The world is regressing to a pre-World War era where might makes right and international rules are routinely ignored. This is the grim assessment of Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, human rights activist, journalist and author. In a scathing analysis, Lakemfa points to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump as the leading figures responsible for many of the 130 active wars currently being fought around the world.
Zelensky, the former comedian turned wartime leader, has emerged as the most cunning tactician of the three, according to Lakemfa. By always playing the victim, Zelensky has managed to link two of the most devastating conflicts: the US-Iranian war and the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Zelensky's Caspian Sea Gambit
In a bold and provocative move, Zelensky ordered attacks on commercial Iranian vessels in the Caspian Sea, with one ship, the Anna, being struck directly. The attack killed an Iranian sailor and left several others injured. Zelensky defended the assault by claiming the ships were legitimate targets because they were allegedly transporting military cargo. He also framed the strike as retaliation, arguing that Iran's supply of Shahed drones and military technology to Russia constituted an indirect attack on Ukraine.
Lakemfa describes Zelensky's reasoning as "illogical." The Ukrainian leader, in an overconfident tone, ordered Iran to stop supporting Russia and warned Tehran not to think about retaliation. But Iran, which has successfully stood up to the United States, has no intention of staying passive.
Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, issued a sharp rebuke: "Any attack on Iran always comes at a cost, and that remains true today; the US and Israel are well aware of this. Ukraine, too, may soon come to understand that Iran does not let actions go unanswered." Zelensky may hope that Iranian retaliation will drag Ukraine into the US-Iran conflict, thereby compelling Washington to resume military aid to Kyiv. Meanwhile, with Trump pressuring Zelensky to end the war with Russia, the Ukrainian leader is sheltering under the European Union, waiting for a shift in American policy.
Zelensky's Path from Peace to War
Zelensky's current belligerence is a far cry from his campaign platform. A lawyer who became famous as a clown, he starred in the television series "Servant of the People" as a high school teacher who rails against corruption and is unexpectedly elected president. In reality, he converted his production company into a political party and ran for the presidency in 2019. Sensing that the Ukrainian public was weary of conflict, he campaigned on a promise of peace, while incumbent President Petro Poroshenko favoured continued confrontation.
Once elected, Zelensky quickly abandoned his pacifist rhetoric. When the Russo-Ukrainian war erupted in full force, peace negotiations were held in Belarus. Ukrainian negotiator Denys Kireev, believing Zelensky's talk of peace, argued for a diplomatic resolution. He was seized upon his return to Kyiv on 5 March 2022 and executed without trial—a stark illustration, Lakemfa says, of how Zelensky silences internal dissent.
Zelensky also reneged on his promise to serve only one term. His term expired in May 2024, but he has refused to step down or hold elections, insisting that the war demands his continued rule. He now governs by decree, with no electoral mandate.
Netanyahu's Relentless Wars
Netanyahu, in Lakemfa's words, is a "most resourceful warmonger." He is currently orchestrating wars across multiple fronts:
- Gaza
- The West Bank
- Syria
- Yemen
- Lebanon
Even when a US-Iran peace agreement sought to include Lebanon, Netanyahu insisted that Lebanon be excluded from the deal. He has also brazenly attacked the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), killing seven peacekeepers without facing any international consequences.
Netanyahu's motivations, Lakemfa argues, are rooted in his desperate need to stay in power and avoid imprisonment. He faces criminal charges in three separate cases, including bribery, fraud and breach of trust, along with accusations of international crimes. The 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols explicitly criminalize the intentional killing of civilians—yet Netanyahu has made civilian massacres his trademark. When criticized for bombing babies in Gaza hospitals, he claimed, without evidence, that Hamas command centers were located beneath the beds of infants and incubators.
Trump's Global Escalation
President Trump, meanwhile, has matched his two counterparts in aggression, albeit with less finesse. In the nineteen months since his return to office, Trump has launched conflicts from Iran to Venezuela. He ordered the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on dubious drug-trafficking charges. The accusations appear fabricated, as Trump has been unable to bring Maduro to trial, instead announcing a start date of 1 June 2027—eighteen months after the abduction.
Trump is also waging a destructive war against Iran. Lakemfa raises a critical question: "Why does the US want to obliterate Iran? Why does it think it has the right to fly fifteen thousand kilometres to the Strait of Hormuz and assume it is its God-given right to control it?"
In addition, Trump is attempting to starve Cuba into submission. He has cut off fuel and electricity supplies and vowed to punish any country that trades with Havana. He predicted Cuba would collapse within a month, but seven months later, the island nation continues to survive and resist.
The Long Shadow of the World Wars
Lakemfa places this current chaos in historical context. After World War I, which killed about 20 million people, humanity cried "Never again!" and created the League of Nations. Yet within three decades, the world descended into an even bloodier conflict: World War II, which claimed over 85 million lives. In 1945, the United Nations was established, along with a framework of conventions meant to preserve peace, sovereignty and human rights.
Today, that framework is crumbling. Might is becoming right once more, and strongmen roam the globe as terrorists and bandits, playing God. The triumvirate of Zelensky, Netanyahu and Trump represents this dangerous regression.
What If They Had Never Existed?
Lakemfa ponders whether history would have been different if Zelensky, Netanyahu and Trump had not been in power simultaneously. Would the world be better, worse, or exactly the same? Is it mere coincidence that these three leaders rule at the same moment? What is certain is that humanity has reverted to an era of no agreed universal rules, where every nation looks after its own interests.
Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.
