US policies making world dangerous place: academics

Staff Report

KARACHI: Speakers at a programme at Karachi University on Tuesday were of the unanimous view that the United States doctrine of pre-emptive strike had made the world a more dangerous.

It was merely a minuscule ruling class of the world, which is promoting war. The majority comprised peaceful people who wanted peace for them and their coming generations, was the gist of what the speakers said at the programme organised by Karachi University’s international relations department at the launch of Dr Glenn D Paige’s book “Non-killing Global Political Science”.

Dr Paige is professor emeritus of the department of political science at the University of Hawaii and president of the Centre for Global Political Science, Hawaii.

The speakers said in the uni-polar world where the United States was the sole superpower that had caused widespread destruction and death. The speakers were concerned at the mass murders, attacks and counterattacks, well-entrenched sectarian and ethnic hatred and suicide bombings across the world, which, according to them, had made the world a dangerous place to live in.

They said a minority – which was otherwise negligible in number – of the ruling class was the main culprit that created violence and hatred across the globe.

They stressed the need for peace movements and ideas to make the world a peaceful place. They described Dr Paige’s book and his thought as useful tools to get the job done. Author Dr Glenn D Paige, noted historian Dr Mubarak Ali, Zahida Hina, Kahilda Ghous, Chairperson of the International Relations Department, and Prof Sikander Mehdi, Registrar of Karachi University, were prominent among the speakers.

Dr Paige said no religion preached violence. He quoted the saying of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) Muhammad “Killing of one person means killing of the entire humanity.” He said his book would provide guidelines to students of world politics.

He was highly critical of the United State’s foreign policy which, he said, was aggressive and spawned hatred.

“A tiny minority in the United States are warmongers who advocate aggressive policies, and the rest of people want dialogue between civilisations to eliminate violence from earth,” said Dr Paige.

He called upon humanity to play their role in making the world a place of peace. “Every man and woman should ask question of themselves how to create a non-violent society on earth,” he said.

He said freedom movements could succeed even without adopting violent methods and means.

He briefly introduced his book and said it had been translated into Arabic, Hindi, Persian, Spanish, French and other languages.

Historian Dr Mubarak Ali countered Dr Paige’s argument about non-violent freedom movements and termed the book based on utopian ideology.

“We find no movement in the known history of the world, which can prove his argument,” said Dr Ali. He said it was a utopian book and the society it argued for did not and could not have a possibility to exist.

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