Strategic Panorama 2009 - 2010 - IEEE

International relations and the new world governance
growth in parallel with the generation of wealth and wellbeing. Mistrust of
each other, often rooted in remote historical events, remains alive if not
consciously fuelled. The Koreans mistrust the Japanese for their behaviour
during the Second World War. The Japanese fear a resurgence of China
owing to its tendency to treat others as inferiors. It is no coincidence that
it was known as the «Middle Empire», between heaven and earth, whose
emperor enjoyed a profoundly unequal status in relation to any other
earthly ruler. The quarrels over territorial waters and energy resources,
China’s support for North Korea and the threat hovering over Taiwan
alarm Japanese society. Pakistan was established as a result of the division
of India to constitute the nation of the «pure», but a similar number
of Muslims remained in India, fuelling tension—sometimes warlike sometimes
pre-warlike, which has characterised relations between the two states
since they gained their independence from the United Kingdom.
The second problem is the rise of Islamism. If the coexistence of different
cultures in the same state has made it difficult to guarantee domestic
security, when one of these cultures adopts a radical stance the tension
grows. Islam as a whole is experiencing a serious internal conflict between
a majority sector that is open to coexistence with other cultures
and globalisation and a minority sector which considers that such contact
corrupts Muslim values and leads to decadence. In the view of the latter
the only possible path is to purge the religion internally of modernising leaders
and ideas, returning to strictness and defeating other peoples whose
influence is considered harmful. Following 11 September the persecution
of radical groups has been significant and often effective. However,
Pakistan continues to be a cradle of Jihadist groups and leaders who are
rekindling what are old tensions with India. The provinces of Xingjian in
the west and Ningsha in the north are home to the more than thirty million
Chinese Muslims who, according to the Beijing government, are becoming
increasingly radical. Indonesia has experienced periods in which terrorism
has raised its head, although it appears to have subsided as a result of
government action. The future is going to depend on both police action
and cultural development. Insofar as the population feel that the development
of the free market and democracy allow them to live better, improve
their expectations and, above all those of their descendents, fundamentalism
will give way to more moderate attitudes. In this as in other issues
we cannot speak of a trend common to the whole region. Pakistan and, to
a lesser extent, India face an uncertain future in the management of this
problem. On the contrary, states like Malaysia and Indonesia appear to be
making positive progress.
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