By P. Soma Palan –

P. Soma Palan

The recent Walk Mission for World Peace which commenced from Texas, USA, by a group of Buddhist Monks and reached our country, stirred me to write this essay. This Walk Mission, though spectacular, attracting world attention, is of no real value in achieving tangible World Peace. It serves as an advertisement for marketing religion. Even if its intent was to create awareness for world peace, it is superfluous, because the world is fully aware of the dire need for world peace. Walk Missions for Peace from one end of the world to other, cannot achieve World Peace. What is needed is concrete and productive action to achieve World Peace. Action to move World leaders of nations to take meaningful measures to secure world peace, both at national and international level, like the UNO, is the imperative need.

To achieve World Peace, the causes that generate wars, have to be eradicated, root and branch. World body of leaders, as a whole, has to take concrete measures to put an end to the ever-expanding militarization of the world. Peace and Armies are contradictory and cannot coexist. Voicing for world peace, whilst having standing Armies and Armories of destructive weapons, is a contradiction and counterproductive. If world needs Peace, Armies and Armories, have to be abolished, and if world needs Armies and Armories, Peace has to be sacrificed. Armies exist for the only reason to wage wars and no other. Then wars, either limited or unlimited, are inevitable.

There are two parallel and contradictory developments in the evolution of our human civilization:

a) World has reached the pinnacle in human civilization in all spheres of life: political, social, cultural, economic, science and technology, education, health and modern comforts and conveniences of living and great cities for people to live.

b) The militarization of the world has also reached its pinnacle to destroy the very things we have built in human civilization by engaging in wars and destroying cities we have built, whilst claiming ourselves to be civilized. Despite our civilizational grandeur, we still carry with us the innate instinct of tribalism, to expand, invade and conquer and subjugate other lands and people for domination.

If the present world claims to be civilized, cultured, refined, then the pursuit of military might by having formidable Land Armies, Naval and Air forces equipped with weapons of mass scale destruction of countries and its people, must end. Total and complete Disarmament, by disbanding Standing Armies and dismantling of all military infrastructures and weapons producing facilities, is a sine qua non.

The Monopoly of Nuclear Weapons

The production and stockpiling of the weapons of destruction of the world, including Nuclear Bombs, is a monopoly of few nations with military might. An exclusive Nuclear Bomb Club. Other countries have no right to build and own a Nuclear Bomb. There is in force an UN “Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty”. This sounds rather queer. It means other destructive Bombs are acceptable in killing people and the destruction of their countries. If an ad hoc and palliative Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty is needed, then why not a Total Disarmament of the World Treaty be accomplished to abolish national Armies and dismantling of all associated military infrastructures and production facilities? What is needed is only a sincere and determined collective will of all nations to achieve total Disarmament and bring about a New World Order that will usher in Eternal World Peace and harmony. Total disarmament will lead to equalization of all nations of the world, irrespective of their size. Nations needs to be evaluated on their intellectual might and not on their military might, as at present.

Offence and Defense

When nations have Armies and Armaments, it poses a threat of aggression, invasion and conquest of territories of other nations. Thus, all nations, per force, have Armies and armaments to defend its territory and sovereign right of Independence. Therefore, militarization is a cascading outcome of having Armies and weapons world over, for purpose of defense. If total disarmament is enforced worldwide, the threat of offence disappears, hence the need for defense does not arise. The world will be freed from the scourge of wars and eternal world peace will become a reality.

The futility and insanity of wars

The futility and insanity of wars is demonstrated by the two ongoing wars: (a)War unleashed by Israel and USA against Iran (b) War against Ukraine by Russia. The military might of USA and Israel against Iran and latter’s counter defensive action, in bombing each other’s cities, by using supersonic ballistic Missiles and Drones, and reducing cities to debris, causing death of civilian human beings, men, women and children, dislocation and displacement of people, and creating a havoc in the world economy, at large, of all countries, exemplifies the futility and insanity of wars. It is the same tragedy happening in Ukraine. The Leaders of these warring nations have made wars a spectacular sport with sadistic delight. They destroy cities they built, and when exhausted without outcome, calling for ceasefires and discussions. This is egregious stupidity and insanity. Efforts to solve problems by discussions should have preceded, in the first place, without plunging head on in war, and not vice versa.

A new World Order without Armies and Armaments

A new World Order has to be created by abolishing Armies and Armaments. Without Armies and Armaments, eternal World Peace, will be a natural consequence. This is not an empty Idealism and practical impossibility. If nations renounce their greed for territorial expansion and craving for hegemonism and domination of the world, Eternal world peace will become a reality. Production of lethal weapons is now a thriving business of powerful nations. If there are no wars, the market for the sale of their weapons will evaporate. Powerful nations convert tensions between nations into conflicts and engender armed confrontations to between them to market their weapons. The militarily mighty nations create internal strife in other nations and instigate for regime changes to control and dominate them.

The world desperately needs total Disarmament for eternal peace and harmony. Armies and Armaments drain the resources of a country, in maintenance, upgrading of defense capability, at high cost of expenditure in their national budgets. Armies do not contribute anything to a country’s Gross National Product. Without Armies and defense expenditure, the resources can be channeled to economic development of the countries and lifting the living standards of the people.

End of Geopolitics based on military power

With total Disarmament, world will cease to be labelled as Uni-Polar, Bi-polar or Multipolar, militarily. With end of military power, world Geopolitics will end. World will only be bipolar, geographically, with North and South Poles. Total disarmament will impact the civil governance of the world, by reduced crime, end of political terrorism and Gun culture. Moreover, with the end of military might, world will be truly civilized and refined. Economic development of the world economy will proceed without wars and disruption. Nations need only a Police Force, with minimal weapons, to maintain internal Law and Order, and enforcement of civil laws.

Total Disarmament of the World is not barren Idealism

The so-called practical minded pragmatists, will dismiss the call for total Disarmament of the world as vain Idealism, and an impractical venture to achieve. All achievements in the progress of human civilization have been due to Idealism of thinkers and not due to the actions of the so-called practical people. Ideas come from thought, propelled by idealism. It is the belief of the pragmatists that the established order, the conventional and the accustomed, is immutable. Anything that disturbs the existing order, is idealism and impractical. Bending and coping with the established and the defective existing order, is considered practical. But this will not bring about a new World Oder of eternal peace and harmony.