A Journo's Diary

The world is in transition. Well, very true. In the past few months, I have heard this statement not less than a hundred times. It sounds like a consolation for every event that is being faced by the international community. If there is an economic boom, there is a transition or on the contrary, if there is bankruptcy, there is a transition. If Russia-Georgia fight a war, there is a transition and if there are bomb blasts in Mumbai, there is yet another transition. But what boggles my mind is the growth period of this so called “transition”?

In a way, looking back at the year 2008, the events have paved the way for the need of a new world order. Not only in the economic drives of the country, but there is a crisis on the territorial fronts of many countries. Democratic Republic of Congo, South Ossetia and now Israel-Gaza are only some of the examples of failed attempts at following a peace plan endorsed by the United Nations. What is most surprising is the fact that in this wake of fighting a war and satisfying their levels of self sufficiency, the countries forget about the huge amounts of loss made. These losses are not only limited to lives of the innocent people but further extended to the destruction of the civilization to a great extent.
In the middle of the huge number of shortages like food, energy, water and so on, the advent of a war gives a blow to the whole system of governance and the economic structure of the country. But is it right for use the so called magic word – “transition” and get away without a solution? Is it right for a few men who by virtue of being part of a developed country, sit in their ivory towers, disconnected from the ground reality, make decisions about the future of a developing/ underdeveloped country over their four course dinners?

The year 2008 might have been the year of crisis for many countries and many lives. But it also showcased the inevitable conflict that exists between the developing world to a great extent. It also exposed the huge amount of dependence of the third world on the White House. Well, no matter how much we stress upon multi-polarity of the world today, the fact remains that world still remains uni-polar. And coming back to the issue of transition, well yes, in a way the world is in a transition. But the transition is aimed at proving themselves to U.S and the international community.

The world today is very resource-driven. If a country possesses the resources, there is immediate support from the big powers, international communities, NGO’s and so on. And it is this area where a smaller and under developed country gets exploited and neglected. I see a transition for sure, the transition from ambition to greed, from peace to conflict, from efficiency to exploitation. And this transition is indeed a dangerous one.

While the United States welcomes its new President, the expectations of the international community will rise at the speed of light. It is high time the big and strong powers understand the ground realities faced by many countries in the world today and establish a new world order sensitive to the needs of the countries facing the brunt of globalisation today. If not, well the transition will end with a very sad demise of the word “peace” and the predictions of Nostradamus might find their way into this world.