Is Armageddon on the anvil to engulf the world?

Counterpoint

 By Vivekanand Jha*

Is Armageddon on the anvil to engulf the world? Is the apocalypse waiting to subsume the world in the demonic-like extension of its tentacles? Willy nilly the world is perceptibly on the threshold of a nuclear holocaust yet again, after the annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 by the USA. With the increasing loss of its forces in Ukraine, when Russia, in contrast to all its expectations, is rapidly losing its ground in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is increasingly being driven towards his last recourse: using a tactical nuclear weapon to browbeat Ukraine into an abysmal submission.

The latest blowing up of the Crimean bridge – built by Russia at the cost of US$ 3.7 billion – after it annexed Crimea at the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2014 – further casts dark clouds of a feared nuclear winter. Putin on October 7, termed it as an “emergency situation on the Crimean Bridge” and instructed his Prime Minister  Mikhail Mishustin to set up a government commission to investigate the incident and “eliminate the aftermath as soon as possible”.  As per the President’s instruction, Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev and Emergencies Minister Alexander Kurenkov have left for the site of the incident.

Hence against this backdrop, the statement from American President Joe Biden that “Russia is not joking”, sounds ominous. Worse still, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ‘s unwarranted and intemperate statement to nuke Russia by NATO, by way of a pre-emptive measure, appears to be the last nail in the coffin of reconciliation between the warring countries. Apparently, the worsening of the world crises brought about by the fraying of temperaments from all sides, heralds the alarming bell ringing across the world, not only of an upcoming Third World War but, unequivocally, the annihilation of the whole world. Thankfully, as of today, the Americans are not interested in entertaining Zelenskyy’s suggestion on grounds that so as long as the United States or its allies were not attacked, the USA was not going to put American troops to fight in Ukraine or attack Russian forces.

Also read: Shelling causes Ukraine’s nuclear plant to lose external power source

However, Biden’s latent threat to Putin that if the latter takes any such drastic step, it must be ready to face the consequence of Moscow being nuked, should not be construed as a mere empty threat. Moreover, the American deployment of nuclear missiles in Poland, near the Ukraine border, is the vindication of the fact that Russia too must be prepared to face nuclear attacks by NATO forces.

Also, Biden going to the extent of dubbing the upcoming war as  Armageddon is the exemplification of how the USA perceives the situation in the Baltic region – If Armageddon were to happen – which means the battle between the good and the evil before the final judgment–America will purportedly represent the good force to take on evil Russia and its cohorts.

Evidently, the extreme pitch of jingoism has seized the world in its maddening frenzy, when the superpowers –both USA and Russia–are interlocked in a battle of one-upmanship where the fight to finish appears to be the war cry.

Worse still, another crisis at China’s impending threat to Taiwan to annex it under the one-China policy, where it is facing a daunting challenge from America, is another front awaiting a likely disaster. Also,  Kim Jong-Un, the North Korean dictator is yet another problem child for the USA.

Today Ukraine, Taiwan and North Korea are all major flashpoints where the risks of a nuclear conflict are extraordinarily high. With the benefits of hindsight, and the situation as it is building up today, it prima facie appears that the alliances are already being stitched. Whereas USA,  NATO, Japan and South Korea among others, appear to represent the good forces, in line with Allies, during the Second World War, Russia and its supporting nations like China, North Korea, Iran and others are already bracketed as evil forces hell-bent upon destroying the world.

What is required today is that some neutral countries such as India convince the world that, if the so-called Armageddon at all happens, none will survive the final judgement. The entire world will be destroyed. The world needs Bismarck to avoid wars and restore peace. Can the present regime in India dare to bite the bullet and bring about a turnaround in the world situation” This is a million-dollar question.