We all imagine the world to be a safe and a beautiful place to live, though we all know the reality. Amid the liberal, neo-liberal and constructivist narratives; and the economic and cultural elements of the soft power, Realism prevails. First Russia-Ukraine war and now the continuous conflict between Israel and Hamas prove that still the states are driven by the conventional definition of power, and wars are an inevitable reality
In the world of multilateralism and complex interdependence where the states associate with each other based on their common benefits, irrespective of differences between them, multilateral platform are considered as the vehicles of resolving the conflicts and promoting collaboration. All such multilateral platforms or for that matter the well-established international institutions like the UN could not do anything so far either in the case of Russia-Ukraine war and now in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
All that could be seen this week was a big humanitarian crisis (for both Israel and Palestine), direct involvement of more nations like Iran and Turkey in the ongoing war and a big question mark on the international organisations. On the other hand, Putin’s announcement this week to revoke Russian participation in Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) has jolted international initiatives for arms control and disarmament. But what he gave as a reason should also be taken into the consideration. Putin said that he is just copying what the US has done. The US signed the Treaty in 1996 but never ratified it. This is the reason many nations including India calls it a biased treaty.
Russia’s CTBT exit sparks nuclear disarmament debate
Putin has given the same reason for Russian exit from the CTBT. The US signed the CTBT in 1996 but its Senate did not ratify it. CTBT was a flagship effort of the UN to ban all nuclear tests in the world. Though it was adopted in 1996, it could never come into effect.
Developing nations like India openly criticised this treaty for being biased and partial. The powerful nuclear club nations like the US signed the treaty but never ratified it. This was looked as an attempt of the nuclear superpowers to stop the developing nations from joining their so-called elite group. When looked closely, most of such treaties created to promote nuclear disarmament seem to be prejudiced towards the developing nations (read: global south), and that’s the reason arms control and disarmament are a far-fetched dream on ground.
Russian officials have clearly stated that Russia would not conduct any nuclear testing unless the US does. But considering the intensified Russia-Ukraine war (read: Russia-NATO led by the US war) and the associated dimensions including the nations, Russian announcement of exiting from CTBT cannot be called a welcoming news for anyone.
This also opens a new window for those nations who actually endorse nuclear disarmament to debate, discuss and develop a more inclusive, democratic, dynamic and comprehensive normative framework to promote nuclear disarmament and usage of nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes. India can take a lead here!
India’s role in resolving conflicts
India can and should take a lead in resolving the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict as well. So far, this ongoing war between Israel and Hamas has intensified only leaving thousands of dead, injured and homeless in the region. Involvement of other nations, directly or indirectly, has escalated the war exponentially.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s statements created a stir when he blamed Western countries for the attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. He said that the main culprits of violence in Gaza are Western countries, which are continuously supporting Israel. The Turkish President further said that Israel is a pawn of the Western countries in West Asia. He also mentioned ‘Crusade War’ while blaming Western nations and angered by this, Israel withdrew its diplomatic staff from Turkey.
Crusade war was a religious war fought between Christians and Muslims to capture the city of Jerusalem, which is one of the holiest places for both religions. Where Jesus Christ was born in Jerusalem, the same city houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is the third holiest mosque in Saudi Arabia. Eight such Crusade wars were fought between Muslims and Christians from 1096 to 1291, in which millions of people died. Referring to this war not only increased the bitterness between Israel and Turkey bilaterally, it also added fuel to the ongoing conflict.
It is very easy to escalate any conflict, equally difficult is to end it. Every nation claims to be a harbinger of global peace and security, why wars happen then remains a pertinent question. Be it Russia-Ukraine war or Israel-Palestine war, instead of finding a solution of the core issue, more and more nations keep getting involved in the war, directly or indirectly. This shows the ‘real’ face of the global politics, which is cruel, war-oriented and power-hungry, inspired by the pessimist face of human being. As Thomas Hobbes wrote, “a war of all against all” – the description that he gave for human existence in Leviathan. When would the optimist side of human being take control? Remains the most significant question at this juncture.