Weaponisation – A misguided solution for peace (Part 1)

The president of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, since his ascendancy in 2011, has been a strong supporter of militarisation, to the annoyance of the Western world. In recent weeks, he has declared that North Korea will continue its nuclear weaponisation programme, with the objective of his country achieving nuclear power status. Kim has subtly entertained the US in talks, making veiled promises while demanding the lifting of sanctions against his country. When this did not materialise, he has simply played his next card, the further development of nuclear weaponry. Has Kim actually done anything wrong?

The US, EU, and UK, in the Ukraine conflict, continue to supply that country with sophisticated weaponry, with little or no intention of establishing dialogue to end the sufferings we hear about each day. These sufferings are limited to the combatants and displaced nationals and other persons in both Ukraine and Russia and not the nationals or infrastructure of the coalition of countries supplying the weapons of destruction. In the short term, who benefits here? The US, EU, UK and Russian arms industries have received an enormous economic boost, one that will see these industries growing beyond their dreams in the years to come. Every item expended will have to be replaced, and the research into new and better weapons of destruction will also increase at alarming rates. These types of expansions will fuel the same reactions in other countries, such as China, India, Brazil, Australia, etc, if for nothing else but to make themselves competitive in the new global environment. These developments create cause for concern in other states, driving them to develop alliances for their preservation or take matters into their own hands, as North Korea has done recently. What, then, are some of the trends of note?

The US-EU coalition is not only arming Ukraine, but also all NATO and NATO-friendly entities that basically border Russia, increasing tensions with Russia while blatantly expanding its influence beyond post-WW2 agreements. This can be interpreted as a disregard for Russian interests and a perception that ultimate power resides in the West. It will also be seen as an attempt to humiliate Russia in the eyes of the global community. This is not to say that Russia has not brought this situation upon itself. In many ways it has. The settling of differences in today’s world cannot be achieved through the barrel of a gun; world leaders know this, but instead, they have chosen a perceived right to wield power, the very thing that caused the current conflict in the first place. This type of reasoning has no positive outcomes for Ukraine itself.

DOUBLE STANDARDS

Naturally, China, which has refused to condemn the actions of Russia in Ukraine, has come under pressure from the Western world which is eager to drum up all the support they can for sanctioning Russia. They have also tried the same thing with India and met the same result. China, India and a number of other states are not willing to participate in an action fuelled by the US for its own reasons. There seems to be no end to a desire to succeed at their game.

So it’s not surprising that the US, supportive of the ‘One China Policy’, now turns around and makes commitments to arm Taiwan in order to prevent the possibility of China invading what legally is recognised as its own, in the name of protecting democracy. Double standards are at play...all intended to bring pressure to bear upon China and send a message to anyone else who won’t comply?

Weaponisation is not only about armaments. Russia has ‘weaponised’ its gas, oil, grain and coal resources in a deliberate manner to hopefully cause severe uprisings across the EU and other NATO countries. European winters can be severe, and the strategy is to have large population upheavals against governments when the ability to keep warm is drastically reduced, non-existent, or the cost too high, plus have some industries grind to a halt because of an inability to access resources for production. Although the movement of grain has been allowed in the Russian-controlled areas of the Ukraine, it’s not beyond Russia to reinstitute the blockade and create rippling effects worldwide. That threat remains evident based on previous actions.

Iran is constantly using the threat of nuclear enrichment/armament as an argument to have sanctions against them lifted. These have become more vocal in recent times, and the rise of public dissent should be closely watched. They have become masters at the art of injecting trivialities into negotiations to achieve delays to suit their agendas. They have Russia’s backing.Iraq, like Afghanistan, is, in the ‘aftermath of US influence’, exhibiting states of confusion, deteriorating into what might become ungovernable entities. These are all countries that have received massive amounts of weaponry, whether from the US or Russia, with little or no accountability in place. There are others, just so we understand the scale of the problem. Sub-Saharan Africa has an abundance of terrorist organisations fighting to create their own ideological peace. Some of the more popular ones are Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, Boko Haram, Islamic State of Western Africa Province, Al Shabaab, and the Allied Democratic Forces, to name a few.

Illegal actors such as these are likely to be the beneficiaries of the lack of accountability in weaponry that occurs in areas of conflict, such as Ukraine today. The reality is often a case of more weapons ‘disappearing through the back door’ by way of illegal actions, resulting in more being demanded for the frontlines to keep the momentum of battle going. The increased demand and supply of weaponry, whether by legitimate or illegitimate sources, drives production and sales levels, allowing greater profits, increasing the perception of political and economic power and clout, and the false belief that all matters of a conflicting nature can be resolved by weaponisation. What, then, are the likely results of continuing to advance this type of a solution to problems?

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