Are we really working for peace?

Today, there are 45 armed conflicts in Middle East, 35 in Africa, 21 in Asia, seven in Europe, six in Latin America

Being a student of international relations and political science, and a student researcher, I could write pages about the liberal world order. I could write about the organisations working for peace and prosperity of the world. I could write about the random news on the international arena. I could write about the developed nations and their great achievements, politically, socially and economically. But my heart is calling me to write the truth, to write reality, to write “fair facts”, not “fairy tales” of this world.

With every passing day, the world is getting more and more insecure and conflicted. The number of people killed in armed conflicts is increasing. The number of infrastructures and cities destroyed and the number of human rights violated is increasing every moment. Political analysts consider this era to be the most peaceful era of human history, but the truth couldn't be far from it. The peaceful world just lies in academic articles and publications. The truth is far more bitter than those fancy claims of a peaceful world.

Today, according to the Geneva Academy, there are 45 armed conflicts in the Middle East, 35 armed conflicts in Africa, 21 in Asia, seven in Europe, and six armed conflicts in Latin America, which are ongoing and are being reported by major world news agencies. However, with these 110 armed conflicts, can we really say the world peaceful?

Daily, in these armed conflicts, almost thousands of people are getting killed. With these countless deaths, is the world peaceful? Only in a few regions of the world can we find peace. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is burning from the fire of prejudices, nationalism, sectarianism, racism, and religious differences. Out of all these conflicts in the world, 60% are happening in Muslim countries. Out of these thousands of deaths, 60% are Muslims. But still, the blame is placed on Muslims, who are major victims of these conflicts. Islamophobia is increasing in the world. Europe has its rising waves, and the US has had its rising wave since 9/11.

This labelling of Islam and Muslims or any ethnicity with violence is nothing but just a mere reflection of the failure of the managers of the world. The United Nations has always been a power show of the major global powers. What is happening in Gaza? Has the so-called Security Council been able to secure even a single citizen of Palestine? More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 8,000 children, in the recent attacks. What could the UN do?

The UN could do nothing; rather, it kept on looking at the faces of the major powers vetoing the resolution of the ceasefire in Gaza. What Israel is doing is unjustifiable. The murder of children and women is unjustifiable. The bombing of the hospitals is unjustifiable. The killing at schools in Gaza is unjustifiable. What kind of self-defence is that which is done by killing more than 8,000 children? What kind of self-defence is that which is done by wounding countless civilians? What kind of self-defence is that which is done by starving thousands of civilians to death?

That is not the only issue which tells the tale of the failure of the world system. The issue of Kashmir, a flashpoint of a nuclear war between two states of South Asia, is another example of the failure of this unjust system of the world. The UN has done nothing except pass resolutions and then wait and see them fail. The recent annulment of Article 370-A has left no option for this issue to be resolved bilaterally between India and Pakistan.

How many more years will make room for peace? This unjust nation-state system has brought nothing but chaos and blood. It provides peace and prosperity to a few and destroys the lives of many. If a peaceful world is needed, then the system must be of justice and equality. Every drop of blood of every human must be considered of equal sanctity and honour. The whole western world is like jumping on the burning pan, after the Russian attack on Ukraine and is helping Ukraine with their best.

Where is their humanity in the genocide of Palestinians at the hands of Israel? Where is their humanitarian aid on the killing of the people in Kashmir? Where is their humanitarian aid for the killing of people in Syria? Why the very West is unable to help the refugees from the Middle East? Is it so because the West has no interest in the protection of these civilians? Or is that system only made to deliver dividends to the major powers of the world?

“A society based on the disbelief can survive but the society based on injustice cannot survive.”

So, it is happening in the contemporary world. As injustice is increasing in this world, the world is getting more and more disintegrated, insecure and less peaceful. This system needs an overhaul. This drama of the P5 Security Council must be undone as early as possible so that real peace can be created in this world. Otherwise, this unjust system will claim countless more lives, and many innocent children will keep on giving their lives at the hands of another cruel and brutal attacker like Israel.

We, the whole world as a single community, must rethink it. Are we on the right path or not? Are we doing our best for the world or not? Are we really working for peace? Is the world’s security in the right hands? Is the world’s future safe? Are our future generations safe with these lethal weapons advancements? We have to think about it, and if we are on the wrong path (as the present situation is telling us that we are), we have to mend our ways. The world leaders have to mend their ways. You have to mend your way. I have to mend my way.