Observing the world today, one might feel that laws exist only for the weak, while the powerful operate beyond their reach. Principles and ethics often appear as mere rhetorical flourishes for public consumption, while self-interest dictates actions, and wealth remains the foundation of power and influence. Everything else must be submitted.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the US, where financial dominance extends into legal and social institutions. The pursuit of wealth is elevated above all else, and corporate greed gradually sheds its disguise. This reality becomes stark when one considers America’s stranglehold on key global sectors—technology, agriculture, banking—where few financial transactions take place without American interests profiting. Yet, despite its economic stronghold, the US itself senses the looming threat of decline. The current president’s erratic policies reflect this anxiety, as he desperately attempts to assert America’s entitlement to economic tributes, reminiscent of past imperial demands.
However, recent global solidarity with the Palestinian cause tells a different story. These expressions of support, emerging beyond religious or ethnic affiliations and untainted by national or personal interests, reaffirm a belief in justice. They signify a commitment to a world where the rule of law defends the weak against the strong, where power is challenged when it seeks to crush others for gain. Such moments of collective moral clarity sustain hope, a hope that thrives on human conscience, even when power structures remain entrenched in old, exclusionary ideologies.
At its core, the global crisis is not just about economic exploitation or the accumulation of wealth through war. It is also about a deeply rooted racial hierarchy that refuses to yield. The divisions in the world today are, in many ways, remnants of a supremacist ideology that still lingers in political and economic spheres. Wherever one looks, the key players on the world stage remain, in essence, defenders of these old hierarchies.
The stance of South Africa against contemporary injustices is particularly symbolic. A nation that fought to dismantle apartheid recognises its adversaries with ease—they are the same forces that once opposed its freedom. The historical perspective matters: two of the greatest non-violent revolutions of the modern era—India’s independence and South Africa’s liberation—were led by lawyers, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. This speaks to the ongoing battle between the spirit of the law and its manipulation for power. The contrast between justice and injustice has rarely been so stark, revealing the true nature of oppression and the resilience of the human spirit.
Mandela, in his memoirs, wrote about the most brutal prison warden he encountered on Robben Island: “In the depths of every person, even the most callous and cruel, there is a measure of humanity.” It is this small but persistent glimmer of human decency that fuels hope. Even in the darkest times, amid unchecked corruption and systemic injustice, there remains an innate sense of fairness that resonates with all people, regardless of their circumstances.
Even those who commit the greatest wrongs still claim to act in the name of justice. This paradox itself proves that justice, fairness, and compassion remain humanity’s guiding principles. The disputes and conflicts we see today reflect, at their core, our struggle to define and uphold these ideals. Yet, as history shows, much of this struggle is shaped by our inability to break free from the past. We resurrect old grievances to justify new conflicts, mistaking this cycle for progress, when in reality, it keeps us tethered to outdated battles.
The 20th century was particularly rich in lessons—lessons of liberation, betrayal, and the fragility of freedom. As Ibn Khaldun would put it, history is a chronicle of beginnings and endings, a record of struggles won and lost. The fall of the Soviet Union in the late 20th century, for instance, did not mark the collapse of Russia but rather the end of an ideological experiment. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Marxist-Leninist principles, the Soviet project was, at its core, a utopian attempt to create a just society. When the experiment failed, the Soviet leadership did not stubbornly persist but recognised its limitations and adapted. This act of self-awareness, of refusing to sustain an illusion, was not a sign of weakness but of intellectual maturity—a lesson that continues to shape global politics.
China, a product of that same ideological evolution, now commands global attention, its economic rise unsettling the very forces that once sought to dictate global order. The United States, deeply apprehensive of China’s growing influence, watches anxiously.
The world is replete with lessons, but few truly take heed—or if they do, it is often too late, after a disaster has struck.
Translated by Badr al Dhafari
The original version of this article was published in Oman Arabic newspaper on March 9, 2025
...
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
