Diplomacy and Hobbesian world

Many crimes have been committed worldwide from 1900 to 2026. The War in Iran also stands out as one. This war has turned the Middle Eastern politics on its head, and the post-war global and Middle Eastern political order, it seems, will witness a huge change. This war, like many previous wars, has triggered a global diplomatic and security crisis, and the global community once again demonstrated its chronic inability to respond decisively to prevent a war before large-scale damage was done.

We lived the entire 20th Century in a Hobbesian world, and the events of the first quarter of the 21st Century indicate that nothing much is likely to change unless there is an agreed mechanism of enforced accountability under which the states and non-state actors understand and fear that they will be held accountable for their acts. When all this is over, the world needs to sit down and debate the question, 'what should have been done?' to prevent and contain this war, and by whom. Before the commencement of this war, there were three great powers in the world – the US, Russia and China. And as and when this war ends, the world will no longer be dealing with just the three great powers but a fourth, Iran, will join their ranks.

The story of the long 20th Century and the first quarter of the 21st Century has been a story of great powers dominance and their unhinged willingness to turn the weapons of war against the weaker states. It has also been a story of how the international community failed to prevent the killing of millions of innocent people who were left vulnerable to the mass atrocities committed by these great powers. Reading the history of this Hobbesian world in a period spanning from 1900 to 2026, one is easily drawn to the conclusion that the strategic interests of major powers have mattered more than the value of human life. This is not fair.

There are massive challenges that diplomats and global leaders face today, and the world needs a broad-based global consensus to overcome these challenges. Randomly, I would like to highlight problems that I think need the immediate attention of diplomats and global leaders. The willingness and capacity to use highly destructive and indiscriminate weaponry resulting in the mass killing of people by powerful states stands out as a draconian measure that must come to an end. The world must also unite not only to condemn but also to prevent authoritarian leaders from turning weapons of war against their own people. The period under review highlights many examples where the international community failed to protect people from mass atrocities committed by authoritarian leaders within their own states. The world must also clearly identify the barriers that continue to constrain a more constructive diplomacy and international engagement.

The world must also stop calling or actively supporting the regimes. People in weak states gather to protest against authoritarianism, corruption, violation of rights, poverty, social injustice and inequality. The way forward is not to act as an arsonist and further fuel this fire, but to extend help to such states to overcome the conditions that create such instability. Global powers should commit to not only prevent but also to punish any state or non-state actor's actions that result in indiscriminate killing, huge displacement of civilians and massive infrastructural destruction. These are crimes against humanity and must be dealt with and treated as such. Creating and militarily supporting proxies is a global menace that must come to an end. The ambiguity surrounding the official policy of states promoting these proxies, yet officially disassociating themselves from such support, must come to an end. The Muslim world should also unite under a singular agenda of ending the 'Islamist reign of terror' as the West sees it, to disarm all jihadist militant groups that operate within the borders of their states, and to gradually create a Muslim world that is no longer blamed for terrorist bombings and suicide bombings.

The Permanent Five (P5) in the United Nations Security Council are accused of making a mockery of their veto power. They prioritise their national interests over global peace, resulting in many geopolitical deadlocks that they create with grave consequences. The world has to find a way to reform the UN to at least prevent the blocking of any action in a humanitarian crisis. One example that explains this dilemma is the siding of China and Russia with the al-Assad regime and blocking several UNSC resolutions that called on it to exercise its responsibility to protect its population. Similarly, the US blocked many UNSC resolutions that called for an end to the Israeli military action in Gaza.

The world must also be conscious of this new form of warfare in which the distinction between combatants and civilians is being increasingly ignored. The more this distinction is blurred, the more civilians will be targeted directly without the fear of any accountability or remorse. This is highly unjust and unethical, and the world must come together to do something to stop it, or else all rules of warfare will no longer be respected and eventually become meaningless. In the period under review, it is easy to determine that religion had a significant influence on the identity construction and justification of violence. Thus, many conflicts have been both enduring and very difficult to resolve. If religion continues to dominate the achievement of the political and strategic goals of various warring parties, there will hardly be any room for humankind to transcend any conflict through the progressive power of reasoning.

Many issues that I have highlighted seem like moral principles, and realists believe that universal moral principles don't apply to the states and that in an anarchic world, states tend to calculate their interests in terms of power. Yet, politics is also a function of ethics and reason, and if we need to stop living in a Hobbesian world, then we must seriously consider doing something about these challenges that we face. As I write, the world has clearly shifted to a diplomatic mode, with Pakistan acting as a primary mediator to force an end to the Iran War. Best of luck to my country, Pakistan, and its journey towards a new and dignified status through the Islamabad Accord!