Chapter 11, How do we respond to the security impacts of globalisation? Flashcards
1
Q
Transnational
A
Something that extends beyond national boundaries or involves more than one country.
2
Q
Terrorism
A
Terrorism is the intentional use of violence by individuals or groups to cause fear and intimidate others in order to achieve certain political or social objectives.
These objectives are often rooted in certain ideologies (e.g. white supremist).
3
Q
Self-radicalised
A
A situation where an individual has developed very extreme beliefs that most people would find shocking or disturbing. This usually happens when individuals are exposed to, or consume, extremist content online.
4
Q
Vigilance
A
Keeping a careful watch for possible danger.
5
Q
Security in Singapore
A
- Security refers to the state of being safe and being free from danger or threat. It is a basic human need and is an essential condition for countries to survive and thrive.
- There are 2 main ones:
1. Traditional security concerns
2. Non-traditional security concerns
6
Q
Traditional security concerns
A
- Related to national security (e.g. defending own borders and territories).
- Countries ensure security by with building good relations with other countries through diplomacy and/or building military capabilities to deter potential aggressors.
7
Q
Non-traditional security concerns
A
- Include food, water and energy security
- These are resources needed by any country to survive and function well. In the globalised world, many countries import these resources from other countries to address the non-traditional security concerns they face
- Concerns are transnational in nature.
8
Q
Transnational terrorism
A
- Arises when terrorists attack beyond their country’s borders to achieve their objectives and operations.
- This is enabled by globalization – as the world becomes more interconnected, the technological infrastructure and digital networks that facilitate global flows of people, goods, money and information also become available to terrorist groups and individuals.
9
Q
Physical impacts of transnational terrorism
A
- Terrorist attack such as bombings can lead to immediate physical impacts such as injuries, deaths and the destruction of properties.
- These physical impacts are possible as due to technological advances from globalisation, the technological infrastructure and digital networks that facilitate global flows of people, goods, money and information also become available to terrorist groups and individuals to organize attacks.
- For example, in September 2001, within 102 minutes, 19 terrorists from Al Qaeda hijacked 4 American aeroplanes and crashed them into various locations in the United States.
- Al Qaeda used the idea of a global “holy war” to encourage extremist Islamic groups in different countries to engage in terrorism.
- The motive of these attacks was to take revenge for America’s military involvement in the Middle East.
- The attacks killed over 3000 people, resulted in over 25,000 injuries and caused infrastructure and property damage accounting to US$10 billion.
10
Q
Feelings of distrust and fear due to transnational terrorism
A
- Feelings of distrust and suspicion by others may happen to individuals of similar religious and ethnic backgrounds as the terrorists, even if they do not share the same extreme beliefs as the terrorists.
- They may also be the target of hate crimes.
- This is because terrorist attacks can lead to injuries, deaths and the destruction of properties.
- For example, on the night of 13 November 2015 in Paris, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militant gunmen and suicide bombers attacked a concert hall, a major stadium, restaurants and bars almost simultaneously. After the attacks, people started to discriminate and carry out hate crimes against others who “look like terrorists” or had a similar religious background as the gunmen. One of the victims of the hate crimes was a British Sikh in Poland. He was assaulted and spat on because he looked like a “terrorist.”
- Over time, these feelings can lead to disunity and tensions among different communities.
- They can disrupt and destabilise the country
11
Q
Self-radicalisation
A
- The transnational nature of terrorism has led to some individuals becoming influenced by the extreme ideologies of terrorist groups through the internet.
- These individuals may operate on their own, with little
or no instruction from transnational terrorist organizations. - For example, a 16-year-old Singaporean was detained under Singapore’s Internal Security Act in December 2020. He was a Protestant Christian of Indian ethnicity.
- He had made detailed plans and preparations to conduct terrorist attacks against Muslims in Singapore.
- He was influenced by the Christchurch attacker who livestreamed his attacks of 2 mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on 15 March 2020.
- This is a reminder that the threat of online radicalization, and together with social media pervading, brings the danger of extremist ideologies at home.
12
Q
Impacts of cyber threats in general 🖥️
A
- Cyber threats refer to unauthorized access to online information systems and data.
- Advancements in digital technology has made it easier for people to access and store
information online. - Cyber-attacks can be carried out by countries, organizations or individuals.
- The most common types of cyber threats include website defacement, phishing and malware
infection.
13
Q
Impact of cyber threats on countries
A
- Advancements in digital technology has made it easier for people to access and store information online.
- The more reliant actors are on digital information systems and connectivity, the more exposed they will be to cyber threats.
- For example, with the increasing trend of ransomware incidents occurring globally, Singapore is not spared. In February 2021, hackers stole the personal data of 129,000 Singtel customers and bank accounts details of former Singtel employees.
- Being a highly digitalized society with high internet usage, Singapore is vulnerable to ransomware attacks.
- This increases the risk of identity fraud as the identity of a person can be stolen.
- The loss or compromise of the computer system will weaken the availability of the essential services in Singapore.
14
Q
Impacts of cyber threats on Individuals
A
- Advancements in digital technology has made it easier for people to access and store information online.
- Individuals who are less familiar with digital technology may be more vulnerable to cybercrimes.
- Certain population groups such as the elderly may be targets of cybercrimes. They are likely to have money and are perceived as easier prey as they may not be aware of ways to keep themselves safe online.
- For example, nearly four in 10 people here reported being victims of at least one cyber-security incident last year, according to findings from the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore’s (CSA) Cybersecurity Awareness Survey released in 2021.
- This increases the cyber threats that include website defacement, phishing and malware infection.
15
Q
Individuals’ responses to transnational terrorism
A
- Individuals can exercise vigilance by watching out for tell-tale signs of self-radicalisation in others.
- Self-radicalised individuals do not belong to any particular gender, age, race, ethnicity, nationality or socio-economic group, making them hard to detect until they carry out their attacks.
- For example, according to an article about the process of self-radicalisation of a Singaporean youth, self radicalised individuals usually be reading radical websites and be convinced the use of violence was permissible against disbelievers. They will use private web browsers to mask any digital footprints and used code words to mask communications online.
- When there are sufficient grounds for suspicion, individuals can take action by informing the relevant authorities or report suspicious items or characters.
- By doing so, they can save their loved ones from harming themselves and others.
