EDITORIAL
Common security for shared development
Three evils: terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism… Although they emerged in different periods on their own, they collectively constituted a triple package program devised by imperialism to impede the progress of developing nations. Throughout the 20th century, the “three evils” served as instruments of imperialism to obstruct national unification and cohesion in the emerging nations. Furthermore, imperialism has inverted the meaning of terrorism: National liberation wars and popular revolutions against imperialism were labeled as terrorism, whereas fundamentalist and separatist terrorist groups combating national states were characterized as “freedom fighters.” These organizations were either established directly by imperialism or endorsed and cultivated by it.
According to imperialism, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Nkrumah, Nasser, Gandhi, Nehru, Mao Zedong, Sukarno, and other leaders of the people’s revolution are classified as terrorists. In the imperialist centers, contemporary leaders who undertake measures to save their nation from hegemonism are labeled as autocrats.
Conversely, separatist or religious extremist terrorist organizations that oppose national states under the guise of “religious freedoms” or “ethnic rights” receive direct support from imperialism. Entities functioning in Asia and Africa, including the PKK in Turkey and Syria, the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (currently referred to as the Turkistan Islamic Party) in China, Jundullah in Iran, Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan and the Baluchistan Liberation Army in Pakistan, ISIS Khorasan in Afghanistan and Central Asia, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and Boko Haram in Nigeria, execute operations under the auspices of imperialism in their respective territories, engaging in terrorist activities rooted in ethnic separatism and/or religious extremism.
Imperialism thus diminishes the national power and resources of developing nations, providing a handy justification for intervention in destabilized areas. Simultaneously, under the guise of “safeguarding ethnic and religious rights,” it enforces decentralized political agendas on developing nations, undermining national unity and state structures, primarily aimed at fragmenting its national states.
The remedy for the “three evils” is the advancement of multipolarity. Indeed, the PKK, among the largest terrorist organizations globally, was compelled to disarm as a victory of multipolarity. The established climate permits other terrorist organizations to disarm, thus enabling the target groups of ethnic or religious extremism to integrate with their nations and states.
In response to this political and ideological program of imperialist hegemony, the solution for the developing world is to develop security cooperation. The security collaboration established by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which started out in the latter half of the 1990s under the banner of “the fight against the three evils,” possesses a significant distinction from preceding platforms: Countries facing the same threats have convened and continue to convene for collaboration centered on shared development to guarantee collective security. Collaboration centered on shared development empowers emerging nations to strengthen together rather than depleting their resources through vicious and detrimental rivalry among themselves. This strategy prevents imperialism from interfering in the issues of developing nations.
This model’s primary strategy, well executed by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, is emerging as a crucial element for security collaboration at both regional and global levels. This strategy is progressively being institutionalized within the BRICS, which is expanding and fortifying as the preeminent cooperative framework for emerging nations in the contemporary multipolar landscape.
FİKRET AKFIRAT
Editor-in-Chief