African Peacemakers: Rescuing Europeans From Mutual

 By Owei Lakemfa

Seven African leaders stunned the world on June 16 and 17, 2023 when they went on a peace mission to warring Ukraine and Russia. The reaction from many in the West was that of contempt; how is it the place of lowly Africa to intervene in a war of Europeans? In fact, Poland tried to scuttle the mission by detaining for 30 hours the aircraft carrying the protection unit of President Cyril Ramaphosa, leader of the delegation.

*Ramaphosa and Putin 

Its claim was that the security men carried “dangerous goods”(weapons). Did they expect them to carry candies? The protocol all over the world is for the paper work for the weapons to be submitted; but Poland declined. Eventually, the aircraft which also had a dozen journalists on board, could not join Ramaphosa as Hungary barred it from using its airspace. These are clear indications that some Europeans countries do not want peace.

The Major Threats To World Peace Today

 By Uchenna Nwankwo

No doubt, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine faceoff and the China-Taiwan imbroglio stand out as the most challenging problems and threats to world peace today. These are problems that test international diplomacy today, especially given the fact that they constitute major sources of international tensions involving the major blocks in world affairs.

*Zelensky and Putin

As Henry Kissinger (99), the erstwhile famous international diplomat and secretary of state in the President Nixon administration in the US is quoted to have observed:

We (USA) are at the edge of war with Russia and China on issues which we partly created, without any concept of how this is going to end or what it’s supposed to lead to.

Ukraine: US, NATO Must Be Held Accountable

 By Opeyemi Soyombo

For weeks, from CNN through BBC to Al Jazeera, we are fed the same diet on a daily ba­sis. We run the risk of being victims of intellectual kwashiorkor. Hence some of us have to cry out! This exercise is not in defence of President Vladimir Putin, a dictator of no mean measure. I reject fascism, communism, Nazism, militarism, sit-tightism and all forms of tyran­ny. Putin epitomises monocracy. 

*Zelensky 

I like democracy of the Westminster model. The United States presiden­tial system of government is fasci­nating. When it comes to the rule of law, freedom and right to dissent, I belong to the West (the US). I reject the strangulating, despotic govern­ments in China and Russia. They are an open sore on our humanity. The Kim Dynasty in North Korea must fall. Everything must be done to bring down autocracy everywhere in the world. The world must stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Myanmar (Burma), Chad, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso,etc. and take all legitimate measures, including use of force, to remove the unconsti­tutional governments and usurpers of political power.

The Invasion O f Ukraine Was Inevitable:

Understanding Russian Concerns And The Folly Of Western Diplomacy

By Arthur G.O Mutambara 

*Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris

Developing the future of knowledge involves understanding the ‘relationship between what we know and what will happen, for the purpose of improving both, for everyone’.  

This endeavour demands a questioning and contrarian mindset that challenges conventional wisdom. It requires a festival of ideas that cherishes the diversity of views, becoming a crucible for new knowledge and thought leadership.