political and ideological differences are evident in all these cases. Rules of natural justice and international standards before attack are disregarded or hawked at the international arenas. All nations are never in agreement on the reason for invasion. They usually protest such a move on the floor of the United Nations to no avail. The attacking nation is usually defiant and disregards international procedures on justification.

There is a central propaganda that is used to silence citizens and the international community. This idea is fronted to justify the reasons for the attack. War on terror has been the main agenda for the past decade and been used by Britain and USA to justify their war in Afghanistan. The army is said to follow terrorism leaders deep in their territory. Terrorism has also been used to force technology on weapons and policies to other nations and industries like aviation.

Africa has been a target of military adventurism eliciting criticism from international bodies and critics. The result has been pillage of their natural resources in the guise of democratization. Arming opposition forces to overthrow governments has lead to conflicts in these nations. This exposes the negative impact of such trends.

Any nation that has experienced occupation is struggling with a worsening humanitarian crisis. Populations are displaced and the people subjected to untold suffering during the war situation. Armies that came to rescue citizens from terrorist grip or a repressive regime do not offer any relief to the common man. At the end of the occupation, basic infrastructure is destroyed and the economy of the nation down on its knees.

There is a clear opposition from citizens over any occupation. They argue that wars waste money that would rather be used to grow the economy. The most recent case is where America spent eight times on the military than China did in 2010. China loaned USA the money and demands huge interest over years. Locals do not see the justification in such an act.

Military adventurism has taken a new dimension in the war against nuclear weapon accumulation. Iran, Syria and North Korea are the latest targets in this frontier. Continued threats of attacks have dominated talks in the recent past and the crisis is threatening to boil over. The reason for attack is never clear yet these nations are threatened with war.

Governments use such institutions as the media to coerce the population to support their stand. Important information is not released and the people are caused to belief that their interest are at stake. Panic will cause them to excuse the government when it attacks.

The controversy surrounding military adventurism is not about to end. Most of the wars fought in the last few decades can be attributed to such behavior. The reasons advanced are democracy or dethroning oppressive regimes but economic pillage and political manipulation are always the underlying reasons. This has infiltrated presidential campaigns in such nations as USA and Britain.




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