Transnational Terrorism - Impact of

Social Studies Chapter 1 Sec 4/5

A) Impact of transnational terrorism

Q. The loss of privacy is the most serious impact of terrorism. How far do you agree? Explain your answer.

Factors	Notes
Political Impact  - Lost of personal privacy - the security agencies will need to be more thorough in its checks on citizens at the different entry points and exit points of the country e.g. immigration check-points - the citizens may feel inconvenienced -  they feel that their human rights have been violated - security checks may extend to the government checking on citizens’ personal data without their knowledge and tapping into their private conversations - this is to monitor the communications and personal transactions and movement of suspected citizens who may have terrorism links - however, this means that in determining who may be terrorist threats - many innocent citizens’ personal data and private communicates would have to be monitored - this means that the personal privacy of citizens will be violated - human rights of citizens may be further affected if citizens are arrested when they are suspected to be terrorists but are not - e.g. in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, then US government implemented the US Patriot Act that allowed for the wire-tapping of the telephone conversations of citizens without their prior approval or knowledge - this is an example of how citizen’s rights are violated in the name of managing terrorism and this is thus the political impact of transnational terrorism.
Social Impact --> a sense of distrust is created between the different races and religions in a nation as a direct result of a terrorist attack - a sense of insecurity of the members of the race/religion to which the terrorists belong to is generated --> members of this community are shunned by people of other races/religions and hence feel disliked and discrminated against. For example, with the threat from the Jema Islamiyah(JI), Singaporeans from other non-Malay and non-Muslim communities may feel uncomfortable in the presence of Malays/Muslims since the JI members who were arrested were Malay Muslims. Hence, there could be a breakdown in the relationship between the Malay Muslims and the other races and religions--> this would harm the existing harmony in the nation with the different races/religions growing suspicious of one another's motives--> the race/religion being accused may feel discriminated against since they are are viewed with suspicion by their fellow countrymen --> this leads to disunity amongst Singaporeans à At the same time, members from the other communities may feel uncomfortable being in the presence of innocent members of the community to which the transnational terrorists belong to, as they may think that everyone in that community is a terrorist --> hence racial and religious tension increases --> disharmony --> danger of civil war or racial riots.	NB: Although, social impact is the most serious, Singapore has tried to reduce its negative impact by creating the Community Engagement Program to help strengten the relationship between the different ethnic and religious groups (page 38 of Sec 4 TB)
Economic Impact - terrorist attack - tourists will avoid coming to your country - dangerous and fatal - fewer tourists - less revenue generated by sectors like hospitality and food and beverage - fewer jobs created - more unemployment e.g. In the aftermath of the Bali attacks, many tourists avoided the island and its economy suffered. Also - if terrorist attack - businesses stay away - lost of jobs since fewer companies operating - lower standard of living as people become jobless - lesser taxes collected - the nation has less money for public facilities and to improve public works--> quality of life falls in the nation--> hence economic impact is serious. Also --> Increased government spending to protect key installations and citizens --> more money spent on preparing citizens through emergency services - increased police and military presence - less resources available for other national needs - hence fall in quality of public services --> fewer resources available for healthcare & education. Examples Exercise Northstar- MRT train services were disrupted --> some impact on the economy of Singapore since national infrastructure is used for such drills. Singapore govt also spent more on security forces and recruiting more police and military personnel and buying more security equipment like CCTVs - all this caused the amount spend on security to go up - less funds available for other national needs. Weighing The most serious/devastating impact of Transnational Terrorism would be the social impact because the once a rift is created between the ethnic and religious groups in a country and racial and religious disharmony has been created, it is very difficult to erase it permenantly as race and religion is a sensitive matter. If the different ethnic and religious communities feel uncomfortable amongst one another or think negatively about one another as a result of a transnational terrorist act, there is potential for such emotive feelings to escalate and erupt into open violence and conflict such as in the form of racial and religious riots or even civil war. In other words, inter-racial/religious hate causes "wounds" that are hard to heal and the social impact of transnational terrorism lasts longer/more permenant. On the other hand, the economic impact of terrorism while devastating can be temporary. This is because a nation;s economic that is badly affected by the effects of a terrorist attack will eventually recover as long as such attacks are not sustained. This reduces the economic impact of transnational terrorism. Finally, the political impact causes mere inconvenience and though personal rights are vilolated, the effects are not permenant unless one is unlucky enough to be arrested on suspicions of being a terrorists. Hence, the number of people affected by the political impact are fewer than the social or the economic and the social impact has far more permenant ramifications/consequences than the economic or the political.	Examples Impact of Sep 11 on US and world economy - stock market plunged - people feared flying and airlines went out of business - tourism suffered - economies of many countries saw a fall in business Impact on Bali in 2002 - tourists stayed away from Bali - Balinese businesses collapsed as it depended on tourists for survival - many balinese became unemployed