By Dr Mahboob A Khawaja
The NATO summit at Vilnius, Lithuania ended without any tangible move for peacemaking. It was more a show of compelling solidarity to enlarge and sustain the conflicts between Russia, Ukraine and NATO professing to be peacemakers. Out of nowhere, the Wagner group offered some unexpected consolence to many Western protagonists of conflict but it dmeonstarted Russian leadership capacity to manage an unthinkable conflict situation with ingenuity and without much loss of political integrity. Perplexed American and NATO leaders were stunned and speechless how Russia could overcome a difficult internal crisis that they wished to destabilize Russia. In every age and time egoistic leaders have pushed humanity to wars and the dehumanization process ending from NOTHING to NOTHING. When would the morally and intellectually conscientious leaders learn from history that wars are not the solution to man-made conflicts. In a snap shot, beleaguered Ukraine and Russia are entaglend in a proxy war across many conflicting time zones encompassing loss of time, human lives, energies, economic devastation, destruction of earth and its systematic natural setting spilling over to loss of a sustainable future for the rest of mankind. Both sides implying military dictum to tackle differences of human thoughts, geo-political interests and priorities for future-making. Is it a perpetuated ignorance of pertinent facts of life or is it a deliberate surge to silence human wisdom for change and global harmony? When facts of life warrant a change, intelligent leaders take steps to bring change for the best of national interests.
There is a fearsome and ferocious flow of military actions and reactions causing tragic human causalities that could inundate all norms of morality and civilizations plunging us to timeless darkness. Do the leaders know what they are doing or are they all delusional by nature? We, the People of knowledge speak logically about the Nature of Things affecting lives and our hopes for future, and we echo inspiration from the Divine Revelations – the truth and nothing but truth – the Qur’an, the Bible and Torah reveal similar narrative as a stern reminder:
“Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: I will create a vicegerent on earth. They said” Wilt Thou place therein one who will make michchief and shed blood; whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy Holy Name. God said: I know what ye not know.” (The Qur’an: Chapter 2:30).
The emerging conflicts between the old cold war era enemies represent amassed collections of deep mistrust, hatred and temptation of historic disorder to victimize the rest of mankind. There is no leadership vision and workable plan on table to change the course of contemporary tragic events, massive deaths and destruction as morality and human intellect continued to decline for a navigational change – for an immediate ceasefire to imagine workable peace deal.
They All Manifest Wrong Thinking for Wrong Reasons and Destroying Earth and Human Civilizations
A rational conflict analysis and search for peace involves listening and learning to divergent viewpoints and finding a common place of reasoning without agreeing or disagreeing to halt the animosities. This is effective communication and enlightened leadership traits. The mankind is fraught with sorrows and fear of unknown animosities and daily killings and displacement thinking process, a society – a nation no matter how normal claims to be, cannot function as normal beings to co-exist with their own self, the surroundings – in human culture and make any positive contributions to sustainable change and progress. The US, NATO, the EU, Russia and Ukraine are stuck in this seamless but vicious entanglement. Ironically, desperation could aggravate anyone to use tactical nuclear weapons unilaterally with global catastrophic consequences.
In all ages, people and nations claiming to be most powerful and transgressors manipulating the Earth and humanity were destroyed by the Laws of God – natural causes. Many empires and egoistic leaders went this natural route of meeting their ends. We, the conscientious people of the globe possess rational understanding of an equilibrium and balanced relationship between Man, Life and God-given living Universe in which we all reside. We, the People of knowledge wonder who else except God created life, the Earth and the living Universe floating in space well balanced and functional since time immemorial.
Who else other than God determined the Earth spinning of 1670 km per hour? Who else than God ordained it to orbit the sun at 107,000 km per hour? And who else than God made it to spin at 28,437 km per hour at the equator? (https://www.newscientist.com/question/fastearthspin/#ixzz7C8p37S9X). Be aware that earth average distance to the Sun is about 93 million miles (105 million km); the distance of Moon from Earth is currently 384,821 km equivalent to 0.002572 Astronomical Units and if the distance between the Earth-Sun and the Earth-moon were ever to change, there will be no sign of life, human civilizations or habitats left on Earth. You as human being as One Humanity has one origin – why can’t we co-exist in peace and harmony? Do people ponder and realize how human beings are created by God and how societies flourish since time unknown to human consciousness?
It is God Who has created you from dust; Then from a sperm-drop,
Then from a leech-like clot; Then He does get you out (into the light)
As a child: then lets you (grow and) reach your age of full strength; then lets you become old,
Though of you there are, some who die before;
And lets you reach a Term appointed; in order that ye
May learn wisdom. (Chapter 40: 67: The Qur’an)
We, the People aspire for Peace and Global Harmony but Leaders opt for Conflicts
If Russian, America and NATO leaders are honest, proactive and accountable to the global community, they urgently need proactive advisors of new ideas and creative strategic thinking to cope with multiple layers of political conflicts and humanitarian crises and to find peaceful and workable solutions away from the entrenched political box of the few global warmongers.
Recently, this author proposed a strategic framework of dialogue for peace to global leaders to resolve the conflict : Why Can’t Russia, NATO, the EU and Ukraine make Peace: https://www.uncommonthought.com/mtblog/archives/2022/06/22/global-conflict-management-why-cant-russia-nato-the-eu-and-ukraine-make-peace.php
The challenging truth arising from the emerging conflicts and leadership failure call for new thinking and new people of ideas and ideals to reject the violent assumptions of militarization and egoistic triumphs by acts of genocidal plans . We, the People of globe ask the global conscientious leaders to avoid the upcoming epicenter of cataclysm and listen to voices of reason for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, stop acceleration of military confrontations between Russia, NATO, America, the EU and others. At the edge of reason, war is anti-human and it could lead to global catastrophic annihilation of human cultures and civilizations. There will be NOTHING left moving on Earth called civilized people.
Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja specializes in international affairs-global security, peace and conflict resolution with keen interests in Islamic-Western comparative cultures and civilizations.
18 July 2023
Source: countercurrents.org