PANGEA-LA-REUNION
Around 300 million years ago, our planet did not have seven continents but one supercontinent called Pangea or Pangaea, surrounded by a massive ocean called the Panthalassa. The breakup of this supercontinent, later led to the ushering in, of the modern plate tectonic theory which posits that the Earth's outer shell is broken up into several plates that slide over Earth's rocky shell, the mantle. But that is all irrelevant. What matters is that mankind lived on a single mass of land. What matters is that this parting of masses of land drastically changed the fate of our planet. Some say it divided us. Maybe, if the earth still had one continent, we would still be a united species. Just maybe. But, that is certainly not the case in the present scenario of the seven continents, even when considered separately.
Today, the world is facing a plethora of conflicts that have put millions of lives at risk in almost each of these seven continents. Some of these, have been going on since decades while some are regarding future prospects. Conflicts like the Syrian Civil War and Afghanistan War have ravaged lands and lives of the people living in these areas, claiming more than 3 million lives as cumulative fatalities. The Syrian Civil War, which has been going on for the past 7 years has witnessed various political and militant organisations and regimes use this instability for their own gains, inconsiderate towards the loss of life and property. After nearly seven years of war, President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has the upper hand, owing to support from Iranian and Russian backing. But the fighting is not over. Large swaths of the country remain outside regime control, regional and international powers disagree on a settlement, and Syria is an arena for the rivalry between Iran and its enemies. On the other hand, issues like cyber security have resulted in animosity amongst nations such as Russia, China and USA due to speculations or perhaps even proven interference in each other’s internal matters through cyber and related technological methods. Russia and China have repeatedly been accused of interfering with various countries’ cyber networks to cause hindrances.
Information and telecommunications technology has become one of the leading causes of security breaches in these times.
Humanitarian crisis is evident in many parts of the Middle East and Southeast Asia, notably in Yemen and Myanmar. With 8 million people on the brink of famine, 1 million declared cholera cases, and over 3 million internally displaced persons, the Yemen war could escalate further in 2018. In the Republic of Congo, President Joseph Kabila’s determination to hold on to power threatens to escalate the crisis in Congo and a humanitarian emergency that is already among the world’s worst. Fighting in the country has already left thousands of people dead, and the likely course in 2018 is gradual deterioration in the current situation, due to growing dissent in the masses. In Myanmar, the current refugee crisis threatens the country’s stability and hard earned political changes. The targeting of the long mistreated Rohingya Muslims, which has led to an exodus of these people to Bangladesh and India has been called a textbook example of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ by various countries and international organisations around the world. The condition of many people in these areas is horrific and requires immediate international support.
Rivalries between nations, like Saudi Arabia and Iran has beholden an era of international aggression between the two nations, with economical and military threats being presented in the fray. Talking of international aggression, the most infamous example is the recent conflict between the North Korean dictator Kim-Jong-Un and US President Donald Trump. North Korean threats to launch nuclear missiles, followed by nuclear tests were the closest the world has been to a nuclear confrontation in recent times. In a world where differences between regimes have a cold and long history, such as the India- Pakistan conflict which has resulted in wars and skirmishes alike between the two countries, the UN is the organisation which has led collective efforts at achieving global peace.
The UN, along with its member nations, has tried to make the world a united and peaceful place. We, who are all in pursuit of an Aristotelian Eudaimonia, hope that someday we will achieve this dream of the Pangea-La-Reunion.
Sarthak Tayal
XI-Science