The World Peace in Peril
Europe is again a war zone. War trumpets are blasting. Air raid sirens are echoing in the Ukraine capital. Superpowers are lined up. On one side it is Russia. NATO alliance is siding with Ukraine, but they are not actively involved in combat to defend Ukraine. Since the aggressor is a nuclear superpower led by a tyrant, NATO does not want a direct confrontation. India, China, UAE are all on the sidelines.
Russia has its own explanation for the invasion of Ukraine. When the Berlin wall came down and the former USSR was dismantled in the early 1990s, there was an understanding, that North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will not expand to include eastern European countries. But that promise was broken. NATO membership grew from 17 countries in 1990 to 30 today, several of the new members were once part of the Soviet-led Warsaw pact. Vladimir Putin does not want a NATO presence or a defense shield system in Ukraine, a country that has 2300 KM of the border with Russia.
But the West and its allies maintain that the former Soviet republics and the Baltic countries voluntarily requested to be included in the NATO. In May 1997, at a Paris conference, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its member states, and Russia signed a “Founding Act” on mutual relations, cooperation and security. The Act “reaffirms the determination of NATO and Russia to give concrete substance to their shared commitment to building a stable, peaceful and undivided Europe, whole and free, to the benefit of all its peoples”. But Russia subsequently violated its commitment by invading Georgia in 2008 and annexing Crimea in 2014.
And now, Russia is in a full-fledged war with Ukraine. They refused to engage in negotiations or diplomatic solutions. Putin did not accept US President Joe Biden’s proposal to hold off any provocation and to hold a summit to discuss the crisis. Russia could easily take over Ukraine in a matter of days and will instill a Russian puppet in charge of the country. NATO fears that the Russian power grab will not stop with Ukraine. Now, they will eye on Baltic countries. And such an unchecked territorial expansion will bring all the former USSR factions together under Moscow. That will be a serious threat to the West and EU countries. And China is watching the war events closely. They are also, on the verge of annexing Taiwan. China is already occupying Tibet and they have expansion plans in several South China Sea islands. China has a long-standing border dispute with India in the Himalayas in the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Kashmir. An easy walk in Ukraine by Russia and the inability of the world powers to stop the aggression will be a green signal to China to pursue its territorial ambitions.
World peace is in peril. Stability in several regions is in jeopardy. Authoritarian ideology is reemerging. Dictators and tyrants are on a raise. Principles of independence, freedom, liberty, self-government, the pursuit of happiness, justice for all, are in decline.
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