The Stage

"The Ottoman massacre of one and a half million Armenians in World War I and the Rwandan and Sudanese massacres of the 1990s, in which nearly three million people died, are like a pair of grisly bookends that frame the twentieth century as the most murderous century in all history.  In between, such atrocities as the Ukraine terror famine, Auschwitz, the rape of Nanking, the Burma railway, the Soviet Gulag, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the Cambodian killing fields, and the massacres in Bangladesh and the former Yugoslavia form an indelible stain on our human story.  Leaving aside the one hundred million human beings killed in the century’s wars, more than one hundred million more were killed by their fellow human beings in political repression, massacre, and genocide. "  (Os Guinness, Unspeakable: Facing up to the Challenge of Evil, (San Francisco, Harper Collins, 2005), pp 4-5)

As you read these words, if the relief shipments were terminated, 3 million former residents of Darfur would die of starvation within seven days.  All are refugees forced from their homes because of their ethnicity.  Zimbabwe is imploding with thousands at risk of starvation and violent death.  The civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo may be the longest and deadliest civil war in the history of the planet.  The list could go on and on.  Seventy-seven countries and regions of the world are on the crisis watch list of the International Crisis Group.

Scenario

Please imagine another scenario.  Young adults from diverse backgrounds, with the guidance and mentorship of older leaders and educators from around the world  building a learning community characterized by a commitment to building sustainable peace and a mutual caring that seeks the interests of the other as well as the self.  Their members value cooperation and collaboration over competition.  Theirs is a spirit of inquiry open to perspectives and new ideas from others, even those from different disciplines, political affiliations and religious persuasions.  They gently advocate their positions while demonstrating a willingness to have them be examined and challenged by others.  Each one takes personal responsibility to constructively engage with those whom they may find themselves in conflict. And as they move into positions of leadership around the world, they take it as their sacred obligation and trust to apply the principles they have learned and practiced with a view to building sustainable peace in their respective spheres of influence. 

Resources are available to send these younger and older leaders to teach others and to share there knowledge with each other. Opportunities are available for these leaders to spend time together to learn, share, love, and cry.

Is violent conflict inevitable?

We would say, "No!"  We recognize that many believe that violent conflict is the natural state of man and cannot be avoided.  They argue, therefore, that the best any can hope for is to minimize the “collateral damage” until the winners emerge and, more importantly, arm and train and work to be on the winning side when the next conflict arises.  And history does seem to be on their side of the argument.  Yet we believe that sustainable peace must be worked for and can be achieved. 

What is sustainable peace?

Oscar Romero wrote: "Peace is not the product of terror or fear.  Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression.  Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all.  Peace is dynamism.  Peace is generosity.  It is right and it is duty." 

We define "sustainable peace" as a diverse community striving together to meet the needs of all of its members.  

Who builds sustainable peace?

One necessary element is a critical mass of the people in the society seeking the interests of others and not just their own and influencing their companies, communities, government agencies and any group to which they belong to do the same.  We call such people "leaders" -- any person who engages in creating change or shaping the future, regardless of his or her formal position in institutional structures (Otto Scharmer, "Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges" ).  Yet, the will to seek thecommon good is insufficient.  Leaders and change agents must have new tools and the knowledge and skills to use them. 

In short, leaders and change agents seeking to build sustainable peace will be following new models of servant leadership and using new social technologies for creating generative dialogue and building bridges of understanding.