Online Reporter
I HAVE often wondered if there can be a thing as genuine friendship on the international arena. The world events in these past few days have demonstrated how delicate the world’s balance of power is.
Alliances have been put to the test and ideologies have been stretched. We could be on the brink of World War Three and it is perhaps important for us Africans to look at who our real friends are.
With the threat of war looming because of the actions of Israel and perhaps the United States of America, so much hangs in the balance. Important questions will be raised as to how with each passing day there seems to be a rise in conflicts. It has become apparent that aggression with the goal of annihilating one another is now fashionable. There is now a sudden craze to show military might.
It may seem mundane, but let us not for a second be mistaken. The world is facing an existential threat and no one seems to really care. People are only interested in making dangerous threats with the promise of military action. As Africans we need to be very much aware and follow these events that are unfolding on the global stage with keen interest.
There is an off chance that, whether we like it or not we may be dragged into this latest spate of wars that are mushrooming north of the continent. We may say that we are too far away from these conflicts as they unfold, but let us not be mistaken.
Let us remember the impact that the conflict in Ukraine brought on us. We may be forced to accept some harsh realities as to how we were dependent on the European continent for basics such as wheat and fuel. This latest conflict in the middle-east will not be any different. Again, there is an off chance that at the end of it, global geo-politics will have been shaped. Such happenings are why some of us have always argued to Africa’s total self-sufficiency. Whether or not Africa is directly dragged into this latest conflict, we are likely to feel the impact due to the nature of the global architecture of international relations. The world over, the past few years have become increasingly intertwined with events occurring on one part of the planet having ripple effects on the rest of us.
Not many people have had the misfortune of experiencing war first hand. For some of us that have, we are fully aware of the devastating effects that armed conflict of any nature has on everyone involved. There are never any winners in any war and it is the people that stand to lose the most. Zimbabwe’s armed struggle was not an easy one and it left most of our comrades scarred, physically, emotionally and mentally. It is now close to half-a-century since the end of the liberation struggle but the scars are still fresh and we still suffer from the memories of that time when we were fighting for our lives and fighting for our freedom and survival.
One would have thought that, with the advances we have made thus far and having learnt from history, humans would desist from any form of armed conflict but alas it seems people are always too quick to forget. War mongering by some countries from the West is detrimental to our progress as a species. It seems whatever gains we try to make, there is always someone all too eager to act as an aggressor and disturb the peace.
Nations should in my opinion desist from interfering in the affairs of other nations. The planet earth is enough for all of us and it boggles the mind why some individuals are all too eager to grab the territory of others. There is no reason whatsoever to act in aggression against others on the international arena.
I am pleased with how the African continent has now surpassed the phase of acting aggressively against one another. We may have our shortcomings as a people but our sense of fraternity precludes us from harming each other and in that sense, we are each other’s keeper. However, with these latest events unfolding, it is my hope that our people will not be enticed to partake in wars that have nothing to do with us.
We have enough battles to fight in the home front in terms of uplifting the lives of the African people. We certainly do not have the time nor luxury to partake in wars that have zero benefit to us. Let us use these conflicts as a lesson for our people that we need more unity on the continent and that we should never allow the enemy to come in between us for we risk undoing all the hard-fought gains of our liberation struggle.
A war of any nature is always a loss for everybody. Those instigating attacks on other nations should come to their senses and realise that all of us will be left worse off. We need to revisit history and learn that for our civilisation to advance, there is need to shun all forms of armed conflict as no one wins, we all lose.
ν Dr Obert Moses Mpofu is an academic and the Secretary-General of Zanu-PF. He writes in his own capacity.
