‘Democracy’ and a tale of Power Vacuums

Some 50 years ago, the British left the Palestinian territories in a bitter tussle between the Jewish and the Arabic groups. The Empire had similar history in the Indian subcontinent. The tensions were partly fueled at the end of the empire – in the Indian subcontinent, it was the promise of an Islamic nation to the Muslims of the Raj; in Palestinian Mandate region, it was the bias of British army against the Arabs and its inability to stop the Jewish immigration – and at the end, the Empire simply left the factions to fend for themselves.

Fast forward a couple of decades. Iraq was invaded by the US and between Iraq and Israel was the obvious tussle between USSR and USA – leading to the formation of many small and conflicting regions and factions supporting free market democracy or communism. The fall of the USSR left a vacuum China quickly filled up. However, the withdrawal of the US forces from Iraq did not result in the rise of a stable power, but rather it escalated tensions and led to the creation and establishment of the alleged ISIS caliphate.

In fact, even in Afghanistan, the chief cause of the crisis was the cold war that led to the Soviet Afghan war and an eventual push of the Mujahideen forces that ultimately became the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 and is now leaving the country without any conclusive results – paving way to yet another possible and quite imminent crisis.

The Kosovo crisis and the NATO invasion of Libya in 2011 also left the said regions with a still ongoing power struggle that has led to massive humanitarian crisis there. Libya allegedly has open markets for slave trading today. Not to forget that the infamous Boko Haram held large swaths of land during the time ISIS was at the pinnacle of its power.

These are not the only examples of power vacuums. But the ones that were created in the name of freedom, democracy and liberty – but led to crisis that no one talks of any more.

What do you think about the ways in which contemporary history has played out? Could there be better ways? Can there be steps that can still be taken for the better?