The attack on Iran by the US and Israel has plunged the world into seriously unstable territory. An already unstable global security environment has become worse.
The Russian offensive against Ukraine which was launched by Vladmir Putin is still raging on, racking up close to 1.5 million in casualties.
The war between Israel and Hamas that has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians is still producing casualties despite last year’s ceasefire agreement.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is going on as we speak.
The civil war in Sudan has turned into one of the worst humanitarian disasters.
Conflicts in the DRC where some of our own soldiers lost lives are raging on without any end in sight.
These are just some of the active conflicts around the world.
It is against this backdrop that the US and Israel suddenly attacked Iran more than a week ago.
The so-called pre-emptive strike murdered the supreme leader of Iran, together with some of his family members. The attacks continue to destroy Iranian infrastructure, killing children and citizens.
Iran retaliated and launched attacks against its neighbours. They said they were attacking US army bases.
Soon enough they started attacking the energy infrastructure of their neighbours, shattering their initial pretence that they were attacking US military bases.
This war, like many raging conflicts, represents a wave of escalating attacks against the global rule of law itself.
While the powerful leaders who launch these types of illegal attacks like Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu would prefer to draw the world into the politics and security considerations of these attacks, that approach has no reasonable resolution.
Instead, political and security considerations are often used as flimsy reasons to launch these attacks.
Not so long ago, a similarly weak reason was provided to abduct Maduro from Venezuela.
The actions of these powerful states and their leaders are patently illegal. It is primarily considerations of legality thereof that should weigh these actions and point out a possible solution.
“So again, for us it’s not about the politics of relations between states. It’s about what is right, what is wrong, what we accept.
“If we accept that certain states can breach international law because of what they perceive to be their political preference, then we are all at risk.”
Unfortunately, though SA professes to be non-aligned, our actions have often demonstrated that there are countries we regard as friends which we fail to condemn outright, while we act differently towards their enemies
Director-general of the department of international relations and cooperation Zane Dangor said this during an interview (with Daily Maverick) recently.
He rightly pointed out the principle that should guide South Africa in international affairs.
Whether Dangor is simply paying lip service to the principle can only be tested through the lens of South Africa’s international behaviour.
Unfortunately, though SA professes to be non-aligned, our actions have often demonstrated that there are countries we regard as friends which we fail to condemn outright, while we act differently towards their enemies.
Our lack of outright condemnation for the enemies of the US, for instance, paints an inconsistent picture of our “principled” stand.
Clearly, the US and Israel attack against Iran is illegal. Equally, it is illegal for Iran to retaliate by attacking its neighbours.
Our condemnation of all parties involved should be consistent.
To this end President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call for a ceasefire is important because it is a prerequisite to the restoration of the rule of law.
The world’s inability to maintain the rule of law is the most pressing need demonstrated by these wars.
If the most powerful states cannot be held accountable for such horrific and illegal actions, then we need to redesign the entire rules-based governance of world affairs.
Sadly, these conflicts developed right under the nose of the UN. This shows that the UN urgently needs a deep redesign.
One of the flaws of the current UN system is that it cannot be enforced, particularly when it comes to powerful nations.
While it should be the UN Security Council that authorises a military attack for self-defence, the most powerful countries can veto the Security Council decisions.
This time Trump and Netanyahu, much like Putin in 2022, simply bypassed the UN Security Council and surprised everyone with an attack on Iran.
This level of disregard for international law has no basis. It makes countries like the US, Israel, Iran and Russia, among others, rogue nations which deserve serious sanctions for their glaring breaches of international law.
However, all possible sanctions at this time, whether economic or military based, can be blocked by these powerful nations.
This places the world in a precarious position where real human progress is at the mercy of a few powerful nations.
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