Africa-Press – Mauritius. In recent months, the world has been witnessing a significant but solemn celebration across many societies – commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of World War II (WWII).
From the corridors of some of the major actors who contributed to ending the War, including the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Russia, and China, there have been parades, memorials and moments of silence in memory of those who perished fighting for the cause of humanity.
“It was too much death to contemplate, too much savagery and suffering, and in August 1945 no one was counting,” Dr Donald L. Miller, a Historian, writes in his book: ‘The Story of World War II’.
“For those who had seen the face of battle and been in the camps and under the bombs – and had lived – there was a sense of immense relief.”
“Casualties of World War II represent one of the most devastating human costs in history, with staggering losses across various nations, particularly among the Allies and the Axis powers.”
It is estimated that some 70 million people died in the War.
That estimate equates to roughly 3 – 3.7 per cent of Earth’s population at the time, including around 40 million civilians, according to the US National World War II Museum.
The Soviet Union reportedly suffered the highest fatalities in Europe, with estimates of 8.8 to 10.7 million soldiers, and 10.4 to 13.3 million civilians lost.
Other significant losses include those from China, Germany, and Japan, reflecting the widespread devastation across Europe and Asia.
Perhaps, that is why when news of Japan’s unconditional surrender was announced on August 14, 1945, celebrations erupted across the world, because that will end further bloodshed and atrocities.
One key feature about WWII is that it led to the formation of the United Nations (UN), a move that was meant to address global conflicts, advance peaceful coexistence, and the cause of humanity.
The idea behind this unity of purpose hinged on banishing the scourge and terror of war for many generations.
In the words of former US President Harry Truman: “If we do not want to die together in war, we must learn to live together in peace.”
Since signing the UN Charter, which entered into force on October 24, 1945, the union has made relentless efforts to maintain international peace and security.
It has played a key role in international affairs, from providing relief aid to disaster areas and conflict zones to protecting cultural heritage sites around the world.
The UN has also worked assiduously to maintain some considerable level of cooperation among member states, fostering human rights, economic development, decolonisation, health and education, as well as trade.
The fact that humanity has been spared any major all-out war, the like witnessed in the First and Second World Wars, is possibly due to the peacekeeping efforts and operations of the UN.
Recent events, however, suggest that mankind has not learnt from history, some 80 years down memory lane.
Some geopolitical antecedents as well as factors that triggered the global carnage eight decades ago seem to be rearing their ugly head again.
British historian Timothy Garton Ash, the author of ‘Homelands, A Personal History of Europe’, on the fresh threats to Europe’s security, said: “This year’s 80th Anniversary feels tinged with fear, threats, abandonment by the US, and a realisation that the post-WWII global order is crumbling”.
He cites three unprecedented challenges for Europe: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the rise of non-Western global powers, many of which are not democracies, as well as US President Trump’s foreign policies.
“The war in Ukraine is by far the largest war in Europe since 1945. We have also discovered that countries like China, India and Turkey and other great middle powers are quite happy to go on doing business with Russia even while it’s waging this war.”
The world is facing multiple ongoing conflicts, each with unique geopolitical stakes and humanitarian crises.
There have been a series of high-intensity and far-reaching conflicts dominating global affairs, on a scale not seen in decades.
As of 2025, the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan had each entered their third or fourth years, with peace talks proving unsuccessful thus far.
There has also been an escalation of fighting in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a brief conflict between the nuclear powers of India and Pakistan, and a significant expansion of the broader Middle East crisis.
The largest impacts are felt in terms of human loss, suffering, and destruction.
Hundreds of thousands have been directly killed in conflicts in the 2020s, millions more have been injured, displaced, orphaned, starved, abused, and traumatised, and high levels of destruction mean some regions may never fully recover, security analysts have warned.
When global leaders met recently at the 80th UN General Assembly, events that unfolded suggested the meeting came at one of the most volatile moments in the world body’s 80-year-old history
Undoubtedly, the once reputed union, which was formed to deal with existential global threats to sustain peace and security, seems to be crumbling.
US President Donald Trump’s fraught relationship with the UN was on full display as he lambasted the organisation and many of the world leaders in the audience when he took the stage.
He criticised the UN’s ineffectiveness, particularly on migration, and offered American leadership for a safer world, advocating strong borders, traditional energy, and national sovereignty, while urging nations to reject failed approaches and embrace freedom.
“What is the purpose of the United Nations?” Trump asked at one point. “It’s not even coming close to living up to its potential.”
Geopolitical risks today exceed levels seen during the Cold War, driven by heightened military spending, stalled efforts at nuclear disarmament, and a diminished role for multilateral institutions like the UN, according to the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), an international peacebuilding organisation.
Unlike the bipolar structure that prevailed in most of the 20th-century Cold War, the current global landscape is shaped by technological dominance, economic interdependence, and influence competition across emerging regions such as Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
While China’s rise is clear, emerging regional powers such as Brazil, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Indonesia are also seeking to shape regional and global dynamics.
The UN warns that increased competition for influence between major powers has ripple effects on the rest of the world, as nations compete for influence within their immediate regions and in some cases, well beyond.
“For eight decades, peace operations have enabled the UN to address critical peace and security challenges and save lives.”
“However, UN missions now operate in an increasingly fragmented geopolitical landscape, marked by internationalised conflicts, non-State armed groups and the weaponisation of technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and drones,” Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN’s Under-Secretary General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, notes.
In the midst of the existential threats to global security, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, is urging world leaders to “choose peace and cooperation over chaos”.
In his address at the opening of the general debate of the UN General Assembly’s 80th session, he advocated a stronger UN.
With crises multiplying, Mr Guterres said the UN must adapt, and member states must fund it properly.
He criticised the imbalance where “for every dollar invested in building peace, the world spends US$750 on weapons of war.”
António Guterres recalled the institution’s founding after World War Two, when nations created the United Nations “as a practical strategy for the survival of humanity.”
“Eighty years on – we confront again the question our founders faced – only more urgent, more intertwined, more unforgiving,” he told delegates.
What fate awaits global peace?
The rise in political ideological differences, protectionism, violent extremism, regional conflicts and wanton disrespect for the UN’s principles could spell doom for humanity, if care is not taken.
Recent events have demonstrated flagrant disrespect for the union’s rule-based order, with some nations sidelining the rules of engagements in warfare to attack innocent citizens, resulting in mass bloodshed.
The UN Secretary-General describes a landscape marked by violence, hunger and climate disaster.
“We have entered an age of reckless disruption and relentless human suffering,” he said, warning that the “pillars of peace and progress are buckling under the weight of impunity, inequality and indifference.”
He cited military invasions, weaponised hunger, disinformation silencing truth, smoke rising from bombed-out cities, anger tearing at the social fabric and seas swallowing whole coastlines.
In the 2025 Global Risks Report, dubbed: ‘A World on the Brink’, the World Economic Forum (WEF) paints a stark picture of the challenges facing the world in the short and long term.
Based on a comprehensive survey of experts and decision-makers, the Report identifies a complex web of interconnected risks, with armed conflict, disinformation, and environmental degradation topping the list.
The findings highlight a growing sense of pessimism about the future, driven by geopolitical tensions, technological disruptions, and the looming threat of climate change.
More conflicts erupt worldwide as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds on, and wars rage in the Middle East and Sudan, posing the greatest risk to global economic growth and prosperity in 2025, says the WEF.
Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of respondents to the Global Risks Perception Survey for 2024-25 said that “state-based armed conflict” would pose a material crisis on a global scale in 2025.
The Report underscores the urgent need for international cooperation and collective action to mitigate these risks and build a more resilient future.
There is no denying the fact that the world is sitting on a time bomb. The time for nations to reaffirm their commitment to the principles and ideals of the UN is now, to forestall further bloodshed.
Peacekeeping is not a luxury. It is a lifeline for millions who count on it for a future without fear.
Ghana News Agency
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