I was visited by the local Police this week. Other volunteers had told me that once in a while the police come round to check on foreigner's paperwork to ensure all is in order. As a result I wasn't too surprised when the 2 policemen came into my office with the accountant to ask a few questions. Initially I understood from what they were saying that I needed to show them a security report. I had no idea what document they were refering to, so asked them where it would come from and what it's for. This generated a small discussion that Rabi translated and it then became clear that THEY had received a security report from their hierarchy instructing them to check if I needed additional security from the local police station! In other words, they had come to offer me their services.

This meeting got me thinking: Who had requested extra security for me? My Dutch predecessor (also a VSO volunteer) had received no such visit, so was this something that British subjects got as a courtesy from the Bangladeshi government? Are British citizens believed to be at greater risk than certain other nationalities, or has the security situation generally worsened for all foreigners since my predecessor left? The simple answer to all these and other questions is that I don't know. However, someone somewhere believes I need extra protection so I'm going to abuse the platform this site gives me and write about it this week.

I feel very safe in Bangladesh. Prior to my arrival I had read the usual reports stating that Dhaka was a bit risky at night, that where there was poverty there were bound to be muggings, stealing and violence. My first few days in Bangladesh were hence rather cautious, always on the look out for this obvious danger that everyone taked about. Thankfully, my belief of insecurity did not completely blind me to the reality of life here i.e. the risks are probably at worst equal to if not less than France or the UK. In the extremely rural setting I now live in things are even more peaceful, so I feel extremely comfortable at all times.

The one blemish on this otherwise spotless portrait is that someone did steal something from my room last week. They reached in through an open window and took a large penknife that was lying within easy reach. I don't miss the knife, and in all honesty my comfort level had made me complacent as I should never have left anything of value so exposed. My admission of responsibility aside, the incident shook my view of the local community who I trusted. For a day or so I felt betrayed by them, that they were all thieves and not to be trusted again. This feeling soon subsided, but my belief of insecurity was sudden and strong.

If I'm banging on about this it's because I see a parallel between this and what's happening in the world in general. There appears to be a belief, mostly American but not exclusively, that the world is a considerably more dangerous place to be compared to 2-3 years ago. I was reading an article about David Bowie in GQ in November, and even he summed it up by saying that he'd enjoyed the 20th century but that the 21st seemed a lot scarier. He wasn't though refering to how scary the world really was, but how scary certain countries' reactions to their belief in insecurity was. I tend to agree, and I think it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Let me be clear. I don't deny that there are new and serious threats to peace and security that have appeared in recent years. Nor do I deny that nations should seek to protect the lives of those within their borders as best they can. I would even add that the new threats are all the more preoccupying as they don't play by the traditional rules of engagement. They are not national but international. They are not restricted to certain countries but certain groups in many countries. The nation states and international organisations designed to create stability in the world hence struggle to cope, to react quickly enough. The inertia of the EU in the face of conflict, even on its own borders, is an all too telling example. These threats didn't appear overnight though, they gestated a long time before reaching these proportions, and I can't help feeling that in life we generally reap what we sow.

How then have we reacted to this new era of terror and insecurity? In my opinion, and simply put, we are putting up walls. Border security has been reinforced, international flights manned with policemen, and Israel (in what I grant is a wholly different situation) has physically erected a wall to contain the threat from without. Worse still is the general message of insecurity, the belief that "they" are among us and mean us harm, that seems to be drifting slowly across our lives like cigar smoke from a neighbouring table. This message creates a feeling of fear of "them", whoever they may be, a definition of right and wrong that then festers into fact without really examining what the real problems are. Remember Bush's axis of evil? The demonisation of Islam and arabs?

I don't like it. If we don't remain open enough to understand why people are so upset then more and more people will be. The desires of a dominant and powerful minority will overide the needs of a shunned majority. Less and less people will be fortunate enough to be considered one of "us" and live in a secure world that looks increasingly and suspiciously like a prison. I see ignorance as being behind this, and it is creating a fear that "they" want to take what you've worked so hard to acquire. Maybe if we shared a little more of that good fortune we'd all be better off, and I don't just mean in terms of security, but that idea doesn't seem very popular these days. Is it so hard to believe that the tighter you want to hold onto something that someone else needs the more jealous of you that person will become?

Anyway, I think I've ranted enough now. This is what comes of not being able to phone my Dad every fortnight or get pissed and argue with the chaps. Incidently, I told the police that I didn't need any additional protection. And as soon as I got to Dhaka on Firday for a week's holiday I started making enquiries to find out who made the request and why. Oh, and the photo? It's a cow that was tied up under the stairs in the apartment block where I'm staying in Dhaka. I'll explain why next week...