Economic Consequences Of Ravaging Wars

 By Steve Obum Orajiaku

The concept of balance is encapsulated in Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion, which is “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. Nothing can be further from the truth for certain feelers to claim that any raging war does not leave its indelible far-reaching impacts on the global spectrum. Sometimes, it could be quite devastating and demeaning that the effects can equal the recorded casualties of war.

The pain of loss of life and property (the former particularly) is inconsolable as it is irreparable. Then, when the dust finally settles and while the roundtable resolution talks are ongoing, the biting privation is grinding deeper to the marrow of the ordinary people. Indeed, when two elephants fight, the tender grass suffers. There has never been any truce talk that effectively restores or sufficiently replenishes all lost valuables on the battlefield.

The call for dialogue and detente options in a war situation only serves to de-escalate hostilities and explore pacificist objectives. In this treatise, I will make an effort to evaluate the impact and effects of war on the global community. I shall also endeavor to proffer viable suggestions on how to avoid the pitfalls militating our sustainable coexistence.

First, the struggle for supremacy in the European comity of nations was chiefly the cause of World War 1 (WW1). By the stroke of extremism, a finger belonging to a member of a Serbian nationalist group pulled the trigger assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. After thirty days, Emperor Franz Joseph 1 of Austria declared war on Serbia precisely on July 28, 1914.

The human disaster figures at the end of this unprecedented crisis were estimated to be a 20 million death toll of both military and civilian; 21 million severely wounded; between nine to 10 million displaced. The economic recession that followed was as widespread as destructive. Available statistics put the narrative as will soon be quoted here.

The void between the rich and the poor widened further. Besides the tangible losses of lives and property that were incurred, the intangibles of deferred recovery and unknown statistics of lost private acquisition are of graver repercussions. In their expository contribution, Jose Antonio Hernandez Castillo, and Nate Sullivan, said, “While many people from high economic strata did not take as long to recover or did not suffer losses, many working families lost their sources of income. Other families suffered from the death or disability of people who supported the family income. Germany plunged into an economic crisis after being forced to pay for damages. This generated resentment and discontent in the population. This would later be one of the reasons why WWII would be triggered.”

You can now judge how wars beget wars, as said sociologists, “like attracts like,” so it goes on indefinitely. The checkered stories of the Nigeria-Biafra War, Libya, and Syria’s internecine Wars, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War, the Isreal-Palestinians War, and other earth-crippling battles stand as living testimonials that armed conflicts cannot be one of the options for harmonization of differences in any civilised society. Other proper ways abound to be explored. Shall we?

The expediency of war requires that it sometimes must be explored as the only option by the adventurous conquistadors. Therefore, it becomes an imperative tool for the eager party to demonstrate their superior military might.

This is about the summary of the objectives of war according to the initiator. The retribution aspect, which usually sends hordes of precious souls to their great beyond untimely, unprepared is considered inconsequential to the discretion and primary purpose of the invader. The material cost of any brutal war is ab initio, discountenanced as opportuni­ty cost by the war deliberators.

On the international dimensions, both the instigator and the prey stand to win or lose more allies and/or enemies, respectively. The grim effects of a grueling battle transcend the immediate borderline where it is fought. Everything economic, which squarely defines the standards of living of the people, is strategic as well as an overriding factor.  The erosion of values and ingenuity capabilities of any given people is drastically impacted or gainfully accomplished by mitigating the resourcefulness index of the targeted subject.

When hunger and poverty are weaponised, and there is an overwhelming food crisis, inroads to the fabric of the state become a walkover. For instance, Germany’s industrialization capacity suffered a serious meltdown post-WW1. This fascinating adage can be instructive, “When the soothsayer divines on an empty stomach, only the sound and sight of death he hears and sees.”

The solace is within a dimming distance. The dialogue option is beginning to sound like an old-school approach to strife situations, especially by the aggressive party. But in the worst-case war situation, the warring parties have always found time to converge around the table and dialogue.

The truce talk seeks to make the necessary conciliatory commitment, and compromises are reached – all at the expense of the departed and hapless souls. It may sound humorous and hideous at the same time but this statement of fact was put forward by one veteran military officer.

“The geriatric (elderly) serving officers sit luxuriously and comfortably while they sign in red bloody ink papers sending younger military officers in their prime ages to the battlefield to die. Their reward shall be state funerals and gratuity paid to their bereaved families. Scores and strife are settled thus among this cross-border feuding ageless warmongers.”

In conclusion, this elaborate discourse has tried to expose the demerits of engagement in war. It is therefore supposed to be an act of imprudence and indiscretion to settle for war amidst other viable options.

Expansion of territories and other inordinate motives as alibis for war have been resolved in the United Nations Charter. Other related international bodies do not approve of the imposition of foreign rule on another defined territory. So let us abide.
*Orajiaku is a commentator on public issues (08035530832).