The volatile and escalating conflict between Ukraine and Russia cannot be resolved through military force or political subjugation.
Any act of brinkmanship by the combatants or their surrogates risks triggering a deadly chain of events that neither Vladimir Putin nor Volodymyr Zelensky would be able to control.
The major powers appear blissfully unaware of the catastrophic global consequences of a nuclear exchange between Russia and Nato. Nuclear debris respects neither neutrality nor borders; radioactive ash would encircle the globe. Both Nato and Russian strategists seem oblivious to the reality that no party would survive a full-scale nuclear confrontation.
In this region, there is no substitute for diplomacy. A powder keg cannot be defused by intimidation. History repeatedly shows that, when all else fails, diplomacy ultimately prevails. Those who start a nuclear war will not live to witness the carnage caused by their folly.Before this decade ends, the world risks witnessing a nuclear conflict.
Global events are spinning out of control as ill-informed politicians turn to ill-equipped military leaders for solutions that neither can provide. The fate of the world lies in the hands of irrational men who fail to grasp that war cannot serve as an instrument of peace. For more than 2 000 years, war has failed to restore civility and stability.
Russia has now deployed nuclear weapons in Belarus, capable of wiping out Western Europe within an hour. The detonation of even a single 30-kiloton weapon could kill thousands of civilians, and the resulting firestorm would send radioactive ash across Europe, cool global temperatures and disrupt agriculture for a decade or more. Millions would perish, and millions more would be displaced as frontline nations are reduced to radioactive rubble.
Studies over the past year estimate that a conflict of this magnitude could kill up to 2 billion people worldwide. In the first 24 hours, more than 12 million would die as ground-zero strikes occur. Explosions could release millions of tons of smoke, triggering a nuclear winter that could last until 2030 and destroy up to half the ozone layer over populated regions. Surface temperatures would drop lower than at any point in the past 1 000 years.
The world has never fought a nuclear war. Any leader who believes it is winnable is playing with global suicide. Nuclear brinkmanship has no rules and no limits. Atomic war is insanity unleashed.
As US President John F. Kennedy warned during the Cuban Missile Crisis: in the aftermath of nuclear conflict, the living will envy the dead.
Global suicide is not a defence. | Farouk Araie Benoni
On November 22, Israel carried out another airstrike on Gaza, killing more than 20 people and injuring dozens.
What kind of “ceasefire” allows for extrajudicial killings?
Can you define a “ceasefire” for me? Because from here, it looks like a sky full of Israeli jets and the ground littered with Palestinian bodies. Should the orphans be grateful their parents were killed during a “ceasefire” and not a “war”?
The ceasefire appears to be a diplomatic fiction, maintained for political cover while military operations continue. They offer the language of peace with one hand, while the other guides a missile to its target.In Gaza, what disgusts me is that the imbalance of power is the entire point. It is not a fight for victory, but a demonstration of total domination over a trapped and helpless population.
On one side: a state military with sovereign borders, an air force, and international backing. On the other: A non-state actor embedded within, and reliant upon, a civilian population of over two million with no functional sovereignty and no exit.
Headlines highlight geopolitical schemes, while the phrase “civilian casualties” becomes a repetitive, desensitising afterthought. For many, seeing a headline about civilian deaths now triggers a reflex to scroll further, not to learn more.
The “comments section” on reports of civilian casualties is often filled with justification and whataboutism, not grief or solidarity.
Did they sign a peace treaty or a bombing permit? Because you can’t have “partial” peace when it comes to bombs. The November 22 strike is just the latest example of the world watching politics while Gaza bleeds. The international response to violence in Gaza appears path-dependent, following established political scripts that prioritise process over protection, and dialogue over decisive action to safeguard civilian lives.
Is the peace process just a feel-good term for “waiting for the next ceasefire violation”? Are we waiting for a “perfect solution” while perfectly fine with the current imperfection of dead children? The cost of a false peace is always paid by those who never signed the treaty. | Yumna Zahid Ali Karachi, Pakistan
I thoroughly enjoy reading the letters section, especially Nyaniso Qwesha’s thought-provoking contributions.
The passage where he notes “some see him ( Vusinusi ‘Cat’ Matlala) as a fall guy for a system that chews people up and spits them out. Others see him as the key to a puzzle that has left the nation dizzy” resonated deeply with me.
These are not random thoughts, but rather genuine reflections that transcend the political divide.
The pièce de résistance is his assertion that “whether hero, scapegoat, or whistleblower, he walks toward the microphone carrying the weight of a country hungry for truth”.
This statement is particularly poignant, especially when he concludes with the punchline “Except a man who knows silence will bury him, but speaking might bury others”. This is a crucial aspect of our national dialogue, as he so astutely observes, “it is about a governance machine that malfunctions whenever it must explain”.
This is indeed food for thought, particularly in the lead-up to the local and provincial elections, which promise to deconstruct the old and decaying, and construct a new order where accountability is paramount.
Qwesha’s elegant articulation of the truth in embryo is a testament to his exceptional writing skills.
My take? The cat’s getting out of the bag? Or is it Vusimilusi ‘Cat’ Matlala’s funeral dirge? | SABER AHMED JAZBHAY | Castlehill, Newlands West
DAILY NEWS
Related Topics: