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A Political Leader can suddenly go Berserk.
The world has learned, and is still learning, lessons from the current war situations in Eurasia and the Middle East. Countries have learnt that there need not be a valid cause for a country to invade another. A leader can simply go berserk.
For example, nobody can justify convincingly why Putin suddenly invaded Ukraine. This is especially so because the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union happened like a domino, and all the states left the chips to fall where they did.
The US-Israel invasion of Iran is even more confounding. No neighbor was complaining about Iran. The regime never even attempted to test its long-range missiles the way North Korea does.
Yet the whole world is suffering the negative effects of these wars. It is also apparent that members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are no longer speaking with one voice. Hence, the body is no longer the war deterrent it once was.
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump Salivating Over Other Sovereign Territories
As though Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and the US President Donald Trump have not caused enough turmoil in the world, they have already shown signs of hungering for other independent territories.
Not so long ago, Trump mused about making Canada the US’ 51st state. Then he suggested annexing Greenland, an island under the Republic of Denmark.
At some point, the US President also spoke of the importance of Iceland, a sovereign state, being under the US. Although some people saw it as confusion between Greenland and Iceland, nobody can be certain what Trump meant.
In any case, whether the targeted island is Greenland or Iceland, both instances would constitute acts of aggression. Trump is also not ashamed to say he covets Cuba, the largest Caribbean Island, which has been independent for more than 120 years.
As for Russia, it annexed Crimea, a Black Sea peninsula that was Ukraine’s for 40 years until the 2014 invasion by Russia. The world did not help Ukraine. While it is thought that some countries feared the possibility of Russia using its nuclear weapons against them, the reason seems flimsy.
Probably, if Ukraine were not a net importer of oil but a net exporter, the US might have convinced its allies of the need to intervene.
Self-Preservation is Key
The reality of the present day has probably led Germany to decide to work towards self-preservation. At the moment, it is not guaranteed that NATO will be willing or able to help out in times of military aggression.
And with the US, the most powerful nation militarily, contemplating withdrawing from NATO, the body might be willing but not strong enough to totally deter a crisis.
It is probably the reason Germany has decided to have every citizen ready to defend their country on short notice. Germany suspended mandatory conscription in 2011, believing that the current world works better through diplomacy.
However, the recent unprovoked aggression by the world’s two military superpowers is prompting other countries to rethink their approach to their own defense.