Global Peace, Free Essay Sample

Global Peace Global peace is an ideal concept where states such as peace are achieved fully. The achievement of such states is among the world population and nations. Other states linked to the concept of world peace are freedom and happiness. This ideal concept is a big motivator for people and nations to come together and try to bring about non-violence. Ideas on how global peace can be achieved are varied. These ideas reflect the diversity that exists in the globe. Cultures and religions are some of the factors that determine these ideas. The motivation behind the achievement of global peace has brought about various organizations and religious sects whose main aim is to bring about global peace. The organizations utilize a number of means like diplomacy, human rights discussions, education, treatments and engineering to try and end violence. In discussing global peace, this paper will look at the benefits of global peace, obstacles to global peace and the various theories that exist on how to achieve global peace. Benefits of global peace Aspects of global peace can be seen through the benefits peace has on a community. These benefits can then be extrapolated to reflect the globe. Peace brings about growth and development (The Economist, 1997). There is stability giving economic performance a chance to thrive. In society where people are living in harmony, crime is reduced. The government being a reflection of such society will also be including peace and harmony in its decision making. Main reasons for nations going to war are handling disagreements, to acquire certain resources and as a strategic political move. If all these can be tackled without resorting to warfare, it will encourage innovation as people will be forced to think outside the box. After the second world war, the world experienced the longest period of continuous peace. This has resulted in a rise of growth and developments to levels the world has never seen before. Obstacles to global peace There are various obstacles to achieving global peace. Some of them are history, propaganda, the media, absence of an effective global leadership, national borders, competition, hunger for power and greed, selfishness among others. Peace in some regions is hard because of their history. The conflict between Israel and Palestine is a difficult, complex affair to handle. Part of the reason for this is their history (Tessler, 1994). It is hard for either side to make meaningful steps towards living in harmony with the other because they do not trust each other. Their history is filled with conflicts and mistrust. Propaganda is being used to deadly effects in several regions on the globe. This propaganda is geared towards making citizens of a country regard other nations as the enemy. This makes it hard for citizens of that country to make peace with nations they have been drilled to see as the enemy hell bent on their destruction. Another reason global peace is hard to come by is the me dia. Although they have a right to disseminate information, they sometimes do it in such a way that it breeds distrust between nations (Youngblood, 2016). The media feeds on conflicts and divisions. The stories they mostly focus on are those that create frictions. Lack of an effective global leader to offer guidance is another obstacle towards global peace. The world is crying for leadership who is able to motivate, inspire and mobilize the globe towards achieving peace. What we currently have is a few powerful individuals each with a different selfish agenda of their own trying to manage global events. To some, global peace may not be a priority. Instead, conflict may be their way of effecting desired results like government change. In certain areas, boundaries of nations act as a catalyst of conflict. Nations can disagree on how their boundary should be. Other nations may use their boundaries to keep off perceived outsiders leading to conflict. Competition between different nation s may result in armed conflict. Powerful nations such as the United States, China and Russia use conflicts in various parts of the globe to showcase their might and compete to see who has the most influence. Competition can go hand in hand with a hunger for power, influence and greed. Greed is especially for natural resources. Another obstacle to global peace is religion. Some aspects of the major religions point to not making people who do not practice that religion friends. Such mentality will make it hard for someone who practices such types of faith to make peace with outsiders. Examples of obstacles so listed point to competing interests and use of warfare for strategic reasons. Theories to achieve global peace To achieve global peace, a number of theories have been proposed. The use of military strength to enforce peace. Mutually assured destruction is a military doctrine that was used effectively during the cold war to prevent the United States and USSR from going to war (Castella, 2012). In this, nations checkmate each other by having a fearsome military arsenal like nuclear weapons. Were they to go to war, neither of them will benefit. Instead, they will destroy each other. Having political ideologies that promote peace and harmony between nations as the overriding politics. One of these political ideologies is democracy. Democratic nations rarely go to war with each other. Promoting capitalism as nations with free economies rarely had warfare. Initiating forms of global free trade will make it expensive for nations to initiate warfare. Globalization has instead resulted from such which will make nations open to one another as opposed to closed. Critics of globalization point to isolati on and making nations practice non-interventionism as an alternative way of promoting world peace. If nations kept to themselves and did not interfere in other nations’ affairs, they can co-exist peacefully. Use of international bodies and having international laws has also been touted as another way of achieving global peace. Bodies such as the United Nations and the world court can be used to maintain peace by helping diffuse situations. Conclusion Is global peace possible? I believe it is. Is it a hard thing though to accomplish? That also I do believe. The globe is made up of different people with different cultures, belief systems, political systems, and interests. Nations have vested interests and are led by governments that are greedy. Propaganda is an effective tool to whip up nationalistic feelings among the citizens. All these make for a potent mixture. Global peace is not something that can be seriously deliberated there. This does not mean there is no hope. Through use of international bodies, having international laws and promotion of global trade, nations suddenly have something to lose. A nation will have to do a serious evaluation on implications if it launched armed conflict. This is irrespective of how powerful the nation is. This pause before launching attacks on a neighbor is a positive step in achieving global peace. References Castella, T. (2012, February 15). How did we forget about mutually assured destruction? Retrieved from BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17026538 Tessler, M. A. (1994). A History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Indiana University Press. The Economist. (1997, March 13). Benefits of Peace. Retrieved from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/145507 Youngblood, S. (2016). Peace Journalism Principles and Practices: Responsibly Reporting Conflicts, Reconciliation, and Solutions. Taylor and Francis.