World in disorder

What happened to equal rights of nations large and small?

THERE is a new reality in the world today, but the United States does not see it. It appears that US President Donald Trump has his own reality show. Consider the Iran nuclear pact. May 8 marked the first anniversary since Trump walked away from the European Union-brokered 2015 accord. Walking away from international pacts isn’t uncommon for the US. The Paris climate agreement is one example. Some say the US is suffering from a Trump effect. There was a Bush effect, too. Recall the unsigning of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by George W. Bush. But, this time around, the nuclear pact walkout is backed by vengeance. Iranian oil, steel and everything in between is a no-go for the world.

Does the US think that we are living in a unipolar world? It is time that the rest of the world put the US in its place. But there is a problem here: the rest of the world is a voice in the wilderness. This distress of the rest was well put by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he took to the podium at the 73rd United Nations General Assembly on Sept 28 last year. There was plenty of irony in the theme of the session: “Making the United Nations Relevant to All People: Global Leadership and Shared Responsibilities for Peaceful, Equitable and Sustainable Societies”. Lofty aims so lazily pursued. Little wonder the world continues to lose its way.

Sixteen years hence, small countries remain “at the mercy of the powerful”. The epitome of powerlessness is the statelessness of the Palestinians. Since 1948, the Palestinians have been robbed, maimed and murdered by the genocidal regime of Israel. Sadly, the world turns a blind eye to. What is more shocking is that the US continues to spur on the Israelis by arming the only nuclear-powered country in the Middle East with sophisticated weapons.

Iran suffers a similar fate at the hand of the US. Notwithstanding the Middle Eastern country’s willingness to denuclearise through an international pact, the US has continued to impose one sanction after another on it, pushing the poor Iranians to even greater penury. As at Wednesday, the US has deployed warships and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf. All this when Israel possesses 75 to 400 nuclear weapons. Not to mention the storehouse of chemical and biological weapons. In this topsy-turvy world, the US rewards Israel and punishes Iran.

And the rest of the world watches the powerful pummel the powerless. For that seems to be the wayward way of the world. This must change, and the change must begin at the UN. The New Straits Times would like to remind the UN that the world body was conceived to create peace in this world. Peace will only result if atrocities — be it caused by war or otherwise — are put to an end. It is time the UN gave some credence to its lofty ideals spelt out in the UN Charter of 1945: equal rights of nations large and small.

The ‘New Straits Times’ would like to remind the UN that the world body was conceived to create peace in this world.