We are witnessing not just the collapse of peace, but the slow, suffocating death of collective conscience.

From Sudan’s scorched villages to Gaza’s shattered streets, from Yemen’s starved cities to Myanmar’s bloody countryside, and now to Kashmir’s trembling borders — the world is breaking into wars.

One after another.

Relentless. Unforgiving.

And the so-called guardians of peace — the international institutions, the powerful leaders, the organizations built to protect human rights — are watching it happen.

At best, they write statements.

At worst, they look away entirely.

Civilians: Always the First to Bleed, Always the Last to Be Heard

In every corner where violence blooms, it is the civilians who pay the ultimate price.

They lose their homes, their children, their futures — traded like collateral in games they never chose to play.

Bombs do not discriminate between soldier and schoolchild. Drones do not pause to ask who they are striking.

Every airstrike, every blockade, every silence that follows a massacre — all of it writes another tragic chapter in the endless suffering of ordinary people.

The oppressed scream into a void.

Meanwhile, the world’s most powerful figures tighten their ties, attend summits, and measure every decision against one currency alone: self-interest.

International Institutions: Architects of Empty Promises

The United Nations, the Human Rights Council, the International Criminal Court — names that were once supposed to mean something. Names that were supposed to shield the powerless and hold tyrants accountable.

But where are they now?

• Issuing “grave concerns” after genocide.
• Holding “emergency meetings” after bombings.
• Drafting “strongly worded resolutions” that dissolve into nothing.

They have become bureaucratic ghosts — present in title, absent in action.

The system is rigged. Veto powers protect their allies. Strategic interests outweigh moral imperatives. Human rights are wielded like a weapon against enemies, and quietly shelved when inconvenient for friends.

It is not that they are helpless.

It is that they are complicit by choice.

The Harsh Truth: War is Profitable, Peace is Not

Follow the money and you will find the true architects of chaos.

War sustains industries. Arms dealers thrive. Governments rally frightened citizens. Media channels cash in on outrage cycles. Reconstruction contracts are drawn up before the dust even settles.

Peace doesn’t feed the machine. War does.

This is why no one is stopping it.

This is why oppression is negotiated instead of resisted.

This is why genocides are debated like trade agreements.

The blood of civilians is a small price for power, and in the halls of global influence, small prices are easy to pay.

A World Without Shame

The most terrifying part of all this?

It’s not the violence itself — humanity has always been capable of cruelty.

It’s the normalization of it.

The way each new atrocity barely trends for a few hours.

The way outrage now comes pre-packaged with an expiration date.

We are witnessing not just the collapse of peace, but the slow, suffocating death of collective conscience.

But it is not irreversible. Not yet.

Awareness is not weakness. Anger is not futility.

The world changes when enough people refuse to look away. When enough people stop believing the lie that they are too small to matter.

Because silence doesn’t protect the oppressed — it buries them.

And history will not remember the ones who stayed comfortable.

It will remember the ones who dared to care when it was easier to turn their backs.

The world is burning.

The question is: will we stand and watch it turn to ash, or will we finally, finally demand a different story?

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Published under International Cooperation with "Sindh Courier"