Some efforts are sanctified by portentous UN Security Council resolutions on the increasingly rare occasions of consensus among the great powers. Think-tanks and NGOs are busy, peacebuilding projects abound, and peace conferences fronted by eminent personalities fill the calendar. Dozens of UN envoys along with those of regional bodies such as the European Union, African Union, and ASEAN criss-cross warzones. Internationally, the UN has spent billions of dollars and deployed tens of thousands of peacekeepers in scores of countries. Many national authorities are preoccupied with persistent internal divisions, such as Pakistan which is facing unrest in tribal areas and South Sudan which has seen ethnic violence. Think of the historical conflicts in Palestine or Kashmir, or the many struggles on Myanmar’s periphery, or the insurgencies in the Maghreb and in the Sahel. Instead, most grumble along, boiling up or simmering down periodically. Over the past half-century, it is hard to think of many armed conflicts that have truly, fully ceased. Historically, genocides and crimes against humanity have been ended through the use of force.Īt the same time, our peacemaking track record is unimpressive. The concept of a “just war” also exists under international humanitarian law. It is permitted in the UN Charter to counter crimes of aggression. Thus, the labours of generations of politicians, diplomats and security forces got framed by the dogma that war is always bad, and peace is an unquestionable good that must prevail.
It recalls the noble words of its 1945 Charter to save us “from the scourge of war”. Today is the International Day of Peace, as declared by the United Nations.
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