Originally published on the CGS blog on November 8, 2013.
Congratulations to the UN General Assembly for once again calling on countries to observe a world-wide ceasefire starting in February 2014 and lasting until March.
This period of symbolic truce starts a week before and continues through a week after the 11th Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, urged all countries to honor the truce in accord with the ancient Greek tradition born in the 8th century BCE. He said, “if this could save just one life, it would be a wonderful resolution and not only a paper.”
After more than 10,000 years it seems that humanity should be able to do better than saving one or just a few lives by stopping wars for a few weeks. Why only temporary truce rather than peace for good?
Many countries have shown us how to create enduring peace within their boundaries. The key is the creation of a democratic government where rulers are selected periodically by the people and where human rights and the rule of law are respected. Of course some conflicts occur, but they can be worked out by political and judicial means rather than by the violence of wars. The European Union is in the process demonstrating how we can also create peace internationally in a region of the world once notorious for starting wars. Again, the solution is creating a democratic government that respects human rights and the rule of law. The African Union and other regional organizations are also showing surely but slowly how peace can be established.
At the global level the United Nations could try to do the same thing at the global level, maybe starting with creating a UN Parliamentary Assembly as is being advocated by those working for a world of peace with justice. The United States was a champion of the founding of the United Nations in 1945, and this country is still a powerful influence in the United Nations. Why aren’t we doing more to move the UN toward fulfilling its mission, “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” and “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights”?
