Nonviolent Change Journal

     History demonstrates that even countries with the most powerful military and intelligence services have tremendous difficulty coping with terrorism. England, Israel and now the United States have all shown how difficult it is to deal with a few, determined individuals willing to risk everything for a cause. Even if deterrence is successful, it is only temporary until the next wave of terrorists is activated.

     A better way to deter terrorism is to address its root causes, since unattended grievances provide terrorists with the all-important community support they would not otherwise have. And no matter how much progress is made toward peace, there will always be dissidents willing to oppose any peace initiative, often with tragic results.

     Northern Ireland is a perfect example for the Middle East to consider. The grievances of Catholics in Northern Ireland were allowed to fester for 50 years, eventually bursting out on the international scene after Bloody Sunday in January 1972, when the British Army killed 13 people engaged in a peaceful march. The IRA, which barely existed at the time, used the opportunity to garner support and legitimacy to promote its own agenda, which only escalated the problems. Violence between mostly poor Catholics and poor Protestants became a way of life for more than 25 years. Thousands were killed and maimed on both sides, many of them innocents. In such contexts no one can quite seem to remember when it all began, recalling only the last atrocity, which side was responsible and what to do in retribution.

     In 1994, the IRA declared a cease-fire. Most importantly, US President Bill Clinton, with strong support from Senator Edward Kennedy, followed through with a campaign promise to Irish-Americans to issue a visa to Gerry Adams, head of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA. This provoked fury at the British Foreign Office, because, heretofore, the U.S, had always considered Northern Ireland an internal British affair. Yet now a third party, the president of the United States, was investing his personal prestige and that of America and its 40,000,000 citizens of Irish descent to find a solution to the problem in Northern Ireland.

     This represented a fundamental change. One of the first aims was to help the Northern Ireland economy, beginning with an economic conference held in Washington. All parties from Northern Ireland and many CEOs from the American private sector were invited. It had become clear that the only topic all parties would be willing to then discuss was economic development, particularly for those areas most affected by violence. Catholic communities with 65 percent unemployment rates and Protestant communities with 25 percent unemployment rates desperately needed jobs.

     Many people responded to this need, both in Northern Ireland and the U.S., and the results were remarkable. In seven years, Northern Ireland reduced its unemployment rate from 15 to 5 percent. Most importantly, new jobs were established in traditionally high unemployment areas such as West and North Belfast, where most of the violence had occurred. Many people, naturally, began feeling better off and were happy with what was happening. This is still the mood in Northern Ireland and it is what is holding the peace together, despite ongoing political obstacles. Jobs are key because new recruits for paramilitary organizations are drawn from their communities, and the better the people in these communities are doing economically, the fewer the recruits.

     The Middle East can learn from Northern Ireland‚s experiences because the basic situation in the region is in some respects virtually identical to that in Northern Ireland. For me, the first glimmer of hope for real peace in Northern Ireland came when a "Group of Six" was formed that included leading business organizations from the province to address the peace issue. For the first time economic power centers in Northern Ireland were willing to get involved and prevent ceding the future to the extremists. Many community groups, often acting very courageously, also worked for peace.

     On the Palestinian-Israeli front, the recent Geneva accord agreed between unofficial representatives of Israel and the Palestinian Authority served as a perfect example of how concerned and courageous people on both sides can negotiate political compromises. However, final peace settlements must be followed by jobs. The Middle East needs both and this is the message of Northern Ireland.

     For example, the easiest, quickest and best way to create a large number of good jobs in areas affected by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is through call centers. Northern Ireland proved this. There are communities in Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza and Israel that have large populations of intelligent, well educated, hard-working people, who make perfect candidates to handle jobs offered by the telecommunications industry, at very competitive rates. A telecom infrastructure is in place to service world corporations as well as to access the Arab market of 280 million people. Yet there are few call centers in the Middle East because the violence has made them locate their services to India or other parts of the world. The Middle East has powerful business diasporas capable of generating all-important demand. Even 20,000 jobs could do wonders for the economies of many Middle Eastern countries, while providing young people with an economic ladder and a future with hope.

     In a related initiative, NIMEC, the Northern Ireland-Middle East Connection, founded by Geoffrey Lewis, Dan Singer and myself, has developed, on a pro bono basis, a plan to create 20,000 contact center jobs in the Middle East. The plan will be introduced at a conference to be held next week and hosted by the University of Ulster, Ireland's largest university, titled "Northern Ireland, A Role Model for Peace in the Middle East."

     Jobs, as demonstrated in Northern Ireland, can lead to all-important community support for an enlightened new approach to solving the Middle East's problems. In a nutshell: Bombs make enemies, jobs make friends.

John J. Cullinane is founder of the highly successful software company Cullinet Software. He is a former fellow at the Center for Business and Government, Kennedy School, Harvard University, and has worked extensively on peace in Northern Ireland through the provision of jobs and economic development.

Top of Page

©2002, 2003, 2004. All rights reserve. The Nonviolent Change Journal is published by the Research/Action Team on Nonviolent Large Systems Change - an interorganizational and international project of The Organization Development Institute. Opinions expressed are solely that of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editing staff, Nonviolent Change Journal, Organization Development Institute, nor of the host and website owner of CirclePoint

Permissions: Reposting and reprints are encouraged, as long as proper source acknowledgement is given. As a courtesy, please let us know that you are reprinting or electronically reposting. It helps us know of the interest level. Thank you.