The Fragile Global Peace
Dr. Michel E. Abs
Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches
As of the end of World War II and the shifting of the turning of victorious countries to fueling small wars that keep fires burning in different parts of the world, without compromising world peace and disturbing the affluent nations, people have not felt the fateful threat that they feel today in the light of the ongoing warfare going on in Europe.
I say Europe, and I do not say Ukraine, because everyone knows- the political scientist as well as the ordinary newspaper reader- that a war of this caliber, in this particular place and at this time, cannot be considered as a local war or a conflict between two states, limited in time and place.
The war that was kindled in Europe, which may harm Europe's life to say the least, and may lead to the destruction of its beautiful civilization - God forbid - is only the culmination point of small, cold wars raging in any part of the world, where the so-called "great" countries’ vital strategic interests lie as a basis of world-wide energy.
Do you imagine what could happen to industrialized countries with vast distances and extremely cold weather in case the quantities of energy that they have access to at present decrease? Can you imagine the economic and humanitarian massacre that will occur in these societies? Do you imagine the impoverishment that these societies will be exposed to only in terms of domestic energy consumption, without addressing the possibility of closing huge corporations that can no longer afford the rapidly rising energy costs? We have begun to witness in the ancient continent- which some derogatorily call the Old Continent - as well as in its civilization and culture indications of a decline in the level of life and well-being.
We in Lebanon are experiencing this tragedy, since the ruling cast announced that the hard currencies of the Central Bank had run out and, consequently, the inability of the state to secure energy to the people whose savings had been plundered, into global darkness, bitter cold, and the collapse of business enterprises.
Since the escalation of the concept of the world-system (le système-monde), which expresses the dependence of societies on each other to the point of sometimes dependency, the danger of estrangement between states increases and may lead to the ruin of the society that depends on the other, especially to secure vital materials or markets for its products.
Life from one door is narrow as popular wisdom in Lebanon goes, so how then will the advanced industrial societies rely on a single source of energy? Have they forgotten that political honeymoons last as long as mutual interests endure and end with dreams of expansion and hegemony? Or are there other considerations such as cost, exchange and reciprocity that govern these relations?
What is happening in Europe today, is that which will inevitably be reflected in the world, and that is only the tip of the iceberg of what can happen anywhere else in the world where there are cold wars that take place in secret and some incendies are kindled in the open without anybody caring for them or paying to them the attention that they truly deserve.
What is happening in Europe today should be a source of concern to the world's policymakers and to those who fashion people's destinies as well, urging them to have more insight into the fate of humanity which is losing its life and its ensuing destiny as they say that this process is nothing but “collateral damage”. The extermination of families, villages, or entire cities, the permanent disability of thousands, the displacement of millions, and their mutation into misery... All of this is only to be termed as “collateral damage” because, quite simply, no voice is as loud as the sound of battle.
The opponent wants to annihilate his opponent and let people pay the price of the frenzy of violence!
Some researchers in sociology and politics argue that industrial society can only live and survive by means of war, because the costs of war as well as that which comes after wars is that which drives the economic wheel and secures investment as well. The fallacy in such a theory and such a perspective lies in that they subordinate human life to the considerations of the profits of giant corporations that control the fate of humanity.
It is surely unfortunate that humanitarian trends as well as the trends of the so-called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) cannot curb this unbridled trend towards consumption, which finds its climax in war.
Despite all human and cultural progress, we see that the human race is still on the verge of returning to the jungle, to the fury of violence, a violence equipped with the best techniques for more effective extermination.
Is it to be conceivable that the fate of humanity hinges on a red button that will be pressed by a human being?
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." (Matthew 5:9).