TOWARD A PEACEFUL WORLD ORDER By T.S. Khanna, April 16, 2022.

 

Toward A Peaceful World Order

By T.S. Khanna, April 16, 2022,

Foundation For better Government.

 

We are living in a time when the human intelligence has outstripped human wisdom.  One need not be a Cassandra to recognize the danger of nuclear war, “the Battle of Armageddon”, ahead.  The Nuclear War threat from Putin is a blackmailing technique to leverage the power of his incompetent military. 

 

Direct intervention by the NATO forces and no-fly zone in Ukraine will decide the matter much faster.  NATO may respond to next nuclear threat from Putin with actual use of nuclear weapon against him, without harming the general public.  To contain Putin’s idiosyncrasies, NATO has to make sure that Putin does not win the Ukraine war he started. At the most, he may be given some face saving compromise.

 

The bone chilling observation of the Putin-War on Ukraine compels us to examine our weaknesses in establishing a peaceful world order.  Hereunder, a few words as a mind teaser:

 

Before the invention of a measuring tape, tailors stitched unfitting clothes: too tight or too loose.  Ever since Plato’s book, “Republic”, political Pundits, engaged in designing government organization, have served as “tailors without a measuring tape”.  As a result, various governments in place are either too tight (strong dictatorship) or too loose (liberal democracy).

 

In Russia, at a pivotal time of the USSR dissolution in the 1990s, as a reaction to the loose grip of government, the constitution was adopted with a locus of power in a few hands for greater efficiency in decision and action.  It was modeled on the US system of executive presidency but without any checks, guardrails, or direction to the use of power.  The purpose or goal of government was also not clarified, as it is also missing in most other adopted constitutions.

 

Under the Russian Constitution, drafted by President Boris Yeltsin and adopted on December 12, 1993, the president is elected on a national level and may serve for two terms, with significant powers.  The president appoints the prime minister as the chairman of the Lower House of 450 elected members (Duma).  The president appoints key judges, and his cabinet members, leads the military as the Commander-in-chief.  He also has the powers to declare emergency and impose martial law.

 

Putin, a KGB employee, was the favorite son of Yeltsin and was elected President.  After being placed into presidency, Putin focused on empowering his military with nuclear weapons, ignoring the public welfare.

 

The US Constitution, on the other side, lays emphasis on power to the people: human rights without attendant obligations; rep democracy without obligation to the national interests.  Both these centrifugal social forces keep splitting the society.  Remember, the major cause of the fall of the USSR was that it did not make the needed timely changes in its Constitution.

 

Unless the Russian Constitution is amended, it will keep producing more “Putins”; and, unless the US Constitution is amended, it will keep splitting the American polity and keep rendering the US government dysfunctional with logjams created by the outdated checks/balance techniques.

 

In the past, United Nations power of compromise has been exercised only through goodwill and influence.   Now, for the sake of world peace, directed at improving the lot of humanity, the UN would need powers to

1.     Review and comment on the Constitution of each country re its positive and negative effects within and outside the country;

2.     Establish an authoritative International Court with full powers to decide on cases of conflicting countries (The existing International Court is very limited in jurisdiction and powers);and,

3.     Enforce the decisions of the International Court.