The war of our times

by Maj (ret'd) CORNELIU E. CHISU, CD, PMSC, FEC, CET, P. Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East We are now faced with a great dilemma. As the war in Ukraine is becoming uglier by the day, making a lot of ordinary people suffer, and creating an enormous number of displaced people, the leaders of our world act helplessly and heedlessly. That is the problem with every sizeable military conflict; it can so easily get out of control. It begins with heightened interest, somewhat clear goals, and usually hopes for a quick and negotiated settlement. The world is engaged, through sincere humanitarian support or significant solidarity events, expressing empathy. The media is all over it, with many speculations mostly looking for the sensational, quoting experts of the moment. In the meantime, billions are watching, transfixed and deeply disoriented. In almost every case, as history has confirmed, the conflict gets bogged down. Talks between the two combatants are inevitably unsuccessful, and the war becomes protracted and one of attrition. Over time, those nations at a distance from the region eventually lose interest, becoming more focused on internal events. That is especially true of democracies because of their generally short attention spans. Invariably, media looking for the sensational, shifts out in pursuit of other global emergencies or domestic priorities, losing interest in issues which become a daily pattern. Such is the way of human nature. But we need to look at history because history usually repeats itself more or less. Historic agreements or alliances that commit other nations to take military actions to support one side or the other are of the norm. The world wars have drawn in other countries as the conflicts progressed. In the case of Ukraine, few such alliances were present. As the battle began, they were neither a member of the European Union nor NATO, so any support given to them by others, though significant, wouldn't draw the military might of NATO into the war yet, but one never knows. We will see how the events unfold; elements of unknown surprises might easily happen, and not in a positive way. The world of today is more complicated with undercurrents which might be toxic. Hope again for the best but be prepared for the worst. I have had some personal experiences of this in both Europe and Asia. The growing human catastrophe drew in other players to save whatever human lives they could in both situations. No-fly zones were established, coupled with humanitarian corridors to transport aid to the conflicted regions. They were always broken by one side or the other but were workable enough to keep some civilian people alive. The problem with the Ukraine situation is Russia's threat to use tactical nuclear warheads if it is cornered and faces a more hostile and provocative environment. This changes the equation completely. Do you protect airspace to safeguard humanitarian supply chains, knowing that any encounter in the air with Russia could set off something unimaginable? Or do you keep attempting other methods of funnelling supplies into Ukraine? A debate ensues in the rest of the world that becomes more complicated the longer the fight continues. This immediate and serious threat of Russia's going nuclear works to its advantage but confounds the world, as never before. As the war continues and civilian casualties increase nerves are taut, emotions high and choices become almost untenable over time. Indeed, emotions can easily result in unconsidered decisions with catastrophic consequences. How long can the world watch as this war continues? Women and children are increasingly falling victim to this conflict. In a war of attrition like this, a decision will have to be made: allow Russia to continue the civilian carnage or risk the nuclear option by protecting civilians caught in the mayhem. Or maybe a tenable solution can still be found to end this senseless war. Many children will lose their fathers, brothers, grandfathers, and sometimes even their mothers forever. Whenever this kind of conflict rears its ugly head, parents seek to get their children to someplace safe, just as the English did during World War Two. We aren't even two weeks into the conflict, and Ukrainian children are now traumatized, surrounded by mortality, and increasingly facing a future without a father, a mother, or both. Our world leaders need to come to their senses and do everything possible to end this senseless war as soon as possible in order to avoid further complications which would endanger our own existence as humanity. This is something that we need to resolve before it is too late because at present we are in the process of losing the global consensus we built, maintained, and defended following the insanity of the Second World War. We need to do a better job. All of us.