Sufi Sagar Psalms : If wars are fought in the name of ordinary people, why do ordinary people consistently emerge as their greatest victims?
This question deserves far greater attention than it receives in political discourse.
Throughout modern history, the overwhelming beneficiaries of war have rarely been soldiers or civilians. Instead, wars have often consolidated the power of political elites, strengthened military establishments, expanded the influence of strategic actors, and generated enormous profits for segments of the global arms industry and wartime economies. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens pay the price with their lives, homes, livelihoods, and future generations.
A soldier who survives the battlefield frequently returns with permanent physical injuries or invisible psychological trauma. Many spend years struggling with post-traumatic stress, disability, and social isolation. Civilians fare no better. Families are separated, children lose access to education, healthcare systems collapse, and entire communities become dependent on humanitarian assistance.
Victory, therefore, is often a political concept rather than a human one. Even the so-called victorious nation inherits enormous burdens—economic disruption, public debt, social division, and generations of veterans requiring lifelong care. Military triumph rarely translates into universal human prosperity.
For the defeated nation, the consequences are even more devastating. Infrastructure is destroyed, productive capacity collapses, institutions weaken, and millions are forced into displacement. Refugee crises, food insecurity, disease outbreaks, and economic collapse become defining features of post-war societies.
The history of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries demonstrates this painful reality with remarkable consistency.
From Europe during the World Wars to Southeast Asia, from the Middle East to Africa, wars have repeatedly produced humanitarian catastrophes whose consequences endured long after military operations ended. Entire generations have grown up amid displacement, poverty, fear, and unresolved historical grievances.
The ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan illustrates how power struggles between competing armed factions can devastate an entire nation. Millions have been displaced, widespread hunger threatens civilian populations, and credible international organizations have documented allegations of grave human rights abuses, including conflict-related sexual violence and attacks against civilians.
The suffering experienced by ordinary Sudanese families demonstrates that political rivalry at the highest levels almost always inflicts its greatest damage upon those who possess the least power.
Such tragedies are not unique to Sudan. : Similar patterns have appeared repeatedly across history—in conflicts where civilians become bargaining chips, women become targets of systematic violence, children lose their futures, and humanitarian law collapses under the weight of military ambition.
These are not isolated accidents. : They are predictable consequences whenever war replaces diplomacy. The moral contradiction becomes even more disturbing when we consider the role assigned to soldiers themselves.
Military personnel are among the most disciplined and dedicated members of society. They willingly accept hardship, sacrifice comfort, and risk their own lives in service to their countries. Their commitment to duty deserves recognition and respect.
Yet their professionalism should never be exploited to legitimize unnecessary wars. A soldier’s highest honor should be measured not merely by courage in combat, but by commitment to protecting human life whenever possible. The noblest military achievement is preventing war—not prolonging it.
Modern armed forces already contribute enormously outside traditional combat. Around the world they respond to natural disasters, rescue civilians during floods and earthquakes, provide humanitarian assistance, support medical emergencies, participate in peacekeeping operations, and protect national infrastructure during crises.
These missions demonstrate that military discipline, organization, and technical expertise can serve humanity without requiring the destruction of human life.
The future of national service should therefore evolve beyond warfare. Imagine military academies becoming global centers for disaster response, advanced engineering, medical innovation, cyber defense, environmental protection, and scientific research. Imagine defense budgets increasingly supporting technologies that combat climate change, pandemics, food insecurity, and natural disasters rather than developing ever more destructive weapons. Such a transformation would not weaken national security.
It would redefine it. Real security is not created by the ability to destroy another nation. Real security exists when citizens enjoy peace, justice, education, healthcare, scientific opportunity, economic dignity, and confidence that future generations will inherit a safer world than the one they were born into.
The purpose of government should never be to prepare humanity for perpetual war.
Its highest responsibility is to prepare humanity for lasting peace.
(Sufi Sagar Psalms Pioneer of the doctrine of world sovereignty government Acting Chairman Bangladesh Humanist Party-BHP)