Anita Anand | If Leaders Choose Death Over Life, Can They Really be Trusted to Govern?

The Air India Dreamliner sent a world -wide wave of fear after falling from Ahmedabad to London, just a few minutes after taking off. Later, many Air India flights and several other airlines had to be grounded or canceled due to deviations in the flight, fuel shortage, engine problems or long routes caused by airspace closing.

This is especially for business, education, family occasions, holidays or people traveling as tourists. Traveling by car, train, bus or plane includes an accident risk that may lead to injury or death in the worst situation.

And still, we are so lightly to life. For the last few years, consider the latest wars and conflicts in the world that claims numerous life and causes panic and fear and leads to weak mental and physical health.

On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin, claiming that Russia had no plan to occupy the country, announced what he calls “Militarise and Nazify”. This was the beginning of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, and according to unofficial estimates, about one million people have been injured or killed since then. This conflict continues to date.

On October 7, 2023, Palestinian fighters led by Hamas launched a surprise attack on Southern Israel. Israel responded with air and land strikes, killing more than 40,000 Palestinians so far, mostly women and children, displaced them, rejected access to food, water and resources, and left anywhere to go anywhere. This situation continues to date.

The house was close to Hindu tourists on April 22, this year, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, expensive tourists. Two weeks later, India responded by attacking terrorist camps in Pakistan opposite the border, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for harsh actions against terrorism.

At the end of last month, the United States launched strikes to Iran’s key nuclear facilities and led to the closure of the airspace over Iran and Middle East regions. Flights were re -directed worldwide, some of them returned to their original airports. In mid -June, Israel targeted Iranian military and nuclear areas and Iran responded to Israeli regions with missiles and drone attacks. Hundreds of people were injured, killed or affected in both countries.

These ongoing conflicts pose a threat to regional and global stability, economic systems, environment and the health of civilians. Now, there is an increasing conversation about an upcoming Third World War.

Air accidents and wars cause a significant problem. Individuals and communities experience anxiety and pain that disrupt their daily functioning, accompanied by physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath, tremor and approaching feelings of apocalypse.

This is sometimes a war anxiety, which is sometimes called nuclear anxiety, a typical response to news and images about conflict. An American Psychology Association survey found that 80 percent of the participants reported an important stress following the Covid-19 pandem because of Russia’s occupation of Ukraine.

In a Finnish study, it found that adolescents’ concern about nuclear war was an increase of risk of mental disorder five years later. In addition, it is more likely that worried people will seek the scope of crises in the media, which then maintains a cycle of distress.

Post -traumatic stress disorder (TSSB), a widespread sprinkling of those who are directly interested in war and conflict, experiencing or witnessing traumatic events such as violence, accidents or natural disasters. It manifests itself through interventionist memories, feedbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance and avoidance behaviors of traumatic event.

War and conflict harm people. However, governments are not aware of this.

This is evident in the rise of conflicts and in the increasing military budgets of many countries. At the last NATO meeting in the Netherlands, the Netherlands, US President Donald Trump emphasized the need for NATO members to increase their military budgets from two percent to five percent. He succeeded.

In 2025, Israel’s total defense budget constitutes approximately 36.9 billion dollars and about 6.5 percent of GDP. It constitutes 1.7 percent of global military expenditures.

India’s 2024-25 defense budget rose to $ 74 billion, which is 1.89 percent of the country’s prescribed gross domestic product (GDP).

The US allocates more funds to the national defense than China, India, Russia, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and Brazil. Imagine.

The US Department of Defense’s 2025 fiscal year’s budget demand is 849.8 billion dollars.

Russia’s military budget rose from $ 9.23 billion in 2000 to $ 65.9 billion in 2021. In March 2024, Russian business Outlet Vedomosti said that anti-depressant sales in Russia reached the highest level of five years at the beginning of the year. According to the DSM group, Russian pharmacies sold 3.6 million packets of 2.7 million packages in 2023 in the first 11 weeks of 2024.

In Israel, eleven months after the beginning of the Gaza War, at the Enosh Mental Health 2024 Conference in Tel Aviv, Health Minister Uriel Buso said the country’s worst mental health crisis due to conflict. The minister asked the health budget to double in 2025 for about 162 million dollars.

As the military budgets grew, the leaders of these nations and others who participated in the conflict chose death throughout life. They are responsible for the weak mental and physical health of citizens and for future generations. Leaders who need to protect their citizens cause panic, fear, conflict, death and sadness.

Can you trust your director? NO.