The International Day of Peace (September 21) is an occasion for deep reflection about the prevalence of war, violence and insecurity in many parts of the world. In the last calendar year, eight countries — Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Turkey, Somalia, Iraq, Mexico and Libya — suffered at least 1,000 deaths each (mainly civilians) through militarised attacks and battles, according to the World Population Review. If one includes the Maghreb and Sahel regions of North and West Africa, over 25 countries are being ravaged by deadly wars today. To boot, 79.5 million were displaced at the end of 2019, due to armed conflicts, persecution and other reasons, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
The way the present international system is structured poses enormous obstacles to peace. The countries that are escalating violence are predominantly the great powers who have military and economic…