Dr Mahboob A Khawaja :
The emerging conflicts between the old cold war era enemies represent amassed collections of deep mistrust, hatred and temptation of historic disorder to victimise the rest of mankind. There is no leadership vision and workable plan on table to change the course of contemporary tragic events, massive deaths and destruction as morality and human intellect continued to decline for a navigational change – for an immediate ceasefire- for workable peace. The leaders, global institutions such as the UNO and stated political agendas are devoid of reason and futuristic imagination stopping the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and reversing the picture of utterly undecribale shadows of entrapment for larger global wars and human miseries. It is the common person that endures the unthinkable pains and sufferings caused by this unwarranted war. Leaders breathe oxygen in comfortable palaces surrounded by phoney advisors and guarded by paid soldiers. Our life, Time and Future witness endless self-repeating moments of tragic tensions of history as happened during the TWO WW overwhelmed by war economies and intriguing free will politics of the few warlords.
The NATO, the EU and Russia created strategic divides and now bombing the perpetuated animosities. They all invest in military campaigns and guns and bullets as the solution. There is no check and balance strategy open to international accountability – no international law and no so called preservation of the Geneva Conventions. Contrary to the official statements, the daily killings of the civilians go unabated across Ukraine -Russian War Theater.
Today, NATO’s Secretary General Stoltenberg predicts, “Ukraine war could last for years.” One wonders, why he is not talking of peace-making efforts rather than prolonged war. Analysing critically and comparatively, most Western leaders defy the logic of reason and honesty while reflecting on the current war between Russia and Ukraine and its spill-over impacts on all global nations. Most are not truthful about their strengths and weaknesses, they are fearful of their own obsession of animosity which could not be defined in simplistic narrative against Russia – the outgrowth of the former USSR. Do the Western leaders (America, NATO and the EU) have the capacity to stop Russia and its four month’s long invasion of Ukraine?
They launched a bogus war against Iraq Weapons of Mass Destruction (2003), but Russia has far more superior advanced weapons against the West and its affiliated entities. Even the US Congress joined the wrongful war against Iraq. Did the US, NATO and its allies realise the horrible mistakes of the past? Have they learned any moral and intellectual lesson from the living history? If conventional wisdom is in place, they can all communicate and meet President Putin, President Zellensky and arrange a global peace conference. What is wrong with that pursuit for the good of humanity? But both sides appear flamboyant and making immeasurable statements of claims and counter-claims of military triumphs raging the global media networks. If leaders are not open to listening the truth, they cannot claim to be the leaders of informed global citizens.
To challenge the deafening silence of the American, Russian and Europeans, and of all the authoritarian rulers for global peace, harmony and security, the global community must find ways and means to look beyond the obvious and troublesome horizons dominated by the few warlords and continued to be plagued by daily massacres, displacement of civilians, barbarity against human culture and civilisations, destruction of the habitats and natural environment as if there were no rational being and people of reason populating the God’s created splendid and living Universe. The global human conscience feels an urgent need to organise peaceful public protests and sit-ins against the warmongers. Stop this intentional blood shed on innocent people or else you are going to be punished by God as you are violating the basic covenant of human life on Earth. The lingering suspicion foretells that egoistic leaders are escaping the truth of their actions which could lead to catastrophic ends. You as humans have a choice to reason and or be unreasonable as part of your Nature. What is happening between Russia and Ukraine must not be viewed indifferently by all the global war players. If Russian, America and NATO leaders are honest, proactive and accountable to the global community, they urgently need proactive advisors of new ideas and creative strategic thinking to cope with multiple scope of the political conflicts and humanitarian crises and to find peaceful and workable solutions away from the entrenched political box of the few global warmongers.
To stop the war in Ukraine, the US, the EU, NATO should have a direct face to face communication with President Putin. It could be facilitated under the G20 auspices. It is logical when people of diversity and opposing ideals come to talk directly, tensions and evil mongering is reduced to reason and mutual interest. This has not happened except military options for weapon supplies and enlargement of the scope of regional conflict. Time and history will not forgive nor forget any of the leaders if they failed to agree to an immediate ceasefire and peace deal.
(Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in international affairs-global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations, and author of several publications including the latest: One Humanity and the Remaking of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution. Lambert Academic Publications, Germany, 12/2019. Extracted from countercurrents.org).
