Atle Hetland<\/p>\n
We keep saying that all wars end \u2013 at some stage, it must be added. But when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Oslo last week, he also said that wars do not wait and that suffering and devastation continue all the time. Zelensky met with the Prime Minister of Norway and the President of Finland, both countries sharing long land borders with Russia, and two envoys from the USA, one digitally. This was followed by American talks with Russian President Putin in St Petersburg and a further report-back in Oslo. On Tuesday this week, President Putin, the Norwegian PM and the Finnish President held a one-and-a-half-hour telephone conference at the request of President Zelensky. This means that there is some movement, with new contacts regarding Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, ahead of the planned talks in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in a few weeks\u2019 time. Some European leaders disapproved of the efforts, while most were glad that they took place, hopefully contributing a little towards ending the five-year full-scale war in Ukraine, which, however, began earlier, with a war-like situation in the east of the country since 2014, when the Crimea region was annexed by Russia.
\nIt is true that many wars and conflicts go on for a very long time; they become protracted and almost normal, with few prospects of ending so that people can live peacefully and cooperation can be re-established among groups within and between countries. Let me, in today\u2019s article, draw attention to some of the protracted wars and conflicts in the world. However, today I will skip discussing the situations in Asia, just mentioning that the rule in Afghanistan, Myanmar and North Korea is problematic for the countries\u2019 people and their neighbours. And, of course, we are certainly well aware that there is not yet a solution to the Kashmir situation.
\nThe Israel-Palestine war is a particularly sad example. In recent years, the suffering in Palestine\u2019s Gaza Strip has been particularly massive, with over 70,000 deaths, including 20,000 children. There are also ongoing war-like situations in the West Bank, in addition to other conflicts in the Middle East. This week\u2019s election in Israel will not change the situation much in the country and region; the two-state solution also seems impossible.
\nThe USA-Israel attacks on Iran have gone on for three-quarters of a year, also affecting other countries, and it is feared that they may escalate after the USA mid-term elections on 3 November. The Houthi rebels in Yemen have been engaged in a civil war for a long time, also involving neighbouring countries. Recently, the Houthis have carried out serious attacks on Saudi Arabia, and the situation has become very worrying, affecting vital oil shipments and other maritime traffic through the Strait of Bab al-Mandab at the entrance to the Red Sea. This situation comes on top of the problems with oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran wants to control, against America\u2019s wishes.
\nIn Africa, the long-lasting civil war in Sudan, not only in its Darfur province, seems never to end, now also fuelled by foreign groups, mostly for economic reasons. In South Sudan, leadership quarrels continue, affecting everyone in the oil-rich and fertile country, which managed to break away from the vast Sudanese territory in 2011. In the 1980s and 1990s, the leaders of the SPLA, the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Army and Movement, and many students and others living in exile in Nairobi, Kenya, were dreaming of and planning for South Sudan\u2019s independence. Alas, certainly not the kind of unstable peace and development that the new state has experienced, with leaders who are incapable of respecting each other and governing the young country. Several foreign organisations were involved before South Sudan became independent, without which independence could not have happened. Today, it seems those organisations and countries have forgotten or are otherwise unable to support the leaders in the young country. The foreign friends should get the leaders to shape up and grow up. Also, the media and international community seem to allow the lasting conflicts among the Sudanese peoples, in the old Sudan and the new Sudan, to continue with less attention than is needed, despite the tragedies affecting millions of inhabitants
\nin both countries.
\nIn West Africa, Niger and other Sahel countries continue to experience internal conflicts. The large and oil-rich country of Nigeria also has ongoing conflicts, especially in the north. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), another vast and resource-rich African country, stretching from coastal West Africa to Central and East Africa, has lasting internal conflicts, also spilling over into the smaller neighbouring countries in the Great Lakes Region.
\nTanzania, with President Samia Suluhu Hassan (66), now in her second term in office, has been moving away from the country\u2019s proud, softer socialist orientation towards harder, authoritarian rule. The many major donor countries and organisations seem to have done too little to assist the people and leaders so that the country can get back on track. For several decades, Tanzania was one of the world\u2019s largest recipients of development aid, with scores of aid workers and diplomats in the country, who should have done a better job of encouraging democratic development.
\nFurthermore, among African countries, Zimbabwe is limping along, now many years after President Mugabe\u2019s long and mostly unsuccessful rule, but it should have been able to do better. South Africa seems to be doing fairly well despite certain internal conflicts, also related to legal and illegal immigration from other African countries. It seems that a middle-income country like South Africa, advanced in many ways, should give much greater attention to democratic development issues related to race, class and other matters, again with advice from international organisations, foreign diplomats and experts.
\nIn Latin America, the problems seem to be less dramatic, yet politicians in these countries have conflicting views regarding how close they should be to their mighty neighbour, the USA, or whether they should pursue more independent socialist policies. It is true that if they go too far to the left, as Venezuela and Cuba have done, the USA will impose sanctions and restrict cooperation with these countries. It is a fact that Latin American countries, in the USA\u2019s backyard, need to have fairly cordial relations with the Americans.
\nThe election results in the large country of Brazil show that the socialist-oriented President Lula (81) has won yet another four-year term. It will be a test of how independent a Latin American country can be from the USA and its ideology. It will also be a test of how democratic socialist rulers can remain in the long run, and how neutral and incorruptible civil servants can be. Also, let me say that there should not be automatic prosecution of opposition politicians; after all, democracy is about allowing different political views, and at the next election, the current opposition may win.
\nIn Europe, Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine is very serious for the countries directly involved and for the whole of Europe and the West. I already drew attention to the war at the beginning of today\u2019s article. Furthermore, let us note that student demonstrations in France and other countries in Southern Europe, and also in Albania, are worrying, as is the risk of right-wing politicians benefiting from them and possibly winning future elections.
\nOn a positive note, the election in Serbia a few days ago is an example of how election results can be respected; the student protesters and their politicians won the election, and President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107, president since 2017, resigned. Yet, it will be difficult for the new leaders to take over, considering that the previous political leaders have organised and staffed the civil service with their own people.<\/p>\n
The writer is a senior Norwegian social scientist with experience from university, diplomacy and development aid. He can be reached at atlehetland@yahoo.com<\/p>\n
Courtesy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Atle Hetland We keep saying that all wars end \u2013 at some stage, it must be added. But when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Oslo last week, he also said that wars do not wait and that suffering and devastation continue all the time. Zelensky met with the Prime Minister of Norway and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[12984],"class_list":["post-575033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-article","tag-atle-hetland"],"yoast_head":"\n