A world without rules: Gathering storm |
THERE are moments in history when the world changes quietly, almost imperceptibly and then there are moments when the change is so brutal, so undeniable, that it shakes even the most seasoned observers.
Gaza has been that moment for me. For over a year, we have watched a people bombed, starved, displaced, and stripped of dignity. We have watched hospitals turned to rubble, children buried under concrete, and entire families erased. And we have watched the world — the so‑called guardians of the “rules‑based order” — look away, justify, or simply shrug. As someone who has spent a lifetime in uniform, in public service, and in international forums, I cannot pretend that this is normal. I cannot pretend that the world will simply return to the way it was. Something fundamental has broken.
The Gaza war did not just expose a humanitarian tragedy; it exposed the collapse of the very system that was supposed to protect the weak from the strong. When the highest courts in the world issue warnings of genocide and nothing changes, when ceasefire resolutions pass with overwhelming global support but are vetoed into irrelevance, when powerful nations openly discuss “taking over” territory and displacing populations — then we must admit that the post-1945 order is no longer........