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It has been nearly 100 years since World War I broke out, leaving a massive death toll and major devastation in its wake. Then, World War II was a global military conflict that divided almost all of the world's nations into two opposing sides. In that war, over 70 million people were killed and many towns and villages were destroyed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.
The United Nations was formed in 1945 after the cessation of the war, in the hope that there would never be such a conflict again. But, in reality, the United Nations has been unable to prevent any war to date. It seems that the institution, despite its principles of justice, human dignity and the wellbeing of all people, has yet to do its best. The wars and conflicts in the world over the past 50 years are testimony to that.
A quick look shows unresolved conflicts all over the world, from Africa to Asia, from the Middle East to Europe.
Most intransigent is the Arab-Israeli conflict – at its center an ongoing dispute over land. It started in 1947 when the U.N. General Assembly decided to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. Needless to say, this plan was rejected by native Arabs and was never implemented. However, when Britain withdrew from Palestine in 1948, the Jews declared the state of Israel on Palestinian land. The Palestinian Arabs fought back with the help of neighboring Arab nations and, sadly, are still fighting to date.
Shortly after the events in the Middle East, China enforced a long-held claim to Tibet in 1950, and Tibet was subsequently incorporated into Chinese territory. After a failed uprising in 1959, Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled to Dharamsala in northern India, where his loyal and faithful supporters set up a government in exile.
Tibetans argue that the Chinese invasion has stifled their freedoms and culture. Not surprisingly, the Chinese government views the conflict differently, arguing that Tibet has always been a part of China.
Burma, or what is now called Myanmar, has been under military rule since 1962 and is one of the most undeveloped countries in Asia. Its people live in fear and poverty. The worst off are the diverse ethnic minority groups in the rural states such as the Karen, Shan, Rakhine, Min, Chin and Kachin. Many have been violently chased from their homes, had their villages torched, been kidnapped for forced labor or killed. Many have also fled as refugees to neighboring countries like Malaysia and Thailand. The people of Myanmar staged uprisings in 1988 and 2007, both of which the army crushed.
Afghanistan has been perhaps the world's most fractured country, having suffered massive and brutal wars since the late 1970s. It was invaded by the Soviet Union from 1979 to 1988. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan, after the Soviets left, until 2001, when the U.S. government accused them of harboring Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 tragedy. When the Taliban refused to hand over Bin Laden, the United States initiated aerial attacks, paving the way for a new government.
Afghanistan's strategic position, sandwiched between the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia, along the historic Silk Road, makes it an important country for the world's superpowers.
Sri Lanka has been embroiled in a civil war since 1983, with no end in sight. The ongoing armed conflict between the government and the Tamil Tigers, who are fighting for the creation of an independent state in the north of the island, has killed over 70,000 people and left the country devastated and in chaos.
There was hope for peace when both sides agreed to a ceasefire in 2001. However, hostilities renewed in 2005 and the conflict has continued to escalate since.
The Yugoslavian wars dominated the world scene in 1991 and 2001, with dictatorship ending in misery for the people as new politicians fanned old flames of discord between the different ethnic groups: Serbs vs. Croats, Orthodox Christians vs. Catholics vs. Muslims, and so on.
Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia used to be part of one beautiful country called Yugoslavia. When its dictator died in 1980, the country crumbled and the underlying conflicts escalated into violent wars, the bloodiest conflicts in Europe since the end of World War II. The Serbs also initiated genocide against the Bosnian Muslims. At the end of the civil war, Yugoslavia was divided into different countries according to its ethnic groupings.
The year 2003 saw the beginning of the Darfur conflict and the oppression of black Africans. The population of Sudan consists of Arabs and diverse black African tribes, but the government in Khartoum is predominantly Arab. In 2003, a rebel group accused the government of oppressing black Africans and began attacking official sites in the Darfur area. The racial tensions soon escalated into war over land. Consequently, about 300,000 have been killed while millions more fled their destroyed villages. Those who managed to escape still struggle with starvation and disease in refugee camps.
Iraq has always been rife with tension, especially between its two largest groups, the Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Since 2003 it has become a battleground. The deadly power struggle was triggered when foreign forces led by the United States invaded Iraq to topple the government of Saddam Hussein. Now a new government is in place, supported by thousands of U.S. troops and their allies. But it still faces a security crisis from regular insurgent attacks.
The call for a just and lasting peace based on international law and human rights has fallen on deaf ears. Talk about peace leads people to ask, "What peace?" Talk about the Oslo Accords, the “roadmap,” and whether or not a negotiated settlement is possible in the Arab-Israeli conflict brings only a shrug of the shoulders. It is a rude awakening that the Oslo process was never one of peace, but one of military occupation under another name.
Although advocating peace sounds easy, implementing it is a difficult task. In this respect, a more proactive role by governments is imperative. It is equally important to ask what role China and East Asia, including ASEAN, can play in promoting a just solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, and how the Non-Aligned Movement can advance the cause of peace in that conflict. Besides, what is the role of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in promoting a just peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict?
The Palestinian issue is the "mother of all issues" and one of the most chronic conflicts on the global scene. With people of three faiths living together, peaceful coexistence is imperative. As Muslims, Jews and Christians before lived together in harmony and peace, it may be possible to do so again in the future, so long as justice is meted out.
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(Sekina Joseph is a writer, a social activist, and a member of the Malaysian Interfaith Network based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She can be contacted at sknjoseph@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Sekina Joseph.)
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