Keep Hope Alive: Essays for a War-Free World (Session 1)

The World Citizen Book Club explored Keep Hope Alive: Essays for a War-Free World by the Hon. Douglas Roche in this opening session, covering pages 1–87. Participants had the opportunity to meet the author and engage in a special Q&A discussion about his vision for achieving a peaceful and just world.

About the Book

Keep Hope Alive: Essays for a War-Free World is a collection of essays that examines why humanity can achieve peaceful and just coexistence through the United Nations’ New Agenda for Peace and its blueprint for sustainable development. Written with the urgency of a lifetime spent advocating for disarmament and human security, Roche argues that a commitment to hope must be sustained and nurtured while working for a better world.

About the Author

The Hon. Douglas Roche, O.C., is an author, parliamentarian, and diplomat who specialized throughout his 50-year public career in peace and human security issues. He served as a Canadian Senator, Member of Parliament, Canadian Ambassador for Disarmament, and Visiting Professor at the University of Alberta. He was elected Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Committee at the 43rd General Assembly in 1988. In 2018, he was recognized by the International Peace Bureau as a recipient of the Seán MacBride Peace Prize. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and the author of more than 25 books on peace and disarmament.

Discussion Highlights

Session 1 covered the first 87 pages of the book, in which Roche laid out the foundations of his argument for sustained hope in the face of global security challenges. Participants discussed the role of the UN’s peace architecture and the prospects for nuclear disarmament and human security.