World War III: An Event We Never Saw Coming
- Neha Regis
- Apr 5, 2022
- 3 min read
The recent headlines in today’s news have been plagued with the disasters of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Videos of the devastation in Ukraine are going viral and people are crying out for help. Russian and Ukrainian citizens are forced to go to war with their neighbors. People are holding their families like it’s the last time they’ll see them, and it is opening our eyes to see the realities of wars we’ve only heard about in history class before.
For those that need a little background information, Ukraine used to be part of the Russian Empire and gained independence in 1991. Their goal was to gain alliances with western countries and separate themselves from Russia’s reputation. Because of this, the conflict started in 2014 after former Ukrainian leader, Viktor Yanukovych rejected the European Union’s alliance. This caused protests and Yanukovych was removed as president. This snowballed into a series of events that ultimately led to the war we are witnessing today. On February 23rd, 2022, Vladimir Putin ordered troops to invade Ukrainian borders because he didn’t want Ukraine to join NATO. NATO is a supranationalist military alliance between thirty countries. NATO’s expansion to Eastern Europe proves to be a threat to Russia, especially if Ukraine were to join NATO.
Some of the stories about this conflict are heartbreaking to read. Young children getting hit by shells and citizens from other countries trying to join the fight in Ukraine. When we learn about famous wars in school, we never really understand the devastation and how desperate the people are to get out. Reading these stories about a war that is happening in real-time teaches us what war really is. It makes the stories of people fighting (or not fighting) so much more personal. To read news stories and learn more about the Russia-Ukraine War, you can visit the link below: https://www.nbcnews.com/world/russia-ukraine-news
President Biden has said that US troops will not be fighting on Ukrainian soil because of the high likelihood of “catastrophic loss of life and human suffering.” Instead, they are taking a different approach. The US along with many other countries are planning to cut Russia off from the SWIFT financial system. The US can also take Russia’s access to US dollars. Both of these moves will severely damage the Russian economy in the long run. You can also help by donating money for Ukrainian refugee relief. Everyone is hoping this will be enough, but how many people will we lose before this war ends?
It is important that we help those in Ukraine and keep them in our hearts, but we often fail to remember the other wars that have happened before. If you ask a person to recall important wars throughout human history, you’ll get answers like WWI, WWII, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, the American Civil War, the Cold War, etc. However, the majority of people forget or don’t even know about the wars in Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Kosovo, Pakistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, etc. The truth is there are some wars that we don’t see in news headlines, wars people choose not to talk about even though they matter, too. There is a lot the media can hide from us, but if we do our research we can uncover the tragedies society says is not “good” to talk about.
We stand with Ukraine and we stand with Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Kosovo, Pakistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Armenia, Lebanon. We stand with the countries in the headlines, and with the people donating, protesting, and fighting back. But we also stand with all the countries that never got the headlines, the donations, or the protests. Either way, we are speaking out about the wars that are happening and have happened all across the world, and hoping that one day we will all be able to live in peace.
Comment what your research taught you down below!
You can look at these sources for more information on forgotten wars:
SOURCES:
Jazeera, Al. “A Simple Guide to the Ukraine-Russia Crisis: 5 Things to Know.” Aljazeera.com, Al Jazeera, 25 Jan. 2022, www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/25/five-things-to-know-about-russia-ukraine-tensions. Accessed 11 Mar. 2022.
“Russia-Ukraine Crisis.” NBC News, NBC News, 2022, www.nbcnews.com/world/russia-ukraine-news. Accessed 11 Mar. 2022.
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