The acceptability dilemma

The governments around the world seem to be searching for pubic acceptability on multiple issues ranging from war in Gaza to economic depression and from corruption to rigging in elections. An acceptability dilemma is slowly seeping into rank and file of the government machinery as well. On the one side the popularity of these governments is nose-diving among their citizens and on the other the leaders are being boxed into an inescapable situation from retraction. A friction is being developed among the people, government and state institutions which can translate into dissension and chaos depending upon the type of the state structure and evolution of its administrative management in a region. A country where public is at odds with its government but has faith in state institutions, the latter may assuage the situation and retard the spillover effect appreciably. However, in territories where the citizens are out of step with both, the condition is turbulent and may explode anytime leading to a permanent damage to its social order.

Massive rallies, processions and demonstrations have been observed across the globe in favour of Gazans as the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) keep on killing the Palestinians without any break. The people, young and old, male and female, Arabs and non-Arabs, are demanding one thing — stop the war in Gaza. Yet the governments, Europeans and Non-Europeans alike, are either looking the other way or avoiding the topic deliberately. In public they maintain a posture contrary to all moral and ethical values yet in private gathering they feel fear in their hearts on the unjust war being supported by them in Gaza. The US foreign policy has been rooted in democracy and morality. The moral superiority has given it both acceptability and legitimacy in its endeavors against the former Soviet Union or present-day Russia. Nonetheless, the moral equilibrium is severely disturbed by these protests. If the US loses the moral ground permanently, its acceptability in the eyes of the global citizens may be impaired perpetually as well, thus causing damage to its counter efforts against Russia and China.

The Middle Eastern countries are also grappling with the same predicament. The public pressure is slowly increasing on them thus making room for extremist organisations to fill in the void due to inaction of these governments. The local people are now viewing them as partners in crime.

The UN, which has not been able to play any significant role in stopping the war in Gaza, has been struggling with the acceptability dilemma as well. There is perhaps only one example in the history of the UN when a Secretary General has tendered his resignation on account of his disagreement with a superpower. Hence, questions can be raised as to who should be nominated for such a coveted position. Can the UN strengthen and reform its administrative structures and procedures to have greater leverage in the selection of such a person? What are the accountability mechanisms for a Secretary General at the UN? Can we determine the key performance indicators for such a position? The failure of a Secretary General to stop a conflict, his or her inability to reach at a peaceful settlement among the parties in a conflict or his or her frustration with one, two or multiple actors in a conflict bearing a large number of human and material losses, should be considered as bench marks for his or her performance evaluation. A resignation of a Secretary General may also have a big impact on one of the intransigent parties in a conflict which can pressurise it for a ceasefire.

The acceptability dilemma is going to enhance social friction which can, in turn, produce greater number of internal conflicts within countries. As a population falls apart from its government and state institutions, the window of opportunity for hostile actors, internal and external, also increases appreciably. The puzzle of public acceptability can only be solved through accountability.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2024.

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