Question 2

Children are the most vulnerable people in society because they largely depend on the

adults for food, protection among other needs. Therefore under normal circumstances, children

should be protected and prevented from any form of warfare. However, children are being used

as a tool to protect states at their tender age. Many countries recruit and send children troops to

provide security for the country. Recruitment of children to provide security exposes them to

more dangerous activities that can harm their lives. Children soldiers do not use firearms

therefore in case of a strong attack from the enemies they get killed easily. Security troops have

been using children as minesweepers as they take a good position to advance towards their

enemies. In the event, thousands of such children get captured, maimed and killed. Others get

captured and turned to sex slaves’ especially young girls and even boys because sexuality is not

an issue. Thousands of these children have been reported to disappear after the war. The children

in captivity only live because they get deprived of other rights that they should enjoy as children.

International organizations responsible for human rights especially children are working to

ensure that children are not abused as soldiers.

International conflicts should not involve children even if they have the potential that

adults lack. Research shows that children contribute to processes that they have some

understanding of. It is the Canadian government to implement social policies that will

collectively protect children from the sufferings they undergo as soldiers. There are many ways

that bodies responsible for the protection of children can work to eliminate the causes of their

suffering. Responsibility to protect was established in 2005 to prevent mass atrocities in the

global arena. The United Nations established the doctrine to help in creating effective responses

to mass atrocities such as child soldiers. Responsibility to Protect was to be used as an early
indicator of the recruitment of children to soldiers (United Nations Children Fund, 2014). But

since its inception, its role has not been achieved. The United Nations in collaboration with

various state governments’, they have set action plans to protect children. Among their sittings,

children have been seen to be exposed to dangers that they cannot escape. The stakeholders

harmoniously agreed to work together in fixation upon rehabilitation, demobilization,

disarmament and reintegration of children. Otherwise, if the international community cannot take

emergency action, children will continue suffering as soldiers (Whitman, Zayed and Conradi,

2014). There is no concrete reason why children should be used in war forefronts. It is a sign of

weak states to recruit underage people to supplement their defence forces in wars. Doing so does

not add up, they finally end up losing because children have no power to engage in tough

battlefields.

Recruiting of children into soldiers is a form of child abuse that should be punishable if

possible. There are so many detrimental effects that have been associated with children who have

been recruited. This action has caused a lot of harmful effects towards children such as major

depression, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, lack of education and other forms of impairment.

Some effects can be regained such as education when the children are subjected to a good

environment. Other effects are long-lasting such as psychological and physical trauma (Blattman

& Anna, 2010). This is also a threat to the future economic productivity of many countries. The

young people are the potential people that will occupy different sectors in the economy. When

they get subjected to battlefields, their dream of being productive people in many professions is

killed. They grow up without knowing peace, they think about war and how they will protect

themselves and others. Among the adverse effects experienced in such children include post-

traumatic stress disorder. Studies show that a person develops the stress after he/she has been
exposed to a traumatic event. Traumatic events include sexual or physical assault, combat,

military exposure, natural disaster among others. After the children get exposed to such life-

threatening experiences they develop confusion, anger and a deep sense of fear which makes

their life hard (USDVA). Secondly, the major depression in another problem that soldier children

undergo in and after the war. Depression is a mental disorder that causes a person to experience

sadness, low self-worth, tiredness, lack of sleep appetite, loss of interest and poor concentration.

Such effect reduces the person’s productivity and severe cases of depression have been linked to

suicide (Klasen et al., 2010). Third, anxiety disorder is another challenge where the children

develop a stimulus that is characterized by shortness in breath, reduced feelings of detachment,

distress, changes in cognition, fatigue and insomnia. These effects make the life of the kind

uninteresting and difficulty throughout his/her lifetime. Education of the children is also

compromised because most of them do not get time to concentrate in school. Girl child soldiers

have been reported to be sexually harassed by their commanders in the battlefield. Sexual abuse

is considered a criminal offence in the international human rights act but most of the girls have

no place to report and fight for their rights. It is a collective struggle that every stakeholder

should ensure children enjoys their rights before they can join soldiers at the right age preferably

above 18 years.

In conclusion, Responsibility to Protect should be fully incorporated in all countries to

promote the protection of children from being recruited to join security personnel. Even if there

is voluntary consent, children should not be allowed to give independent opinions about their

lives. Most children do not understand the dire consequences and implications they will undergo

after they join armed forces. The government should intervene and prevent any form of

conscription and recruitment of children until they reach the required age. For those children
already in the armed forces should be taken back to schools for skilled training that will enable

them to secure high paying jobs. Mental health counselling should also be provided to the

children who return from the battlefields. This will enable them to recover from post-traumatic

stress disorder, major depression and other impairments.

Question 4

Canada and Afghanistan have been involved in an international conflict for more than

two decades as a way to restore international security. The conflict started in 2001 Al Qaeda

terrorist attacked the United States. The Canadian government joined the US in a mission to

destroy the terrorist group that was based in Afghanistan. Ten of thousands of Canadian defence

forces were sent to Afghanistan in the event 165 Canadians were killed. There were successes in

the mission such as the elimination of the Taliban group but Al Qaeda which was the largest

threat to international security was not eliminated. Canadian armed forces were to leave

Afghanistan after 12 years of operation. The operation is considered a failed mission because the

international security of the countries in North America was not stabilized. There are frameworks

of securitization that could have worked best if Canada used them. The Copenhagen School

securitization could have solved the problem using coercive diplomacy.

According to Copenhagen School, securitization is a two-process model which involves

securitizing actors and referent objects. Securitizing actors can be a government, military,

political elite and the civil society whereas the referent object refers to the groups of people or

areas with issues. In the case of Canada and Afghanistan, the securitizing actor is the Canadian

government through its armed forces and Afghanistan is the referent object. The securitization

model employs a complex security intervention method. There are key factors that can be

regulated in a conflict for a successful securitization. Such factors include politics, military,
economic, environmental and societal factors. Using these factors Canada and its allies could

have posed threats to the well-being of Afghanistan and their people which could make the

mission successful (Azzi & Foot, 2019). Canada sent its armed forces which were partially

coercive diplomacy. The army did not effectively perform the duties as speculated by coercing.

Coercive diplomacy is a strategy that influences the referent object to either comply or defy a

specific choice. Canada, the United States and their allies could have come together and

imposed adverse threats to Afghanistan such as sanctions, Embargoes and use of nuclear

weapons of mass destruction.

The conflict with Afghanistan comes in as a result of the attacks in the United States.

Canada as a country that has been in the frontline to maintain and keep international peace. It

merged with the US in supporting them to destroy the terrorists. The coalition from other

governments such as Britain helped the US to invade Afghanistan’s capital city Kabul (Azzi &

Foot, 2019). The mission was successful after all the Taliban were eliminated. The leader of Al

Qaeda who was the major aim in the mission escaped to Pakistan. The mission brought another

conflict between Canada and Afghanistan. the major factors that could create a threat to

Afghanistan are the control of economic mobility. Canada with other international countries that

had accepted to join the United States could have agreed to set sanctions and trade embargoes.

Such actions could have prevented Afghanistan from participating in international trade. Most of

the countries in the world are close friends of Canada, UK and the United States. If the three

countries could persuade their economic partners to suspend all their activities with Afghanistan,

they could have negatively impacted the country. The terrorist groups in the country depend on

foreign trade where they trade on illegal substances and through hijacking to get funds to run

their activities. Firearms and other weapons are accessed through the international market,
threatening them to close all the international boundaries could make them agree with the

countries about international security.

Politics is another factor that could be used in the coercive diplomacy threats to make the

Afghanistan terrorist groups surrender. During the mission to destroy the groups and reconstruct

the country. Canada and other countries that participated had a good relationship between their

political leaders (Azzi & Foot, 2019). Afghanistan was divided into two whereby the new

unstable government was in the side of Canada. Part of the government and the opposition side

was not in good terms with the international security committee. If the opposition leaders could

have provided a conducive environment, the countries that were taking part in the securitization

and insurgency of terrorism could be easy. Military alone could have not secured and

reconstructed Afghanistan. Political inclusion was an important aspect that could have solved the

problem early enough. The Taliban insurgency was a solution from neighbouring Pakistan. The

reconstruction of Afghanistan took a lot of years without complete success. Canadians felt like it

was hard for their armed forces to control their chores that were going on in Afghanistan (Azzi &

Foot, 2019). The country spent billions of dollars in the event, hundreds of Canadians were

killed, and thousands of Canadians got injured in the event. Troops in Afghanistan had a lot of

psychological problems such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and major

impairments (USDVA). These were due to the life-threatening experiences that they underwent

while trying to destroy the terrorists. The approach that was employed in dealing with the

security issue was not the best because they over-relied on the military. Other factors such as

economy, politics and societal factors could have made the mission very successive.

International insecurity especially in the countries where terrorist groups shelter is very

high and hinders the development of these countries. Sometimes the great countries such as the
United States and Canada have to completely ban any relationship. This means that even

international trade cannot be achieved. This reduces the economic growth and development of

the country. The Canadian military failed in the mission because they finally surrendered after a

long time of operation. Coercive diplomacy utilizes the power of a country to impose a threat o

the referent object. The threat is likely to cause a lot of harm to the referent object but in the case

of Afghanistan, the Canadian did not use the threat well. Otherwise, coercive diplomacy is the

best and could have helped Canada to solve the issue in fewer years.

References

Azzi, S., & Foot, R., Canada and the War in Afghanistan (2019). In The Canadian Encyclopedia.

Retrieved from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/international-

campaign-against-terrorism-in-afghanistan

Blattman, C. and J. Annan, “The Consequences of Child Soldiering,” The Review of Economics

and Statistics, November 92 (2010).

Former Ugandan Child Soldiers,” Journal of Traumatic Stress 23 (2010)

United Nations (2014). Security Council, adopting resolution 2171 (2014), Pledges Better Use of

System-Wide approach to Conflict prevention. Available

from http://www.un.org/press/en/2014/sc11528.doc.htm

US Department of Veterans Affairs(USDVA), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Retrieved from

http://www.ptsd.va.gov/

Whitman, Shelly, Tanya Zayed, and Carl Conradi (2014). Child Soldiers: A Handbook for

Security Sector Actors. 2nd ed., Halifax: the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative.