The way we can unite the world
Shortly before India assumed the Presidency of the G20, I had expressed my hope for the creation of a G-South platform initiated by India, as outlined in my article in PGurus dated 2-12-2022[1]. Fortunately, India has taken a successful step in this direction by inducting Africa as a G20 member, providing a voice for a large part of the Global South, which has been hailed by the developing world.
As we celebrate such positive developments, we should address the even more pressing issue – the resolution of disputes both between and within nations. The world today stands more divided than ever before; not that it was united any time that we can recall.
The recent brutal terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, sparking an ongoing war, has already claimed thousands of lives and caused countless injuries on both sides. This highlights the pressing need for peaceful resolution to international and intra-national conflicts.
The ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the Russia-Ukraine war, the conflicts between Pakistan and India, China and India, China and Taiwan, the past US military engagements in Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq, and the deep and acrimonious political divides like the ones within the US, the UK, Europe, Israel, Asia, South America, and Africa are all examples of conflicts, some of which could escalate into genocides or even nuclear war. They have been already exacting a heavy toll on most nations and the global community, as extensively documented in Wikipedia etc[2].
Being deeply rooted in history and emotions, it is difficult to take sides in such conflicts objectively. That is not the purpose of this article either. I will present here, one possible way we can unite the world.
In a world where addressing pressing issues like hunger, poverty, unemployment, education, and healthcare should take precedence, wars, and conflicts impose an immense, avoidable financial burden. Developing nations, in particular, bear a disproportionate share of this burden.
As members of a civilized world, we should not allow such wars and disputes to fester. Regrettably, we have not been successful in resolving them even over several decades.
With rapid advancements in low-cost technology, including artificial intelligence, drones, and rockets, the threat posed by smaller and less powerful non-state entities (with or without the support of rogue states) against more formidable nations is becoming increasingly plausible and alarming, posing a grave threat to the lives and properties of even ordinary people, not to speak of nations.
Extremist organizations are not the sole threat to global security. Wealthy nations also, often at the expense of global well-being, bolster their economies by fueling conflicts and wars, which would develop markets for their industries like defence, pharma, and narcotic drugs industry.
While nations like Russia, China, and Iran, and organizations like Hamas, Taliban, and ISIS may be guilty of authoritarianism, persecution, and extremism, the West hasn’t covered itself with glory either. But a discussion on that will distract us from the focus of this article; it can be discussed through another article, on another day.
The failure of international organizations like the UN and its specialized agencies, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ), IMF, WB, and WHO is, in part, due to the dominance of the veto-wielding nations (in the UN) that are often direct or indirect parties to the unresolved disputes.
In summary, the world now stands divided along national, political, and religious lines.
There are lots of sane moderate voices across both the left and the right. They either sheepishly defend the acts of their extremist counterparts, in order to be politically correct or mute themselves, though they may not be in agreement with the ways of their extremist counterparts.
Similarly, the world now stands divided across religious lines too. There are sane moderate voices across all religions. They may either defend the acts of extremists in their respective religions or keep silent about them, though they may not be in agreement with the ways of their extremist counterparts.
The personal interests of the political and religious leaders are no longer restricted to corruption but are leading the world toward conflicts, wars, and catastrophes.
Today we, the common people in democracies, are silent spectators, letting the political and religious leaders lead us, trusting them. They are not living up to our trust.
So, we should take the lead and show them the way we, moderates, want to be led. Since they depend on us, the common people, for survival, they will be forced at least not to support extremism, compromising our nations and our lives.
So, the time has come now for us, the common, innocent, peace-loving, silent but vast majority of moderates, from the left as well as from the right, from all nations, and from all religions, to get together against the small minority of extremists, from the left and the right, from all nations, and from all religions, and tell our political and religious leaders that we are only interested in peace and won’t tolerate violence of any kind, under any circumstances.
The world will not be destroyed by the evil minority but by the silent majority.
We just need to demonstrate to our leaders that we won’t support them if they engage in or encourage extremism in any way. They will be forced to listen.
We have institutions for every political and religious ideology existing in every country. But we have no national or international forum or institution of any consequence for ‘moderates’ cutting across political ideologies, religions, etc anywhere in the world,… at least not one that is well known to which people can get affiliated.
Sure enough, it is not easy to create and mobilize. It could take a lot of time and effort. But we should make a beginning. Desperate situations need even wishful thinking to make things happen.
We, the people of the world, should now lead, create a strong lobby group of moderates, and usher in a new way of governing the world staying united, on sane, moderate lines, firmly against extremism of all kinds.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
References:
[1] India should create a G-South platform – Dec 02, 2022, PGurus.com
[2] Cost of conflict – Wikipedia
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