WAR

 Renowned French philosopher and poet Paul Valery once famously remarked that war is a massacre of people who don't know each other for the profit of people who knows each other but don't massacre each other. 

On 24th February 2022, when the people woke up, none ran for newspapers to read what happened yesterday rather glued themselves to live news witnessing the unthinkable. Russia had launched a full blown attack on it's neighbour Ukraine. The situation appeared straight out of a typical Hollywood movie where it's always the Russians who attack someone and then USA comes to the rescue of the victim. However, this time it was not reel but real, playing out in open with full military might. For those in their 20s or even early 30s, this was certainly not something very common or should I say completely uncommon. 

Similarly, on 7th October 2023, Gaza based Palestinian terrorist group Hamas launched a surprise cross-border attack on Israel killing over 1200. What followed after was an all-out assault by Israel with it's full military prowess on Gaza where the death toll as of now stands at over 45000 as per records, with UN claiming that nearly 70% of which are women and children. Amid these cross-border conflicts, one should not forget the civil war in Sudan between two rival factions of Sudanese armed forces leading to an estimated 65000 - 150000 deaths along with over 2 million displaced. 

I can go on and on with several examples like Myanmar, West Africa, West Asia and don't know how many. But what is more troubling today more than wars is the banality of war and how the world has accepted it as a new normal. The questions arise that why is one war is treated a threat to humanity and civilised society as has the west tried to portrait the Ukraine crisis. While one the other hand, Israel's actions in Gaza and West Bank are being defended as the acts of self defence by the self appointed custodians of human rights. And amid this power politics world has barely managed to keep an eye on what's happening in Sudan despite much more casualties and the reason is it's not profitable to take part in wars or conflicts in African countries because they can't buy weapons.

You must be wondering that why am I taking such a negative view, it is because it is the reality. Paul Valery is not wrong. President Putin and President Zelensky has met each other in 2019 in Paris, may even have had shared drinks with each other. But today their soldiers are hunting each other like trophies. The genesis of this current crisis also lies in the battle of ego and supremacy being played out between USA and Russia. While US is hell bent on ruining Russia despite any provocation. One must remember US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin when he said that the purpose of US and the west is to make Russia weak enough so that it never dare to attack anyone in future. So basically the purpose of US support to Ukraine is weakening Russia and not preventing war. On the other hand Russia under Putin is redeeming it's lost glory of Soviet era by drawing it's red lines and punishing the one which transgressed it. 

The US policy is very clear in Ukraine and that is blood letting and bait and bleed. It wants to make sure that the war continues which is not just good for it's strong hold over Europe which has almost subcontracted it's security to USA, but it is also to weaken Russia, it's arch rival. But these are international objectives or national interests, the real force behind American policy are it's defence industrial corridor who earn profits by spilling as much blood as possible. The Brown University study on USA's Afganistan expenses reveal the dark side of American war on terrorism and how it had bleeded Americans of their tax money. For Russia, Ukraine crisis is about announcing it's arrival on world stage of power politics, where not long back it was marginalised. Amid this balance of power tussle, the biggest sufferer are the Ukrainian people who have been reduced to as pawns in this great power rivalry. 

Similarly, in Israel - Palestinian conflict, the continuation of an one sided brutal war only reflects the limits of human rationality and also the dangerous cocktail of revenge and power, something the Israelis are very high on. What Hamas did was condemnable in no uncertain terms but Israel's own actions has not only diminished the sympathy it had after Hamas' attacks but had made it more isolated at world stage. But here also it is the rivalry between eliminationist Iran and annextionist Israel backed by it's godfather Uncle Sam that is playing out in Gaza with Palestinians as collateral damage. 

So, the question arises that are there no ways to prevent these global catastrophies which are antithetical to the very notion of civilised society that is so often the buzzword for our political elites. Well, the answer unfortunately is not so inspiring. The very global superpowers who are supposedly expected to do global policing are the ones creating the nuisance for own selfish benefits. Asking them to stop the war is like appointing a wolf as the watchman of a poultry farm. Global institutions like United Nations(UN) are in the state of their ultimate decline while lossing their legitimacy every day. They are like toothless tigers and have been reduced to showpieces for elite gatherings and photo ops. 

Former UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold once said that the purpose of UN is not to take humanity to heaven but to prevent earth from becoming hell. Well, if that was UN was all about then it has been a remarkable failure atleast in 21st century. UN Security Council, the so called high table of diplomacy which is singularly responsible for collective security and global peace has reduced as the high table of redundancy, petty power politics and obstructionism. 

What is more problematic aspect of these continuing wars is the lessons that China is learning. As ORF President Samir Saran said that the biggest victor of the continued conflicts is China whose own nefarious designs for retaking Taiwan are an open secret. The failure of the world and especially the collective west led by USA to prevent conflicts will only emboldens China's own resolve to capture Taiwan even by force as it witnesses the failure of the world institutions in preventing conflicts. And being a permanent member of UNSC, China already has an upper hand in it's quest for reunification of motherland.

Amid this not so inspiring environment of the world politics there are those who have taken some principled stand and tried to talk sense. Indian PM Narendra Modi's no nonsense advice to President Putin that 'the current era was not the era of war' sent a glimmer of hope that there are still some sane voices in international arena who represents the common people and not power elites. India's constant call for dialogue and diplomacy replacing conflict has resonated with the most of the world especially in the developing and least developed countries collectively referred as Global South. PM Modi's clarion call of 'Buddha and not Yuddha' doesn't just reflect India's position on war but also provides a impetus to peace talks. 

It is high time that the world realises that in war it is not about who won or lost but who's left. 20th century philosopher Karl Popper once remarked that those who promises to bring heaven on earth builds nothing but hell. The sporadic hells created across geographies reflect a collective failure of the global system at present and blame lies more on those at forefront of this system, the so called superpowers. Solidarity, cooperation which are hallmarks of humanity is missing the most when it is needed the most. The cries of children from Kiev to Gaza and from Sudan to Lebanon has just one demand and that is peace. Parents dying in front of children or children dying in the hands of parents is the last thing humanity wants to see before it perishes forever. 

As Mahatma Gandhi said that violence belongs to the world of animals. The sooner we realise the better it is. After all war is a problem without passport, it is better to act before it comes knocking our doors and we may not have even time to react.