By Peter Quaqua
Picture a bustling marketplace where some vendors openly bully others, stealing their wares, silencing their voices, and claiming their stalls simply because they are stronger. This isn’t just a scene from a local market; it’s a stark reality playing out on the global stage of politics. Here, power isn’t merely about influence; it’s about scripting the narrative and dictating the plot, often at the painful expense of smaller nations, communities, and peoples whose sovereignty and very existence are relegated to the sidelines. Despite centuries of solemn declarations and diplomatic handshakes, the architecture of our modern international order still too often values brute force over genuine solidarity, and dominance over the dignity of dialogue.
From the shattered dreams in Gaza to the quiet battles for land in West Africa, from contested islands in the Pacific to war-scarred Ukraine, the twenty-first century has not escaped the age-old trap of equating might with right. The powerful continue to shape the destinies of the less powerful, not through consensus or compassion, but through coercion, economic pressure, and sometimes outright violence.
The Rise of Strategic Aggression: Global Trends
The chill of February 2022 still lingers in Europe. When Russia invaded Ukraine, it shattered the deep-seated belief that territorial conquest was a thing of the past. Suddenly, millions of ordinary Ukrainians – parents, teachers, farmers – found their lives irreversibly altered, their homes shelled, their sense of safety annihilated. All because a larger power decided their nation could be bent to its will, under the thin veil of “security” and “historic claims.” The world responded, but unevenly. Sanctions, support, and solidarity flowed, yet revealed stark divisions and painful limitations in the global system meant to prevent such wars.
In the Indo-Pacific, similar tensions simmer around Taiwan, the South China Sea, and strategic island nations. The growing rivalry between the United States and China threatens to ensnare smaller states in a high-stakes chess match, where economic dependency, security promises, and political pressure are tools of influence. While these giants claim to uphold a “rules-based order,” it’s often the smaller nations that pay the human price when those rules are bent or broken.
Further afield, across Africa and Latin America, domination often wears a more insidious mask. It’s not always the roar of tanks, but the whisper of unfair contracts, the crushing weight of debt that steals a generation’s future, or the ‘aid’ package that arrives with invisible chains. Beneath the polished rhetoric of “development” lies a complex web of control that chokes local autonomy and traps communities in a cycle of dependency, preventing them from standing on their own feet.
The Fire That Refuses to Die: The Middle East
If there’s a wound that truly refuses to heal, a region that screams the danger of unchecked power, it is the Middle East. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, decades-long agony reignited with horrifying intensity in Gaza, is not just a geopolitical struggle; it is a raw, brutal testament to what happens when one people hold overwhelming force and the unwavering backing of powerful nations. Here, military might, shielded by political protection, has allowed devastating operations to unfold with agonizingly little accountability, leaving hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians not just displaced, but shattered, trapped in a suffocating cycle of trauma, loss, and desperate resistance. Their homes are rubble, their childhoods are war stories, and their future is uncertain.
The broader regional dynamic is equally perilous. Tensions between Israel (backed by America) and Iran risk spiraling into a full-blown regional war. Lebanese civilians, already reeling from economic collapse, bear the brunt of strikes and counterstrikes that ignore borders and human life. Meanwhile, international law seems more a suggestion than a standard, applied selectively depending on the flag one flies.
For those enduring this reality – mothers, fathers, and children – ‘peace’ is a cruel illusion, merely the terrifying silence between bombardments. And “diplomacy”? It often feels like a hollow echo, devoid of justice and true accountability. The world’s response, a patchwork of uneven support, politicized rhetoric, and chilling indifference, has deepened an unbearable sense of abandonment among those yearning for safety and a life free from fear.
A Quiet Struggle for Sovereignty: West Africa
While the world often looks away, West Africa is waging a quiet, yet profoundly urgent, battle for its soul. In Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, democratic aspirations are derailed by military coups. These events are not isolated incidents; they are often the bitter fruit of foreign interventions, justified by the urgent language of fighting terrorism, yet serving broader geopolitical agendas. Imagine living in a nation where your vote, your voice, can be undone overnight by a power grab influenced by distant capitals.
France, the United States, China, and most recently Russia, have deepened their footprint in the region through military agreements, resource contracts, and strategic partnerships. Yet, these engagements often serve the interests of the powerful more than the aspirations of local people.
Here, civil society leaders, land defenders, and indigenous communities find themselves in a different kind of battle – not with bullets, but with pen and paper against extractive deals that steal livelihoods and poison ancestral lands. The air they breathe, the water they drink, the soil that feeds them – all are under siege. Environmental ruin, forced displacement, and repression are daily realities, often overlooked by governments more focused on appeasing foreign investors than serving their people.
A Shared Danger: Sovereignty Undermined, Justice Deferred
Whether in war zones or trade deals, the danger of power lies in its ability to silence the weak, redefine truth, and erode the moral foundations of the international order. This is the chilling reality: a world where a nation’s right to exist freely is conditional, where freedom is perpetually postponed, and where “rules” are reshaped depending on who holds power. This isn’t just unjust; it’s a volatile mix that ferments rebellion, deepens resentment, and ultimately leaves us all-powerful and powerless alike – less secure, less human.
History provides examples – Vietnam, Algeria, South Africa, and now Ukraine – where smaller nations have withstood and eventually overcome overwhelming odds. Their resilience is not only a testament to human will, but also a warning: power can impose, but it cannot forever silence the demand for dignity.
A New Ethic of Global Leadership
If the world is to move forward, it must abandon the worship of power and embrace justice. Global peace cannot be secured through intimidation. Sustainable development cannot be built on exploitation. Sovereignty cannot be granted as a favor; it must be respected as a right.
The United Nations, regional blocs like ECOWAS, the African Union, and the Arab League must rediscover their moral voice. Civil society must be defended, not suppressed. And global powers must be held to the same standards they demand of others.
Let us remember: small nations are not small in heart, vision, culture, or humanity. They do not seek pity, but justice; they deserve a world that sees them not as disposable pawns, but as essential partners – where sovereignty is a sacred trust, and their people are vibrant citizens of equal worth, with dreams and dignity as profound as anyone else’s.
Justice, Not Dominance
The danger of power will always loom over the global system, but it is not inevitable. The future does not belong to those who dominate, but to those who lead with wisdom, humility, and restraint.
In a world teetering on the edge of greater fragmentation, the choice is clear: either we continue down the path of domination, or we build a future rooted in justice, accountability, and shared humanity.
The question is not whether the powerful will lead, but how they will lead – and whether the world will finally learn that true greatness lies not in the amount of power one holds, but in how responsibly it is used.
About the Author
Peter Quaqua is a noted Liberian journalist, former president of the Press Union of Liberia and the West African Journalists Association. He’s a leading advocate for media freedom, environmental rights, and social justice in Africa. He currently coordinates the West African Grassroots Defenders Directory, which documents attacks on defenders and heads the Secretariat of the Environmental Rights Africa (ERA) coalition.
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