West Asia is witnessing a manual holocaust, the last being a nuclear holocaust at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. The losses of life and property have crossed unacceptable levels, and the war is still raging. The first anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war has recorded over forty thousand civilians killed, and Gaza is struggling to survive. The Gaza Strip has been deprived of a fear-free life, and there is an acute shortage of survival rations, supplies and medicines. The people are suffering as the Israeli and Hamas leaders laud their respective successes in the battles. Israel has caused heavy death and destruction in Gaza, and peace hasn’t got a chance to survive.
The Israeli focus shifted to Lebanon after the killing of Hezbollah leader. Hezbollah leader, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an airstrike on 27 September 2024 in Beirut, Lebanon. Reuters on 8 October 2024 reported that the potential replacement of Nasarallah, Hashem Safieddine, was killed in an air strike. Efforts to destroy the war-waging potential of the remaining Hezbollah force are on the uptrend. The war continues, with major players watching from the sidelines. Warnings and demonstrations against Israel have not been able to save innocent lives that are lost every day.
Who is to blame for this holocaust? Every stakeholder has a storyline that they consider gospel truth, and the stakeholders do not appear severe enough to be involved directly in the fray. Diplomacy has been dominated by war, and destruction is the outcome. Palestinians think that Israelis are to be blamed for the killings and suffering, while Israelis want their abducted citizens back and have promised to eliminate the Palestinians. The grand support by the USA to Israel has kept the majority of players from intervening directly, getting involved in this serious business of war.
The majority of the leaders of the West Asian countries have aligned with Palestinians for ideological reasons. Israel is a lone country fighting on multiple fronts. The region is oil-rich, and sixty per cent of the world draws oil from this region. When it comes to leadership, the role of West Asian leaders is paramount for bringing peace back to this part of the world. Despite being surrounded by adversaries, Israel has forced all leaders of the world to rethink all theories of leadership and diplomacy. War and destruction have thrown leadership theories out of the window. Theories of human miseries and tales remain for the next generation to remember.
Who are the other leaders impacting the decision-making in the War in West Asia?
Iranian leader Khamenei has reportedly been shifted to a safe haven due to the Israeli threat of his elimination. Benjamin Netanyahu is firm on his resolve to get the abducted Israelis back home and destroy the Hamas. The involvement of Hezbollah against Israel has accentuated the situation, and Netanyahu has turned his focus to Beirut and Southern Lebanon to eliminate the threat.
The leadership hierarchy of Hezbollah has been decimated, and Iran has stepped in to fill in the gap. Ismael Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, has been eliminated, and his rank and file have been reduced drastically. The group appears rudderless with Yahya Sinsinwar, the mastermind of the 7 October attack, also being killed in an air strike on 17 October 2024. Interestingly, Biden, the US President, congratulated Netanyahu. The release of Israelis is still nowhere in the site.
Irrespective of the killing of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, the question is still unanswered, ‘Is there a scope to bring back peace?’ Hamas fighters are still operating, though in small numbers, and Israel continues to pound Gaza and Lebanon towns and cities. The military support from Iran appears to be dwindling in Gaza and Hezbollah, as the threat to Iran itself has direct consequences.
The strategic positioning of Iran, the US, Russia, and China gives no hope of bringing peace to the world; on the contrary, there are fresh signals of war clouds hanging on for a more extended period. The US has moved its THAAD troops to Israel. CBS News reported that the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system is described as a way to “strengthen Israel’s defences against ballistic missiles” and “any future ballistic missile attack from Iran.” that would protect Israel from Iranian drones being fired by Hezbollah (News, 2024).
Kautilya’s Strategic Leadership Orientation
The king must strive towards the welfare of the people. Acharya Chanakya said,प्रजा सुखे सुखं राज्ञ: प्रजानां च हिते हितम्। नात्मप्रियं प्रियं राज्ञ: प्रजानां तु प्रियं प्रियम्।। (Kautilya, 323 BCE). This means that the king’s happiness is in the happiness of his subjects, and his benefit is in the benefit of his subjects. This principle is relevant and can be applied to the present West Asian crisis.
The king’s self-interest should mean nothing, but his subjects’ interests should be his primary focus. The welfare of the people on both sides should have been the top priority. This principle by Chanakya finds no favour in the present scenario in West Asia. In the instant case, killing 1200 and abduction of 251 Israelis by Hamas is by no imagination close to the welfare of people. What has followed is the killing of over 42,000 Palestinians, Hezbollah, and the Lebanese is heinous. There is an urgent need to establish peace for the safety and welfare of the masses. Instead of stopping the war, it is seen escalating with Iran actively abetting the terrorist groups and taking wows to destroy Israel.
The US is supporting Israel, and statements like “Israel has the right to defend itself” make the situation worse. President Joe Biden and the US Congress are vital factors to impact the region. However, Joe Biden shared concerns and warned Israel to stop the war. However, it proved to be rhetoric as the military support continued unabetted. As a result, Israel has continued to bombard the terrorist organisation that has killed innocent civilians. The election process in the US is another impediment that has overshadowed the leadership decision-making.
Russia and China are supporting Iran against Israel and the US, and the relations are set to deteriorate the situation. That will only diminish the chances for peace to come back. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister, appears determined to overpower the Iranian-supported terrorist groups. The military operation against them in rural and urban areas is a long-term affair and cannot be completed any sooner; it is already one year over, and there are no signals that both sides will come to terms. What has happened to leadership on both sides involved and other stakeholders? If anything, the devastation is the outcome. Death and destruction have already disturbed the region, and entire West Asia has been engulfed in the war.
Chanakya Niti focuses on Saam as the first principle of maintaining good relations. Even if Dand Niti has been affected, bringing the situation under control must be the top priority of all countries involved. The war had gone beyond killing and abduction of the Israelis. It has extended to war between two faiths, Islam and the Jews. West Asian countries have allied themselves with one or the other group; as a result, very few leaders can initiate peace talks. The United Nations did make an attempt initially, but Israel has defied their efforts and has pursued its goals. The US is the most vital member of the UN, and it supports Israel, and therefore, once again, chances of peaceful negotiation have taken a back seat.
Contemporary Leadership
The US remains a prominent leader impacting the war and its outcome. The others like Russia and China have refrained from interfering so far. Iran has indirectly supported the terrorist outfits and has attacked Israel with missiles twice since the war erupted. Attempts by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and others have not had much impact. The word appears to be divided between supporters and non-supporters of Israel. United Nations has remained defunct. Netanyahu gave a clear message to the world about his vision and goals during his speech at the UN General Assembly that provided peace with no space on the negotiating table. The situation is somewhat precarious, and no one appears to have a solution to the challenge.
Professor Yossi Mekelberg, Senior Consulting Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme, argues, “That failure goes back far further than a year. Individual and collective decisions to allow – sometimes to encourage – the Israeli–Palestinian conflict to fester for so many decades eventually made the latest, most deadly confrontation inevitable.” (Mekelberg, 2024) The leadership on both sides should have been at work and interacting continuously to manage good neighbourly relations and ensure that peace continues and people have reasonable, respectable lives.
The peace had a chance earlier when both sides were close to agreement. Nathan J. Brown of Carnegie Empowerment for International Peace argues that “A quarter century after the date by which the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel agreed to have their conflict resolved, the prospect of negotiating a settlement between Israel and the Palestinian national movement has evaporated.” (Brwon, 2024). ILO has confirmed that a hundred per cent of the population in the Gaza Strip is under the poverty line. But who cares? Where are the leaders who can take up their cause? Unfortunately, there is no one who can listen and take action.
Israel has considered Islamic states as its enemies, and Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described enemies of Israel as Amalek. Meaning that the enemies of Israel have to be destroyed in totality to the extent that their memories are to be forgotten by the generations in future. Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, in one of the events, stated that “the current talks with Hamas are ‘with someone who long ago should have ceased to exist.” He added, “There are no half-measures. Gaza cities of Rafah, Deir al-Balah, and Nuseirat – total annihilation. ‘You will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven’ – there’s no place under heaven.” (Shpigel, 2024).
Conclusion
What do we make of such a thought process of the leadership? These thoughts, followed by what is presently going on in Gaza and Lebanon, have left no alternative to war. Peace needs a chance and a dialogue to bring life back into the region. It is time that world leaders realise that the loss of human lives will adversely impact the economy.
West Asia is in a dire situation, and the world is at a critical stage that could explode into a world war if any leaders fail to visualise the criticality.
(The views expressed in the article are his personal views, and the author has no conflict of interest with anyone.)
