COMMENTARY
The War That Never Really Ended
The Second World War is a period of history that never ceases to amaze. The aftermath of the war can be seen to this day in large parts of how contemporary political dynamics have formed.
I even went so far as to draw a parallel between the Harry Potter universe and the Second World War. Well, I say “I went far” but the truth is, someone else could be just like me and could have thought of the parallel before I did. But it’s a convincing parallel regardless. Dumbledore is Churchill and the Order of the Phoenix is the wartime cabinet. Harry Potter is Alan Turing. Well, arguably, Hermione could be Alan Turing too given that she had more of the intellectual prowess but purely on the basis of protagonist energy, I would say Harry Potter is Alan Turing. All the witches and wizards who died in battle are the frontline militia. Voldemort is obviously Hitler.
Today, however, Putin seems to be exuding the Voldemort vibes that Hitler previously did. Of course, this is just a simple, news-watching, social media-observing POV but one can’t help but draw comparisons to history. And the fact that the most dreary part of history is being recreated is rather sad.
How will this war pan out? Nobody can tell but everyone would have their guesses. One might think that the world would join forces and stop the madness that is Putin’s regime. Putting an end to Russia’s access into the international financial system might have been a good start but the pressure we have seen applied on Russia seems to be minimal. And why would it not be? Russia is a nuclear power. The Cold War did not turn into a Hot War because of its nuclear status. Today, however, in the absence of any sanity backing Putin, nuclear power is a threat again and the UN not taking any action against Russia might become a reality again. The only way to stop Putin might be to give in to his tantrums.
How I understand it is that the war never truly ended. We still live in the power dynamics of the Second World War, except perhaps the US is no longer the hegemon it once was. Perhaps this time it’s the UN that needs to step up. We have Boris Johnson as the wartime Prime Minister whose party has been backed by Russian oligarchs for the longest time. We have Joe Biden who seems to be sending sternly worded statements to the press. We don’t seem to have a Churchill or a Roosevelt who can show effective leadership.
This time around, however, there exists the power of the people, Ukrainian and everyone else. Madness can only exist for a certain amount of time, so Putin’s tantrums cannot and will not last in the long haul. Well, hopefully. Ukraine’s president has not fled the country and continues to fight. Ukraine’s people seem to be made of sturdier steel than I would have thought. Putin is a little bit mental but the power of the people might still prevail.
