The year 2025 ended marked by bloody conflicts between countries and groups, with the United Nations Organisation appearing to be an ineffective body and an inconsequential debate forum, and with little significant progress in the climate of peace and harmony in the world.
People across the world welcome the year 2026, hoping that the world will become a better place unlike the year 2025. The question is whether the year 2026 will meet the expectations of the people. In any case, Trump of the USA, Xi Jinping of China, and Putin of Russia seem to have different thought processes and plans. They have been unabashedly aiming for territorial expansion with greed and with little regard for world order and international responsibility.
Millions of people across the world, including in China, Russia, and the USA, are unhappy and disappointed, as territorial greed and possible conflicts and wars would ultimately affect only the people and their families, in one way or the other, all over the world.
The level of territorial greed and the consequent policy approach of the leadership in China, the USA, and Russia are shocking and are in total defiance of the advocacy of peace by great world leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and many others.
In the year 1950, China invaded Tibet, claiming that Tibet should be part of China. China massacred thousands of Tibetans who protested against the Chinese invasion. Now, China is maintaining a vice-like grip over Tibet, denying freedom and free speech to the people.
After exhibiting its greed for Tibet, China in the year 1962 launched a war against India, claiming certain land in India as its own. The ill-equipped Indian army could not stop the advancement of Chinese troops, and China is now occupying thousands of kilometres of Indian territory in the Ladakh region. Still, China’s territorial greed remains undiminished, with China now claiming Arunachal Pradesh province in India as its own.
China is having disputes with neighbouring countries, as it is claiming rights of ownership over the Senkaku Islands, the South China Sea, and so on.
China is now threatening to invade Taiwan, claiming that Taiwan should be part of China.
All in all, there appears to be no upper limit to China’s territorial greed.
In the year 2022, Russia launched a war against the neighbouring country Ukraine under the pretext that Ukraine joining NATO would be a threat to Russia’s security. The war is continuing with no end in sight. Russia is now occupying several areas in Ukrainian territory and has clearly said that it would not vacate the occupied territories.
In the ongoing Ukraine–Russia war, Russia is clearly exhibiting its territorial greed, and to satisfy this greed, it launched the war, which is evident.
After taking over as the President of the USA, Trump declared that Canada, a neighbouring country, should become the 51st state of the USA. This territorial greed of Trump shocked not only Canada but also a cross-section of people around the world.
Now, Trump has invaded Venezuela under the pretext that the invasion is necessary, as Venezuela is facilitating drug trafficking. Trump has now claimed that he would be the acting President of Venezuela, whatever that may mean.
Trump is also making claims on Greenland under the pretext that taking over Greenland is a security need for the USA, as otherwise Russia and China would bring Greenland under their control.
For all these claims on Canada, Venezuela, and Greenland, the only real reason is the territorial greed of Trump, and one does not know what his next target will be to fulfil what appears to be his insatiable territorial greed.
While wars and conflicts have been happening for several years all over the world, most of them have taken place due to local claims and counterclaims and certainly not what could be described as territorial greed, as is seen now.
With Trump, Xi Jinping, and Putin unlikely to leave power anytime soon, and with their unconcealed territorial greed, these three men and their actions are likely to provide the seeds for wars and conflicts in 2026.
Under the circumstances, it would be naïve to think that the year 2026 will be better than the year 2025 as far as peace and harmony in the world are concerned.
The voices of peace lovers are heard across the world, but they are cries in the wilderness with little impact on the ground. The territorial greed of these three men is so strong that they are unlikely to hear or listen to the voice of wisdom aired by great figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela.
Many discerning observers around the world are now of the view that the absence of wars and conflicts is a utopian expectation, as they will continue to occur due to the territorial greed of those in power, backed by their economic power and military strength. These three men, in their view, prove this conclusion decisively.
