BY EDDIE CROSS ONCE more, we are ambushed by the world we live in and on which we all depend for a living and any kind of a future. This time it is not a dictator or a false ideology, it is not war or a threat of global annihilation from a nuclear conflict. It is the near total dislocation of our way of life caused by a tiny virus we cannot see. A virus, so fragile, it cannot stand water and soap. If ever we needed a reminder of the fragility of life and of our carefully fabricated systems to give us security and stability, this is it! It swept the world after its emergence in China, no passport controls, oceans or fences. When it hit us we mobilised our resources, human and political, all to no avail. When this havoc is over, everyone will have been touched by its fatal embrace or affected by its impact on our economies and our society. The United States of America, spent US$5 trillion on its health and economic challenges in this process — US$14 000 for every man, woman and every child. Still it was unable to halt 10% of all adult Americans losing their jobs and being at the mercy of the State for sustenance. At the other end of the spectrum, India saw tens of millions of the absolute poor lose their jobs or opportunity and forced back to their villages to survive. No one escaped the onslaught — even the wealth of the Gulf could not protect Dubai which now sits silent and empty and is going broke. Just think about our pillars of safety and security: Nato: Created in the aftermath of the Second World War and during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Nato is the most powerful military alliance ever created and has led the way in not only ensuring that the conflict between the historical antagonists of Europe never takes place again, but also ensuring that Soviet and Chinese powers, created on the back of their enslaved populations, are unable or unwilling to take the risk of cross-border incursions. The multilateral institutions: Also the product of post war leadership and crafted at a time financial collapse and the cost of rebuilding Europe and Japan threatened to destabilise the world. Since then these institutions have overseen the continued stability of the world we live in. Many of us have no idea of how they have contributed or their impact on our individual lives, but in many ways these have played a key role in the new world order. The United Nations: Most people have no idea that it was an Afrikaner who played a key role in the Boer War at the turn of the 20th Century, who envisaged a new global institution representing all countries and capable of mediating in global and continental conflict. Jan Smuts not only envisaged the new institution but crafted its first mandate and charter. When this forerunner institution collapsed it was replaced by the United Nations which has survived in the past 70 years despite its many critics and the antics of some international leaders. No one questioned its role today — just its effectiveness, but we are more stable and at peace than ever, because of these institutions.
