Global peace: The issues

Ishan
Indus International School
India

What are the issues associated with global peace?

Global peace is when we don't have wars to solve problems. Wars can be about wanting more land or to prevent someone from being a leader of a country. If we had global peace instead we would engage in discussions to find a solution to the problems we face.

Global peace can be maintained if there are no wars and if no countries have a feeling of enmity or superiority towards others. All countries have to follow the policy of disarmament. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first person to start the policy of disarmament. People like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa worked all their lives to make this world peaceful and one.

How do current conflicts compare with past wars?

Since 1997, wars have been fought in North and South America, Asia and Europe. Some of the types of wars are wars with another state, civil wars, intervention in another country and wars of independence.

Most wars are in the poorest countries. There are more wars fought in poorer countries than rich ones. Only 30 per cent of medium developed countries had civil war between 1997 and 2001. Fifty-six per cent of poorly developed countries had civil wars. The reasons why less developed countries have a higher incidence of war are:

1. They are less likely than wealthier countries to develop political institutions
2. They have no privileges
3. They need to protect themselves against being looted by ruthless individuals.

What is peace?

It is when there are no wars and we would not care about our differences. We would all have a feeling of connection with one another. We would help people in need in poor countries, like in Africa and Asia. We would have no weapons and we would all live like a big happy family.

How can the international community bring peace to the world?

There are a number of different United Nations organisations that can help achieve world peace by promoting the following ideas:

1. Supporting peace and security,
2. Having friendly relations among nations,
3. Helping solve international problems,
4. Harmonising the actions of nations in attaining these ends.

On occasion the UN has sent peacekeeping forces to enforce peace. For instance:

1. In Kuwait in 1991, a UN force led by the USA removed invading Iraqi troops in what is now called the First Gulf War,
2. In the 1950s the UN helped South Korea during the civil war,
3. In 1995 the UN let air strikes happen against Bosnian Serb military targets.

How can individuals and groups of people help bring peace?

Many individuals have made huge changes around the globe. There are many people who have done acts of courage and bravery all around the world but in ways people have never seen before.

Mahatma Gandhi, who stopped the British in the 1940s from maintaining their control over India, inspired thousands of people to strive for peaceful independence. Gandhi, with his policies of non-violence and ahimsa, wanted people to follow these ideas and that they should live like brothers and sisters in this world. This explains why people like Mother Teresa and Gandhi believed in global peace.

After the conflict: healing and reconciliation

Many homes have been destroyed by wars and some countries are too poor to rebuild. During the Second World War Hiroshima and Nagasaki were hit by nuclear bombs and many people were killed.

Recently a tsunami struck many countries and these were poor, like India. Developed countries like the USA and the UK helped them to rebuild again. In this way we can say that global peace can be achieved if all the countries in the world help each other whenever they can.

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