Daily Times

The Eurasian supercontinent is so diverse in multiple respects that it can truly become a political and economic hub of the world by networking its business routes. The only cost that the world and regional powers have to pay for such a dividend is to shun the hostile bloc politics and switch to the healthy game of convergences.

But the question remains who will pay heed to such a hypothetical cry in the wilderness of the ruthless capitalist war of survival of the cruellest. In connivance with national military and political powers, states have rather become tools in the hands of multinational corporations and IFIs.

The previous Cold War ensuing World War II saw the globe divided into two antagonist blocs in the name of Socialism and Capitalism.

Optimists among the international political observers thought that after the collapse of Socialism by the end of the last century, the so-called Free World would make the planet a more beautiful and peaceful place to live in.

On the contrary, it pushed humanity into the hands of merchants of death – the world’s ordnance corporations vying mutually to monopolise the destruction of weaker nations for their business interests.

They even manipulated the global order to their gains, aligning national military forces with themselves under different names.

After the failure of its war against terrorism and the so-called globalisation, capitalism is failing to see any light at the end of the tunnel for itself.

Signs all across the civilisations show that the coming decades are to be the epoch of sobriety and logic of human peace and prosperity.

This was natural. The world was never meant to be annihilated at whims. History has its dynamics. It flows on – for the betterment of each and every human soul, even the most destitute ones. Though the flow of history can be blocked temporarily, it washes away everything its way when it takes its course.

Those tempted to destroy humanity have exhausted all their cards. Religious fanaticism and extremism have taken whatever toll they could.

Now is the turn for humanism, for the unification of the world and amelioration of the human beings, who, according to any creeds and doctrines, are children of the same God.

History will not forgive if any power on the surface of Earth manipulates to subvert its course for its vested interests. Signs all across the civilisations show that the coming decades are to be the epoch of sobriety and logic of human peace and prosperity.

Are we geared to ride the tide?

Only those are to reap the dividends of the upcoming civilisational boom, who possess knowledge and wisdom; who do not misuse the sacred name of God and religion for the destruction of human beings; who do not exploit the pious name of civilisation for testing their deadly weapons against the defenceless of the human species.

This sacred, but inevitable, cause will necessitate the re-shaping of global politics and commerce on unprejudiced lines that make the world a more hospitable place for the destitute and provide for healthy competition among countries for the betterment of humanity.

All regions have to come out of the narrow thinking of vested politics, avoid jumping onto the bandwagons of powers dividing Earth in antagonist blocs and promote multilateral cooperation based on convergences and the common good.

A by-product of the Soviet disintegration was the emergence of a united Europe. In history, there were times when all European nations fought bloody wars against each other, as Asians and Africans do even now.

But then, we saw the European Union and the Schengen states. Although Brexit has caused an upset, time will tell that it will prove more harmful to Britain itself, rather than the other EU nations.

Asians are not destined to fight like dogs forever. History has the same trajectory for regions and all human groups. The history of Europe is in front of us.

Physiographically, the integrated landmass of Eurasia is a combined continent of Europe and Asia. Even its tectonic plate on Earth’s crust is the same. According to archaeological studies, the first settlements of the human species were also discovered in Eurasia.

This supercontinent is bounded by the Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic Ocean. Besides the main landmass from the British Isles to Japan, Eurasia also includes the surrounding islands and archipelagos, like Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.

The geographical diversity of the continent is so immense that it encompasses reefs and rain forests in the Fareast, plains and wetlands in South Asia, high mountains in the Himalayas, sprawling steppes in Central Asia and South Caucasus, barren deserts in the Arabian Peninsula and freezing temperatures in Europe.

The cultural and religious diversity of this landmass is so intense that its pluralistic shades and colours virtually enlarge the whole expanse of the human mind and infinity of human thinking.

In fact, all big powers – China, Russia, and even the US- have plans for Eurasian Corridor, albeit each according to its interests. All three have been vying to make Afghanistan a confluence of South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia.

While China has four of its six projects under the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, Russia has already formed the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) with like-minded countries.

The US has also announced the establishment of ‘New QUAD’ with Pakistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan to “enhance regional commercial and cultural contacts” in the region.

What remains to be done is to explore the common ground between all these world powers for convergences of common and collective good to make Eurasia a reality.

The writer is an independent freelance journalist based in Islamabad covering South Asia/ Central Asia.