Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 249
Political Peace 249 central control by totalitarian governments or will the totalitarian control itself break down into pieces resulting in a near state of anarchy? Or, will there be a gradual transition into totalitarian state control to a new compromised system of give and take between the state and individual so that, with the passage of time, civil liberties are progressively introduced and fundamental human rights restored? It is important to wait for the outcome of a new struggle between Mr. Gorbachev’s ideas of perestroika and glasnost on the one hand and the attitude of the strict orthodox in the communist hierarchy. To the best of my knowledge, most of the benefits in the USSR’s classless society are mutually shared by the party hierarchy, civil service and the defence forces. The vital question is what role are they going to play at this critical nascent stage of the bloodless counter-revolution, which is now taking shape? This and similar questions have to be answered before one can reasonably visualise the impact of these changes on the prospects of world peace. Merely a détente between the two superpowers in itself does not bring any hope of peace. On the contrary it invokes many phantoms of lurking dangers for the Third World countries in particular. It was the mistrust prevailing between the two superpowers and their jealousies, which, in fact, provided a sort of canopy for weaker nations. Also, it was the ability of the weaker nations to change sides and allegiances from the West to East or vice versa which gave them a small measure of manoeuvrability and bargaining power. But this is no longer so. What hope can these weaker nations entertain now to survive respectably as independent nations in the future? The thought at this stage shifts to the UNO—a bastion of peace and the only torch of hope for the establishment of a new world order.