During news conference on June 12, 2018, after
his talk with North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, the US President, Donald J.
Trump, affirmed, ‘Anyone can make war, but only the most courageous can make
peace.’ This reminded me Mahatma Gandhi, who called war immoral, and wrote, ‘War,
with all its glorification of brute force, is essentially a degrading thing. It
demoralizes those who are trained for it.’
Some political analysts may find this pronouncement of the US President paradoxical, but what I am concerned
more here is with the historic nature of the talk, and President Trump’s
extending a hand of friendship to the North Korean leader. The analyses of the historic
talk indicate that not only the talk ended on a positive note, but also it will
herald a new phase in international politics, not only for the East Asia, but
also for the world. Let us consider these points.
First, the continuation of the peace
process and the consequent ceasing of nuclear weapon building activity on part
of the North Korea and the US stopping its joint military exercises in East
Asia will save enormous resources, which can be diverted to other constructive
purposes. President Trump during his electoral campaign had signaled that the
US is incurring heavy expenditure in these joint military exercises, and he
would take steps to stop it, thus saving billions to the US exchequer. Also,
North Korea would tremendously benefit from the ceasing of hostilities. Its
poor economy was overburdened with military expenditure. A coolheaded analysis
would show that these steps would not only reduce tensions, but would also save
huge resources.
Second, during their talk, the North
Korean leader pointed out that the history of suspicion had led to such a war
like hostile situation – North Korea piling up weapons, and the US adopting strong
measures such as economic sanctions and increasing its military presence in the
Korean peninsula. President Trump seconded Jong-un. Many agreements had failed.
The pressure of sanctions and force had not worked effectively. The net result
was building of weapons, including nuclear weapons by North Korea, increasing
US investment in the region in terms of military presence. A peace process,
started earnestly, will reduce trust gap not only between the US and North
Korea, but also between North Korea and South Korea and Japan.
Third, this development is more of an
affirmation of liberalism in international politics. Fear and mistrust, the
core feature of the cold era, led to production of lethal weapons. Fear as
reflected in security dilemma, implying that a state is not sure how much
strong its enemy is, and how much it is prepared to wage a war, contributed to
this arms accumulation and war preparation. This realist approach actually
increased insecurity among nations instead of defusing it, and created more
havoc. North Korea threatening to target US mainland and the US threat to
display its fire and fury are all the reflections of this realist, egoistic,
approach. In place of war, cooperation, trust and economic relations are sure
elements to build peaceful relations in this globalized world.
Gandhi wrote a long ago that war ‘brutalizes
men of naturally gentle character. It outrages every beautiful canon of
morality. Its path of glory is foul with passion and lust, and red with blood
of murder. This is not the pathway to our goal.’ He
further wrote, ‘…the economic war is no better than an armed conflict. This is
like a surgical operation. An economic war is prolonged torture. And its
ravages are no less terrible than those depicted in the literature on war.’ Gandhi’s
argument that ‘war is not a morally legitimate means of achieving anything
permanent’ has become increasingly relevant in the current times.
The coming of the two leaders shows that
the world is heralding a new phase in peace and cooperation. The protracted
Korean crisis lingering for the last 70 years, embroiled in the Cold War,
ideological, politics could perhaps have not been worse. North Korea suffered
from economic underdevelopment, while South Korea prospered. North Korea
invested huge resources in arms, while its people starved. The US spent
billions to provide security to its allies against North Korea. Years wasted.
But, better late than never! Who knows, had this saber rattling continued,
there could have been a nuclear catastrophe and third world war! We are
fortunate that no such thing happened, and President Trump and North Korean
leader Jong-un took the step in the right direction.
Mahatma Gandhi must be turning in his
grave, smiling. It is the Gandhian spirit that worked a sort of miracle in
Singapore! Gandhi rightly said, ‘there is no path to peace, peace is the path.’
It is only in peaceful environment that positive peace can be realized. The
more the world leaders realize this, the more they act on this principle, the
better for us and for the world! The meeting in Singapore early this week held
such a promise! There are better days for the world coming. And it is incumbent
on all peace leaders and activists to cherish this moment and work along this
line, and call for and engage in peaceful praxis all over the world.
The author’s forthcoming coedited book is Gandhi
and the World. For details see: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498576406/Gandhi-and-the-World
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