A few decades ago, Palestinian-American academic, literary critic and political activist Edward Wadie Said (November 1, 1935 – September 24, 2003) mentioned in one of his publications on Palestine that the way Europe and the US consistently backed and helped the Authoritarian Regimes in West Asia, its outcome would be far-reaching! At the moment, Israel and Iran, the two nuclear powers in West Asia, get involved in a dangerous conflict as they are determined to destroy each other with missiles. It may be noted that the past of the two warring countries is heavily influenced by the US and Western Europe and the past influence dominates their present reality.

Iran still carries the impact of the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The Islamic Republic’s narrow-minded, conservative, yet politically and militarily strong State Power bears the signature of that past experience. On the other hand, the Jewish Nation’s friendly ties with Europe and the US are a well-known fact. The Western World maintains cordial ties with Israel even after the latter carried out genocide in the Gaza Strip as a part of its ongoing anti-Hamas campaign. Although US President Joseph Robinette Biden (Jr) has made it clear to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu that his country would not take part in a counter-offensive against Iran if Israel decides to retaliate for the recent mass drone and missile attack on the Israeli territory, he did not make any comment when an Israeli raid destroyed an Iranian Consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus on April 1, 2024!

Europe and the US have been criticising Russia for waging a war against Ukraine for the last couple of years. At the same time, they back Israeli atrocities in the Gaza Strip and also in some parts of Syria. This shameful dual role of major global powers has become the biggest problem of world diplomacy. The fact is Israel destroyed the Iranian Consulate in Damascus and killed two top officials of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, prompting Tehran to launch missile and drone attacks on the Jewish Nation! The Israeli Armed Forces are also killing innocent Palestinians, including women and children, in the pretext of war against Hamas.

Nowadays, whenever a crisis situation arises, it is dealt with a strong military campaign. The question raises here: Whether is it appropriate to give such a campaign international recognition? Indiscriminate bombardment of civilian populations has become a common phenomenon and unfortunately, the global community plays the role of a silent spectator. This is not just a matter of one or two battlefields, but a terrible international system has blossomed across the globe.

Israel Hits Back
Tensions soared in West Asia as Israeli missiles struck a location in Iran early on April 19 (2024), following Iran’s missile and drone attacks on Israel in retaliation for an assault on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus on April 1. The Iranian state media confirmed that the Israeli missiles hit an airport in the central Iranian city of Isfahan. Incidentally, some of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear research and uranium enrichment facilities, including Natanz, are located near Isfahan. The Government of Iran, too, acknowledged the Israeli attack, claiming that the Iranian Armed Forces shot down several Israeli drones.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has made it clear that if Israel launches a full-scale war against his country, then its repulse would be terrible! Earlier, major global powers, including Russia and the US, requested Israel to show restraint and to resolve the crisis through peaceful negotiations. Political analysts are of the opinion that Israel has created the possibility of a full-scale war by launching missile attacks on Iran.

Safeguarding India’s Interests…
This new aggressive international system is dangerous for India’s interests, too. India has been maintaining cordial ties with both Iran and Israel for the past couple of decades. In fact, the South Asian nation considers the Islamic Republic as its most valuable trade partner in West Asia. India has also ignored US pressure to boost its decades-old friendly ties with Iran in recent times. On the other hand, India heavily depends on Israel for security and technological support, in spite of backing the Palestinian cause.

In such a situation, New Delhi requires careful diplomacy and cold-headed statesmanship in order to safeguard its interests. The first and foremost element of careful diplomacy is India’s global reputation as a Democratic country. One can hope that India’s reputation would remain intact, irrespective of the outcome of the ongoing Parliamentary Elections (being held from April 19 to June 1, 2024).

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das