THE WORLD MUST UNITE TO STOP THE UKRAINIAN WAR

Global leaders must keep their cool and try to resolve issues peacefully, writes Rajendra Aneja

The war in Ukraine continues its inhuman and tragic trajectory. Children, women and soldiers are dying. The refugees are flowing out of Ukraine like a swollen river. Four million people have fled, as refugees. However, 40 million Ukrainians are yet at home bearing the brunt of the missiles. Homes, buildings, schools, hospitals, shopping malls, are being razed to the ground. Generations of younger people across the world had not seen the devastation that a war can wreak, except in World War II movies. Now we see pain, ruin and anguish on our televisions, round the clock.

We are confronted with the dire possibility of a nuclear conflagration. There can be no victors in a nuclear combat. The last time the world came close to a nuclear World War was in October 1962, during the Cuba missile crisis. President John Kennedy had quarantined all shipments to Cuba and asked Soviet First Secretary Mr. Nikita Khrushchev to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba. Fortunately, good sense prevailed on all sides. Russia removed its missiles from Cuba and the USA removed its missiles from Turkey.

Now, Russia has categorically asserted that it will resort to nuclear weapons, if it perceives an existential threat. This statement has shell-shocked the whole world. The fact is, that never before, has the world been closer to another World War, as of now.

Mr. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine has publicly stated that the country will not join NATO. President Putin should relent in the war effort. He can seek appropriate guarantees from Ukraine, including a parliamentary endorsement. After that, he should recall his troops.

The Ukraine war is now being increasingly perceived as a West versus Russian engagement. Ukraine is being condensed to a proxy battleground between NATO and Russia. Going by the ferocity and frequency of NATO and western reprimands of Russia, it would appear that it is them battling Russia, not Ukraine. An observer of the war commented, “Going by the bonhomie of the NATO nations at Brussels on the 24 March, it appeared that they were bonding at a fiesta; there was no seriousness. Considering the number of the dead and displaced in Ukraine and Russia, a more somber mood was expected; perhaps, even a minute of silence for those who have lost lives in this dastardly war.”

If the war continues for some more months, Ukraine is in danger of becoming another Vietnam. In the Vietnam war, whilst American troops fought on the ground, the Viet Cong had the support of other Communist nations like China and the USSR. In the Ukraine war, Russia is fighting upfront. However, all the NATO countries are suppling missiles and equipment to Ukraine, whilst refraining from direct engagement. So, Ukraine is de facto becoming a proxy war between NATO and Russia. The Ukraine war should not become a struggle between the superpowers, that is, Russia and the USA, fought on Ukrainian soil, using Ukrainian soldiers and pillorying Ukrainian citizens as battering rams.

Nor should Ukraine become an ideological battle ground between the pro-democracy western nations and the erstwhile communist countries like Russia and China. The Ukraine war should not become a battle for super-power supremacy. Unfortunately, Ukraine will lose the most and will be crippled on this political chessboard.

The world is not on the same page on the Ukraine war. As the Financial Times (24 March 2022), pointed out, “Not for the first time, the west is mistaking its own unity for a global consensus. One misleading measure is at the UN. In the organisation’s last tally earlier this month, 141 of 193-member states condemned Vladimir Putin’s blatant violation of international law. But the 35 that abstained account for almost half the world’s population. That includes China, India, Vietnam, Iraq and South Africa. If you add those that voted with Russia, it comes to more than half.”

Painting the war in ideological colours, as a fight between democracy and oligarchies or despotism, will only add fuel to fire. Significantly, many of the former communist countries like Russia, China, Vietnam, have followed pragmatic, pro-capitalist polices from the 1990s in capital formation, monetary policy and international trade. There is no iron economic curtain between the western and the former communist countries. So, there is no need, to drumbeat ideological victories.  

A protracted war in Ukraine, will have ramifications across countries, including on the prices of oil, raw materials, commodities and supply chains. We live in a globally interdependent world now. Events in any part of the world, have an immediate and cascading impact on all parts of the world.

Global leaders must keep their cool and try to resolve issues peacefully. This is the essence of leadership. President Biden should bring Russia and Ukraine to a conference table and help them to resolve issues cordially. He visited Poland. He could have stopped at Moscow also, to persuade Mr. Putin to end the war. Calling President Putin, a war criminal or a butcher, is not going to create an environment for talks or peace.

The conscience of mankind is being sheared. Yet, there is no concerted endeavour by leaders of various nations to forge a team to visit Ukraine and Russia, to talk to the warring sides and negotiate a settlement. It would be useful if the Western group of nations focused on ensuring a ceasefire, rather than taking sides in this ugly battle.

We need to realise that the Ukraine war is not a game-exercise. It is a rotten, bloody battle. People are dying. Women are turning into widows. Children are becoming orphans. We cannot be cavalier about human life.

President Biden should play the role of an elder statesman in this conflict. As one of the tallest leaders of the world, he should refrain from taking sides in this conflict. President Biden should be the peacemaker. And, the peacemakers are always blessed.

  Aneja was the Managing Director of Unilever Tanzania. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, and a Management Consultant