The crises that we are facing this time in the world are nothing new to humans. We have seen health challenges, and overcome them. Covid 19 is certainly not the first thing that has struck us humans in our journey on this planet. Just a look at the recent past, we have had challenges like AIDS and Ebola. They were not less threatening than the covid 19 pandemic. But gradually the world found the ways and means to get past those terrible times. What helped in those cases was a global response and a long term, concerted effort. Similarly there were occasions in the recent past when many states came close to a military confrontation.
It was not the case with just the superpowers, USA and the erstwhile USSR, but other states as well. The crisis on many occasions peaked so dramatically that a full blown military clash was found imminent. But these disasters were saved from striking the world by the timely intervention of the global leadership. It was because of the right interventions at right times that the crises started diffusing and the world was saved from catastrophe. The consistent and focussed attempts to resolve the conflicts laid the foundation for some of the now established practices of diplomacy and conflict resolution. This gave a new outlook to the global politics and allowed for long phases of global peace. But unfortunately all this seems to be coming to a close. The reason for this pessimism is the absence of a global leadership that could rise above petty, and narrow national interests and think of the world at large. This is a matter that needs attention because global leadership doesn’t come from heavens, it is raised here in our societies. If people in their respective political spheres can make right choices, and put pressure on their local and regional leaders to make right and rightful choices, we will see a change at global level before long. Unless we have a global leadership with a universal outlook, we will remain dangerously divided.