A world beyond war
Razia S. Ahmad dwells on security matters
Selected Papers on Security and Leadership is a collection of papers and essays presented at various national and international conferences, some of which were published earlier. Lieutenant General Mohammed Aminul Karim is both a professional soldier and a trained academic. Thus, combining the knowledge of the battlefield and scholarly rigour comes to him naturally. The essays cover a broad range of issues such as security (both national and global) and other strategic issues. The most interesting essays in this compilation are on security and strategic power, US-China relations, role of security forces in democracy, and counter-terrorism and leadership education. Generally speaking, Mohammed Aminul Karim belongs to the realist school of thought and rejects the ideas of deterrence, clash of civilizations, and hard intervention. In fact, he is a proponent of "soft power" or "smart power". He likes to see a conflict-ridden world move beyond war and re-invent the culture of hope and cooperation. Although human beings are instinctively combative, "such concepts may not fructify but merely aiming for it may provide a cooling effect". Aminul Karim's thoughts on conflict and security are original and have deep policy implications. For instance, he enters the domain of social science with an ease unknown to a soldier and will provoke any security expert into new thinking. For example, he says that "security is tied with food, environment, migration, public health, poverty unemployment, etc., and not just protecting borders. Regional ingeneration and sharing resources must replace border-based paranoia". Karim's second interesting discourse is centered on U.S.-China relations. Given China's meteoric rise, it is only natural in the security and strategic circles to brand China as a contender for power with the superpower (or hyper power), resulting in serious and extensive conflicts. The author proposes various caveats on possible conflicts but constructs a number of responses and scenarios, most of which assure a shift in future policy because economic and political relations are dynamically based on interests. For instance, the launching of the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) has reduced the immediate tension between the two countries. In fact, "as two of the world's largest consumers and importers of oil, the U.S. and China are natural allies when it comes to energy security". (H.M. Paulson in Foreign Affairs). Finally, one of the most interesting sections is on the role of security forces in democracy in Bangladesh. The author introduces the concept of tyranny of geography which gives rise to "defense vulnerability and on the other hand, its unique geo-strategic location directs its focus to its external national security". Mohammed Aminul Karim introduces a short historical review of political development and the role of the military in the process and its shortcomings and flaws in the political arena. It is the leader's imperative that ultimately brings about stability and development. Lastly, General Karim's responses about civilian-military relations and legitimacy of any government are to be taken seriously as they have deep policy implications and provide a way to work towards achieving a balanced political environment and pave the way towards a stable democracy.
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