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By
Robert Muller Published
in the Christian Science Monitor, March 20, 2003 As
unhappy as I am that war is upon us, I'm taking great
comfort in what's going on in our world today. The
world community is waging peace. No
matter what happens, history will record that this is a new
era. The 21st century has begun with the world in a broad
dialogue looking deeply, profoundly, and responsibly as a
global community at the legitimacy of the actions of an
administration that insists upon going to war. This
is a first - and it's part of the difficult work of
effectively waging peace. It is a constant job, and we must
not let up. It is working, and it is a historic milestone.
This is the larger, long-term story, and the Iraq war is a
chapter in it. In
this unprecedented public conversation, the world is asking:
"Is war legitimate? Is it illegitimate? Is there enough
evidence to warrant an attack? Is there not enough evidence
to warrant killing masses of human brothers and
sisters? "What
will be the consequences? The costs? What will happen after
a war? Will this set off other conflicts? What might be
peaceful alternatives? "What
kind of negotiations are we not thinking of? What are the
real intentions for declaring war?" All
of this has taken place in the context of the UN, the body
established in 1945 for exactly this purpose. It has taken
more than 50 years of struggle to realize that true
function. The UN has become in these past months and weeks
the most important forum for the world's effort to wage
peace rather than war. No,
it hasn't prevented the US from forging ahead with war in
Iraq - but it has definitely succeeded in engaging the US in
conversation and giving the rest of the world a place to be
heard. It
is tense, it is tough, it is challenging, but this kind of
global conversation has not happened before on this scale -
not before World War I or World War II, not before Vietnam
or Korea. This is a stunning new era of global listening,
speaking, and responsibility. In the process, new alliances
are being formed: Russia and China on the same side of an
issue is an unprecedented outcome; France and Germany are
working together to wake up the world to a new way of seeing
the situation. The largest peace demonstrations in history
have taken place. Through
these global peace-waging efforts, the US was delayed in its
purpose for several months because it was being engaged in
this dialogue. And the process allowed all nations to
participate in the serious and horrific decision to go to
war or not. This
is what waging peace looks like - it is not always clear and
easy. It is difficult, hard work. It will henceforth require
constant effort throughout the world. Since the cold war
ended, there has been just one superpower - the US. That has
created a kind of blindness in the vision of the
US. But
now there are two superpowers: the US and the merging voice
of the people of the world. All
around the world, people are waging peace. It is nothing
short of a miracle, and it is working - despite what you may
see unfolding right now in the news. •
Dr. Robert Muller, chancellor emeritus of the UN University
for Peace in Costa Rica, was assistant secretary general of
the UN from 1970 to 1985. He publishes a daily peace message
at www.goodmorningworld.org. Published
in the Christian Science Monitor, the March 20, 2003
edition. On
Robert Muller's Good Morning World website at: For
a formatted print ready copy, click here.
Waging
Peace: Taking Comfort In Remarkable Footholds
Gained
March 19, 2003
Print
ready copy
Now
there are two superpowers: the US and the
merging
voice of the people of the world.
All
around the world, people are waging peace. It is
nothing short of a miracle, and it is
working.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0320/p11s01-coop.html
http://goodmorningworld.org/peaceplan/