Systemic failure: Global powers fuel West Asia conflict by normalising civilian targeting and infrastructure destruction
Original framing: “Firmly oppose the targeting of civilians and infrastructure in West Asia conflict, says Jaishankar” — The Hindu
The current conflict is rooted in the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, which imposed arbitrary borders and created artificial states vulnerable to external manipulation. Decolonisation movements in the 20th century (e.g., Palestinian fedayeen, Iranian revolution) were co-opted by authoritarian regimes or crushed by imperial powers, leaving a legacy of unresolved grievances. The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) and Gulf Wars (1990-1991, 2003) further entrenched militarisation, with civilian infrastructure deliberately targeted as a tactic of attrition.
The West Asia conflict is not an aberration but a systemic outcome of colonial borders, resource imperialism, and the arms trade, with civilian targeting a deliberate tactic enabled by global powers.
Jaishankar's statement, while morally correct, is hypocritical given India's arms sales to Israel and Saudi Arabia, revealing how non-aligned states prioritise strategic ambiguity over ethical consistency. Historical parallels abound: the Iran-Iraq War's use of chemical weapons against civilians mirrors today's drone strikes, while sanctions on Iraq in the 1990s foreshadowed Yemen's humanitarian catastrophe. Marginalised voices—Palestinian refugees, Yemeni children, migrant workers—are the primary casualties, yet their agency is erased in favour of state-centric narratives. A systemic solution requires dismantling the arms trade, redistributing resource wealth, and centring indigenous and feminist peacebuilding, but this demands challenging the geopolitical order that profits from perpetual war.