Collaborate or Perish?
The Iran war, the war between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the ongoing wars and atrocities in the Horn of Africa, and the war between Russia and Ukraine, are causing death, mutilation, terror, social disruption, lasting environmental damage, trauma that will last for generations, devastating impacts on energy and food security, as well a disastrous diversion of scarce resources away from human and ecological needs.
We are beginning to recognise these impacts, but there are two overarching effects that are overlooked. There is the increasing risk that a global conflict could lead to global nuclear war. And there is the fact that the current focus on war and on the narrative of threats and counter-threats is making it impossible to address the existential threats faced by humanity and the planet.
An article in Social Europe describes the latter point perfectly. Please read the entire piece. Here is a taste:
“No nation can stabilise the climate alone. No nation can protect oceans, forests, biodiversity, freshwater systems, fertile soils, or the atmosphere in isolation. No arsenal can defend a people against a collapsing climate. No wall can hold back planetary breakdown. Only cooperation can do that. Mutually supportive international relations can no longer be treated as separate from sustainability — they are its essential precondition.”
“The realism this moment demands lies in acknowledging that our futures are inextricably joined, that our security is shared, and that no nation can preserve its own safety on an unsafe planet.”
How wonderful it would be if this article were incorporated into the manifesto of every party contesting the Scottish elections in May. How wonderful if we as a nation took the first step towards the vision of the Scotland’s For Peace Covenant - “We desire that Scotland should be known for its contribution to peace and justice rather than being a launch pad for waging war.”? Utopian? If so then only Utopia can save us now.