Has reducing tensions and ending the bloodshed in the Middle East, the Arabian Gulf, and the regions around them become a pivotal need rather than a mere choice?
It certainly has, especially since we are now at a tipping point. Enough is enough, as they say; even stones are groaning.
No war in history has been zero-sum. When one side imagines that it has achieved absolute victory, it is deluding itself. Indeed, the cycle of hatred will inevitably rekindle the flames, igniting endless and unrelenting rounds in the cycle of death.
Exactly a year in, we are seeing yet another episode of this death cycle that has plagued this devastated part of the world. For some, death has been normalized, and others have come to worship brutal retaliation.
Meanwhile, other parties- both regional and international, unfortunately- have turned the Middle East into a battlefield.
These are difficult times for the region. Bloodshed hinders reconciliation, life, growth, and prosperity. Peace remains elusive, as though this will inevitably remain our fate for the foreseeable future.
One might ask: “Are the people of our region to remain bound to a Sisyphean destiny during our lifetimes?”
The human experience, particularly the lessons of the First and Second World Wars that killed seventy million people, teaches us that fire and destruction are not the solution. Sooner or later, all parties will inevitably come together at the negotiation table and agree to formulas and approaches that allow them to live in safety and security. Those who have understood the writings of the renowned Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu, particularly his enduring masterpiece, “The Art of War,” know that, at this point, the battle in this region does not demand gunpowder, but plows and axes: the cultivating land, feeding the hungry, sheltering refugees, and reassuring those who are terrified."
“To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.” Will anyone listen?
Many countries in the region have been overwhelmingly focused on political and military conflicts that are compounded by ethnic, sectarian, and doctrinal schisms. What has the outcome been?
Millions are on the streets today, and even more are returning to countries they had come from nearly eight decades ago in the hope of building a homeland over the mirage of “a land without people.” Development and productivity levels have plummeted, and poverty and deprivation loom in the many places where budgets are spent on lethal weapons and there is no one left to turn swords into plows or sickles. This relentless and disastrous arms race spares neither fathers nor their sons, who end up inheriting ashes.
Is calling for peace, demanding the arms be laid down, and conducting a reassessment in good faith a naive and utopian approach, or is it a pressing pursuit that must be undertaken before we fall into the pit of regional wars that will spare no one?
First and foremost, peace entails ending the endless rounds of devastating exchanges. That is the first step toward building trust among warring parties. It allows for paving difficult paths toward resolving conflicts through peaceful means and the liberation of hearts and minds from the memories of past sorrows, dark times, and scorched earth. When hostilities cease, warring nations can turn their attention back to the basic everyday problems that have been brutally and treacherously neglected in recent years. Focusing on education, health, and infrastructure is needed to ensure a dignified life for ordinary people, as we see in the rest of the world and the countries pursuing virtuous paths.
In this context, it is essential to note that development requires stability, which creates job opportunities and improves living standards. However, fundamental requisites must be in place, foremost among them being the achievement of justice. Without justice, we cannot build peace.
This brings to mind the peace initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia two decades ago. It makes one contemplate this golden opportunity that was squandered amid bitterness and devastation. Quelling tensions requires a genuine commitment to the concept of the Westphalian state that respects the borders and sovereignty of nations.
In this regard, there are also urgent demands we must make of the international community and its major powers, particularly the United States, Russia, and China. They must sincerely and earnestly work to save the region from the repercussions of these ongoing futile wars. Doing so entails serious and honest mediation, as well as the adoption of an approach that sees the opportunities for intercultural exchange in the region, and that recognizes the benefits of cooperation and trade among its people, instead of seeing it as a battleground for settling scores amid shifting balances of power. The region needs leaders who seek peace and survival, not mutual destruction.
