The end of the Cold War between the two superpowers and collapse of the Berlin Wall in the early 1990s brought great hope to humanity. Glasnost and Perestroika of Mikhail Gorbachev were the seeds for the emergence of a new world order.
The politics of hegemony was to give way to cooperation and support within the global community. But almost two decades hence we are living in a world that is more chaotic, disoriented and bewildered with more people living in fear, doubt and misery than ever before in the history of our civilisation.
When shall we see the light at the end of the tunnel? Humankind is groaning, is dying to be led to unity, and to terminate its age-long martyrdom. And yet it stubbornly refuses to embrace the light and acknowledge the fact that only a spiritual renaissance can provide the groundswell to rescue the planet from “its slough of impending extinction.”
Historical and anthropological evidence indicates that human beings have always lived in larger or smaller social groups, acquiring identity and security in numbers. The fact that the human race has survived and progressed suggests that the various forms of group identity (family, clan, wider ethnic groups, nations, etc.) have, at least to some extent, been efficient for our species. However, the interaction of such groups has at times been problematic, since the identity they provide has often been founded upon a profound belief in the group’s uniqueness and special worth.
Each group of peoples whether in Africa, China or Europe believed in their superiority. The concept of “otherness” is even today the biggest stumbling block in international relations. What we need is equality without its compulsions to accept identity and appreciation of differences without its degenerating into superiority/inferiority.
The contemporary global state system is the direct descendant of the European state system, which emerged sometime between the 16th and 18th centuries. Though we may regret the fact that other political cultures and institutions were suppressed, undermined, or destroyed as a result of European imperialism and colonialism, it was the European form and style of international relations that became universal.
Therefore, the roots of present-day crises that militate against Vasudhaiva Kutumbakkam must force us to establish a new social order whose boundaries are the planet itself. The concept of ‘us’ and ‘them’ can no longer continue in a world dependent on unity for its very survival.
The spiritual transforming power within the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, offers the hope of peace by changing the hearts of individuals and the interaction between nations. “There is not one soul whose conscience does not testify that in this day there is no more important matter in the world than that of Universal Peace.”
