Global Peace- Euphoria?

Humanity welcomed the new millennium with hopes of development, unity and peace. The Millennium Development Goals were compiled by the United Nations, peace talks between Israel and Palestine restarted with new strength and vigour.

However, peace was not to be gained. The world found some reason to start yet another war. The World Trade Centre plane crash or 9/11 was followed by the War Against Terror. This war claimed the lives of thousands of Afghans including hundreds of innocent women and children. It is not only the women and children who died. Thousands and thousands of soldiers, many barely out of their teens died in this war. Many were injured and millions were rendered homeless. Moreover, a country lost its independence as vengeance for the ill doings of a single group of militant terrorists who hailed from that country.

Though at that time, we thought that this was enough violence for a century, the world’s politicians have not had enough. The War on Iraq began almost immediately after the war against Taliban. That too ended with thousands dead, injured and homeless and with yet another country gone under the power of the United States.

But violence did not cease, if anything it started spreading like wild fire. With the war between Lebanon and Israel continuing with no sings of cease fire, it indeed seems that global peace is euphoria. Let alone war between countries, civil war has also erupted everywhere. Peace has now become wishful thinking of a handful of hopeful people. Yet, it is time for someone to stop a while and think about the reason for this widespread anarchy.

Who is to blame? Is it Islamic extremist groups? Is it USA? Is it Israel? Or is it just the society as a whole? These are questions some people have answers ready at their finger tips. For most people, it is the Islamic extremists to blame. For the others it is either USA or Israel to blame. Nobody wants to take the responsibility into their own hands. The harsh truth is that the whole human family is to blame.

The system of values and social norms stamped into the young minds of children cannot be changed. No matter how much we revise the school syllabuses for value education, the fact is that, it is the values stamped into their minds as toddlers that have most influence. These values are taught at home and often these are not the best values to be in a 21st century human being.

The world has become extremely diverse in culture, religion and ethnicity. Westernisation or in its “politically correct form”, globalisation has ensured that all these people live together as neighbours. In such a situation, when we do not have the values in our selves to respect the differences of our neighbours, indeed unrest would begin and eventually, mayhem as we see today.

The question that now arises is whether it is possible to change these values in a society. As long as a war is going on it would be very difficult. No matter how many wars go on in the world just as many or even more children would be growing up in the war struck areas. They would obviously be taught or they would acquire from what is going on around them, to hate the person or any one who reminds them of the person who killed their parents, friends and relatives. It does not differ if the killer is Muslim, Jewish, Christian, black, white or yellow.

To change the bad values into better, more tolerant ones, war need to stop. People need to understand the shortcomings of the present system. People need to be fed, educated, clothed and sheltered. Society needs to be happy so that, nobody wants ill for his brother. In order to do this, politicians need to keep their personal problems aside and deal with the immediate human needs of society as a whole. We need to work to achieve the millennium development goals. We need to work for the alleviation of poverty. We need to work for the elimination of discrimination. We need to work for the education of our children. Maybe then, with hard work and determination, one day global peace might become reality.