A global concern

Climate change, economic instability and Daesh top the list of global concerns, according to a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre.

Climate change took the lead in Latin America and Africa, with Daesh topping all concerns in European countries and the Middle East. 

The survey measuring perceptions of international challenges found that 84 per cent and 62 per cent of the populations in Lebanon and Jordan respectively expressed deep anxiety about Daesh and its rapid infiltration into the social and religious fabric of the Arab peoples. 

Other regional countries are not that much behind, with 54 per cent of Palestinians expressing similar fears. 

No doubt, other neighbouring countries also feel the pains being inflicted by this terror group. The percentage of people who would place Daesh on the top of their concerns can be projected to increase given the fact that it is still expanding its presence and operations in many parts of the region. 

The US intelligence community is now predicting that the war against Daesh may take from 10 to 20 years to achieve its objectives. Former CIA director Michael Hayden has also predicted that the region will remain unstable for about 20 years. 

Daesh seems deeply entrenched in some parts of the Middle East and beyond and all projections point to even more widespread proliferation of this terror group in the years ahead. 

It has been said that Daesh deploys cruelty as its main weapon to instil fear and ensure obedience from the peoples of the areas it controls, and for some odd reason that defies logic, it is successful in using these diabolical tools to expand and strengthen its grip on power in areas of Syria and Iraq, and may use these bases as a springboard to reach other Arab states in the Middle East and North Africa. 

This means that there is an urgent need for a more determined and decisive policy to reverse the tide and begin the process of healing from this scourge. Otherwise the future of the region is doomed for many decades.