A Smarter Instrument of International Relations: Three Ways to Neutralise Boko Haram Through Education

A journalist whose work we at Mediolana always try and keep tabs on is Aylin Kocaman, the Istanbul-based analyst and television presenter. In one of her recent columns in the London-based Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat – Which West is the Solution for Nigeria? – Kocaman makes a very important, much-overlooked point in the context of kidnappings of hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls by the neo-salafist radical group Boko Haram: that education, and not ill-advised military adventurism, is the only viable long-term solution to such problems.

Kocaman posits that the Western world as a whole (and presumably the United States and United Kingdom in particular) has in recent decades tended to view one-sided conflicts characterised by large-scale aerial bombing as their international relations instrument of choice; this strategy’s lack of efficacy can be seen in present-day Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, and its repetition in West Africa should quite correctly be viewed as undesirable. Non-violent, grassroots-focused action centred on education is what is needed.

But what precise education-based steps could be taken to neutralise Boko Haram? After some contemplation, we at Mediolana believe we have a three-point plan that could significantly change the dynamics of the group – and lead to a demilitarisation of the region in which they operate:

1. Purchase the Best Education Money Can Buy. As tempting as it is to view them otherwise, the leadership of and key actors within Boko Haram are human beings with human desires. From their precarious position in arid, impoverished and virtually infrastructure-free Nigerian states such as Sokoto and Katsina, could they really resist an offer of a new identity and life in London or New York, with enrolment for their children at exclusive private schools? Such an offer would likely show up the hollowness of the collective’s claim that modern education is something to be detested.
2. Let 1,000 Branch Campuses Bloom. Given its abundant natural resources, Nigeria can in no way be described as an inherently poor country – there is more than enough capital in the system to establish an ‘education city’ in northern Nigeria similar to those popping up in Asian cities such as Dubai, Doha and Incheon. The Nigerian government should inaugurate this beacon of hope as a matter of the utmost priority – and begin incentivising creation of the graduate jobs needed to keep this new source of transformative human capital in the country.
3. Usher in a Reign of Accountability. As computers and factual knowledge spread relentlessly across the world, governments – including Western governments – have a choice: either embrace transparency, or be destroyed by it. Given that hackers and perhaps even whistleblowers will now be in a position to perpetually embarrass authorities that abuse the powers given to them, it makes perfect sense for states to adjust to this new reality by forestalling discontent at the outset and managing their resources equitably. As a rule, groups such as Boko Haram only manage to get a significant foothold in countries where extreme levels of corruption have eaten away at state capacity, and poverty is widespread: removing obscene asymmetries in wealth and opportunity is a vital part of countering groups espousing violent ideological action.

The Ministry of Quality: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

One of Mediolana’s firmer convictions is that in an era of ‘deep’ globalisation, it pays to keep an open mind as one never knows from where the next great idea or concept will emerge; our adhesion to this principle was recently rewarded when we stumbled across a quite brilliant notion articulated by the Istanbul-based analyst Aylin Kocaman in the pages of the Manama-headquartered Gulf Daily News. Inspired by the recent protests over the proposed construction of a shopping mall on top of a park in central Istanbul, Kocaman – who combines distinctive blonde bombshell looks with a prolific journalistic output – posits in Democracy means better quality (5th July, 2013) that this kind of proposal is evidence of a lack of qualitative approaches in public policy. To counter this, she stresses the need for ‘a properly defined ministry of quality [to] be established…and for people in general to be educated in line with that superior aesthetic conception.’

Kocaman appears to be particularly concerned with certain developing countries (some of which are emerging markets) within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (‘OIC’), some members of which – as is the case in many developing countries – are dominated by quantitative methods of evaluation. And is is true that the idea that bigger, faster and more ‘modern’ are innately superior is transforming landscapes from Tirana to Jakarta – and not always for the better. One need only think of the Chinese-built tower blocks in Algiers, the industrial haze of Malaysia or the East Germany-style suburbs of Tehran to recognise that qualitative perspectives are on some level in short supply in the geographical domain discussed by the A9 Television presenter.

However, after some reflection, we think that Kocaman’s idea has profounder global relevance. Millions of New Yorkers shield themselves using state-of-the-art personal electronic entertainment devices while utilising decrepit public transportation infrastructure. China is remaking its cities according to a spiritually and culturally disastrous blueprint, whereby historic buildings and indeed entire neighbourhoods are demolished to make way for cookie-cutter residential and commercial property developments ribboned by expressways. Scanning the world for qualitative best practices in the realm of public policy, it is sometimes tempting to think that worldwide, only a handful of European and Asian states – as well as a few cities of global import outside of these countries – are even addressing this question.

We will be genuinely fascinated to read in the future how Kocaman defines the rights, responsibilities and workings of a ministry of quality: how it interacts with other government departments and its precise remit will be crucial to its successful functioning. But as a idea vital to the very substance of the twenty-first century – and as a crucial contribution to the concept of Gross National Happiness or GNH – it has few parallels.

Turkey’s Future Options: EU, SCO, OIC or TIU?

Back in 2007, our Creative Director & CSO Asad Yawar foresaw the rise of Turkey – something not even on the global international relations agenda at the peak of the Euro-American credit bubble – as having ‘far-reaching implications…for Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East’.

Since that time, Turkey has been the only major European economy aside from Germany and oil-rich Russia to come close to transcending the global economic crisis. But its longstanding trajectory of joining the European Union – a goal which was confirmed with Turkey’s official bid to join the European Economic Community almost exactly twenty-six years ago – does not look nearly as attractive as it might have done even five years ago. A condition of Turkey’s EU accession is the eventual replacement of the Turkish lira with the much-maligned euro; given the experiences of present eurozone periphery countries, where even sacrosanct pillars of private property such as bank deposits and gold have become collateral damage in a financial armageddon, it is doubtful whether a country which could in theory gain many of the benefits of European Union membership without actually joining would choose to take the obvious risk constituted by signing up to the EU.

With an ever-growing international reach – Turkey’s foreign aid budget nearly doubled from 2011 (US$1.3bn) to 2012 (US$2.5bn) – the state that contains the former imperial capital of the Ottoman Empire clearly has options regarding its future alliances. But what, if any are the alternatives to the EU? After some contemplation, we at Mediolana came up with the following:

1. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. This international bloc – ironically headquartered in Beijing – is fundamentally a Eurasian security alliance. While the current Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has openly stated his keenness on joining the SCO, these sentiments do not appear to be shared even by other senior figures in his own AK Party, and it is easy to see why. Totally dominated by Russia and China and offering little in terms of environmental or human rights standards, Turkey would have little leverage within this grouping and would have no additional incentives at all to improve two of its (presently) weaker areas.

2. Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Historically one of the great sleeping giants of international relations, the OIC should in theory be an arena where Turkey, which is already a member state, can further its goals. And from 2005 to date, a period when Professor Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu has been Secretary-General of the OIC, Turkish influence within the organisation has been palpable. However, Turkey has not traditionally enjoyed a prominent position within a largely ineffectual organisation that has been characterised by the power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The forthcoming supplanting of the present Secretary-General by Saudi former journalist Iyad bin Amin Madani means that the OIC is unlikely to adopt a Turkish agenda in the medium term.

3. Turkish-Islamic Union. This is an international bloc which presently does not formally exist but which is being heavily promoted on A9, a Turkish television station established in 2011. This fact alone would not normally qualify it for serious consideration, but judging from the calibre of people from the worlds of academia, journalism, business and politics that have already been interviewed by this channel and who have expressed a desire to see Turkey take on this type of leadership role within the Islamic world, A9 seems to have an influence disproportionately large compared to its modest audience share. The main advantage of this grouping for Turkey is that it would get to design the institutional architecture from the TIU’s inception, which in theory could make it much more functional than, say, the OIC or EU; while the provisional name of the organisation is unlikely to inspire Arabs or Persians, the essential concept deserves consideration.