Current global problems and challenges

Global Issues & Inequality

The purpose of this work is to examine the global issues of war and social conflicts and environmental degradation in relation to the war in Iraq and to examine the inequality and inequity of the people living in Iraq and how they as individuals suffer from the sociological perspective due to that inequality that exists in today's world.

How easy it is to forget as the Christmas lights brighten the paths of our holiday treks to sit down to dinner with family and ensue stuffing the human body with more food in a day than many in the world have accessible for their nutrition in an entire week, or perhaps even month that there are those who in this war with Iraq are not only hungry but homeless, sick, scared and without hope. How easy too it is to forget that there are individuals who will never see a return to full health because their native land has been contaminated with uranium and mustard gas and even if full health did return, the return of their sons and daughters lost in a war against a much stronger ally whom they didn't desire to war against will never return to them.

In the meantime it is nearing Christmas in the country that is ripping apart the little poor country, the cities and town and even the desolate places within the country where there is no Christmas and it must appear very unfair to the people of Iraq.

Surely there is not an American that is glad for the suffering of these people who are individually not responsible for those actions supposedly inflicted by Saddam Hussein and his evil regime. Just as well it is certain that no American citizen has directly or purposely brought these people to their knees in every way imaginable. Within society, indeed within the balance of the world there exists a great imbalance in terms of equality.

I. The Facts according to the Arab States:

According to Richani (2002) in the work "Political Parties, Justice Systems and the Poor: The Experience of the Arab States":

The 1990's witnessed the Arab states responding to the changing global environment." Richani (2002). The following three categories were named by the author:

1. An authoritarian backlash (Algeria and Sudan) that led to exacerbated civil wars and to the consolidation of military dictatorships in Iraq, Libya, and Syria;

2. The consolidation of monarchies, with little if any political openings (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain)

3. The opening of political systems to accommodate rising political forces largely by pacting agreements that guarantee the hegemonic political forces a privileged position in the power structure circumscribing the democratization process leading to the emergency of electoral democracies.(Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, Yemen, and Lebanon)."

II. Polyarchy

In this work the author addresses the problems associated with what is referred to as 'polyarchy'. Polyarchy is defined as incomplete democratized political regimes and according to Nazih (2002):

Restricted democracies can be differentiated according to their degrees of political freedoms, particularly freedom of association, the levels of political parties institutionalization, the independence of the judiciary, and responsiveness to the different social classes and group interests. Restricted democracies limit the abilities of political parties to organize freely and expand their power bases, and undermine their ability to present viable alternative agendas."

Since the early 1990's there have been a steady 19.9% of the Arab people living below the poverty lines. However, in the rural parts of the country or the 'shadow zone' where 39% of the Arab population lives the child mortality rate is double that of the urban areas. Women are discriminated against terribly in this area with 52% of the mortality rate being attributed to 'maternal deaths.' The rate of female illiteracy is double that of the men in the region. What is it within the global framework that allows this inequality within inequality to exist or is it indeed allowed or simply a natural process such as the food chain that is a natural life process?

Summary:

The author explains that in regards to varying levels of socio-economic development that there are a variant of restricted democracies in the Arab region and that "tribal and sectarian cleavages come into play with socioeconomic and political variables influencing the distribution of political power, processes of political inclusion/exclusion, and the patterns of socio-economic development. Most political parties in such polities largely reflect in their sociology the most pronounced cleavage (tribal or sectarian allegiance) and in their behavior the main social grievance. "Thus it is understood that although the natural food chain effect is a factor within the realm of the societal global organization of inequality there too exists a political/social effect that is perpetrated by the 'leading, influence of power" or in other words, the politically superior group of the moment.