Will there be a world war 3?
We have seen the anxiety regarding war growing in our world where news anchors everyday predict that the next day might be doomsday. Horrific pictures of Palestine, Syria, and Afghanistan are kept at the forefront to show that war can happen anywhere. We are all waiting for world war 2 and we think its time has been overdue. The recent COVID 19 and Iran tensions might even accelerate this. Some people believe that the war might erupt from south Asia where Kashmir tensions are growing. On the side, Balochistan is a province that is not happy as well. The recent BLA attack on Pakistan stock exchange and China’s embassy show resentment against CPEC. Some claim that China is moving towards the war by taking up fights with the USA by spying on them. It has been attacking the USA’s allies such as India for border tensions. White supremacists are not only restricted in the USA now but are also found in Germany as well but are brushed under the carpet. India has a religious supremacist who is torturing Muslims and winning by religious politics. The conservatives have tightened their grip on the entire world. India’s media has been taken over. Pakistan has a puppet government at the moment. Turkey has been hostile as well in the matter of Syria. Russia has been ruled by an ex-KGB spy for about 2 decades and onwards. The recent snippet shows that we are not on the verge of war but somewhere in between it.
Well, I hate to break the dream for nihilists but the war we think of might never happen. The war we think of is a wet dream for the armed forces and trust me if you even ask any of their officials as well this question then they would laugh at your naiveness. Why is that? One word, Globalization. Let me explain why the war will never happen.
First of all, we have to understand globalization. Globalization is actually a concept where the world is seen as one entity rather divided into different ideological states. It’s rather an opposing idea in the 21st century where finally kingdoms came to a fall and restrictions of travel became the norm. However, if any concept takes fame then its granted fame. Globalization allowed many people to profit over it and rather we were introduced to more brutal globalization by the Britishers. Now, how come this concept will stop the war?
War won’t happen because Mcdonalds is on the entire map of the world. Mcdonalds? Yes. Look, globalization didn’t mean that immigrants could travel into America and work cheaply and be rich through the exchange rate. It meant America could move its factories to third world countries and focus on selling their culture. If you ask what America sells then its the culture that they sell. Now you see a middle class from a third world country considering Mcdonalds as a luxury. They left the nation but created the mental barriers in our heads. We see T-shirts, Jeans and all fashion being copied here. The manufacturing part has been delegated to us but the retail side where all the glitter and ease lies have been taken up by them. These international food chains, banking systems, software houses, tobacco-producing companies or technology is the culture of the west being sold to us. If you go calculate how much the entire world has a stake interchangeably in every country, then you would realize that if not by force(war) but America or other powerful nations have a stake in every possible country. Tea is engraved within our culture and the best selling tea is Lipton. We are an Agri based economy and Nestle has the majority share in tetra pack milk.
Now many of you would say, do you think these factors are enough to stop a war in the world from happening? Well, yes it will stop the war at any cost because globalization didn’t mean that America would spread his hands over the world. The milk (Nestle) we drink in Pakistan comes from Switzerland. The car (Corolla) most sold in Pakistan, is from Japan (Toyota). The tea(Lipton) sold in Pakistan is from a UK based company (Unilever). The shaving razor (Gillette) most sold in Pakistan is from the USA(P&G). This is Pakistan we are talking about. It is considered a war zone by the west and has such high stakes in Pakistan. To your surprise, they don’t import from any of the countries mentioned but they produce and sell in Pakistan. This requires them to invest in land and equipment worth millions. Unilever’s profit from Pakistan was $47 million in Pakistan. Imagine the investment to churn out this profit. At Least these companies have stakes in Pakistan for about billions. Now comes in the good part, all these companies originate from a different country thus if any country attacks Pakistan then trust me these all stakeholders have to be on board or the war would be inconclusive. The dynamics of contested power would keep all nations away from war and this is a very minute example. There are innumerous stakes directly or indirectly in Pakistan. This is a country that was with the war on terrorism for years. Imagine, if 100 people have a stake in every country worth 1 billion dollars on average then do you think the war will happen in any of the countries? So imagine a country that has a higher stake? It’s impossible to bring in these giants on one page for war but if a common enemy is found attacking their stakes, I think to consider them united by then. The economic cost of the war in this modern age would cast us back 100 years thus it’s merely impossible.
Now the second reason that we won’t have a war is a reason more philosophical in nature and involves morality. What is the point where you decide or justify the use of nuclear power? For how long will you use conventional war tactics and a nation as big as the USA has fallen prey to debts due to war on terrorism. Nuclear weapons have to be used but again the question rises how and when? The nuclear attack on Japan is considered a pea-sized attack as compared to today’s weapons. When India and Pakistan had tensions growing and everyone wanted to justify the high defense budget by nuking each other, a columnist took a hypothetical situation of nuclear warfare and projected that either nation who initiates a nuclear attack would face irrecoverable losses. India is really close to Pakistan and if India nukes Pakistan then India would be affected as well and vice versa. Moreover, at what point could you justify the death of a million people? Never in life. If god forbids someone to finish a country through a nuclear attack, do you think the rest of the world would leave that country alone? Nuclear power is only a negotiation tactic. It’s the same as a thief won’t break into a house with a dog(nuclear power) and if it has guard(economic interdependence) sitting at the door then he won’t even think.
Now if war won’t happen then what will. I hate to break it, but we are in a state of war at this time. This time the war is a different arena and the soldiers are different as well. The only war the world will see on a large scale is the economic war. China and the USA are in a state of war where their entire industries are fighting through tariffs and taxation. China is spying on the USA through their devices and applications. Every state has a wet dream of eternal control to the smallest atom and China has been on the path since its existence. The USA is more of a diplomatic player where they do what they want until caught. China keeps morality out of fights and aims for the goal. The 5G war was an actual war where China was winning with higher revenues inflow. China has taken over Sri Lanka’s seaport through a proposition of investment in their country which was impossible to return. The silk road project has bought many areas of different countries allowing China’s economy to grow. Soon Gwadar in Pakistan would slip out of our hands too because China is even taking over agricultural land in Pakistan. This war at fronts is an act of flexing muscles for the huge public but the real agenda lies here. All decisions are taken in conference rooms rather than battlefields.