Factors Creating Economic Warfronts | Daily Writeup | Opinions
The following article, “What Are The Factors Making New War Fronts Lie in Economic Zones?“, is written by Nimra Fawad, a student of Sir Syed Kazim Ali. Moreover, the article is written on the same pattern, taught by Sir to his students, scoring the highest marks in compulsory subjects for years. Sir Kazim has uploaded his students’ solved past paper questions so other thousands of aspirants can understand how to crack a topic or question, how to write relevantly, what coherence is, and how to include and connect ideas, opinions, and suggestions to score the maximum.
The relentless pursuit of national interests and the preservation of hegemony are inherent in international relations, leading multiple countries to engage in military operations against one another until now, as evident by the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. However, conventional military conflicts demand severe physical destruction and the loss of life for the countries on the receiving end. Therefore, while over-viewing these catastrophic challenges, the countries, especially the great powers, have shifted their focus to economic zones as a new epicentre of warfare, aiming to cause significant harm to competing states in all domains at minimal expenses. For instance, rising economic competition among global powers like the USA and China is the clear manifestation of this bleak reality, turning the global economic systems into turmoil. These influential countries utilize the tool of embargoes against adversary states to undermine their trade and economic power. Besides, they exercise their power to influence the decision-making of the global monetary institutions, ultimately rewarding their allies and imposing penalties on hostile countries. Comparatively, the rampant possession of nuclear weapons, the adherence to international humanitarian laws, and the protection from the economic burden of prolonged conflicts make countries avoid traditional military tactics in the conflicts of the 21st century. Hence, new war fronts lie in economic zones, jolting the geo-economic and geopolitical systems. Still, the economic wars can be ceased from expansion worldwide through global cooperation. This essay illustrates how economic zones have now become the central battlegrounds of conflict
Considerably, competing countries utilize several approaches to war to shackle others’ socioeconomic and political foundations. First, there came conventional warfare, in which regular armed forces are used to devastate hostile countries. In this type of war, Peloponnesian wars, Punic wars, and Pyrrhic wars have been considered notable examples that transformed the course of history. After that, the notion of asymmetric warfare emerged worldwide; guerrilla tactics, insurgencies, and terrorism were used by state and non-state actors to weaken others’ shielding capabilities. Afghan-Soviet war, Iraq insurgency, and Nigerian insurgency can be quoted here as reliable shreds of evidence. Likewise, another new but most operational pattern of war is to exploit the other country’s economic zones in the form of economic sanctions and capital assets freezing. To illustrate, the US sanctions on Cuba, Iran, and North Korea are added to the economic rivalries. Thus, it can be observed that all war patterns have the potential to demolish a country from its roots.
Economic zones – special economic zones – are considered the designated areas within a country where the government offers countless monetary incentives to promote its trade and attract Foreign Direct Investment, propelling it towards unparalleled development. In these zones, free trade zones, industrial parks, free ports, enterprise zones, tourism development zones, and agriculture economic zones are included, enabling the country to encounter its socioeconomic doldrums and to maintain its say in the international community. Besides, these regions play a significant role in strengthening their overall defence capabilities. Therefore, as per Karl Marx’s base and superstructure theory, the economic base of society heavily influences the superstructure of society.
Similarly, as far as how new war fronts lie in economic zones is concerned, contemporary conflicts stem from the imposition of embargoes by one country on another. To enfeeble other states, powerful countries bar their trade, especially arms imports. Consequently, the targeted countries have become isolated from the world and cannot get benefits from international trade. For example, the US has imposed trade embargoes on Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Syria, hurting their populations the most. To summarize, by daunting trade, the influential countries break the back of their rival states.
Furthermore, countries mistreat the global monetary institutions to advance their heinous political agendas. They exert pressure on the institutions, IMF and the World Bank, to implement those economic policies that align with their interests and increase their economic growth. On the other hand, when approving other countries’ loans, these organizations execute strict terms and conditions through which they can control the debtors’ policies. As Huntington stated, through the IMF and other international economic instructions, the West promotes its economic interests and imposes on other nations the economic policies it thinks are appropriate. For instance, the condition of Structural Adjustment Programs imposed by IMF on debated countries like Pakistan has been causing severe riots and social unrest there. In brief, it can be anticipated that by manipulating the international economic institutions, developed countries intentionally create economic instability in targeted countries, making it difficult for the latter to allocate funds for their military power.
In addition, in this contemporary global landscape, resource-rich areas have become a new theatre of disputes, hampering the affected countries’ income, industry, and identity. This is because, with time, the global demand for resources, oil, minerals, and freshwater continues to increase. Therefore, several countries have started to claim over other countries’ natural resources. To illustrate, “China has been accused of asserting excessive territorial claims and waters in the South China Sea, especially in terms of the nine-dash line”. The objective behind this claim is to cease the dominion of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei in the region. In short, natural resource zones have become a matter of grave concern for the world in the context of prevailing disputes over them.
Countries have also employed the strategy of capital assistance freezing to limit others’ ability to conduct financial transactions, lessening their economic power. As evidence, as per the Multinational Sanctions Enforcement Task Force, the US and its allies have blocked more than $58 billion worth of Russian assets in the past years. The US’ purpose behind this practice is to expand its influence in that region against Russia. Moreover, after seizing its financial assets, Russia has become more susceptible to vulnerable attacks, as its economic resources have been diminished substantially. So, the act of freezing a country’s capital assets is taken into account as an economic form of warfare, crippling countries’ economic progress.
Moving forward, the world has been heading towards economic conflicts due to the inappropriate use of technology. Through their participation in espionage operations, countries are easily stealing the sensitive economic information of competitive countries. As stated by FBI Director James Comey, “For too long, the Chinese government has blatantly sought to use cyber espionage to obtain economic advantages for its state-owned industries. This has resulted in reputational damage to the US in the international business arena. To cap it all, countries to exert control over other nations engage in espionage practices.
Apart from this, countries intervene in the currency market to achieve their economic and strategic interests. By manipulating the exchange rates, they pursue the policy of depreciation or devaluation, which, in turn, reduces the cost of imported goods. However, such exchange rate volatility finally destabilizes the international financial markets, trade, and global economic dynamics. Consequently, they find difficulties when it comes to repaying their debt. For instance, due to the de-dollarization, several countries face hindrances in financial transactions. In short, contemporary wars are fighting on economic fronts by distributing the global exchange rates.
Lastly, countries adopt protectionist policies to disrupt the hostile state’s economies. These policies involve imposing tariffs on imported goods, implementing import and export quotas, reducing consumer spending and triggering trade wars among nations. A recent example of protectionism is President Donald Trump’s enforcement of tariffs on goods imported from China, based on the belief that Chinese businesses compete unfairly with American counterparts. In response, China also raised restrictions on trade, setting off a trade war between them. By and large, the countries’ protectionist policies, especially of global leaders, have sown the seed of trade wars worldwide.
Explaining why economic zones are preferred war grounds over displaying military power, first of all, the world has entered into an era dominated by nuclear arms. Every country is significantly investing in raising its nuclear weapons to make the world’s landscape from multi-polar into uni-polar. According to the report of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) in 2022, nuclear weapons investment worldwide has surged by $10 billion in the last 4 years. Indeed, starting a nuclear war in this era is suicidal. Therefore, powerful countries, in order to deter others’ economic influence, attack their economic zones, creating hurdles in their way of becoming a nuclear power. For instance, the US has imposed sanctions against Iran in response to the Iranian nuclear program. Hence, war is going on on each economic front, robbing the countries’ economic, social, and political progress.
Second, International Humanitarian Laws prevent countries from engaging in full-scale warfare. They forbid countries from the use of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. However, the wars in economic areas continue and show no signs of coming to an end. Sanctions and counter-sanctions are now everywhere. As per Atlantic Council 2023, 13000 sanctions have been imposed on Russia alone. Hence, countries are actively seeking ways to damage others’ economic zones with the aim of plugging them into crisis.
Lastly, history has witnessed a decline in conventional military wars, and this reduction is attributed to the catastrophic humanitarian and economic toll that countries have borne as a result of such wars. On the other hand, Napoleon’s continental self-blockade prohibited imports from the UK while promoting exports, saving it from economic miseries and breaking the UK’s economic and defence strength. This underscores the reality that in this modern era, the most strategically valuable asset is not only a strong military but also economic strength. Therefore, new battlefronts are emerging within economic zones.
However, several recommendations exist to control the ongoing economic conflicts worldwide.
- First, all countries must work to bring global cooperation. For this purpose, they must introduce some noteworthy reforms in their economic zones. As a result, they can secure their future generations from the alarming implications of trade wars.
- After that, the non- alignment of the international monetary institutions is crucial in this highly competitive era. Otherwise, socioeconomic inequalities and anarchy would reach at peak globally. Therefore, the global financial institutions must focus on resolving countries’ economic issues rather than favouring influential countries in their heinous political agendas.
- Last but not least, countries should improve the efficiency of their administrative authorities. It would secure them from the international trading shocks. As a result, they can sustain their economic and military power during the times of crisis.
Critically, the ongoing economic wars have impeded the world’s peace and prosperity. For instance, powerful countries to build their dominion worldwide impose embargoes on their adversarial counterparts. Similarly, they, for their vested interest, manipulate the international global institutions, IMF and WB, undermining the original purpose of these organizations. Therefore, economic warfare is considered one of the most perilous forms of war in history due to its unique feature of destroying the enemy without firing a bullet. However, if countries prioritize global cooperation, the world can secure itself from further severe, drastic damages on all fronts.
In a nutshell, economic zones have become a centre of attention for countries as the wars of the contemporary era lie on them. As an illustration, countries to undermine others use sanctions as a means. Besides, the role of IMF and WB does not remain neutral since the global powers influence the decision-making of these institutions to upset other countries economically by halting their loans. Apart from these, countries have adopted protectionist policies, which sabotage others’ progress. As a result, the affected countries are becoming more susceptible to chaos and anarchy due to escalating socioeconomic inequalities and political doldrums, making them domestically and internationally fragile. Hence, countries have left no stone unturned to subjugate others by leveraging economic zones.
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