Page 125 - Demo
P. 125


                                    108Islam, Democracy and Human Rights in Contemporary IndonesiaCountries that lacked bargaining power were easilysubjugated and found it difficult to keep their independenceand non-aligned stance against the pressure of hegemonicpolitical forces.Even the United Nations, which is supposed to stand forjustice and serve the interests of all nations, in many instances,was unable to maintain its impartiality.To respond to this polarization, most countries in the worldcompeted with each other to allocate significant budgets toaddress the issue of terrorism, which then caused global humaninsecurity. The US total spending on military, defense, and security,for example, in 2010 rose to approximately US$685.1 billion. In the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US spent $3 trillion(The Times, Feb. 23, 2008). Similarly, China and other developing nations did the samething. In 2007, officially, the Chinese military budget was $59billion, but the Pentagon estimated it to range between $97 and$139 billion, the second highest in the world after the US. (BBCNews, March 4, 2008).Pakistan, India, the Middle East, and African countries alsoallocated very significant amounts of money to militaryspending while spending on such things as education hasdrastically declined. Pakistan, for example, increased its operational budget toover 30 percent for the military, while for education it was onlyone percent. Similarly, the US total budget for education was only 2percent (UNICEF, 2002). This global reality appears to be an alarming signal for the
                                
   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129