Every year, on September 21 the world marks the UN International Day of Peace. This year was no exception, even though currently, the world is experiencing anything but peace. Almost in all the continents there is some kind of ongoing cross border conflict or internal armed conflict, threats of war or all out war such as in Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti or Myanmar. With such a backdrop the 2024 theme Peace Day- Cultivating a Culture of Peace - couldn’t more appropriate.
This year is also the 25th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace. This is significant because through the declaration the UN General Assembly (UNGA), recognized that peace “not only is the absence of conflict, but also requires a positive, dynamic participatory process where dialogue is encouraged and conflicts are solved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation.”
Essentially, the world should be working towards peace over time. But the state of affairs points towards the opposite trajectory. The escalation of attacks and counter attacks in the Israel-Hamas war, for instance, paints a grim picture for achieving peace. The war is now spilling over to Lebanon and Iran with Hezbollah involvement, is threatening to spread to the wider Middle East which could lead to more suffering of civilians than already has.
As the threat of a wider Middle East war rumbles from a distance, Russia continues to pummel Ukraine. When Russia began threatening its unjust war on Ukraine, it felt like international community was not going to allow it to happen or even last as long as it has. That optimism has diminished with time. Unfortunately, as a nuclear power, Russia remains a problem to be handled carefully as it threatens nuclear war against NATO should it attempt to join the war by admitting Ukraine into its membership. A NATO membership would definitely offer better defense to Ukraine, but a nuclear war is also a real threat that cannot be taken lightly even if Russia is only bluffing. The effects of the 1986 Chernobyl (in the former Soviet Union) accident and the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant accident (in Japan) are stark reminders of the devastation destruction of a nuclear war and aftermath of the radiation fallout.
Flagrantly taunting these kinds of threats by nuclear powers some of whom are permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC), like Russia, does not give any kind of assurance that wars they start can be easily won against them. It seems they can do whatever they like without accountability. The economic sanctions against Russia have only served to contribute to high inflation rates due to blockage of supply chain in commodities such as oil and gas and making everyday life difficult for civilians while Putin continues to commit atrocities against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the arrest warrant for Putin by the International Criminal Court, seems like a pipe dream for many reasons. Unless something awfully goes awry in Russia, under the principle of complementarity, it is practically impossible for a state to cooperate and voluntarily hand over its president to be tried at the ICC, much less if that state is Russia. Besides, no sitting head of state has ever been arrested by the ICC. Further, Putin is the president of a permanent member of UNSC with veto power, so this is almost next to impossible. And for practical reasons, no country has dared to execute this arrest warrant because the dire consequences of a possible nuclear attack in retaliation leaves everyone in an uneasy restraint. It appears international law principles put in place in the aftermath of World War II to never again subject the world to a devastating global war have all but dissipated nearly eighty years later. Generally, we are in pickle as far as Russia is concerned.
How did we get here? How did the world get to a place where there is no longer respect for international law and thereby risk losing global peace? Can the world pause for a minute and tone down the temperature? If the consequences climate change don’t get us, it may well be a global conflict that start off as cross border tension or a civil war spillover that will.
There are many reasons why we are witnessing an increase in deadly cross-border wars and internal armed conflicts. A lot of this can be traced to a flawed international system which allows some states more power than others. African states wonder what the point is being given spots on the UNSC without veto power. However, a more sinister path down this road is the insidious democratic retreat in which democratic principles are being slowly eroded in western states that once championed democracy, diplomacy and support for international law. The growing rise of far-right nationalist groups in the west creates a fertile ground for states to pay lip service about what happens to others, and shrink back from the respecting international norm when it comes to maintaining world peace be it the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)or deterrence to disregarding rules around respecting international borders.
Political violence has often been associated with the global South where many countries are either fragile democracies or autocracies, and perhaps a few failed states. Not so in the developed world, especially in recent history. Yet, appallingly, some prominent political leaders of western countries that have for decades acted as the world police have steadily become so inward looking that nationalists care less about conflicts that threaten to wipe out an entire society.
The West has a lot of influence on what happens in the rest of the world. When slogans like “America First” became a rallying call, the nationalist ideologies that underpin that kind of thinking gained momentum elsewhere giving permission to democratic retreat. So wannabe autocrats in countries like Kenya crafted their own version of the same ideology such as the Kenyan president’s Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) coalition. The increasing gains by far right groups in recent elections in France and Germany are evidence of the changing tides towards a more nationalism often defined by racism, exclusivity and the othering of those that are different such as refugees, immigrants and other minorities. This shift to the far right by conservative groups fueled by the rise of populist driven nationalism [sometimes] with destructive divisive undertones which include neo-Nazism, white supremacy, ethnic superiority, religious fundamentalism and other forms of extremism, if left unchecked, grows into anti-peace movement that could easily fan hatred, ethnic cleansing, genocide and other types of human rights violations.
Democratic retreat not only allows indifference to cross-border violence or abdication from the R2P in case of gross human rights violations in internal armed conflict, it also gives rise to political violence as a means of resolving political differences including election disputes. The January 6, 2021, attack of the US Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters to stop peaceful transfer of power, following Trump’s loss to Joe Biden. was shocking for a first world democracy, arguably, supposedly one of the most democracies in the world. This kind of threat to democracy raises political temperatures with the potential to escalate to violence when peaceful means of reaching solutions are ignored.
The US is kind of an outlier in the list of countries or regions facing possible armed conflict. Apart from the absence of peace due to gun violence issues, the US finds itself in an unfamiliar territory in modern history of threats of political violence due to polarization of high stakes elections in 2024. This is not mere imagination but has become a real possibility if the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Since then the political rhetoric has only served to fan insane attempts on the lives of high political figures including former president and now Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Peace is not just the absence of conflict but the assurance of safety and security as well. Peace, safety and security are intricately intertwined. While there is no armed conflict going on in the US, it is also not a very settling place to be in because the threat of gun violence is real. Statistics show that nearly 11,600 people have died in US gun violence so far in 2024. School shootings have taken away the lives of children, teachers and other workers in schools. Parents constantly have to think about the safety of their children when they send them to school. Being in public places like malls, the supermarkets, places of worship or in large public gatherings, one can’t help but notice the apprehension caused by uncertainty of safety. In fact, such uncertainty is very limiting and can lead to paranoia with serious mental health implications. It creates an absence of peace.
Speaking of the absence of peace, one of the results and impact of this state of affairs is the increase of displacement in peacetime, forced migration and asylum seeking. For one, absence of peace either through conflict or dangerous living situations, leads to unstable societies where families and households are torn apart by the constant existence of real threats of violence. Threats range anywhere from drug cartels, acts of terror to ethnic cleansing and other life threatening situations. Some of these take the form of frequent attacks accompanied by sexual violence, destruction of property, maiming and killing.
So one can see that many migrants are not fleeing just economic hardships but also situations that make it impossible live in peace and thrive. Some are also political asylum seekers fleeing for their lives and all these groups need protection, not demonization. The result is the increase of migrant populations such as those from Latin America into the US, or from West and North Africa and the Middle East, posing immigration problems and rendering some people stateless or living under the label of “illegal immigrants” when they cannot cut through the red tape of lengthy stringent immigration processes.
Whether it is an all-out war between states, an internal armed conflict, or violent life threatening situation during peacetime, all these situations create dangerous and harmful conditions for peaceful human existence. Beyond expressing concerns for the rising civilian deaths, injuries, displacements and destruction of property, states need to do more.
There needs to be a renewed commitment to diplomacy and international law as mechanisms for peaceful resolutions to conflict as well as deterrence to international crimes, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The fact that the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza is a starting point, but it means nothing if there are no consequences. The Israel-Hamas conflict is rather complicated. Whereas Israel is fighting for its right to exist by inflicting the maximum damage to eliminate Hamas the unfortunate result is civilians in Gaza have become the disproportionate collateral damage since Hamas is hiding amongst them and the civilians continue to bear the brunt of Israel’s defense attacks. A further UN call for boycott of Israel, an arms embargo on Israel and complete withdrawal from Gaza is seen as concrete efforts to stop the war. However, this is not without concerns as there is criticism that it is one-sided, with no mention of the responsibility that Hamas bears yet Israel has a right to defend itself. As Israel is determined to destroy Hamas, these tactics only lead to more civilian deaths and suffering and rhetoric of concerns is not enough.
On the global level it is important that states begin to show actual commitment toward peace by seeking lasting solutions, beginning by honoring ceasefires where there are conflicts, seeking diplomacy to resolve the cross-border conflicts and greater demand on our national leaders to quit playing populations against each other with hate.
What will it take for the world to reset to a more peaceful, safe and secure place to live in? The lack of commitment to peace or sheer exhaustion, with protracted wars and instability is creating a sense of indifference.
The global community, beginning with each one of us, needs to do whatever it takes to restore peace, safety and security. There is a lot riding on world peace. It is a whole range of issues from communal violence all the way to the precipice of a world war. These wars and internal conflicts as well as, acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity need to come to an end and aggressors held to account.
We should call on our leaders to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
As Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, said during the just concluded UNGA, "We need a global reset on peace…and it cannot be too difficult for us to work for peace.”
We can heed to the UN Secretary General António Guterres’ on International Peace Day message to the world towards peace and, “Together, let’s lay the groundwork for peace. And let’s nurture a culture where equality, peace and justice thrive.”
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