By the Editor: Siddharth Sehgal
World is not the same place anymore, wars, poverty, migration and deaths are posing new questions everyday to humanity. The United Nations which started out as a collective effort to maintain peace around the world has failed on numerous occasions to do its job. Though this inaction and non interference is at the core of UN’s foundation but more often than not more powerful member states have their way in important matters rather than following a collective approach.
Security Council where countries make their case for wars is one such organization that has not expanded to reflect the changing global dynamics. Gone are the days when few nuclear powered nations had the influence of bossing everyone around, well not anymore. India’s absence can be attributed to Nehru but history won’t change the future. G4 which include India, Germany, Japan and Brazil are beating at Security Council’s door for a permanent entry. Reasons are clear, expansion will push for a more stability on a global scale, G4 now wield considerable influence in economic, military and development affairs of the world which cannot be ignored. Had decisions on Syria might have been taken on a broader larger panel earlier, we might not have witness the flood of refugees, horrors of extremists and lifeless bodies of young children.
UN does a lot of assistance and relief for people displaced by wars and through conferences, meetings and backdoor channels it tries to resolve crisis before it escalates to a conflict. If the world have to tackle groups like Al-Qaieda, ISIS, Boko Haram etc. its members has to device a collective strategy rather than isolated attempts that doesn’t change a thing on the ground. The situation in Iraq and Syria has the potential to amplify to devastating consequences for the Middle East and Europe, until the world decides to intervene. This is beyond United States, NATO, Russia or Iran. This is a world problem and a joint coordinated military effort is necessary to neutralize the threat. If rich oil producing countries of the gulf thinks barb wires keeps out extremism than they are grossly mistaken. Their citizens and money have flown into conflict zone and thinking that serpent they fostered will not come back to bite them is plain ignorance. Violence always spill over, sooner or later.
Europe’s problems of refugees lie well beyond its borders, they are trying to solve a problem whose source lies elsewhere. European leaders very well understand that until war ends in Syria this swell of desperate families is not going to stop anytime soon then why are they not pushing world leaders to face this crisis. Europe and Middle Easts problems may well develop into a conflict on global scale. Its high time world starts solving its problems and UNSC expansion will be a good start.