War and peace: ‘the aviation perspective’
Dr. Ruwantissa ABEYRATNE
On July 27, 2011, the flight bringing first aid to famine stricken
Somalia landed in Mogadishu. It carried 10 tonnes of plumpy nuts enough
to offer 3,500 children suffering from starvation a respite from death.
According to the Economist, famine is declared when 30 percent of the
children are actually malnourished, 20 percent of the population is
without food and deaths are running at 10,000 adults or four per 10,000
children every day.
This is the peace side of aviation. An American drone is reported to
have hovered above Pakistan's Waziristan area one day in March 2011 and
unleashed three missiles on a gathering of people, some of whom were
armed. Most of the 40 or so killed were civilians. These drones are
operated in most instances from the United States, far away from the
actual zone of attack by trained personnel operating hand held consoles.
A strike is called a bugsplat. This is the war side of aviation.
On August 6, 2011, a NATO helicopter crashed during a battle with the
Taliban in Afghanistan, killing 30 US soldiers, an interpreter and seven
Afghans. This was the deadliest single incident for foreign troops in 10
years of war. The Taliban quickly claimed to have shot down the
helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade. Again, this is the war side
of aviation.
Disruptive passengers
In March 2011, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution
1973 which inter alia decided to establish a ban on all flights in the
airspace of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in order to help protect
civilians. The Resolution also authorized Member States to take all
necessary measures, to protect civilians and civilian populated areas
under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including
Benghazi. This resulted in concerted air attacks by NATO forces on
Libya. This resolution reflects both the war and peace sides of
aviation.
The role of aviation both in pursuance of peace and at times of war
has been critical.
Against this backdrop is commercial aviation, which amounts to 6
percent of the world's gross domestic product and provides 32 million
jobs around the world. Commercial aviation, which carried 2.2. billion
persons in 2010 has to ensure that all on board are safe from terrorists
in extreme circumstances and unruly and disruptive passengers at the
minimal level. This is indeed a delicate balance.
This article is written just over ten years after the events of
September 11, 2001, when aircraft were used as weapons of mass
destruction. From the inception of regulated civil aviation in 1944, the
meaning and purpose of aviation has been to connect the world by meeting
the needs of the people of the world for safe, reliable efficient and
economical air transport. This objective is inextricably related to
peace among nations.
The Preamble to the Convention on International Civil Aviation,
signed at Chicago on December 7, 1944 (hereafter referred to as the
Chicago Convention) states: whereas the future development of
international civil aviation can greatly help to create and preserve
friendship and understanding among the nations and peoples of the world,
yet its abuse can become a threat to the general security; and whereas
it is desirable to avoid friction and to promote that cooperation
between nations and peoples upon which the peace of the world depend. In
Article 4 of the Convention each Contracting State agrees not to use
civil aviation for any purpose inconsistent with the aims of the
Convention.
Political motivations
The pursuit of peace has been inseparable from policy making and
dispute settlement in affairs of aviation. Varied and chronologically
sequential instances where the International Civil Aviation Organization
was requested by its Contracting States to address contentious issues
relating to civil aviation are reflective of the importance of political
considerations that underlie such disputes and the relentless search by
nations of the world to settle disputes peacefully. Although political
contentions may exist between states, which is a natural corollary of
statecraft and international politics, it is not the purview of an
international organization to address political motivations of
individual states when considering issues referred to it or adjudicating
disputes between states. In this regard, the International Civil
Aviation Organization has tread a delicate line between diplomacy and
objectivity.
Economic revival
Current perspectives in world peace and its significance with regard
to the role of aviation took a dramatic turn with the events of
September 11, 2001 which defied modern economic and management theory
when addressed in aviation terms and brought to bear the need for states
to look at each other differently when addressing issues of aviation.
While economic theory would suggest that, once the impact of such events
will be felt no more, and economies are restored to their status quo
ante, a rise in the gross domestic product of states to earlier levels
would almost inevitably result in increased consumption and restoration
of the business, this did not happen naturally due to various
intervening factors.
The natural assumption that the demand for air travel would rise to
earlier proportions and consumption in terms of air transport services
would be restored to normalcy was obviated by the very nature and
effects of the September attacks in the United States which introduced a
unique characteristic through the fear factor that directly impacts the
future development of air transport. There was also the seven day notice
given by the insurance underwriters on September 17, 2001 that on
September 24, third party war risk insurance coverage of airlines would
be withdrawn which called for collective indemnity action by the world
community through nations to insure their own airlines against the risk
they were exposed to.
As a result of these unique features, the grim task of sustainability
of air transport, assurance of services and restoration of passenger
confidence stands in the way of economic revival of the air transport
industry. These three factors inevitably call for renewed efforts on the
part of states and the international community as a whole at diplomacy
and international relations.
It is incontrovertible that the most critical challenge facing
international civil aviation is to sustain the air transport industry
and assure its consumer of continuity of air transport services. The Air
Transport Association (ATA), in its 2002 state of the United States
Airline Industry statement, advised that, in the United States, the
combined impact of the 2001 economic downturn and the precipitous
decline in air travel following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the
United States had resulted in devastating losses for the airline
industry which are likely to exceed $ 7 billion and continue through
2002. Of course, the overall picture, which portended a certain
inevitable gloom for the air transport industry, was not the exclusive
legacy of United States carriers. It applied worldwide, as was seen in
the abrupt downfall of air traffic globally during 2001. The retaliation
by the world community against terrorism, which is an ongoing feature in
world affairs, increased the airline passenger's fear and reluctance to
use air transport.
In most instances in commercial aircraft purchasing, air carriers
cancelled or postponed their new aircraft requisition orders. Critical
to aviation crisis management was that restoration of confidence.
Global aviation system
Confidence building in the global aviation system is within the
purview of both the contribution of aviation to world peace and
effective aviation management. In restoring confidence in air transport
services, states should focus not only on building bridges in the air
and settling aviation disputes but also on contributing to the world
peace process both regionally and globally through humanitarian
perspectives and peace initiatives. Aviation management, on the other
hand, should essentially target disciplines applicable to three aspects:
commercial viability, insurance coverage and ensuring security. Measures
already taken for risk management by states, in offering indemnities and
guarantees toward third party war risk liability of their air carriers,
and initiating action on aviation security and insurance worldwide
provided a post 9/11 basis for global comity and understanding and
assured the world community that collective political will through
diplomacy is the fundamental postulate in restoring uniformity in a
divisive world.
Now there is a demonstrable and compelling need for diplomacy in
aviation in order to bring about and sustain revival in the aviation
industry. In this context, it is noteworthy that diplomacy and
international relations in aviation has now turned full circle from the
inception of its regulation in 1944. In 2001, as in 1944, states emerged
from a disaster, this time concerning aviation, and were required to
review the way they saw each other. Citizens of the world scrutinized
both their governments and those of foreign nations whose responsibility
it was to ensure good governance and the continuity of the world
communications systems. The politician, diplomat and lawyer increasingly
turned toward principles of International Law to determine the best
course of action in crisis.
Fundamental principle
Current political and diplomatic problems mostly emerge as a result
of the inability of the world to veer from its self serving
concentration on individual perspectives to collective societal focus.
This distorted approach gives rise to undue emphasis being placed on
rights rather than duties; on short-term benefits rather than long-term
progress and advantage and on purely mercantile perspectives and values
rather than higher human values. Another sensitivity is the thin line
which exists between international law and international politics,
which, when applied to aviation becomes even thinner.
Against this backdrop is the fundamental principle that the
overriding theme of international civil aviation has been, and continues
to be, the need to foster friendship and understanding among the people
of the world with the ultimate objective of fostering peace. Toward this
end both the principles of air navigation and aviation economics have to
ensure that aviation is developed in a manner that would make sure it
helps to avoid friction among nations. |