Global Issues
On the Brink: Strategies to Stop World War III in its Tracks -By Shittu Abass
To prevent this from escalating to World War III, the United Nations security members should play a non-aligned role by keeping themselves neutral in the intervention of the conflict. They should not clean shit from the butt of one party and leave others. It is prevalent that western countries are the backers of Israel since Israel is independent; this can be seen in the unindependent state of Palestine and the independence of Israel.
The international community should function like a well-regulated football field, governed by laws to prevent chaos. However, it has devolved into a jungle-like state where power dictates the dynamics.
After World War II in 1945, the international community established organisations like the United Nations (UN), the European Union, NATO, and the International Committee of the Red Cross to prevent a recurrence of the atrocities witnessed in both world wars. Additionally, international law was established to guide state affairs.
Unfortunately, these preventive measures failed to impede the looming threat of a third world war, as the international community found itself in disarray. Despite the existence of international organisations and laws, chaos and conflict persist.
Moreover, the decision-making process within these bodies often serves the interests of the powerful members, leading to what some theorists call “private policies.”
Recently, Iran sent 300 missiles and drones toward Israel marking its first direct military attack on the Jewish state. But Israel and Iran have waged a shadow war for decades, through cyberattacks, targeted killings, and proxy groups. In the same vein, the Russia-Ukraine war is still on the verge. This multi-state war is what caused World War I when a Bosnian Serb named Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary held Serbia responsible and declared war on July 28. Russia came to Serbia’s defense, and by August 4, Germany, France, and Britain were drawn into the war, with the Ottoman Empire joining in November of the same year.
Successive Iranian regimes have vowed to destroy Israel. Israel and its Western allies, including the United States, view Tehran as a threat, particularly as it gets closer to nuclear weapons capability. Iran had been engaging in a proxy war with Israel. The United States has provided Israel with more military aid than any other country since World War II—now amounting to about $3 billion per year—in part to protect it from Iran. Iran and Israel have been fighting night and day since 1947, when Israel gained independence. Even though they are also part of 13 states that voted against them not being accepted as members of the UN.
On the other hand, Israel etched her writing into the sentences of this conflict because of her violation of international law. In 2004, the court ruled that a separation built through Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank was contrary to international law and that Israel should halt the construction immediately, but Israel ignored the verdict. The key security members of the United Nations take any action against the breach of international law but ignore it. Also, the bombing of the Iran diplomacy building in Damascus on April 1 etched Israel’s words into the sentences of this conflict.
To prevent this from escalating to World War III, the United Nations security members should play a non-aligned role by keeping themselves neutral in the intervention of the conflict. They should not clean shit from the butt of one party and leave others. It is prevalent that western countries are the backers of Israel since Israel is independent; this can be seen in the unindependent state of Palestine and the independence of Israel. This can be seen when the USA also vetoed the vote of 13 members on the state of Palestine at the UN conference this week. Also, despite the brutal attacks of Israel on Palestine, the United States made no complaints but did so about the Iran attack on Israel. This is the reason why Iran warned the United States not to intervene in the conflict on Sunday, because they knew that Israel was an apple in the United States eyes.
Furthermore, there should be a strong nuclear bomb pact that will deter both states from misusing it; both of them have it in their possession. If both of them release it, it will cause havoc and damage to the world because they have allies that also have nuclear bombs in their possession. Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 are examples.
In addition to that, calling both parties into parley will also extinguish the fire of the conflict. Both parties should be called to parley in the United Nations meeting, and the members should help them to root off the conflict by attending to the parties interests and untangle the tangles of their interests.
To end it all, with the metamorphosing of this world conflict into World War 111, we let the USA lose her world power because Russia is rendering aid to Iran as they did for North Korea in 1950. Directly and indirectly, America also does the same to her baby, Israel. This can be seen when the USA joined forces with Jordan, the UK, France, and Germany to intercept Iranian drones. Moreover, Russia’s aid to Iran will entice Iran to join BRICS, an economic organisation that Russia is building to weaken the US dollar’s value. Currently, Russia is having her way in romancing African and some underdeveloped countries; this will be in addition to her allies, other communist states like China, North Korea, Cuba, and others. As a result of this, World War 111 will be to the detriment of the USA. In order to prevent this, they also declare that they can’t back Israel’s attack on Iran. What a nice move! That is an application of game theory.
