Sunday, February 26, 2006

Business deals as psychological operations

Bush recently warned that blocking the DP World ports takeover deal would send a "terrible message".

"I think it sends a terrible signal to friends around the world that it's OK for a company from one country to manage the port, but not a country that plays by the rules and has got a good track record from another part of the world can't manage the port," Bush said.

Al Jazeera's article takes the view that Americans’ rejection of Dubai-U.S. Ports deal is racist.

Opposing handing over the ports management to the UAE will only send a message to the people of the UAE and the Arab world that “they will always be considered by the U.S. as terror suspects.”

Based on Jessica Stern's article, I conclude that the West has to weigh the impact of humiliation in public business dealings.

Several possible root causes [of terrorism] have been identified... I've been interviewing terrorists around the world over the past five years. Those I interviewed cite many reasons for choosing a life of holy war, and I came to despair of identifying a single root cause of terrorism. But the variable that came up most frequently was ... perceived humiliation. Humiliation emerged at every level of the terrorist groups I studied — leaders and followers.
The "New World Order" is a source of humiliation for Muslims. And for the youth of Islam, it is better to carry arms and defend their religion with pride and dignity than to submit to this humiliation. Part of the mission of jihad is to restore Muslims' pride in the face of humiliation. Violence, in other words, restores the dignity of humiliated youth. Its target audience is not necessarily the victims and their sympathizers, but the perpetrators and their sympathizers. Violence is a way to strengthen support for the organization and the movement it represents.

The depth of perceived humilation is evident in the recent furor over cartoons depicting Mohammed.

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