Invasion & Wars: An Excuse for Establishing World Dominance

“War is a cowardly escape from the problem of peace” — Thomas Mann

Every war or an act of violence by the administration is a double-edged sword. It is either viewed as a means of establishing stability in the region (specially the underdeveloped nations) or an act of vengeance against a terror attack.

20th century saw multiple invasions and wars with World War 1 and World War 2 being the highlights. They can be considered as brutal acts, but alternatively they are also considered as necessary acts to purge out the evil and lead to a more transformed world that we are leading sitting in our homes. Who would have imagined the European Union to be so unified or BRICS nations or SAARC nations to be unified on policy matters, economic development, or climate change? Every forum has its conflicts, but at the end there is a unified stand which the world can see among the nations.

Being a product of the 20th century (late into 20th century). Invasions and wars were something which were very rare to me in childhood. In July 1999, I thought to myself that the Kargil war was devastating and no such thing as an invasion of land can ever happen. 23 years later, I don’t have the same views. I have been a remote witness to at least 8 wars, 2 major invasions and conflicts over land. It seems that early 20th century era is coming back to haunt us.

The pressing questions that come to the forefront are “Are these wars really necessary?”, “Are these an act of vengeance against terrorism”, “Are these a means for the superpowers to exert their dominance in the world?”. There will never be a right answer for this.

The recent outbreak of potential invasion of Ukraine by Russia makes one think on the rationale behind such acts.

The Afghanistan war started with the aim to eliminate Taliban from the country and initiate the manhunt for Osama Bin Laden. 18 years later, Afghanistan is still in the hands of Taliban, while US has claimed to make amends in terms of development in the country. Coming back to square one is never any form of development. This is effectively a zero-sum game that has come into the picture. The last 10–15 years have seen defiance against dictatorship in Libya and war against terror in Iraq and Syria. All these acts of wars or invasion can very well be justified to bring stability or mitigate terrorism. The real measure of these acts can be seen by the present state in these countries. Do we see the economy developing or people not living in fear?

That is a question we need to ponder about. Every act of war in the recent years have indicated a direction in which countries are heading towards showing their presence in the world stage. Scandinavian countries like Denmark even went ahead to follow Germany’s and USA’s approach in the war in Afghanistan or Iraq. This only makes other superpowers (or highly developed nations) envious of their position at the world stage and force them to make decisions which are unwarranted.

Be it the South China sea conflict against Philippines or the unwarranted invasion of Crimea, both Russia and China have followed the herd to establish world dominance in the event of unsupported causes. Ukraine’s exclusion from NATO has been a long-drawn bone of contention, but their presence as allies does not mean that Russia can invade Ukraine. Development of the country’s military arsenal via artificial island does not give China any right to fight over water boundaries.

The world is already under the cloud of climate change, Covid pandemic and the frequent invasions and wars will only lead to greater unrest among humans leading to chaos. There is a need for order across the globe, but not at the expense of gains of a few countries. The real need of the hour is to establish a mechanism through forums like NATO, BRICS, SAARC, and the UN to mitigate these occurrences of conflict and violence. Monetary support goes a long way in establishing order anywhere and IMF needs to stand up in such a case to establish new means of monetary support for countries that are pressed by terrorism or dictatorship and provide the people a means of livelihood and something to look forward everyday rather than live in the fear of the next bomb attack or invasion.

These are some points to ponder about as we enter the age of restlessness and establishing dominance. Avoiding war and invasions is the only answer to solving the problem of peace