The rise of the invisible enemy
Since the beginning of the First World War the affairs of States and more so the relationship between Nation States have taken center stage. For the sake of simplification the quality of relationship between two States has become relevant for all, even those not closely associated with the States in question.
This has happened due to numerous factors one being that a skirmish between two Nations can very easily rope in multiple Nations, the two world wars serve as good examples. Technological advancement, which has made information flow a lot faster, has had its side effects as well. A war situation in one region can inspire a war situation elsewhere. The world has become a global village, which in turn means that since the world has become more interdependent an imbalance in one part of the world has a domino effect which in turn makes the whole international geo political structure unstable.
World War I was soon followed by World War II and in each of the great warsan inter governmental organization was created. The first one the League of Nations had its flaws and hence a limited shelf life. The second one the United Nations was created keeping in mind the flaws of the last organization and hence persisted in existence.
Along with this World War II was concluded by the use of the nuclear bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
With the United Nations having almost every country as their member state and the fear of a Nuclear War guaranteed an end to conventional war.
The aftermath of the last great conventional war created two super powers, the United States and the USSR, which for the purpose of public consumption was an ideological war between Capitalism and Socialism. Since these two superpowers could not indulge in a flow blown hot war, the Cold War started soon after World War II and lasted till the early 90s.
The dynamics of the Cold War were such that even though there was a clear conflict between the world powers there was no direct war in which real fighting took place, at least not directly between the two powers. The war was essentially an arms race in which the two sides enhanced their nuclear arsenal, and an expansion of geographical dominance through economic and political allegiances.
There were a few hot wars, fought in areas such as Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan. The common thread in the three nations was that they were small and could not sustain an onslaught and hence the wars were contained.
The end of the Cold War created a singular superpower, the United States of America. There were no rivals and hence there was only one system. The end of the Cold War also saw the advent of the terrorist outfits in the shape of Taliban and Al Qaida followed by ISIS and these represent the present day invisible enemy.
What makes them invisible is that they are not represented through any heads of state, they don’t have any clear-cut bases, there is no particular area to be conquered. The modus operandi is simply terrorism, the bases are unknown and the source of finance is mostly illegal and undeclared. Unlike the past warring parties there are no clear objectives of economic and political dominance.
The implications of this modern warfare, is there are no rules. The objective is creating an impact through grotesque inhumanity, which means terrorist attacks on civilians, essentially children and women. The war is endless as there is no clear way out. The past wars were limited to the time it took one warring nation to run out of funds and firearms, on the other hand the modern day ideological wars fought against the invisible enemy miraculously finds both parties well armed and well funded, leaving no end in sight.
War is essential, its been happening as far back as recorded history can take us. War funds a multi billion dollar industry of weapons, which at times is the primary source of wealth for many rich nations. The balance of power is maintained, war ensures that a particular state which attains dominance in the worldalso maintains it. War conjures a nationalist sentiment in the masses which would be lost had there been no external conflict. Last but not least the world resources cannot sustain the present world population and to ensure that the privileged few live in abundance and the masses remain deprived a constant state of war is necessary.
Unfortunately thismodern form of ideological warfare is too uncontrolled and is perhaps being fought at a price the world as a whole will be unable to pay.
