The Last World War

I don’t know why people were surprised when the Last World War began. Probably because they didn’t notice the emergence of smaller wars in the previous couple of decades and the way that they had destabilised regions and continents. Then the parasitic bystanders had taken advantage of war weary nations and states that lay bloodied and broken from their turmoil. In region after region this happened, producing the Last World War that wasn’t a world war yet has retained this name. In reality, wars across the world had just seemed to merge until there were few countries unaffected in one way or another.

In Africa the country formerly called Zimbabwe had been destabilised internally by a despotic regime that brought famine to the people. Elsewhere in Africa territorial wars were fought between countries keen on garnering for themselves the scarce provisions that the continent offered and the rich raw materials that could be sold for foreign currency. Thus in 2007 Chad was defeated and overrun by its Sudanese neighbours which then took their bloodlust through Niger and further afield to Mauritania and Mali and Burkina Faso. In central Africa the destabilisation had begun with the Rwanda conflict of 1994 which impinged on countries across the central belt from Congo to Tanzania. Elections in the Congo erupted into violence towards the end of 2006. Eventually this was resolved by a military dictatorship that tried to consolidate its power and win hearts and minds of the Congolese by eastward expansion. And finally beginning 3 years later, South Africa intervened in Zimbabwe – and Angola and Namibia. Over a hundred million people are thought to have died in Africa alone between 1994 and 2015 from warfare including civil war.

There will not follow a catalogue of victories and defeats here. You know the score. Let the African example serve to illustrate the emergence of these minor superpowers, the regional champions of the global power game. Concurrent conflicts had brought about the Andean Empire, vying for South American supremacy with the newly enlarged Brazil. In the Middle East the rise of the Irano-Syrian Islamic Coalition had been unwittingly begun by the recently executed war criminal Dick Cheney. Indeed, in this period of new empires the main example of a contrary trend was the now disunited states of America. Only President Schwarzenegger and the independent Commonwealth of California have benefited from the break-up of the US Empire. Interestingly, by the way, the trial of Cheney was not on charges to do with the waging of the Iraq war, but on profiteering from warfare. He had been taking money secretly from his old company Halliburton when they got some extensive reconstruction contracts in Iraq. Not so much a case of conflict of interest, but more an interest in conflict!

Enough of this history lesson. It was a long time ago. The wars are behind us, and thanks to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of United Earth the perpetrators have been sought out and confronted with their criminality. The old United Nations had such trouble with war criminals; not so United Earth. From all over the globe they were brought to the UE headquarters complex in Strasbourg, the capital of the United States of Europe. The accusations were announced and published in those countries which had seen the crimes committed. The perpetrators of crimes volunteered in vast numbers to give evidence and plead for amnesty, and in vast numbers it was granted, though usually with conditions about holding office, or being a member of the armed forces. In some cases the scale of the crimes was too great to forgive, even when, as in the case of President Lt. Gen. Umar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir of Sudan, he had volunteered to catalogue his doings in great detail and had asked for clemency. He was executed 8 years ago in the second year of the Commission’s work.

I reckon you will want to know why I have outlined all this background information. After all, it’s well known to those of you who are allowed to study advanced history. Should any of you not have been allocated this level of security you may well be surprised by some of the things I have written. Believe me, they are true. The version of the past that you have been allowed to access was sanitised – in the public interest – until only eighteen months ago.

It’s some time since the United Earth organisation was set up now. Its work has been to settle disputes between countries and to better the human condition globally. It has made extraordinary inroads into the so called green issues that tried the consciences of people back in the first years of this century. However, the strangest consequence of its truth and reconciliation programme and of the Peace Council’s approach to conflict avoidance has not been on the international stage – far from it. The division of Africa into three spheres of influence has gone well because there has been recognition that the Last World War should be the war to end all wars. It’s a cliché that owes its origins to World War One, but this time the leaders of the world – all members of United Earth – mean to secure this aim. The nearest to conflict since the end of the war was the dispute over the Aral Sea, locally referred to as the Water War. You will remember the circumstances. Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan both needed the water, even though it was heavily polluted, and were close to engaging in military action over the issue. UE stepped in and arranged a settlement that divided the lake and its water sources between the neighbouring countries. Strangely it also imposed a single sanction – that the Presidents of the two countries, whose wilful pursuit of confrontational politics had created the crisis, should settle their personal differences with a wrestling match. This was duly undertaken and resulted in a draw!

Such has been the fate of many potential conflicts over the last 10 years – a rational compromise and, more often than a wrestling match, shaking hands and making up. There has been a decade of backing down which has not been taken advantage of, as it was in 1938 before the Second World War. And this has translated into ordinary life. In the business world aggressive takeovers have become a thing of the past as cooperative mergers have become the norm. In schools conciliation studies has become one of the most popular option courses at senior high school level despite it having surprisingly low utilitarian applications. The work of law courts has become focussed on mediation. The Last World War has brought real peace, as opposed to lack of conflict.

But in the final analysis the weirdest phenomenon of the change brought about since the opening of the century has been the meteoric rise in the number of divorces and trial separations. It’s not just that, though. The way that churches across the world have accepted the return of polygamy! A social revolution has happened; simply because the world is no longer willing to risk conflict there has been acquiescence in all relationships. When we want a new partner, our former partner either accepts the arrangement, or an amicable separation is concluded. There is no record of major claims on an ex in the last decade because the courts provide the decisions on sensible compromise.

Oh brave new world!