THE RESONANCE OF WORLD WAR 1: 1914 AND A CENTURY AFTER

Just over a hundred years ago, the armies of the World’s Great powers were arrayed against each other to do battle in what was latter called ‘the great war’ or The First World War--- The War to end all Wars!

Enticed by a rise in industrialization, the race for sophisticated armament of the day and the penchant for global influence in colonial empires amongst the great powers (Germany, Great Britain, France, Russia and Austria-Hungary);  the conflict was sparked by the assassination of Austrian Crown Prince Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28^th June 1914, thus igniting the gun powder in the Balkan Peninsula that ultimately conflagrated Europe and the wider World in a gruesome conflict otherwise called the first World War.

Arrival of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand at Sarajevo (28th June 1914)

"Our ghosts will wander through Vienna, stroll around the palaces and scare the masters."….. anonymous Serbian writ

It indeed happened that the World Powers lined themselves in series of infectious alliances that obliged them to go to war even when their respective countries were not directly under attack. And so after the June assassination, and a diplomatic moribund July, War was contiguously declared from the first day of August as Germany declared war On Russia, and on France by 3^rd August. Great Britain declared war against Germany on August 4 as Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia on August 5; Serbia against Germany on August 6; Montenegro against Austria-Hungary on August 7 and against Germany on August 12; France and Great Britain against Austria-Hungary on August 10 and on August 12, respectively; Japan against Germany on August 23; Austria-Hungary against Japan on August 25 and against Belgium on August 28.

A live relic of an helmet on a WW1 battle feild
Source:bbcnews.com

‘The lamps are going out over all Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.’…….

Edward Grey (1862 - 1933)

British statesman.

Although almost all the belligerent nations were European and the major battle fields were in Europe, the war transcended from being a European one to a global one as the colonial powers moved to seize colonial territory from their enemies. As such, Africans had the War experience as Great Britain fought and seized German colonial territory in West Africa (Togo and Cameroun), East Africa (Tanzania) and South Africa (Namibia); whilst a combined British, French and Japanese effort annexed all German interests in the Far East and South Pacific. With the United States entering the War on the side of the Allies on 6^th April 1917 after 3 years of conflict, the War truly assumed its status as a ‘World War’— as it had effectively engaged all the continents.

‘In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place.’….

John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

Canadian poet and physician.

A reenactment of the march of Gordon Highlanders on the puppy feilds of Belgium
Source:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2715756/Showered-million-poppies-Soldiers-stand-huge-red-cloud-symbolise-Great-War-dead-enact-scenes-conflict.html

From initial skirmishes at Liege to the serial battles at Mons, Marne, Ypres, Somme, Verdun, Gallipoli, Jutland, Basra, Asiago, Isonzo, Brusilov, Tannenberg and the Masurian lakes countless souls perished in astonishing industrial scale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpCUFw-EnNw

‘They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.’…….

Laurence Binyon (1869 - 1943)

British poet and art historian.

In response to the slaughter of World War I.

Poems for the Fallen, "For the Fallen"

The War finally came to an end on the 11^th hour of 11^th November 1918 with the signing of the Armistice agreement and capitulation of the foremost Central Power belligerent in Germany not after some indelible marks have been imprinted in history by the effect of the War; Viz:

1.  Unlike other Wars before this, any conflict between global powers or their client states will automatically spiral effect in dragging nations across continents to a multi-faceting conflict whose resultant will surpass the initial conflicting terms.

2.  With the Use of Chlorine gas by the belligerents, ammunitions will now be classified as ‘conventional’ and ‘Un conventional’ (Weapons of Mass Destruction) weapons.

3.  Civilian centres such as Villages, Towns and Cities will now serve as battle grounds thus effectively negating the notion that wars are to be fought at some distant fields.

4.  The advent of the bombs, rapid firing machine guns and chemical weapons meant that thousands of Soldiers could be mowed down in minutes as seen in the battles of Marne and Ypres. Indeed a Millions of souls could perish in seconds after these weapons were improved on much later after that war.

5.   Regardless of the Military might of the belligerent, wars cannot be independently fought without considering attendant and after effects of conflicting interests and ideologies which will ultimately engage non-belligerent nations in subtle or active Warfare.

 It’s a hundred years spanning ten decades of historical epochs since the First World War was ignited; however, a century on, the world still stands a risk of being dragged to a war of contiguous effect as it was a hundred years ago viz;

1.  Like pre-1914, the World’s powers are now aligned in seeming loose alliance of East and Western bloc ideology as fronted by Russia and the United States.

2.  As seen in the Balkans in pre-1914 of a perfected disdain for occupying forces, the Nations of the Middle East have taken this stance in open disdain for Western Military presence in their lands. Like 1914, the Middle East is serving a simmering ‘Balkan effect’ in global politics.

3.  As it was in 1914 when the War was forcefully promulgated upon Africa due to colonial subjugation; though now independent, African Nations will once again be dragged into a conflict involving the Great Powers as their territories will serve as Military bases for these powers. The US already has an ‘African Command’ AFRICOM bases in Djibouti as the French Military has a ubiquitous presence in almost all its former African colonies. China has so far been only economically present in Africa but one cannot ignore the trade in Chinese and Russian arms by some African countries. They too might come calling for higher military commitment in the event of a conflict.

The resultant of the First World War did not entirely spell doom and gloom for the World as it ensured:

1.  Nationalistic consciousness in colonized territories. That in a sense brought about the emergence of all Nation States as seen on today’s maps.

2.  It brought about the awareness for international cooperation and collaboration amongst the Nations of the World. Though eventually moribund and toothless in effect, the ‘League of Nations’ formed after the First World War was a model precursor to the United Nations and its numerous under-agencies which has in  some ways helped mitigate dire consequences of pertinent global issues.

Like Pre-1914 as seen today, Nations of the World do not foresee a large scale global conflict due to:

1.  Economic and social ties and interdependence

2.  Mutually assured destruction  due to the sophistication of modern arms

Nevertheless, we might be fooled into a state of ‘false global security’ by not taking into account the simmering events of the Israeli-Arab conflict, the wider Middle East conflict from the Arab spring, the Ukrainian tensions and pockets of conflicts around Africa—all of which ironically were creations from the aftermath of the First World War as seen in:

1.  The Arab revolt against Ottoman rule in 1916

2.  The Balfour declaration of 1917 announcing Jewish rights to Palestine

3.  The emergence of a bipolar world with from the Bolshevik revolution in Russia in 1917

4.  The awakening of Nationalism, creation of borders by colonial powers with no respect for historical ties and cultures of peoples of the dominated lands as seen in Africa and the Middle East (The Sykes and Picot agreement). As such, agitations for a redrawing of National ‘colonial borders’ could simmer into some sort of global conflict.

‘Six million young men lie in premature graves, and four old men sit in Paris partitioning the earth.’…

Anonymous

 Referral to the Paris Peace Conference following World War I, attended by the leaders of France, Britain, Italy, and the United States.

The World's big four leaders (US, Great Britain, France and Italy) at the treaty of Versailles in 1919
Source: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/May-June-08/On-this-Day--Treaty-of-Versailles-Ends-World-War-I.html

Yes peace was proclaimed in 1918 after the War that was said to end all Wars and a treaty was signed in Versailles in 1919. But several wars involving Great powers as a resultant of their actions and deeds from the aftermath of the First World War has been fought. There was even a Second World War! And today several global conflicts threatening to drag numerous Nations to battle looms. Is 2014 not just a Hundred years back?

‘This is not peace: it is an armistice for twenty years.’……..

Ferdinand Foch (1851 - 1929)

French soldier, 1919.

Remark at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

THE INTRIGUES OF THE ETERNAL CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND ARABS IN PALESTINE

A perpetuating conflict characterizing the Middle East since the inception of the 20^th Century especially since 1948, the once known Arab- Israeli wars has now metamorphosed into a Israel-Hezbollah conflict, Israel-Hamas conflict, Israel-Gaza conflict etc.

It all began with the settlement and the right of return question for Jews to Palestine instigated by the creation of the World Zionist Organization by Theodore Hezerl in 1897. The land in question was that which straddled the Jordan River to its West and East Bank (though the core agitation was majorly for lands to the West Bank of the River Jordan). Adding to this land agitation was the religious and cultural delineation between the Jews and Arabs. The Arabs being predominantly Muslim and the Jews being Judaizers both attest to being custodians of the World’s major religions viz; Islam, Christianity and Judaism and both claiming a common progenitor in Grand Patriarch Abraham.

THE JEWISH AGITATION LINES

The Jews claim rights to Palestine by ‘Divine right’ as stated in verses of the Pentateuch. Nevertheless, following historical lines, the modern day Jews are also regarded as descendants of ancient Hebrews who first settled Palestine or Canaan (as it was then called) by assimilation and conquest from the 12^th century BC? After series of wars and political upheavals, the Hebrews were deported from Canaan by Assyrian and Babylonian rulers and the final rout to Jewish presence in Palestine was delivered by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 135AD when a ban was placed on any form of Jewish presence in Jerusalem and Greater Jerusalem (Judea) on the pain of death. These periods is referred to in Jewish history by Josephus as the great Shoah.

Jews has since then lived in Diaspora and clogged around communes with a central identity of a Synagogue. From that time onwards, Jews had distinct referrals to their settlements. Jews of Europe were referred to as Ashkenazi Jews, and those who settled around the Middle Orient and North Africa were referred to as Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews. With distinct religious observations, Jews were sometimes targeted for destruction at their various settlement locations such as during the Spanish Inquisitions, several deportation orders from England and other European Countries during the Middle Ages, the Russian Pogroms and ultimately the widely acclaimed Jewish Holocaust attributed to the Nazi regime during the Second World War.

ARAB AGITATION LINES

The Arabs as known to today’s contemporary World are a group of people endemic to the Middle East and North Africa most of whom are largely adherents to the Islamic religion.

The groups of peoples referred to as Arabs are an agglomeration of several nomadic tribes delineated by several clansteads once endemic to the Arabian Peninsula. During the initial spread of Islam upon the death of its founder (Mohammed), a United Arab Islamic Militant force rode out of the Arab Peninsula and conquered far reaching lands as far West to the Iberian Peninsula of Spain and Portugal to the steppes of the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan in the Near East. Apart from the massive conversions of subjugated peoples and kingdoms to Islam, there was a growing resentment against Arabization that came with Islamization of these subjugated peoples. This is eminently seen today in the Kurdish agitation in Iraq, Berber discontent in North Africa, the Darfur conflict of Sudan which are all remnants of Arab Muslim vs Non Arab Muslim agitations.

Thus, the Arabs since the 7^th century AD have spread their physical presence from their enclave in the Arabian peninsula to dominate the religious, political and cultural lives of the entire Middle East and North Africa whilst assimilating and wiping off existing cultural identities of these lands.

THE PALESTINIAN QUESTION?

The land referred to as Palestine is that which straddles the East bank of the Mediterranean Sea to the West Bank Jordan and from the sand dunes of the of the Negev desert in the South to the Anti Lebanon Mountains in North.

Anciently referred to as Canaan (the land flowing with Milk and Honey), it was originally peopled by several Semitic groups before it was conquered by wandering Hebrew tribes in the 12^th century BC. After series of conquests and deportations, the land was almost emptied of its Hebrew presence in the 2^nd Century AD before it ultimately conquered by the Arabs in 7^th century AD. From then on, the several heterogeneous peoples that populated the territory became assimilated/ adopted the ruling Arab culture.

The name ‘Palestine’ in itself is the Greek referral of ‘Philistine’- a group of ancient Indo-European peoples who once settled and founded 5 city states along the East Mediterranean coast namely; Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron and Gath. These peoples were ultimately subjugated by serial wars with the Assyrian-Babylonian Empires and ultimately lost their cultural identity through waves of conquest and deportations by the subjugating armies.

The Ottoman Empire succeeded the Arab led Islamic Caliphate of the Middle East. With its capital at Constantinople (Modern day Istanbul), the Ottoman Turks established an empire covering the Hejaz region of the Arabian peninsula in the South, parts of North Africa, the Balkans, the Anatolian Peninsula and Mesopotamia.

THE AGE OF NATIONALIZATION AND EMANCIPATION

Though Sunni Muslims themselves, the Arabs began to resent a weakened, pro secular Ottoman Government and readily accepted Allied promise of emancipation from Ottoman rule in return for an alliance during the 1st World War and followed it up with the Arab revolt of 5^th June 1916 in support of British/Allied effort to dismantle an already waning Ottoman Empire.

With promise of liberation and emancipation at hand, the Arabs pursued this cause vigorously as Allied powers established spheres of influence amongst themselves in conquered territories.

Initial Partition of the Levant according to the Sykes and Picot agreement of 1916
Source: http://www.mythsandfacts.org/conflict/mandate_for_palestine/mandate_for_palestine.htm

TREATIES AND AGREEMENTS

An agitation for a Jewish state to solve the looming ‘Jewish question’ in Europe and moves by the Organization evoked the British in making the Balfour Declaration which guaranteed a Jewish homeland in Palestine under the watchful eyes of British trusteeship.

The Allies (Britain, France and Russia), further signed the famous ‘Sykes and Picot’ agreement which partitioned the Levant into Spheres of British and French influence. Thus, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq were created with the first two under French control while the British controlled Egypt, Iraq and Iran.

Revised Partition plan delineating Proposed Jewish and Arab Spheres of Influence
http://www.mythsandfacts.org/conflict/mandate_for_palestine/mandate_for_palestine.htm

THE FIGHT FOR THE SOUL OF PALESTINE

A wave of Arab Nationalism in the 1920s & 30s saw the independence of most Levantine Countries, except the region referred to as Palestine, which was under UN-mandated British trusteeship. Considering the cultural and political differences of the agitating groups (Arabs and Jews), the UN promulgated a partition plan for two separate countries to emerge on the land referred to as Palestine.

The lands to the East Bank of the Jordan River were designated as exclusively Arab and were called Trans-Jordan (modern-day Jordan). Jerusalem and Bethlehem were designated ‘International Status’ to be administered by the UN due to their religious significance to Jews, Christians and Muslims, whilst the lands to the West Bank of the Jordan River were partitioned between Arabs and Jews for two distinct, separate states to emerge.

The Arabs rejected the partition plan outright. The Jews reluctantly accepted with hopes for lasting peace and unilaterally declared independence, calling their land ‘Erez Y’Isra’el’ (Israel). The Arabs declared war on the emergent Jewish state with the intention of grabbing more land and exterminating the Jewish population of Palestine. The Jews defeated the belligerent Arabs, captured more territory and turned out hundreds of thousands of Arabs into refugees. The Arabs retaliated by expelling over a million indigenous Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews from their lands and confiscating their properties.

UN Partition plan of 1947
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandatory_Palestine

UNENDING WARS OF ATTRITION

Ever since the 1947-1949 Arab-Israeli wars, several others have followed in 1956, 1967,1973 and 1982. With the ego of the Arab governments of Egypt and Syria punctured in surprise defeats at the hands of Israeli forces each time at battle, the Egyptian and Jordanian governments signed a peace treaty with Israel and recognized the Jewish rights to Palestine. Other Arab countries have still stood firm on the initial Arab denial of Jewish rights to Palestine.

As Arab governments backed down from an outright direct military confrontation with Israel, Palestinian Arabs have taken up their cause in their own hands ever since with the emergence of militant groups such as Fatah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas, etc, to agitate for their independence.

Sporadic wars of attrition have been fought between Israel and these militant groups ever since, each time at the slightest provocative instance, such as stone-throwing Palestinians against Israeli forces, Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, etc.

Israeli Sphere of Influence after the 1947-1949 wars of Independence
Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_israel_palestinians/maps/html/israel_founded.stm

PLACATIVE OPTIONS

Regardless of the side supported, humanitarian emotions are always raised anytime the usual conflict/intifadah breaks out between Israel and Palestinian Arabs. Nevertheless, one cannot neglect the historical antecedents of the conflict. What if the Arabs had accepted the 1947 UN partition plan? Would the world be experiencing any conflict in the Levant? Surely, there was a grave historical mistake by the Arabs.

Both sides, Arabs and Jews, have come a long way in spilling blood for every inch of territory. Palestinian Arabs have been displaced, and so also Mizrahi and Sephardic Jewry have been expelled from Arab lands.

No matter the emotions, the Israeli-Arab agitation will continue so long as there’s blood to be shed unless both parties acknowledge the following:

1.     Jews have come a long way and have sacrificed all their homelands and around the World, including in Arab countries, and so have a right to Palestine.
2.     Noting that there has also been a mass wave of forced emigrations which has altered the 20th-century cultural landscape of the Middle East, such as the Armenian genocide/deportation, the crushing of the Assyrian uprising in Iraq and the Kurdish question, Arab refugees from Palestine, should be allowed to settle in whatever countries they fled to else Arab countries should be ready to be receptive to their kith and kin.
3.    The Jewish State should realise the need for a peaceful coexistence with the Arabs of the West Bank and should realize the human cost in the flesh and blood of any attempt to seize additional territory.

If these facts are not acknowledged by both parties, it will be a continuous warfare of intermittent truce until all the Souls perish in the struggle for territorial control.

.

THE ADVANCE OF ISIS: IMPLICATIONS OF A NEW REDLINE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

"Rush O Muslims to your state. Yes, it is your state. Rush, because Syria is not for the Syrians, and Iraq is not for the Iraqis,"……. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

On the first day of the Muslim fast which marks the commencement of the month of Ramadan corresponding to 1^st July 2014 or 1^st Ramadan 1435AH, the leader of the neo-caliphate enactment Islamic group also known as ISIS declared an Islamic State in the territories under the control of his group which straddles from Aleppo in Northern Syria to Diyala province in Iraq; effectively nullifying any existing border between Iraq and Syria whilst concomitantly invalidating any government control over these areas in both countries.

ISIS OPERATIONAL PRESENCE ACROSS IRAQ AND SYRIA

These actions were not neoteric, in fact, it had long been beginning to come and what was only left of that precipitate was the effect of that declaration and the harsh realities it meant for the peoples of the affected territories, neighbouring countries, the international diplomatic cosmos of World powers and other Nations of the Planet Earth.

The current civil and political instability in the Eastern Levant was precipitated by the US led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which toppled a stable Iraqi regime presided by Saddam Hussien, and the evasive consequence of the Arab spring which has perennially condemned Syria to a bitter warfare of attrition. Of all the Countries affected by the Arab Spring, the Syrian case remains most volatile and bloody; claiming fatalities of nearly 200,000 lives, displacing over 2000,000 civilians, and leaving heavy patches of ruins in all cities across the Syrian Urban and rural landscape.

What began as a protest for regime change snowballed into that of sectarian strife pitting the majority Syrian Sunni population against the minority Alawite led Syrian government. With Western powers wary of intervention, the Syrian scenario pitted a proxy warfare with sectarian regional powers sponsoring their military interests. The Syrian government found a ready ally in Iran (a regional Shiite power) and a readymade fighting man power in Hezbollah (a Lebanese based Shiite militant group). In response to the sectarian  dimension of the Syrian conflict, Sunni led militias such as Jabat al Nusra, ISIS (Islamic State in Syria and the Levant) and several others sprang up to fight the ‘infidel’ Alwaite or pro-Shia supported government. In no time, the Syrian conflict metamorphosed from a civil one to a religious one.

Across the Syrian Eastern border in Iraq, the government had been grappling for control of the country since the withdrawal of US and other allied forces. The ensuing unrest in Iraq assumed a sectarian cum religious dimension as the Kurds opted for autonomy whilst the  Sunnis and Shiites grappled for political power. The once repressed Shiites under Sunni Saddam Hussien gained political power being the majority (65% of Iraqis are Shia Muslims) amidst Sunni cries of marginalization. In between the Iraqi political discontent was a wave of pockets of insurgency by Islamic militias against what was seen as an American perpetrated government in Iraq. This insurgency was later mostly exclusively perpetrated by Sunni based militias against Shiite and government interests.

With regional and religious rivalry in the brew, Shiite militias and governments led by Shiites received military and support from Iran whilst Saudi Arabia and other gulf states actively funded Sunni Militias.

AN IMPLOSION OF THE ESTABLISHED ORDER.

With the Syrian situation attaining a stalemate, ISIS (a Sunni led Islamist Militia) seized Raqqa (a provincial capital in Northern Syria) and declared it a model for a proposed burgeoning Islamic State and claiming that they had the entire Middle East at sight for a Caliphate. Taking advantage of the security and political impunity in Iraq, ISIS fighters crossed over and disgraced an established multibillion dollar US funded Iraqi army; seizing Mosul, Tikrit, Anabar and Nineveh provinces in a lightening advance and threatening to match on Baghdad. For reasons best known to ISIS, it has slowed the pace of its advance whilst seeking to consolidate control on the swathes of territory under its control across Syria and Iraq.

IMPLICATIONS

The military exploits of ISIS has had a reverberating effect across the Middle East and even amongst Sunni led governments. The ISIS fighters are just a few kilometres away from the borders of Saudi Arabia and Jordan and providing a new impetus to crumble an already endangered Shiite led Syrian and Iraq government. For once, the quest of ISIS is now seen as a valid threat to an established order in the Middle East.

PERMUTATIONS

All through the wake of the Arab spring, the US and her allies have refrained from directly intervening militarily apart from Libya where air support was used to defeat the Gaddafi government. Rather, western intervention has been through cautious military advisory tactics and equipment (whether lethal or non lethal) to militant group they deem sympathetic.

Whilst tension and mistrust amongst Iran (a regional Shia power) and the rest of a Sunni dominant Arab Middle East remain high, both parties do not want to see a crumbling of established order in their respective domains.

A crumble of established order will add a renewed impetus for Kurdish independence a cause which will distort the boundaries of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran—all of which are not ready to lose territory.

Continued heightened tensions will ensure the partition of Syria and Iraq along Sectarian lines, deflating existing borders and threaten the corporate borders of Jordan and Saudi Arabia all of which who have tribal affiliations across the borders.

A continued push by ISIS will threaten Jordan and Saudi Arabia and later on Iran and Turkey. Remotely, Israel and Lebanon will come into the fray and it will be hard for the US not to fight.

At this juncture, the bi-polar powers cannot afford to stand arms akimbo. And maybe this explains why Russia has provided Iraq with jets to bomb ISIS positions with a fore running support of Syrian attempt.

Permutations for an ISIS destablized Middle East
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2655977/ISIS-militants-march-Baghdad-trademark-bullet-head-gets-way-control-north.html

In all, the latest trend in the Middle East precipitated by the action of ISIS may precipitate another gun power for a global conflict. Let’s hope Armageddon is not yet here!

"We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized...... "That would change my calculus. That would change my equation."... Barack Obama (20th August 2012)

World Peace: A responsibility of every Nation!

Since the inception of recorded history of mankind, it has been inundated with tales of conquests and heroic actions of individuals who rose to fame through leading their peoples through warfare. Even in religious parlance, figures like the biblical Joshua and King David are popular conquest heroes whilst contemporary history boasts of empire builders in Nebuchadnezzar 1, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Shaka Zulu, Alexander the Great, Emperor Justinan 1, Genghis Khan amongst several others. However, there are several other Empire builders who ended up on the losing side of history in Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Attila the Hun, Hannibal, amongst several others.

Whether conquerors, heroes, victors, plunderers, terrorists or villains; one thing is common to these historical figures and their empires—they were founded by shedding of millions of human blood.

until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter."…………Chinua Achebe

 "History is written by the victors"……Winston Churchill

Human Skulls-- Relics of mass murders of humanuty around the world
Image: LKEM / Flickr)

Whilst the murderous antecedents of human history over the past centuries has been long forgotten or forgiven/relegated to the shredders of human memories; there is a sharp awakening to humans murderous tendencies especially from the 20^th century to the present 21^st century, as rough estimates has it that the number of murderous annihilations of specific tribes, race and religions over the last 200 hundred years (this includes the first and second world wars) almost equals the number of humans who have died (through natural or human causes) over the other centuries.

To buttress this, reckoning from the obnoxious slave trade (trans Atlantic and colonial expenditures of the 16^th,17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries); humanity experienced murders on the industrial scale during the first and second world wars where war causalities were reckoned in millions as hundreds of thousands were felled in minutes -no thanks to the technology of machine guns, ‘conventional’ bombs and nuclear bombs.

From the 1915 Armenian genocide, the Jewish Holocaust, to targeted deportations and killings of several ethnic nationalities under varied guise during first and second world wars, leaders of the world powers said never again in 1945 through formation of the United Nations and allied charters.

Nevertheless, since 1945, the sanity of humanity has again been called to question as a resultant of awakened genocidal tendencies in massacres and ethno-religious cleansing in recent conflicts around the world. Sadly, this murderous tendencies has had a contagious effect in 3 of the World’s continents.

Europe has it in balkanization of Yugoslavia which had its high point in the Srebrenica massacre of 1992. Currently, there are heightened tensions in Eastern Europe especially amongst former Soviet bloc nations over the ethnic consciousness of Russian speaking peoples in these nations which has caused the Russian-Georgian conflict of 2008 and is currently heightening tensions in Ukraine.

Africa has it Sudan where prolonged conflicts (sometimes dubbed Africa’s longest civil conflict) lead to the splitting of Africa’s largest nation and the emergence of a new nation in South Sudan in 2011. This never ended the conflict in that region as battles still rage in South Sudan and mother Sudan itself (both targeting ethnic nationalities).

Across the Sahara to South, brutal civil conflicts in Liberia, Cote d’ivore and Sierra leone during the 1990’s and 2000’s claimed thousands of lives with associated brutality of limb amputations of survivors. To the east, Africa’s most populous country Nigeria, has had a civil conflict in the 1960’s which had ethnic undertones and yet scores from that war are yet to be settled as it a common trend for riots and recently ‘scotch the earth’ annihilation by Boko Haram insurgents to sporadically claim the lives of hundreds of Nigerians daily -all of which has ethno-religious undertones.

Away from the Rwandan genocide of 1994, which already had a precedence in targeted killing of Hutus and Tutsis in Burundi in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s; the drooling effect of these menace has eternally plundered peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo where the Banyamulenges are almost extinct. Somalia reels from an eternal conflict now engulfing its larger economic neighbour Kenya and also causing a serious concern for the wider East Africa sub region. The Central Africa Republic is also witnessing an annihilation of it Muslim population. No thanks to years of civil wars and religious revenge attacks.

In Asia, targeted marginalization of the Rohingya Muslims amongst other tribal wars is an issue in Burma (Myanmar) and is a reminisence of the brutal Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

Kurdish repressions as experienced in Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran as well as the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict, calls to question the sanity of humanity. The Arab spring has provided another butcher field in Syria and questionable anti-terrorism interventions by the United States and her allies has forever destroyed the bliss once known in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Of all the continents, only South America has tended to move on from its murderous pasts but pockets of conflicts still remains in the drug fuelled clashes/wars of Columbia and Mexico.

After reeling the murderous tendencies and man’s inhumanity to mankind over the 20^th and 21^st centuries, one must note that these murderous tendencies if not nipped can spell doom to humanity (especially as seen in the origin of the first World War).

Amidst the conflicts, terror attacks and civil unrests that grips our world today, it is not enough for words of condemnation to be said no matter the veracity. Considering the burden of refugee welfare which usually lies of on non-conflict countries, there is a call for every nation to ensure world peace and reassert our common humanity.

Articles 43 through 48 of the U.N. Charter already provide for a permanent command structure for a standing volunteer rapid response force, which has never been created- a liberal interpretation of those articles would  permit creation of a standing world army.

On a year when the world the centenary of the outbreak of the first World War, there is no better time to set aside selfish international interests amongst world powers and other Nations who inadvertently by their actions fuel conflicts around the world and see to a stop of mass murders. We are all humans with one Heart, Spirit and Soul. We should be sane and protect the sanctity of human life to save humanity from outright annihilation by our own actions.

The Syrian Conflict: Any Hopes From Geneva II?

"Don't expect anything from Geneva II. Neither Geneva II, not Geneva III nor Geneva X will solve the Syrian crisis. The solution has begun and will continue through the military triumph of the state."…….. Ali Haidar (Syria's National Reconciliation Minister)

From the frenzy immersions of the wave of the Arab Spring that swept across the Middle East in 2011, one nation where the simmering dregs of the revolution will not dry quickly is Syria.

From pockets of mild solidarity Arab Spring protest in 2011, the Syrian situation fast spiralled into a full blown irreconcilable civil war with the belligerents serving as proxy armies for regional powers from the Islamic Shia and Sunni divide in Iran and Saudi Arabia.

                                                                                  

Starting from political agitations, the Syrian conflict also smouldered along its major sectarian religious divide; thus making any peace settlement difficult as both parties to the conflict label the enemy as the infidels. Barring direct intervention from foreign powers across the West East divide, the Syrian situation continues to plunge to a hopeless abyss carnaging over 150,000 casualties and dispersing over 4 million of its citizens as refugees while leaving the once tranquil settlements of Homs, Aleppo, Deraa, Maloula as battlefield ruins.

Devasted Aleppo, the Industrial hub of Syria

After defying all appeasement avenues despite agreements and moves to dismantle Syria’s Chemical weapons arsenal, the US, UN and Russia agreed to bring the warring sides to Geneva to talk peace.

John Kerry (US), Lakhdar Brahimi and Sergei Lavrov (Russia) at the opening of the Geneva II Conference in January 2014

In the words of Ban ki Moon, he says it would be "unforgivable not to seize this opportunity" that has left more than 100,000 people dead and driven 9.5 million from their homes. And so for the first time during the Syrian conflict, Russia and the US had a common understanding to bring the warring parties to the negotiation table in what is to be known as Geneva II peace talks which was especially made urgent after the chemical attack in Ghouta on 21^st August 2013.

As party to the Conflict, the Syrian government of Bashir Al Assad has to negotiate with the Syrian Opposition to achieve a tangible peace settlement for Syria. For the case of the Syrian opposition, there exists a wide gulf between the political and armed opposition although both parties are united in their desire to achieve a post Assad Syria. Compounding the position of the Syrian opposition is the divergent intentions of the armed opposition who are at best serving the interest by proxy of regional powers while the political opposition do not in effect have control over the armed opposition.

Coming to Geneva to negotiate may be a plausible attempt at achieving peace, and considering the devastatory depth of the Syrian conflict, necessary concessions must be made by the warring parties.

The government of Assad has to stay put at least for the short term future.

There cant be a successful military end to the conflict

Acknowledging this fact, a rebuilding phase can then be inaugurated via a transition government. Things may then begin to fall into place and twill be easy to rein down the extremists.

For all the care of the cause of the warring parties, the concern should shift from fluidic gains on the battle field to the welfare of Syria and her citizens. For all the world cares for, the Syrian conflict is becoming a pain in the neck for her much smaller neighbours in Lebanon and Jordan where the Syrian refugee crises is drowning the population of the host countries. With two rounds of the Geneva II talks ended, the hopes and fate of the Syrian people lies on a yet to be decided third round--- and will all parties learn from the past deadlocks? The only good thing is that the talks are in place. Hoping it does spring an eternal hope to end the stodgy nature of the Syrian conflict.

‘The Geneva process is destined to remain stagnant unless its patrons adapt to the realities on the ground and reframe what constitutes core political issues and points of negotiation. The current realities suggest that the solution of the battlefield is preferred to that of the negotiating table. Until this changes, the Geneva negotiations will remain political theatre’……Samer N Abboud (Assistant Professor of International Studies at Arcadia University,  Pennsylvania.)