THE POWER OF INFLUENCE
Imran Khan
July 05, 2006
In 2001 following the terrorist attack on Indian parliament building in New Delhi, India deployed thousands of additional troops on its border with Pakistan. Tension was very high and many pundits predicted that war was inevitable between two rivals and Nuclear Powers.
To prevent a war which was likely to cause devastating effects on both countries and on the entire World, an endless diplomacy was started by international community, especially the United States and the United Kingdom.
Many top officials including Collin Powell, then US Secretary of State and Jack Straw, then British Foreign Secretary visited the region many times to cool things down. The personal involvement of George W. Bush and Tony Blair was also visible. President Bush said "2001 was the year that we had shuttle diplomacy to convince Pakistan and India not to go to war with each other." The shuttle Diplomacy used by the US and the UK worked well in easing tensions between the two neighbors and finally War was prevented. Now things are much better and both countries are having the best relations they have ever had in their history.
One thing which is very important in this case was the position and influence of the mediating countries. Both the US and the UK are developed nations. The former is the world's most powerful nation and only super power in the world. The latter ruled the region for over 200 years and have historical influence. They used their power and influence to bring peace.
India and Pakistan, both developing countries, rely on these powerful nations for many things and were not in a position to ignore their mediation. So, it really paid off and because of that influence a war was prevented. It clearly shows that if any country has influence and if it put it rightly it could change decisions of other countries and even avert a war between rivals.
Now in 2006, the situation between the US and Iran is worsening with every passing day. Both are engaged in a war of words and keep threatening each other. The international community is making every effort to resolve the issue peacefully through diplomacy. But will diplomacy work? In 2003 huge diplomatic efforts were made to prevent US attack on Iraq, but all efforts proved fruitless. So only diplomacy is not enough to resolve the issue, but strong influence on both sides is also required. Is there any power which can influence both countries? Iran has some good economic and historical relations with China, Germany and especially Russia. This latter can influence Iran, but does it have any kind of influence on United States? The simple answer is 'No'. And if United Kingdom is close to the US, it has no influence over Iran.
In fact Iran is not a very powerful country and can not stand alone, but unfortunately US being the superpower can influence other countries to change their decisions. It is natural that such a powerful country will not listen, but the world is not made of many individual countries only. There is an organization called the United Nations Organization (UN) which has the representation of almost all the countries of the world. If one country does not have influence on a superpower the UN should have, as it represents the entire world.
It is a real dilemma of the world that the organization which should have influence on all the member countries is actually under the influence of few powerful countries. The biggest influence which any country has on the UN is America's. Many countries clearly point to the UN's role and its weakness against powerful nations. So a powerful country like the United States can ignore the UN and work on its own afresh, as it attacked Iraq in 2003 without the mandate of international organization.
To prevent such things and for sustainable world peace and stability, a strong UN is needed. It must have the power to influence any member nation and be able to work independently without being influenced by anyone whatsoever. Otherwise, the big powers will never listen to anyone and keep doing whatever they want, whether it is right or wrong.
To prevent a war which was likely to cause devastating effects on both countries and on the entire World, an endless diplomacy was started by international community, especially the United States and the United Kingdom.
Many top officials including Collin Powell, then US Secretary of State and Jack Straw, then British Foreign Secretary visited the region many times to cool things down. The personal involvement of George W. Bush and Tony Blair was also visible. President Bush said "2001 was the year that we had shuttle diplomacy to convince Pakistan and India not to go to war with each other." The shuttle Diplomacy used by the US and the UK worked well in easing tensions between the two neighbors and finally War was prevented. Now things are much better and both countries are having the best relations they have ever had in their history.
One thing which is very important in this case was the position and influence of the mediating countries. Both the US and the UK are developed nations. The former is the world's most powerful nation and only super power in the world. The latter ruled the region for over 200 years and have historical influence. They used their power and influence to bring peace.
India and Pakistan, both developing countries, rely on these powerful nations for many things and were not in a position to ignore their mediation. So, it really paid off and because of that influence a war was prevented. It clearly shows that if any country has influence and if it put it rightly it could change decisions of other countries and even avert a war between rivals.
Now in 2006, the situation between the US and Iran is worsening with every passing day. Both are engaged in a war of words and keep threatening each other. The international community is making every effort to resolve the issue peacefully through diplomacy. But will diplomacy work? In 2003 huge diplomatic efforts were made to prevent US attack on Iraq, but all efforts proved fruitless. So only diplomacy is not enough to resolve the issue, but strong influence on both sides is also required. Is there any power which can influence both countries? Iran has some good economic and historical relations with China, Germany and especially Russia. This latter can influence Iran, but does it have any kind of influence on United States? The simple answer is 'No'. And if United Kingdom is close to the US, it has no influence over Iran.
In fact Iran is not a very powerful country and can not stand alone, but unfortunately US being the superpower can influence other countries to change their decisions. It is natural that such a powerful country will not listen, but the world is not made of many individual countries only. There is an organization called the United Nations Organization (UN) which has the representation of almost all the countries of the world. If one country does not have influence on a superpower the UN should have, as it represents the entire world.
It is a real dilemma of the world that the organization which should have influence on all the member countries is actually under the influence of few powerful countries. The biggest influence which any country has on the UN is America's. Many countries clearly point to the UN's role and its weakness against powerful nations. So a powerful country like the United States can ignore the UN and work on its own afresh, as it attacked Iraq in 2003 without the mandate of international organization.
To prevent such things and for sustainable world peace and stability, a strong UN is needed. It must have the power to influence any member nation and be able to work independently without being influenced by anyone whatsoever. Otherwise, the big powers will never listen to anyone and keep doing whatever they want, whether it is right or wrong.