Careless whispers
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo
THESE days, I get notifications on Ukraine. If I listen to all the traditional media outlets, the social media and succumb to the propaganda, I would be unduly skewered with the rest of the public who have given opinions without re-reading the history of the conflict.
A piece of good news. Unlike Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez who had given, in our behalf, support to the US in case there is an all-out war, pre-empting any statement from the President himself, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers issued a well-crafted, short statement expressing ASEAN desire to contain the conflict, and not escalate it. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Statement of the Situation in Ukraine dated 26 February 2022 states:
“1. The ASEAN Foreign Ministers are deeply concerned over the evolving situation and armed hostilities in Ukraine. We call on all relevant parties to exercise maximum restraint and make utmost efforts to pursue dialogues through all channels, including diplomatic means to contain the situation, to de-escalate tensions, and to seek peaceful resolution in accordance with international law, the principles of the United Nations Charter and the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia.
- We believe that there is still room for a peaceful dialogue to prevent the situation from getting out of control. For peace, security, and harmonious co-existence to prevail, it is the responsibility of all parties to uphold the principles of mutual respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and equal rights of all nations.”
Many historians are aware of the developments surrounding Ukraine, especially its abandonment of its status as a non-aligned country and seeking NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) membership which is a critical move that precipitated the uneasiness of Russia, owing to the strategic threat Ukraine presented, as a member of a larger military alliance. NATO is composed of the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the former Soviet Union. But the Soviet Union had collapsed.
Before its collapse, the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or USSR) used to be “a confederation of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Transcaucasia (comprised of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia), the eventually grew to 15 republics—and a world-wide superpower. Nearly 130 ethnic groups populated the vast country, which spanned 11 time zones”. The USSR no longer exists, but NATO has expanded its intergovernmental military alliance among 28 European countries and 2 North American countries. This expansion is fueled by the fact that Russia has a considerable inventory of nuclear warheads. But so does NATO.
In its 2021 Estimated Global Nuclear Warhead Inventories, the Arms Control Association reported that NATO members US, UK and France have 6,065 nuclear warheads, not including their allies. Russia on the other hand, has an estimated 6,257. This data however has to be counterchecked with other sources, knowing how countries who control international and social media distort information for their own ends.
It is important to remember these pieces of information, before we goad others to take sides, forgetting that our own lives matter most at this crucial time. It Is circumspect for Japan to refuse the installation of nuclear warheads on its soil, as this move escalates, rather than contains the conflict in Ukraine. Philippine representatives to other countries must be wary too, issuing statements without consultation, even in the presence of mutual defense treaties. Careless whispers like that endanger a whole population, without the readiness to fight, clueless as to the reason why.
The propagandists of hegemons are experts in manipulating emotions and opinions, especially in social media, where one can turn rabid before recovering sanity. We might find ourselves abandoning our own priorities to unwittingly participate in the aftermath of the Orange Revolution, calibrated to turn the planet bloody red.
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