In this essay, there will be an analysis, whichargues for the statement that conflict and poverty are interconnected. Theconnection between the two will be viewed starting from the psychological behaviorsand how needs of individuals can change peoples’ behaviors, which can result to conflict.
Similarly,concentrating on the example of the Islamic State and how poverty has forcedmany young people into becoming a part of an extremist group. Besides, theIslamic State is self-explanatory for being a creator of conflict and war. Thisis why inspecting the troupe can give a clear example of how the two issues areconnected. Furthermore, how the lack ofeducation can play a substantial role while discussing poverty and conflict. Thisis associated with economical situations in Syria and weather this is an actorof the two main subjects.
Taking many topics into consideration, this essayshould not be taken as the complete truth rather a specific point of view.There can be brought out many more aspects and examples how poverty andconflict are connected, but due to the scope of the paper, various factors willbe left out and the attention is set mainly on Syria and the key issuesregarding the conflict in the area.Maslow’s Hierarchy of NeedsStarting with a psychological understanding byviewing the Maslow’s Hierarchy ofNeeds. This can be crucial example how poverty and conflict are connected on apsychological level. The Maslow theory is a concept, which perceives humanneeds on a pyramid scale. It is divided into five levels, where each leverpresents a different group of need, which all people require. Starting from thebottom moving upwards, each levels actions have to be fulfill in order forindividuals to have the motivation to move upwards and achieve the next stageof necessities.
According to the model the most important requirement isphysical survival. This means food, water, warmth and rest. These factors arethe primary points, which activate our behavior. Thinking about poverty, it canbe defined in many ways. However, in various cases, these first level survivalneeds are what people lack like food and shelter, which makes a person viewedas living in poverty. If basic essentials are not met, it changes how we actand therefore our behavior changes.
This could mean taking extreme measures toensure food on the table and a shelter on the head, even criminal acts, ifpeople do not have many choices of other employment or educational backgroundto make a more moral choice to ensure their survival. The Islamic StateGiving an example of the Islamic State, povertycan play a major roll on why adolescent boys and men join the extremist group.Firstly, reflecting on history, many people have thought and stated that theUnited States intervention to Iraq in 2003 was an unwise decision. Countless peopleproviding military services were demobilized from Saddam Hussein’s overpoweredarmy, leaving individuals without shelter or workplace. Including the downfallof many social constitutions like education.
For many young men in Syria, manydo not truly believe in the radical ideologies, that the Islamic State and otherextremist units preach (Black, 2016). It can be aminor factor comparing to the desperation of not having any other options truthfully.Religion, for countless individuals, is a moral justification, for people tojustify fighting and acting severely toward others (Black, 2016). Furthermore, fighting for the Islamic State,which is a large group with many sources of income, can be more profitable thenfighting for a smaller unit.
Finding similarities and additional examples, numerousjoining radical groups felt a clear aim, respect and self-worth, which can be connectedto the Maslow’s scale (Black, 2016). The reasoningbehind this is when the lower level of survival needs have been accomplished,on higher levels there is a need for people to belong and have a sense ofpurpose for their life. This is provided to them in an incongruous way whenjoining Islamic State. They are financially more stable, have friends andpeople, who believe and are on a same mission, this creates a more unitefeeling for individuals, who did not have anyone before to trust and to fallback to due to a difficult situation in every area of the society.
Just aspreviously mentioned, the majority of the people do not fight because theyactually believe in the ideology, they do it because the lack of otherprospects and for the support of other individuals, who are in the samesituation as them. Community and a sense of belonging is incredible important forpeople and in this situation, it can be exceedingly difficult to find itanywhere else than joining a dominant radical group. Consequently, extremismhappens when there is a scarcity of opportunity and employment, creating anenvironment, where people do not feel that they belong anywhere and in frightof that, choose no matter which organization to provide it, even if it is notethically honorable.
This breakdown can be applied to many other areas in life,not particularly concerning this topic, but just bringing light on theimportance and magnitude of how psychology and peoples’ mind play a criticalrole when there is a lack of opportunity. For example comparing two people with two differentsituations. The first person after high school gets into two universities. Thisleaves an option for him/her to choose the right fit on many factors, which canbe compared to while choosing the right educational path to pursue. However,viewing the other person, who applied for two schools and wanted to study one specialty,but did not get into it, however got accepted to another field, which was notthe choice, they hoped for. Now, there is a decision that should be made. Thefirst choice is to go for the less preferable choice of subject, because therecan be much social pressure to start directly studying after high school inuniversity. Then the social pressure and the fear of missing out and belongingsomewhere when not beginning university.
Various these fears are brought out inthe Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. People can start making decisions from thesurvival instinct. For example, if parents are encouraging the child to studyand will only pay for living cost if joining a university, then many youngpeople will choose it just because, otherwise they will lack the basic needs offood and shelter, which was provided for them beforehand. People can choose thenon-preferred option, because otherwise the risk of not having every needprovided is enormous. This can be linked with the situation of many Syrianyoungsters, where there are not many options provided to choose the path andjoining the Islamic State will provide the survival needs, social belonging andgiving a purpose for their life. Uncertainly, if there were various optionswith positive outlooks and similar or better value options, the majority wouldnot choose to join an extremist group, when they could have a regular payingworkplace with good sense of organization belonging and group of people workingfor a common goal. This can be connected to the reference of the person, whogot into various universities and can choose, which is the right fit and bestenvironment where they could strive in.
Really create a purposeful life forthem with a proper future, where the survival needs will definitely be takencare of and they can focus of the next level of needs.EducationWhile basing an example unintentionally on theuniversity model beforehand, education plays a major role in decision makingprocesses. Extremely vulnerable are adolescent people, who do not have an exactidentification for who they are and the lack of education, therefore are easilyinfluenced into unhealthy environments.
Moreover, even the absence of a familystructure, will make it more simple to join the Islamic State, where a sense ofbrotherhood will be provided. Concentrating on the educational value, thefailure of the education regularity, has pushed around two million Syrianchildren out of school (Black, 2016). This can bringmany horrifying outcomes for the future. Firstly, as mentioned before, ifpeople are not educated and taught even the elementary knowledge of some fieldsof life, individuals are more prone to be expose to influence and brainwashing.It is simpler to say to a person, what they have to think rather the individualthinking to themselves of what they think of certain situations. Evenelementary information teaches people some analytical thinking methods to lateron apply them to diverse other topics. Secondly, if the young people do notattend school, there might not be a solid and purposeful opportunity tointeract with their own age and make connections amongst themselves. This canbe provided in the extremist group, where they invite people to join others,who could be an alternative family and friends to each other, making it acommunity with a common value and rules to follow.
This can be an extremely attractivefeature for young people, to actually fit into a group, who is even inviting tojoin them, the more number of people enrolling, the better for the group. Thethought could be that if the person is alone and does not have a support systemto back them, would they rather be alone and trying to make ends meet or dothey join a unit, where they could potentially find friends, who will havetheir back whenever needed. It could potentially even be that the parents werekilled conflict zone, which creates even more resentment and anger to makepeople want to express their frustration through fighting (Black, 2016).ConclusionConflict and poverty go hand in hand in theexample of thought while considering the Islamic State and why people join thegroup. If there were many other choices to pick from and a more moral way to earn salary and have moreopportunity to feel apart of the community and live a purposeful life, therewould not be so many people joining a unit to hurt other people for an extremistideology presumably. It entirely comes down to the psychological and physical needsof people, that is why a respectable theory was brought into place to explainthe correlation between the economic situation affecting a person’s core thatmuch, to go on an unmoral route for many, rather than risk of not surviving due to thesevere financial situation in the surrounding regions of where the IslamicStates adjusted themselves.
Due to the civil war in Syria, the economicsituation has gotten predominately worst and will not presumably grow in manyyears. Similarly, the economy of Iraq is tackling challenges, where themajority of problems fall into humanitarian issues and poverty matters. Tolower the level and intensity of the conflict, people should focus on the basicneeds of people and create a socially safe community to thrive in. Findingfunds and charities, which would help individuals create workplaces and earn acompeting salary against the extremist groups. The majority of the populationis leaving Syria to find better opportunities, while there should be createdopportunities in their home land to thrive in.
Especially important should bethe children and educating them to make moral decisions in their life and notfollow the most vulgar and flashiest influencers to join an ideology. Thisprocess is not simple in any form due to this conflict tearing down countlessfields, which need building up. It is a process, which will be resolving in theupcoming years, if right factors are taken into consideration. Economically, itshould focus on building export fields, which used to bring in finance such as applesand spices (OEC 2017). There can definitely be more opportunities for otherexport fields, where the majority of income should be focused on bettering theyouth and giving them opportunities.
Building a community for the young toprosper and establish groups, where they can encouragingly talk about theirsufferings and get healing from talking to someone. It is important that anyoneshould not feel alone, when they are in a traumatic state of mind, otherwise itis easy to go a route, which can be harming to others and self. Moreover,increasing the risk of people joining radical groups and creating furtherconflict. As long as people, who are helping the situation to get better arefocusing on survival needs and evolving a community, then things will start tomove towards the positive side.