Abe’s Mideast vision

The Japanese prime minister rightly remarked that if peace is to sustain across the world, than Mideast has to be taken care of. His synopsis at a time when the Daesh is on the move and is bent upon changing the geopolitical realities of the region cannot be dismissed summarily. While doling out $2.5 billion in non-military assistance to one of the most volatile zones of the world, Abe said the world would suffer if terrorism spread. The aid, which is likely to be used for rehabilitating millions of refugees in the region, is a step in the right direction, and has shown the way as to how far off countries can be concerned for an issue that could matter them in the long run.

Abe, who is riding high on his popularity after a landslide in snap polls wherein he plans to rewrite the pacifist constitution to further an international military role for Japan, believes that stability of the Middle East is the foundation for peace and prosperity for the entire world. He pointed out that terrorism left unattended would be cancerous and the loss imparted upon the community immeasurable.

The Western powers should emulate Abe’s vision and address the upheavals in the region on a priority basis. The cooperation that is underway between Britain and the United States to knick down the Daesh infrastructure and exterminate them cannot be of any help in limbo, and it should be supplemented by all major powers, as well. What Abe has pointed out in simple words is that the revulsion underway is a threat to peace and security and the militant bodies should not be allowed to survive in any capacity. As a primary measure, what needs to be done is to take out the avenues of financing with which the Daesh is benefitting such as access to oil and hard cash that comes their way through illicit business deals in the international markets. Moreover, the consensus between the Middle East and the Gulf States to act against the financiers and sympathisers of such dreaded movement should be implemented in totality.

The European Union Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini has aptly reciprocated Abe’s vision in a somewhat different manner. She told a ministerial summit in Brussels that a broad-based alliance to tackle terror, including with Muslim nations, is indispensable. This resolve with the Middle East in the backdrop of Paris mayhem and communal discord is most welcome. She said that the threat is not only the one confronted in Paris, but is spreading in many other parts of the world, starting from Muslim countries.

The air strikes conducted by the US, Saudi and Emirati jets and drones, in the recent past, targeting several small refineries in areas of Syria under Daesh control is the way to go. Such measures along with stringent legislation back home to deny the hardliners space to regroup and operate under new nomenclatures will help in weakening the militias capabilities to hit back. The long-drawn battle cannot be abandoned half way.