To the Masters of War - By Yahia Rihani

Written By: Yahia Rihani

Category: Open letter

Competition: Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026

In the poignant open letter "To the Masters of War," Yahia Rihani delivers a powerful critique of the ongoing global conflicts and the individuals who perpetuate them. As part of the Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026, this entry delves into the grim realities of war and the human cost that is often overlooked. Rihani's compelling narrative serves as a stark reminder of the personal and societal consequences of warfare, reflecting the competition's dedication to highlighting pressing global issues through creative expression.

About the Work

Yahia Rihani's "To the Masters of War" is a deeply moving piece that combines stark statistics with vivid imagery to convey the devastating impact of conflict. Through a direct address to those who wield power, Rihani artfully contrasts the distant decisions of leaders with the intimate suffering of individuals caught in the crossfire. The work's tone is both accusatory and reflective, urging readers to consider the broader implications of their detachment from the tragedies that often unfold under the guise of strategy and profit.

To the Masters of War

Original Submission by Yahia Rihani

To the Masters of War, an Open Letter by Yahia Rihani

Dear Masters of War,

This decade has been the bloodiest since the end of the Cold War.

Ukraine, 78,000 deaths in 2025 alone.

Sudan, an estimated 150,000 to 400,000 deaths since 2023.

Gaza, over 73,000 deaths, with hundreds of thousands injured and widespread destruction.

Myanmar, tens of thousands have died since the 2021 civil war, with violence ongoing in 2026.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, thousands die annually and millions are displaced.

The year 2025 has reached a peak record of 65 active conflicts.

Approximately 1.08 million people have been killed since 2020.

I write this to you, though you already know all this. Numbers have never shaken a hair on your head. You sit far from the front lines, signing papers instead of carrying rifles, speaking of strategies while men bury their friends and brothers, and parents search for their children under rubble. You measure your victories in territory gained or contracts awarded. Those beneath you measure it in days survived.

Every report crosses your desk, every offensive begins with your signature, and every ceasefire delayed is another decision made. Do you remember the first order you signed? Or have they all become indistinguishable? Another convoy. Another offensive. Another funeral you could never attend.

The headlines only seem to get worse, the numbers only seem to grow, and the images only get more and more violent. You speak of talks and meetings, the soldier talks about the family waiting for him back home. You speak of deals and ceasefires, the young refugee talks of visiting his home one last time.

Why is it that every war is promised to be the last necessary one and that every generation is told that this bloodshed is different, yet every decade buries more children than the one before it? Humanity learnt to split the atom, map the genome, and walk on the moon. Why is it that it somehow never learned how to stop killing itself? Somehow, after every scientific revolution, every technological miracle, every leap forward, we still return to the oldest invention of mankind - the battlefield.

Simply put, war has become an industry, with multiple actors taking their share of the pie - arms manufacturers, governments, state-owned arms producers, investors and shareholders.

On the global scale, military spendings have hit 2.9 trillion USD in 2025 - the 11th straight year of growth, up 41% over the past decade. Those numbers account for 2.5% of global GDP. The direct beneficiaries are the individual companies: the top 20 arms companies combined pulled in 438.4 billion USD in arms revenue in 2024 alone.

Profit alone does not create every war, but it creates systems where war can continue longer than human lives can endure.

To put these numbers in perspective, ending world hunger annually would cost an estimated 40 billion USD according to the World Food Programme. Eradicating world hunger sustainably by 2030, according to the UN, would require an estimated 267 Billion USD per year on average for investments in rural and urban areas and in social protection.

Global military spending is roughly 11 times that amount - meaning you could end world hunger and still have well over 2.6 trillion USD left over.

The truth is clear - wars are never spontaneous. Someone manufactures the rifles. Someone finances them. Someone writes speeches to justify them. Someone convinces ordinary people that strangers deserve to die. Someone profits. By the time the first shot is fired, thousands of decisions have already been made.

But profit alone doesn’t explain why you keep the guns firing, power does too. Ukraine’s 2024 elections were postponed due to martial law, and by 2026 no new date has been set. This creates turmoil in political life - Ukraine’s president’s approval rates dropped sharply the longer the war dragged on, from 80% to 45% trust in just over a year.

Prolonging conflict may not preserve your popularity, but it certainly allows a maintenance of your iron grip on office regardless.

Now that you’ve read the numbers, here are the names you never bothered to include on your spreadsheets.

A 27 year old photographer in Kiev was killed by a Russian drone whilst protecting her 4 year old son, Mark, from the blast in 2025. Her name is Anna Yefymenko.

In El Fasher, Darfur, Sudan, a displaced mother described her family’s situation directly: “We are suffering so much from no food, no water. We are hungry. Our children are naked. We have nothing to eat but animal feed.” Her name is Fatima Yaqoub.

A doctor working in Gaza’s Nasser hospital lost 9 out of his 10 children in a single Israeli attack on his home in 2025, he later died of his own injuries. His name is Hamdi al-Najjar.

A woman displaced in Myanmar's Kayah state describes the situation plainly: “We are surviving on the food of donors as we have no jobs. We have lost hope.” Her name is Yu Yu.

A 37 year old mother of 10 has been living in displacement since 2022 after fleeing conflict that separated her from her husband and some of her children. Her name is Wivine.

Say their names, it's more than you ever gave them. It’s the least you owe them.

These are not casualties. These are people you decided were acceptable losses. To you, they are names to be forgotten by tomorrow morning. But their families will not get the same mercy of forgetting.

Five names, five countries. A rounding error in your ledger. But proof enough for what comes next: this is not a tragedy that happens to us. It is one we have built to process grief at scale - statistics, news cycles, “conflict fatigue” - precisely so we don’t have to feel it. This system makes us all complicit, from the man at the desk to the reader scrolling past a headline, we all, to a certain extent, have a hand in the matter, whether we realize it or not.

And the tools that let us look away are the same ones that let you strike without consequence, as technology has been progressing in your favor, making wars easier to wage at a distance, making them easier to ignore. Drones and missiles make killing each other remotely a lot easier, affecting everyone but the decision makers.

The truth is, you’ve built the distance that lets you sign the orders, while we built the distance that lets us read the headlines. Different desks, but the same silence.

Maybe the real tragedy isn’t that you don’t feel it. Maybe it’s that, deep down, most of us don't either - we’ve just never had to sign our names to it.

I realize these words mean nothing to you.

But I know that one day the guns will fall silent.

New borders will be drawn.

New governments will rise.

New flags will fly.

Yet no treaty has ever resurrected a child.

No victory parade has ever filled an empty chair at a family’s dinner table.

Long after your speeches are forgotten, the people who buried their loved ones will still remember why they had to.

Sincerely,

-One more name you won’t remember by morning.

About the Competition

The Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026 by Hashtag Kalakar is a distinguished platform that celebrates the art of writing by bringing attention to the most urgent and complex issues of our time. This esteemed competition invites participants from around the world to submit their work, encouraging diverse voices and perspectives. Through poetry, essays, and creative writing, it aims to foster dialogue and reflection on topics that resonate globally, emphasizing the power of words to inspire change.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Yahia Rihani for his thought-provoking contribution, "To the Masters of War," in the Global Poetry and Creative Writing Competition 2026. His evocative letter not only challenges those in power but also calls upon each of us to reflect on our roles within these global narratives. We are grateful for his courage in addressing such a critical issue, reminding us of the enduring impact that creative writing can have on society.

About Hashtag Kalakar

Hashtag Kalakar is a creative platform dedicated to providing artists, writers, singers and other creative talents with opportunities to showcase their work and reach wider audiences through competitions, features and creative initiatives.