World Peace, an achievable goal, or an unrealistic utopian fantasy.
To answer that question we first have to ask ourselves, “what does world peace mean?”
Obviously one main component certainly has to be the cessation of hostilities both locally and regionally.
Most local conflict arises from the sense of disenfranchisement of a particular group as it relates to their perceived lack of status in the greater whole, or in their inability to exercise political self-determination within the localized established governmental entity.
When you perceive yourself as powerless to control your own destiny and are not privy to a means of addressing whatever the concerns or fears which have caused your discontent, your choices are limited to continuing to abide in an unpalatable and untenable situation, or to lash out violently against those who you believe are subjugating you.
Basically, when you have no political juice, no right to redress, and no hope for the future you pick up a gun. Given guarantees of the right to fairly and freely participate in the political process to resolve those issues of concerns, most violent local conflicts can be adverted.
The other main cause of local conflict is ancient tribal animosities. Somewhere in your past someone done you wrong and your prideful ignorance won’t let you forget it. This is more of an inbred cultural aberration. It’s irrational, unrealistic and counter-productive and only results in a vicious self-perpetuating cycle of tit-for-tat retribution. Lamentably, some of us haven’t evolved past the monkey flinging feces stage of development, only the weapons have evolved. The only cure for this type of local conflict is gradual cultural assimilation and educating bigotry and prejudice out of the young. It can be done, but it takes a well-funded systematic approach usually lacking in the geographic regions where this type of conflict is prevalent.
Regional Conflict is another matter entirely. Although tribal animosities may play a part in these conflicts, they usually arise out of more pragmatic considerations: border and land disputes, resource acquisition and control, defensive preemption and sadly, the simple lusting for power by misguided political leadership. The resolution of these conflicts historically went to the side which wielded the bigger club. In the modern era, shifting coalitions of concerned nations have managed to eventually defuse most of these conflicts through economic coercion, or applied multinational force.
World peace is more, however, than the elimination of conflict. For us to live together successfully and peacefully as a species we must implement a rational universal economic system which minimizes speculative market manipulation and unfair trade policies within a framework of globally accepted and codified rules and regulations. The rule of law must be applied fairly and equitably, world-wide, for businesses and nations to accommodate themselves to the strategies necessary to compete in a fair and open global marketplace, as well as to insure confidence that the such a system will protect their rights into the future.
We will always be a contentious and competitive society, and like it or not, globalization is here to stay. We must found a system which accommodates healthy competition, sustainable growth and a level playing field to maintain a health global economy.
The last, and ultimately the most important leg of the foundational triad of world peace, is a healthy and viable environment. Without this all other questions are moot. Without arable land to feed ourselves, without fresh water to drink, without clean air to breathe nothing else really matters. Life, as we know it, will cease to exist.
We are all stewards of our global environment. No individual, corporation or nation has the right to foul our communal nest in the name of profit, power or personal prerogative.
World peace is attainable. In need not remain an unrequited utopian fantasy. We can eliminate most of the justifiable causes of conflict. We can devise and implement a viable global economy, and we can protect and preserve our shared environment.
We can do all these things through the auspices of a unified, representative World Federation of Nations. A Federation, utilizing the combined weight of its membership, and the moral authority granted to legitimate multinational efforts to intervene and resolve conflicts, locally and regionally, through just and equitable recourse or, in extreme circumstances, the use of applied armed force.
Through the implementation of a World Federal Republic we can devise a global economic structure which allows for sustained growth, free and fair global trade, technological innovation and a higher standard of living for all.
And finally, under the umbrella of a fairly elected, popularly supported, and effectively represented World Federation of Nations, we can work together to insure a healthy environment, a legacy we can all be proud to leave to our children, and their children.
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