I have always enjoyed the game of football competitively since the age 12 but stopped playing at the age 16 because of my University admission into UCLA to study Cognitive Science and Public Affairs. But one person had always fascinated me on the field at every game, and that’s the referee.
The power of one single person, often dressed differently from the rest of us players – perhaps for easy recognition was glaring. In one single breath, he or she had the power to pause or stop a game based on a set established rules. A pause because of injuries, an infringement or any range of anomalies could cause this pause. That was the depth and breadth of the referees power, and by and large, players, spectators, the media, and even the club owners abided by the eventual results of the games.
In our dynamic and complicated world of today, who or where is the referee. For close to a century now, the US was usually seen unofficially though, as the moral compass and referee of the world, especially post WWII. The Marshall plan first promoted by US Secretary of State General George Marshall in June 1947 that benefitted countries like France, Greece, Italy, Luxemburg’s and a dozen others was a defining moment in our worlds history and a colorful introduction of Americas seeming benevolence.
Though there was no referees uniform to wear, the blue and white stripes and stars of the American flag, was usually a welcome recognition by a planet in need of a neutral but powerful voice of reason. In the last decade however in what was the beginning of a seeming vacuum that included a new doctrine of America first, other newer and bolder competing powers for the role of the worlds referee organically emerged. One of the smallest and boldest emerging influencer for this role has been the state of Qatar, whose nationally branded planes were the only aircraft’s visible when the Taliban suddenly reemerged as the dominant power in Afghanistan in August 2021 when US withdrew from that strategic central Asian nation. The EU block if it has its way, would also desire a speaking role as one voice. Except it is like trying to heard a group of cats, because most EU members still nurse or polish a national agenda that benefits their political and economic interests, first.
The African continent led by South Africa’s President Cyril mounted a bold ‘referee’ initiative in June 2023 between Russia and Ukraine, as the continent felt the pinch of rising food prices. And then there are regional powers India and Brazil, though double dipped in clubs like BRICS and G20, their clouts absolutely cannot be discounted.
Just as a football can quickly circle back to the other half of the field, we dribble back to ‘tiny’ Qatar again, who just weeks ago in early December 2023 played a very prominent role in the life saving ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. It is a conflict where one too many lives have been lost, as the world watched as a collective spectator group – some with hands on their head in shock, some with hands over their eyes to block the carnage, while still some are in the cheering stand, cautiously gazing around and looking out for signs the tide of support just might change.
I have tried to set this global stage of seeming chaos, distrust, mistrust and an ever changing rules of a game that many are too afraid to get caught watching – like a bootleg movie in a dark high school dorm.
So, who or where is that global moral compass called a referee.
Prime Minster Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines, whom I sat down with over 5 years ago in New York, had on December 14th brokered a first face to face meeting in another impending military conflict between 2 South American nations – Venezuela and Guyana, over the disputed oil rich Essequibo territory. Here again, a smaller nation punches far above its weight, as referee in the absence of traditional names.
On this same Guyana and Venezuela impending international fracas, eight years ago I had stepped into a mediation role at the UN between these two countries, meeting first with President David Granger of Guyana to convince the parties that there were other avenues, to a military conflict. The peace held, seemingly, until December 3rd this month when President Nicolas Maduro called a referendum on annexing Essequibo.
While I was 13 years old during this mediation, I understood clearly that in military conflicts, women and children were always the first, the last [the pain linger for years], and the more severely affected gender in such occurrences. Having met with Presidents Ellen Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia and President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan, I had a crystal clear understanding of this sad reality.
So, was I a referee when I added my voice to this peace mediation, or was I punching above my weight. Did I have a clearly defined uniform on that screamed referee, or was I just a global citizen, a disillusioned spectator or a young woman who was numbed by being part of a very “quiet world” in a loud neighborhood called ‘chaos’, with screams of help echoing from streets and alleys that began in Ukraine, Israel, the Sahel, and more devastatingly today – in Gaza.
But if I was a referee, I would come in three parts: the craftiness of Henry Kissinger, the audacity of Brigadier Joseph Garba and the long rugged patience of Sergei Lavrov.
Perhaps like many, you already tuned out of our worlds crisis back in October 2023.
Happy New “and safe” Year to you all.
Zuriel Oduwole is a global education advocate and a presidential advisor. She earned her double master’s degrees in Global Security, and International Negotiations & Conflict Resolution from the American University in Washington DC. Over the last decade, she has sat down with over 35 Presidents and Prime Ministers to quietly discuss, share, or proffer solutions to our worlds many challenges. In her spare time, she teaches unemployed women a film making class, which she began in Namibia in 2015 at the age of 13.
