QUESTION OF THE DAY
The military route in the war in Ukraine is overshadowing the diplomatic moves. In war there is psychological warfare characterised by sabre rattling. Such words may have two effects. They may make adversaries to be wary of the implications of the escalation of the war and compel them to sit down on the negotiating table to have cease fire or may frustrate mediation efforts and just prolong the military option to its utmost conclusion.
The UN Secretary General provides a fertile ground for his mediation efforts. Both sides have not shown any sign that cease fire is acceptable to them at the moment. What is however evident is that Russia cannot wipe out Ukrainian citizens from the face of the earth and cannot dismember Ukraine from the world community of nations. On the other hand, Ukraine will never be able to disarm Russia of the possession of weapons that could put an end to the existence of the human race on earth.
Hence expansion of the war only increases the risks of dragging nations to the era of the Stone Age against the interest of their people. Soft talk that saves humanity is better than hard talk that would destroy human civilisation. The strong leaders of the world are the ones who can lead us to humanity not one that leads them into a war of attrition.
Diplomacy does not achieve results on a silver plate. Sometime it requires the capacity to calm the waves when the danger of escalation of the war looks inevitable. Peace makers of the world never give up; otherwise the hawk of the world will lead the world to greater hostility and universal destruction. That is not an option.
