EDITORIAL
Armed conflict in Middle East draws in many nations, threatens to destabilise world peace
“You can no more win a war than win an earthquake,” so said an American politician Jeannette Rankin emphasising on the futility of war, as also its destructive and irrational nature. It is an irony that her country along with Israel, is presently at conflict with Iran. The conflict which began last weekend has killed Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and reportedly 1,145 other Iranian citizens.
The conflict is slowly becoming a global concern as it is rapidly expanding across the Middle East, pulling in US allies, adversaries and bystanders alike. Within the first forty-eight hours of the conflict, Iran targeted the member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and beyond. Iran’s decision to target the Gulf countries will have far-reaching consequences. Iran did not restrict its strikes to only US military bases in many of these countries, but also targeted their civilian sites, including airports and hotels, followed by major oil and gas infrastructure. Although air defences of Gulf countries were largely effective against Iranian missiles, helping prevent catastrophic damage, the Iranian drones proved harder to repel.
The conflict has further worsened after an Iranian-made drone crashed into the United Kingdom’s military base in Cyprus, compelling the UK to send their warships and air defence assets to Cyprus. The UK also agreed to the US request of using the British military bases for defensive strikes on Iranian missile sites. In a further development, the French President Emmanuel Macron ordered France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, to move from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean. He said the nuclear-powered vessel will be escorted by its air wing and its escorting frigates. As more and more countries are directly as well as indirectly joining the conflict, its scale of devastation could force it to assume the form of a full-fledged war.
India has already called for an early end to the conflict with dialogue and diplomacy, while expressing deep concern over the rapid escalation of hostilities and the mounting civilian toll. It has further said the conflict poses serious risks to regional stability, international trade and the safety of nearly one crore Indian nationals living and working in the Gulf. India’s exposure to the conflict could sooner or later extend well beyond the oil prices. The country may have to face serious problems in areas such as energy security, inflation management, currency stability, trade logistics, aviation routes and remittance flows.
It is too soon for anyone to have any idea as to when the conflict would end. Once such conflict starts, it is very hard to control. In the past, several individuals who have been awarded or were pursuing the Nobel Peace Prize, subsequently or concurrently, got involved in military conflicts or war, including Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed; American diplomat Henry Kissinger; Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi; former American president Barack Obama; PLO chairman Yasser Arafat-Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres- Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, among others. US President Donald Trump is the latest addition to this list.
President Trump believes that the US, with Israel, can cripple the regime in Tehran. However, he has conveniently forgotten that the Russia-Ukraine war is ongoing since last four years. The US-Israel conflict with Iran could continue for quite some time and in the process make some irreversible damage at the global level. He should therefore understand that, “The costliest peace is cheaper than the cheapest war”.
