When we were children, we used to look up at the skies every time we heard an airplane cruising above the atmosphere. We marvelled with glee at the alien craft, swimming through the air, defying all the rules of gravity. When we grew up a little and began to understand the science behind airplanes, that fascination turned into admiration for human potential. For this reason, those of us who have been fortunate enough to have the chance to fly in an airliner, the miraculous experience depicts nothing less than the limitless potential of human ingenuity.
But, as is the way of the world, nothing remains innocent for too long and the objects invented to provide benefits are put to use by evil forces for their nefarious ends. The interests of the few sometimes outweigh the interests of the many, leading to situations of conflict. But in some situations, political conflicts turn ugly and morph into militarised warfare, the repercussions of which are felt by everyone.
Because of the inherently corrupt nature of conflict, it takes little time for conflict to subsume in itself all things innocent and prodigious. The world of scientific inventions is full of cases where progress has been tangled up with conflict and evil has sometimes triumphed over good. In such a context, airplanes have been unable to withstand the onslaught of geopolitical tussles for supremacy, and so it is that the invention that was meant to dissolve the limitations of space and time has become the target of forces bent on keeping us rooted in yesteryears.
If measured by the sheer extent to which a single event has changed the course of modern history, the tragedy of 9/11 stands out as a particularly horrific incident. Ever since that fateful day when two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, airplanes have become a central component of the fearful and insecure times we live in. Even though aircraft have previously been targeted in conflicts — as was the case with the airplane crash that escalated the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s — such attacks remained horrific anomalies. But the situation has changed now, and it has changed for the worse.
Whether they are used to bombard innocent thousands, or when hundreds die as a result of plane crashes, the skies the airplanes inhabit are fast becoming central battlegrounds in this post-national era of terror. Instead of the tragedy of 9/11 standing out as a singular event that must never be repeated, we have seen an increased ‘militarisation’ of the skies. As modern warfare technology has become cheaper and much more accessible to all and sundry, airplanes have started to seem like easy targets in the battle of ideologies.
Just last year, the ill-fated Malaysian Airlines 17 was downed in Ukraine, highlighting the vulnerabilities of times when geopolitical conflicts turn stratospheric. But while many are still mourning the loss of the lives lost in that incident, another tragedy has befallen us. Earlier, at the beginning of this month, a Russian plane carrying 214 passengers and crew crashed into the mountains in the Sinai region in Egypt. The plane was carrying passengers from Sharm el-Sheikh, the tourist destination popular with Russian citizens, to St Petersburg when it lost contact with air traffic control and later crashed into the mountains.
As news poured in of the crash, grief overwhelmed the people related to the souls onboard. But as further revelations have poured in, that grief has been replaced by sheer terror. Per initial reports, it is highly likely that a bomb was planted in the aircraft by elements associated with Islamic State (IS), possibly in retaliation for the Russian incursion into Syria. If there is credible evidence to back this claim, then this crash might end up affecting our collective fates in more ways than one. Just as the US has been unable to overcome the trauma of 9/11 and now finds itself inextricably tangled in geopolitics, so can this crash end up defining the future course of action for Russia.
Over the past decade or so, the world has witnessed the rise of Russia under Putin as a strategic player in the geopolitical arena. Perhaps in an effort to fill the vacuum created by a wary US in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, Russia has made significant strides towards cementing its rise to the status of a global power. In line with such thinking, Putin decided last month to help the Syrian regime of Bashar-al-Assad stave off the threat by IS. After initial victories, the conflict has inevitably turned long-term and Russia now finds itself knee-deep in the Middle East political scene.
As the drive against terrorism turns pan-national, especially in the wake of the recent attacks in France, the citizens of nation-states will find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders in order to avoid being the victims of this all-engulfing terror. Even in the age of full-body and X-ray scans, tedious security checks and absurd restrictions on luggage, the warmongers can still find ways to inflict harm. Some long-term education focused on tolerance can help but the reality of the matter is that the use of force will present itself as a viable strategy in order to counter the tide of terrorism in the short-run.
The author is a freelance columnist with degrees in political science and international relations