TODAY.AZ / Sports

Replacing players or still in game

17 February 2015 [10:05] - TODAY.AZ

/By AzerNews/

By Gulgiz Dadashova

There are many questions that come to mind as to what extent the world order that existed amid the imperfections for the Cold War will be damaged, as the world struggles and suffers from multitude of conflicts currently under way. Officially the Cold War is over and the score was 1-0, in favor of the West. However, as was recently demonstrated by the Russian president by his amazing coop in winning Egypt back into the bosom of Russia and in doing so, replacing the United States and Turkey as the power of influence in the region, the Soviet Union may have lost the Cold War, but Russia is very much still in the game.

The world today is on the verge of new and fundamental changes. Secondary powers, such as China, Turkey and Iran are learning that they too may have a voice if they shout loud enough. Some, like Turkey and Iran even think they can replace the U.S. as a regional influence.

Violence in the Middle East, South Caucasus, Central Asia, and North Africa, malnutrition and disease in African counties, the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation and serious immigration and drug problems in South America and rampant immigration in Europe are only part of the problems the world faces today. Then throw in global warming, pollution, receding forests and the rise of the ocean level and the world looks even bleaker.

Most perturbing are the policies followed by the superpowers that have contributed to adding to the chaos that has played a considerable role in the emergence of the problems in these regions.

The world has always been troubled by regional conflicts, but with the exception of major wars such as the “secondary conflicts” such as Afghanistan and Iraq, the rest of the conflicts were very geographically limited. That is no longer the case. Current conflagrations have erased borders and boundaries, as the wars in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine have demonstrated. There’s no turning back as big changes are yet to come. The Middle East has completely slipped into war. There seems to be no way out as religious and political matters have become so inextricably intermixed.

Ukraine offers a new challenge. This conflict has contributed to the deterioration of relations between the West and Russia. The expansion of the European Union and NATO into areas formerly under the influence of the Soviet Union was seen by Russia as infringing on its national interests.

The South Caucasus is another hot spot where the world turns a blind eye to Armenia’s aggressive policy towards Azerbaijan, where despite the fact that a cease-fire is supposed to be in effect, skirmishes on the frontline continues to take the lives of not only soldiers, but also civilians.

Many observers say 2014 marked the beginning of a less peaceful and more chaotic era in international relations. This can also be seen in the UNHCR data, according to which the number of people displaced from their homes living under the protection of the UN High Commission for Refugees, had reached an all-time staggering record number of 46.3 million people.

International organizations like the OSCE and the UN remain powerless and unable to stop creeping chaos. They devote much time and money passing resolution that in the end appear to be useless to deal with the problems.

The 50-day war in Gaza left more than 2,200 people dead in 2014, in which civilians were caught in crossfire and calls from the United Nations for cease-fire went unheeded.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has been deeply engaged in Ukraine, and for more than 20 years in Nagorno-Karabakh but it lacks the political clout to address, let alone resolve, key issues.

No security organization can succeed without leaders who are committed to addressing and resolving core issues. This is not to suggest that the U.N. or OSCE serves no good and useful aim. Some of their decisions and resolutions call appropriate attention to issues that might otherwise be missed.

The automatic benefit of the doubt can, over time, destroy even the strongest institutions even. So, they need to be fixed to bring more benefit to the nations.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/sports/138752.html

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