Global conflicts

THERE are several global conflicts of which the most prominent are the Russia–Ukraine war and the Israeli–Hamas war, in both of which the USA plays a major role. Both these conflicts, if not resolved properly, will have continued impacts on the people of Ukraine and the Palestinians.India does not get deeply involved in these conflicts.

India’s first Prime Minister’s foreign policy was based on non-alignment; India was not aligned with any group of countries or with a special role with any one country. The three basic principles of non-alignment are, allow each country to maintain its sovereignty, resist colonization by other countries and pursue peaceful coexistence. India discouraged military alignments, rather diplomatic and economic alignments. India’s foreign policy is still based on these principles. 

In recent years, the United Nations has not been very effective in resolving conflicts between countries. The United Nations is capable of taking actions or making decisions to resolve the conflicts, but it is often incapable when superpowers like Russia and the USA have taken sides in these conflicts or they are directly involved because of their veto power used to protect their interest. 

This is true with other superpowers like China, the UK, Germany, France and Japan. UN charter allows it to engage with member countries to resolve issues, including war between them and member countries are bound to abide by the Security Council decisions. But often, the Security Council decisions are vetoed by the superpower countries if they don’t like the decision, not in their best interest. 

There are some countries like Myanmar, which don’t listen to anybody, and like Taiwan, which is not recognized as a separate country, but rather part of China. Even though the United Nations is successful in dealing with issues between smaller countries, the UN often fails to resolve major conflicts.

The North American Treaty Organization or NATO is a strong political and military alliance of mostly European and North American countries. When it was created on April 4, 1949, after the Second World War to protect the Western European countries, the United Kingdom, the USA and Canada, there were only 12 countries. 20 more countries joined NATO, including Turkey, Greece and many Eastern European countries that had split from the USSR when its collapse happened on December 16, 1991.

During the Second World War, the USA made the atom bombs and dropped the first one named “Little Boy” on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and “Fat Man” on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The attack killed 150,000 to 250,000 and created massive destruction. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, ending the Second World War. 

After the Second World War, there have been no major wars even though there were many conflicts and aggressions. The country Israel was created in 1948 to settle the Jewish refugees of the Second World War after the Holocaust during which Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews. Later, there were a couple of battles between Israel and the Arabs; the latest is still going on with Hamas and Israel. 

There were the Korean War, Vietnam War, Iraq War and Afghanistan War, where America was involved. There were many wars in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.  India and Pakistan had several battles and skirmishes. 

After the Second World War, many other countries acquired nuclear weapons: Russia, France, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea. Iran may also have it. What deters countries with nuclear power from entering into big conflicts is that the nuclear weapon, if used, will result in great destruction.

Global conflicts between countries on border issues may continue; do not expect more aggressions like the Ukraine-Russia war. There are still terrorists and drug cartels creating conflicts in South America, Africa and the Middle East. 

Nobody likes war. The world can achieve a peaceful time if the leaders of every country focus on the well-being of their own people and do not interfere in other countries’ national interests. With all the modern war machines, missiles and aircraft, there is always a threat of war. 

Human conflicts will never end until everybody understands the need for peaceful coexistence.