The way the superpowers are behaving, one is tempted to ask, how they ever managed to become one anyway. Behaving more like greedy children who want this and that and everything, they have put the world in great difficulties including people who have nothing to do with their conflicts that resemble the ones mafias have for territorial control.

They are not good enough for that role either because their shenanigans are hurting those who don't want to even hear their name. If the Russia-Ukraine war has done anything it's to prove that the world may have great military and economic powers but none can claim to have the level of state intelligence required to survive. If wild animals are not suicidal as matter of principle as the super powers seem to be. What we are observing shows that since the desire to become superpowers rose, the pre-condition was not common sense of the global variety.

The conflict model

In the last 100 years the world has been dominated by the conflict model which assumes that one side must reign supreme for global survival and war is the best way to deal with that challenge. It has become a mental ailment of the West although the conflict model has regularly failed. WW 2 is the best example.

The UK and the US allowed Hitler's Germany to grow strong because they hoped that it would defeat the then Soviet Union, another Western power that was challenging them. It was a deadly stupidity and caused the holocaust and other by-products of the Western civilization.

Not only was the world torn up by the war but the objective of supporting Germany which was to diminish the Soviet Union backfired. It made SU stronger and it also grabbed other states leading to a new empire whose impact continues till today including the current Russo-Ukraine war.

The collapse of the Soviet Union showed how fragile Western ideologies like communism are and how toxic forms they can take as SU invaded one state after another in the name of socialism. Its final attempt was fatal as the Afghan adventure ended a historical improbability of the invader. Soon as the SU broke into pieces, new problems and crises arose which have led to many invasions, bloodbath and plain disasters.

Meanwhile, the US landed itself in Vietnam and managed to make an utter fool of itself and not only carried out a self-humiliating war like its Russian cousin regularly does but pushed on the same path including battling terrorism which it helped produce. They also declared the "Us and Them" axiom but it never worked. There is no need to mention more US humiliations like the Gulf war and the consequent production of global extremism but they continue.

The three stages of conflict

The latest Russo-Ukraine war is a product of this proxy fight the two Western powers are involved in since the pre WW 2 days.

In the first stage, the conflict morphed and the old colonial model died and the new US led one emerged. Old Europe became subservient to the US, a situation that has not changed much. This ended with the death of Nazism and the rise of the global cold war. It caused immense suffering to the world.

The second stage was the collapse of the Soviet Union and its break up followed by various US humiliations in the ME followed by its latest mega embarrassment in the ramshackle departure from Afghanistan.

And now we are seeing the third stage in the Russo-Ukraine war where old foes are fighting a war which is fought as if the world had stood still and the 50s were still on. The issues were self-generated by both parties to produce the justification of a war and both believe that a war in today's world is winnable.

The impact of this war is being felt by the world more than WW 2. The racist statements made by Western media when the war broke out show how little the world has changed. The West may never change. Sadly, the rest of the world has not paid enough attention to minimize the impact and continue to suffer. This is because the notion of One world continues to haunt many leaders in the South. Till they realize that survival lies in depleting the West, the negative impacts of such wars by super powers, basically large military powers will continue.

People also suffer because they are willing to suffer.