About the Author(s)
The author is a student at the National Defense University studying International Relations. She is deeply passionate about the field and enjoys exploring and writing about hot, thought-provoking topics. Her goal is to provide insightful content for readers who share her interest in international affairs.
Are we at the verge of a catastrophic war again? If so, Could the world be heading towards the possible extinction of human civilization?
The turmoil and the mobocracy betiding all across the globe are crafting the scenarios for World War 3. The recent Russia-Ukraine ongoing war, the prominent upsurge in the contention between China and America, and the mob protests in different countries against their ruling parties creating great upsets the most prominent of which is hot off-the-fire students protests of Bangladesh culminating with the unexpected dislodgment of governance there and the trending news of the series of military conflicts between Arab world and Israel. All these circumstances are pushing the world seemingly on towards another preeminent war after two major World Wars that had previously done callous destruction to this world.
The world today is again appearing to cleave into two blocs with similar patterns it appeared during the previous world wars with Russia on one side and the Western world on the other, the Western world stealthily supporting Israel, the rise of China especially after COVID-19 19 multiplying the US-China rivalry each day, Israel carrying out the destruction in Gaza region and creating the unrest in the whole Middle East and Russia being modifying its foreign policy and turning it more cordial towards Muslim world. These gradual but very obvious shifts in power regimes have made us enter into a pre-war situation where there is great uncertainty about what is going to happen in future.
But this time the picture would be more horrible than the previous ones so far because nine countries including some major powers are holding nuclear assets mainly hoarded during the Cold War era and are now constantly stockpiling more and more in the name of defence. Nuclear weapons can vandalize a far-reaching locality within a few seconds after being exploded. Two nuclear bombs previously dropped by The US in 1945 over the two Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki vaporized hundreds and thousands of innocent human lives and the consequences that have been suffered by their next progenies are still being perceived today. Presently, many more powerful bombs have been deployed on earth already far more annihilative than those bombed on Japanese cities formerly. So, at this point, human beings cannot spare the price of such an obliterating event to happen. A war this time could lead to the potential eradication of humanity leaving no possible survivor.
Although the phenomenon referred to as nuclear deterrence specifically in IR and other restrictions like TPNW are there to limit the use of nuclear weapons once the war starts, countries usually don’t remain bound by rules as there is this saying that everything is allowed in love and war. United Nations has also warned about the war chances as stated by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres classifying the period as the Age of Chaos amid the recent anarchy spreading across the sphere.
Summing this up while leaving a lot of questions to ponder about what would be the possible end and how to shun this probability of another deadly war. Would human civilization eventually bow down to self-destruction or they ultimately be able to find a peaceful settlement? Keeping in mind the complexity and vagueness of this issue we cannot anticipate it early but we can hope for a better resolution which would ultimately be in favour of the world and its inhabitants.
