The forces of peace are stronger than those we fear

E-mail Print PDF

Times of Malta
Friday, 16th October 2009

Kristina Chetcuti

Terrorism thrives on the ability to inspire fear in people and if it is not sensationalised, there is no incentive for the terrorist, according to a renowned scholar who assured there is no need to live in fear.

Pino Arlacchi, who spent years analysing violence and fear, believes that if terrorism in the media were given the prominence it deserved, that is, the same importance as a car accident, this would be the most radical blow to terrorism.

All world experts on terrorism agree that the more importance terrorist acts are given, the more such acts are encouraged.

"Amplifying the fear is the biggest favour one can do to terrorists. The wrong way to fight terrorism is to play their game. In so doing their acts become much bigger than they really are," Prof. Arlacchi, from the Italian University of Sassari, told an audience gathered at the Aula Magna, Valletta.

He was in Malta to launch his controversial book, The Great Deception: We Have Never Been More Secure, Yet Never More Vulnerable, which delves into the problems and myths surrounding terrorism and organised crime.

He said in no uncertain terms that former US President George W. Bush tackled the issue of terrorism in the worst possible manner.

"The victims of 9/11 are much fewer than the victims of the IRA in Ireland. But we Europeans are used to fighting it because we had to deal with it several times. We never sent armies in other countries to fight terrorism. We never put innocent people in jail. We used strategies of intelligence," he added.

He claimed there were two main industries which profited from this fear factor: the arms industry and the international media.

He believes the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2001, was a big opportunity for groups with certain interests to launch the Afghan and the Iraqi attacks.

"Behind every big war there is a big lie," Prof. Arlacchi said.

Fortunately, he said, the new US President Barack Obama has understood perfectly the best strategy to fight terrorism. "He knows it has to be done the intelligent way."

He said his experience in the United Nations as a director general in charge of fighting terrorism, organised crime and illegal markets had made him more optimistic: "I believe there is no problem created by men that cannot be solved by men themselves."

Prof. Arlacchi blamed the media for the portrayal, on a daily basis, of a world in chaos, pointing out that violence and conflict made better headlines.

After the end of World War II, there was an increase of peaceful relationships on both macro and micro levels. Europe, which had been the most violent continent for five centuries, had never been calmer, he said. Although for a time civil wars substituted international wars, these too subsided after 1989.

The civil wars were now only concentrated in three main world regions: Africa, Southeast Asia and Afghanistan.

Prof. Arlacchi, a renowned scholar on organised crime, money laundering and drug trafficking, said there was definitely a huge gap between the perception of security portrayed by the media and governments and the real facts.

"Ironically, peace is advancing but we believe we are living in a world which is on the edge of a catastrophe."

Over the last two decades, he said, the number of victims of terrorism all over the world was of an average of 200 to 300 per year - and this definitely did not qualify as a serious threat.

Collective paranoia, such as the fear built around the swine flu crisis, had to be curbed, he said. Swine flu played on the fear factor and was big business for the producers of vaccines.

"We should not be encouraging this. We are much stronger than our evils. The forces of peace are stronger than the ones of fear."

His arguments are based on scientific research. "The data we have are very reliable: there has been an astonishing decrease in violence. We live in a world that has never been so safe."

Article may be viewed at:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20091016/local/the-forces-of-peace-are-stronger-than-those-we-fear

 
ItalianEnglish

Mi Presento

Benvenuti nel mio sito. Qui potete farvi un’idea di chi sono, e trovare notizie e documenti sulle mie opere e sui miei giorni.

Pino ArlacchiNon sono una persona complicata. La mia vita pubblica ruota intorno a due cose: il tentativo di capire ciò che mi circonda, da sociologo, e il tentativo di costruire un mondo più decente, da intellettuale e militante politico.

Leggi tutto...

I Padroni della Finanza Mondiale

I Padroni della Finanza Mondiale (copertina)
Libri in pdf

Agenda

 


 

 


Facebook

Ultimi Tweet

Segui Pino Arlacchi su YouTube

Featured Articles

Prev Next

L'Eredità di Giovanni Falcone ed i rischi del presente

L'Antidiplomatico 23 Maggio 2020   “Potrei fare a meno di tanti colleghi, ma non potrei mfare a meno di Pino Arlacchi” Giovanni Falcone Il...

Articoli | 23 May 2020

Ora attenti a questa Finanza predatoria

Il Fatto Quotidiano 21 Maggio 2020 Lo scenario di queste settimane richiama per certi versi quello del “golpe dello spread” che...

Articoli | 21 May 2020

"Dietro l'aggressione imperiale contro il Venezuela c'è un racket mafioso

L'Antidiplomatico 12 Maggio 2020 L’ ultima aggressione al Venezuela, la sesta in due anni, è appena fallita. Gli Stati Uniti hanno...

Articoli | 13 May 2020

Gli Stati Uniti dal governo mondiale alla protezione mafiosa

La Fionda, 7 Maggio 2020 In questi tempi arroventati, si cercano i precedenti della crisi attuale e si discute molto, perciò,...

Articoli | 10 May 2020

Conte difende il nostro paese dai figli di Troika

Il Fatto Quotidiano, 7 Maggio 2020 In questi tempi di fuoco, l’unico uomo di governo che pare aver capito qual è...

Articoli | 10 May 2020

Pino Arlacchi all'Antidiplomatico: "Un Piano B prima che la finanza predatoria colpisca l'Italia"

L'Antidiplomatico, 25 Aprile 2020 Professore, come commenta l’ accordo del Consiglio Europeo dell’ altro ieri che ratifica le conclusioni dell’ Eurogruppo...

Articoli | 10 May 2020

Pino Arlacchi - Il nuovo ordine mondiale (che non ci sarà)

L'Antidiplomatico, 24 Aprile 2020 Circola una retorica sensazionalista che vede la sindrome del Coronavirus come una svolta radicale della storia moderna:...

Articoli | 10 May 2020

L’anomalia italiana è la Lombardia

Il Fatto Quotidiano, 9 Aprile 2020 L’anomalia dell’alto numero di decessi italiani per coronavirus rispetto a quelli del resto del mondo...

Articoli | 10 May 2020

Arlacchi: «A Miami i soldi della corruzione venezuelana"

Arlacchi: «A Miami i soldi della corruzione venezuelana

Il Periodista, 1 Aprile 2020 di Ruggero Tantulli. Il Periodista ha chiesto a Pino Arlacchi, ex vicesegretario dell'Onu e architetto della...

Articoli | 10 May 2020

Cina e Stati Uniti: la grande sfida alla pandemia mondiale

Il Fatto Quotidiano, 30 Marzo 2020 Pechino ha preso il problema per le corna, scegliendo la guerra al Covid. Una decisione...

Articoli | 10 May 2020

Newsletter


Chi è Online

We have 185 guests online

Questo sito utilizza cookie; accedendo o cliccando su "Accetto" acconsenti a scaricare sul tuo browser tutte le tipologie di cookie presenti in questo sito..

Accetto cookie da questo sito.

Info