The human and economic toll of global insecurity

In a world where armed violence is spreading across continents, the consequences are no longer distant headlines. For Cameroonians, the ripple effects of global insecurity are felt in every aspect of daily life—from the safety of their neighborhoods to the stability of their businesses and the nation’s economy.

In his editorial broadcast on September 19, 2026, during the program “Honneur et fidélité,” Atonfack Guemo, Director of Communication at the Ministry of Defense, issued a stark warning: the globalization of violence is creating a permanent state of insecurity that threatens citizens, institutions, and the very fabric of society.

From frozen conflicts to daily violence

Frozen conflicts are reigniting, ongoing wars drag on, and security crises seem endless. Across nearly every continent, the sound of weapons grows louder and more frequent—whether in clashes between regular armies, asymmetric operations, or the low-intensity but highly lethal gun violence that claims over 200,000 lives each year worldwide.

This globalisation of armed violence breeds a palpable sense of permanent insecurity. That feeling can quickly spiral into psychosis, especially in countries grappling with the depredations of an international terrorist network whose capacity to inflict harm keeps expanding, despite unanimous condemnations and sanctions.

The many faces of modern insecurity

Attacks, assaults, attempted blockades, and hostage-takings are multiplying. All of this is made possible by the ease with which terrorists acquire means of action across land, air, sea, and cyberspace. There is no need to ask by whom or why—our enemies are sustained by our friends, for our own good, it seems.

At the same time, we are witnessing the globalisation of other forms of insecurity affecting different areas of human activity. Industries are targeted by espionage, wildlife, plant, and mineral resources are pillaged, and communication routes are sabotaged, destroyed, or diverted. Politics, education, and centuries-old cultural norms are also subject to all sorts of distortion. These are all attacks and acts of violence against people, institutions, and the environment. At the current pace, no country appears powerful enough to avoid being a target.

Cameroon on the front lines

We, the citizens of Cameroon, are in the front row to know what is at stake. We must fight hard to survive the multiple aggressions that have made our country a convergence point for various threats.

Our nation devotes enormous parts of its economic, material, and human potential to blocking the consequences of instability on its eastern borders and to stifling transnational projects of obscurantist extremism in its northern regions. And, as if that were not enough, Cameroon is also working to drain the abscess of seditious ambitions in its western regions.

Economic strain and citizen resilience

In this dangerous global environment, Cameroon is doing its best to prevent, contain, and, where necessary, reduce the occurrence and virulence of attacks targeting it. To date, the results of our efforts have been rather satisfactory, although outbreaks of violence are still recorded in some parts of the national territory. In this noble struggle, the support of our compatriots for the professional workers of national defense is of inestimable value.

Yet the economic cost is high. Resources that could be invested in development, infrastructure, or social services are diverted to security. Businesses face uncertainty, supply chains are disrupted, and ordinary citizens bear the brunt of a climate of fear that can stifle entrepreneurship and daily life.

The imperative of permanent vigilance

We must continue to exercise vigilance at every moment, in every corner of the national territory, and in all domains, to thwart the maneuvers of an adversary from whom we must expect neither respite nor mercy.

Let us remain patriots, let us stay vigilant, let us love Cameroon definitively.

By Mariama Hamani — Analyst