[Photo: Ryan Smithright, flickr]

By Mahboob Khawaja, PhD

The NATO summit at Vilnius, Lithuania ended without any tangible move toward peace. It was more a show of solidarity while actually enlarging and sustaining the conflicts between Russia, Ukraine and NATO. Out of nowhere, the Wagner group offered some unexpected hope to many Western protagonists for disruption in the conflict but instead, it demonstrated Russian leadership’s capacity to manage an unthinkable conflict situation with ingenuity and political integrity. Perplexed American and NATO leaders were stunned and speechless at how Russia could overcome a difficult internal crisis that they wished would destabilize Russia. In every age and time, egoistic leaders have pushed humanity to war and the dehumanization process ends from NOTHING to NOTHING.

When would morally and intellectually conscientious leaders learn from history that wars are not the solution to man-made conflicts? In a snapshot, beleaguered Ukraine and Russia are entangled in a proxy war across many conflicting deep-set interests all of which lose time, human lives, and energy, and leave economic devastation, and destruction of the Earth in its wake.  It is also undermining hope for a sustainable future for the rest of mankind. Both sides employ military dictums to tackle differences in human thought, 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. That is not happening.

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 into timeless darkness.  Do the leaders know what they are doing or are they all naturally delusional?  We, the People of knowledge speak logically about the Nature of Things affecting lives and our hopes for the future,  and we echo inspiration from the Divine Revelations – the truth and nothing but the truth – the Qur’an, the Bible, and Torah reveal similar narratives 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 mischief 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 the 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 a workable peace deal.

They All Manifest  Wrong Thinking for the Wrong Reasons and Are Destroying the Earth and Human Civilizations in the Process

Rational conflict analysis in the search for peace involves listening and learning divergent viewpoints and finding a common place for reasoning without addressing a halt to the animosities. This is effective communication and enlightened leadership traits to imagine peace outside the box. Mankind is fraught with sorrows and fear of unknown animosities and daily killings and displacement of the thinking process. A society cannot co-exist with themselves, and the surroundings and make any positive contributions to sustainable change and progress, when in perpetual war. The US, NATO, EU, Russia, and Ukraine are stuck in this seamless vicious entanglement. Frighteningly, desperation could aggravate anyone to use tactical nuclear weapons unilaterally with global catastrophic consequences. The Russian-Ukrainian grain deal is suspended and Ukraine is increasingly being targeted with drones and civilian destruction. In a rational context, why can’t this absurd war be stopped? 

In all ages, people and nations claiming to be the most powerful were transgressors manipulating the Earth and humanity were destroyed by the Laws of God (natural causes). Many empires and egoistic leaders went this route to pursue their goals. We, the conscientious people of the globe, possess a rational understanding of an equilibrium and balanced relationship between Man, Life, and the 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’s 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 the Earth’s average distance to the Sun is 93 million miles (105 million km); the distance of the Moon from the 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 beings, as One Humanity, have 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

Suppose Russian, American and NATO leaders are honest, proactive and accountable to the global community. In that case, 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:

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 the 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 the 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, and is the author of several publications including the latest: One Humanity and the Remaking of Global Peace, Security and Conflict Resolution. Germany, 12/2019.