12 Sep, 2024
Is Travel & Tourism ready for another 25 years of the “War on Terror”
11 September 2024 marked the 23rd anniversary of the infamous terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC.
Ever since that day, the world has been gripped by a “War on Terror,” making it the over-arching source of geopolitical instability in the first quarter of the 21st century.
Trillions of dollars have been spent on wars, weaponry and assorted other hardware supposedly to keep us safe and secure.
What has it achieved? When will it end? What is it costing the global taxpayers? What is the price being paid by the world at large?
Closer to home, how badly has it affected Travel & Tourism?
With the world now about to complete the first quarter of this century, and only five years left for the 2030 deadline of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it is time to demand some accountability over the failures and mistakes since 9/11 and set some new directions for the next 25.
Perhaps the best place to start would be to examine this report, which is available online.
The figures speak for themselves.
What has this grotesque, obscene expenditure achieved? Clearly, not what was expected. For example…
The global public has been hit by curbs on movements, invasions of privacy, arbitrary arrests and detentions, visa curbs, surveillance and monitoring – a lot of it in clear violation of democratic norms and due process.
The fear factor has been mainstreamed. The old communism and socialism have been replaced by a new set of “isms” — racism, extremism and nationalism, also known as the “Clash of Civilisations.”
There has been a surge in mindless, abusive hate speech across social media networks.
Politicians have used the “War on Terror” to single out minorities and immigrants, and pass more divisive laws.
Banks and the financial systems have been forced to tighten their processes to curb “illicit financing”. This has complicated payments mechanisms for millions of businesses worldwide, especially SMEs.
Unilateral sanctions have been imposed on individuals, instititutions and corporations, with no check and balance mechanisms and no clear access to legal recourse.
Arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden is long dead. So are Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, neither of whom had anything to do with 9/11 but were targetted anyway as part of the “regime-change” agenda supposedly to bring “freedom and democracy” to the Middle East.
Dozens of suspects are still incarcerated in Guantanamo base, without trial.
Fundamental principles of rule of law, justice and human rights are under seige.
Hundreds of thousands of meetings have been held, resolutions passed, condemnations issued. Another mega-billion dollar waste of time and money.
In spit of all that, terrorist groups are still around. They have just re-engineered their modus operandi in cooperation with organised crime syndicates.
There is no universal and commonly agreed definition of terrorism. Still, the word “terror” is associated almost automatically with Muslims even though violence by white Christian supremacists is on the rise in the U.S., Europe and places as afar as New Zealand. Jewish extremist “settlers” are running amok in Israeli-occupied Palestine. Ditto Buddhist extremists in Myanmar, Hindu extremists in India.
The global public has paid both the costs and the price — in terms of money, time and fundamental freedoms.
However, many others have laughed all the way to the bank.
Arms-dealers are the primary beneficaries.
Billions continue to be spent on military hardware which has become more sophisticated and dangerous.
Security cameras are now ubiquitous, monitoring our every movement.
Spyware companies are making millions selling their wares to governments, with no checks and balances on those wielding the powers.
That’s only the tip of the iceberg.
There is no end in sight.
In fact, it is all set to get worse.
A whole new generation of terrorists has already emerged. Thousands of young people who survive the conflict in Gaza will grow up with the same sense of anger and quest for vengeance as the Jews against the Nazis a century ago.
The Israelis will continue to paint Muslims/Arabs as the terrorists and themselves as the good guys. They will demand more anti-Muslim laws and higher expenditure on more security.
Intelligence agencies will demand more powers to expand surveillance and monitoring. Those same powers will also be used to quell democratic movements.
The extremist, fanatic fundamentalists of political and religious hues are set to exploit their sense of “victimhood” and seek more power to pursue their nefarious, divisive agendas.
Will all this be good for Travel & Tourism?
Only a complete idiot would say Yes.
This, in spite of the fact that Travel & Tourism has been the primary victim — via increased security checks at airports, hotels and convention centres, visa restrictions, racial profiling, and much more.
Why is this not being researched, discussed and debated at industry forums, especially considering the impact on future generations?
Is it time to look beyond the banality of crisis management programmes and brain-dead reports on post-crisis resilience and recovery?
The Travel & Tourism, the so-called “industry of peace”, is perfectly placed to become a part of the solution, simply by pushing for accountability and demanding that the trillions of dollars spent on warfare be diverted to promoting the UN SDGs.
That is not a very difficult-to-meet demand by any standard.
As the famous slogan by a sports footwear commands: Just Do It!
Or face the consequences!
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