It is unavoidable that the title of this article should remind its readers of the celebrated Russian writer Leo Tolstoy’s novel ‘War and Peace.’ It is a work of historical fiction that follows the lives of five aristocratic families in Russia during the Napoleonic era, exploring themes of war, peace, and the human condition. It is one of the longest novels in the world, with over a thousand pages and a million words.

This article has nothing to do with the novel, but the writer deems it fit to use the title because of the contradictory actions of US President Donald Trump, who on the one hand, projects himself as a leader who is working hard to establish peace in the world and, on the other, is aggressively engaged in preparations for war in the immediate neighbourhood. 

Trump has been repeatedly saying that it is he who stopped the war between India and Pakistan in May this year. While New Delhi has categorically stated that it ceased hostilities following communications between the military top brass of the two countries, Trump does not seem to care for it. 

According to international media, the US President has so far said about 70 times that he has stopped the conflict between the two South Asian nuclear-armed rivals. He last said it in a speech in December in a city in the State of Pennsylvania. He proudly claimed to have stopped eight wars in the 10 months since he came to power for the second time. 

The wars that Trump claims to have stopped are between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the Middle East, Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Egypt and Ethiopia, Serbia and Kosovo, and Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The US President said that he was able to stop these wars mostly by threatening to impose heavy tariffs on the countries concerned. He aspired to be awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for his untiring efforts to stop these international conflicts and work for peace in the world.

However, in the end, Trump could only receive a peace prize from the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA). That prize, too, awarded at a glittering event in Washington on 5 December in connection with next year’s World Cup, has turned out to be controversial. 

FIFA President Gianni Infantino is accused of violating the governing body’s regulation regarding political neutrality. The federation’s Ethics Committee has been asked to conduct an inquiry against him.

Meanwhile, it is important to note that tensions between the countries involved in any war, which Trump claimed he had stopped, are yet to ease.

Quick fixes vs. lasting peace

We can agree that Trump has brought peace to the world only if we ignore the genocides in Gaza and Sudan, Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine, the fighting in the eastern region of Congo, Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, the Myanmar military’s air bombardments, and the escalating political violence in the United States.

Conflicts between Thailand and Cambodia, which stopped in July, flared up again recently. The new clashes along the border show how fragile the ceasefire announced with Trump’s help is.

Referring to the renewed fighting between the two Southeast Asian countries in the Pennsylvania speech, Trump said that he would speak on phone with the leaders of those countries to end the conflict, asking the audience who else could say they were going to stop the war through a phone call. 

Trump declared that the two sides had agreed to put down arms again. However, they disagreed and the fighting continued. 

The US President, who predicted that he could settle the conflict “pretty quickly,” wants instant wins and photo opportunities. Leaders who fear alienating him may provide handshakes and promises when pushed to. But while pressure from powerful external players can help to push parties in regional disputes to the negotiating table, there is a substantial difference between quick fixes and lasting peace.

Trump, who boasted that he did not send US troops to war in any part of the world during his first term, is now responsible for increasing tensions in many regions through his arbitrary and maverick actions during the first year of his second term. 

He has previously said he would not rule out sending troops to capture the Danish-owned island of Greenland and the Panama Canal, and is now preparing a military offensive under the guise of anti-drug trafficking operations aimed at bringing about a regime change in Venezuela, an oil-rich South American country. He has also warned of attacks within Mexico in the war on drugs.

Campaign against Venezuela 

The United States has stepped up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in recent weeks by launching attacks in the Caribbean and the Pacific against alleged drug traffickers. 

This is the first time since the invasion of Panama in 1989 that there has been a massive US military build-up in the Caribbean.

Trump said recently that Venezuela’s airspace should be considered completely closed. US warships are in the Caribbean Sea within striking distance of Venezuela. Several people have been killed in recent weeks in attacks by US forces on alleged drug-smuggling boats.

The US Government, which accuses Maduro of leading a drug cartel designated by Washington as a foreign terrorist organisation, has offered no concrete evidence to prove it. 

The US seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela on 10 December, accusing it of carrying oil banned for export and extending sanctions against Venezuela. While Maduro has accused the US President of ushering in an age of “naval piracy” in the Caribbean, Venezuela’s Right-wing Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize this year, fully supports US actions.

Maduro, who has been President of Venezuela since 2013 following the death of popular President Hugo Chavez, is accused of rigging the 2024 Presidential Election. Millions of people fled the country as the economy suffered a severe setback under Maduro’s watch. Although he is responsible for the current crisis in his country, Washington’s sanctions have also contributed greatly to the worsening situation.

The US and several European countries have recognised Juan Guaidó, a prominent Opposition figure who ran against Maduro, as President in an effort to undermine the latter’s Government.

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Opposition Leader Machado for her courageous campaign against Maduro, whom she accuses of running an autocratic, anti-democratic regime. As soon as the Nobel Peace Prize was announced in October, Machado declared that it belonged to the US President. She thanked Trump for his decisive support for the democratic struggle against the Maduro regime.

Machado has been in hiding since last year’s election. Her attempt to secretly leave her hideout by sea and travel to Norway to personally receive the Nobel Peace Prize at the ceremony in Oslo on 10 December – International Human Rights Day – was not successful. 

Machado was unable to reach Oslo in time. Her daughter received the prize on her behalf, but on arrival she was given a rousing welcome. She thanked the US for helping her leave the country and come to Europe. 

‘No one learns from history’

There is opposition in the US Congress to Trump’s plan to send US troops into Venezuela to topple Maduro’s regime. Following the recent seizure of an oil tanker, some Democratic members of the Congress described Trump’s actions as “sleepwalking into war”.

The killing of civilians by US forces in the Caribbean is a flagrant violation of international law. The threats by the Trump administration against Maduro, irrespective of the character of his regime, amount to an assault on Venezuela’s sovereignty. And, more importantly, the US seems unwilling to learn from its past mistakes.

At one point during the Vietnam War, US Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara (later President of the World Bank), recalled a quote by the German philosopher Hegel: “The only lesson one can learn from history is that no one learns from history.”

The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York, only to leave 20 years later after cutting a deal with the Taliban. America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq turned out to be one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes. 

Now we see the absurdity of Donald Trump, who claims credit for ending many wars and who even aspired to the Nobel Peace Prize, getting ready to make the same mistakes in Venezuela. 

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Colombo)

(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the official position of this publication)