Please use Sisario citation and the Barnes citation, and the Bachelor & Qureshi citation. Citations have to be perfect.
Hello Class,
In some parts of South America, the “legitimate” government is failing. They are not equipped to provide social services to citizens and keep them safe. This is when a start of hybrid governments come into place. Violent actors have started to control parts of the government. Terrorist organizations have more control than the legitimate government officials. These terrorist are called “Violent Non-State Actors (Villa, R. D., Macedo Braga, C. de, & Ferreira, M. A. S. V., 2021).” They operate in manners that allow them to do everything from distribute goods, organize infrastructure, and provide security. Their forces have become especially more prominent then the “legitimate” government officials when it comes to security. These members may even be considered the actual government, instead of just terrorist organizations.
The company that I am on the board with has two options. The first option is to realize that the social infrastructure in this country is different then our own. That what we see as illegal, may be the right thing to do. If VNSAs have completely infiltrated government processes then they are in control of the government. In this manner, I would not consider this a bribe. If these people are proxy government officials because the legitimate government is not doing their job, then this ‘bribe’ is more like a tax that is paid. If the legitimate government is not handling security, but instead the VNSAs then they are the ones that have governmental power and can say this bribe for security is legal and actually a tax for public services (Villa, R. D., Macedo Braga, C. de, & Ferreira, M. A. S. V., 2021). If we try and take a stand against the corruption of the government people will die. Heads will be cut off and sent as messages, people will be tortured, and recourses will be ransacked. This will cause great peril in our organization. We will not only lose money, but we are not acting ethically by taking care of our employees. If we let our employees die, be tortured, and raped, that blood is on our own hands. This would be the cheapest way to go about solving this issue.
We do have one more extreme way that this issue could be solved. Our board of directors could work with the other companies doing business in Columbia and hire a private military. By hiring a private military we could go to war with the terrorist organizations and dismantle their proxy-government. Some would say this is not ethical because it would require a lot of death and political execution. Also, it could possible create a power vacuum if the legitimate government is not then strong enough to hold power afterwards. This means that an organization that is more powerful could take over and enact more damage.
In conclusion, there is no way we should let our employees be killed and our products to be destroyed. If you are worried about the ethical issue of supporting the terrorist organization then hire a private military. But the biggest ethical issue here would be if we did nothing at all and let our employees suffer the consequences.
Thank you. Have a great day!
Skyler Carr
References
Villa, R. D., Macedo Braga, C. de, & Ferreira, M. A. S. V. (2021). Violent Nonstate Actors and the Emergence of Hybrid Governance in South America. Latin American Research Review, 56(1), 36–49.
