16 December 2019
Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi speaks on the second day of hearings in a case filed by Gambia against Myanmar alleging genocide against the minority Muslim Rohingya population, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands December 11, 2019. Picture: REUTERS / YVES HERMAN
The genocide case against Myanmar is reminiscent of the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo by the populist nationalist Milosovic regime two decades ago. In that case an international coalition under Nato was prepared to stop the ethnic cleansing by bombing Yugoslavia, because it was within their sphere of influence. The US played a leading role in building a strong coalition.
In the case of Myanmar no serious action was taken by the international community. Will the international community be prepared and capable to take strong action today in a situation of atrocities and ethnic cleansing similar to that of Yugoslavia, given the new reality of deep divisions and distrust globally?
Nationalism, populism and intolerance have infiltrated Western powers, and the US has abdicated its global leadership role regarding gross human rights violations. Human rights have become a dispensable commodity, especially where oil and arms sales come into the picture.
I participated in the planning stages of an initiative to create a Bosnia and Herzegovina truth and reconciliation commission with SA involvement. During a discussion with then president Slobodan Milosevic in 1999, I told him that president Nelson Mandela is critical of the Nato bombing but also of the ethnic cleansing that he then vehemently denied. I also referred to the “SA experience” as an example to the world. He did not show any remorse; instead he clearly bargained that Nato would eventually withdraw and that they would find their own solution to the Kosovo problem.
The kind of division, intolerance, populism, nationalism and racial superiority in Western democracies nowadays has the same roots and tendencies as was the case in Nazi Germany, apartheid SA, Cyprus, Bosnia, Yugoslavia and Myanmar.
The new world order introduced after World War 2 contributed to 70 years of relative stability and healthy co-operation between Nato and individual countries to deal with situations such as the ethnic strife in the Balkan region. The withdrawal of the US from its traditional stabilising global role creates a new reality and a sense of uncertainty about the road ahead.
China and Russia are the real winners in this scenario and are already playing more assertive roles, while Emmanuel Macron of France clearly also has aspirations to play a leading role within the EU. Unless US President Donald Trump disappears soon, the global political landscape may change dramatically, with the rule of law and human rights shifting into the background and the balance of power shifting further East.
Dawie Jacobs
Sterrewag
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an e-mail with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by e-mail to busday@bdfm.co.za. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
No comments:
Post a Comment