THE
MEANING OF COMPLETE WORLD DISARMAMENT
SYNOPSIS:
The
planet Earth is now bristling with the weapons of war.
Almost every nation-state has its own armed forces.
Would the creation of a World Peace Force
facilitate the disarmament of all nation-states?
Would national military forces become redundant?
Once the World Peace Force proves that it can keep the peace,
then each nation of the world can give up its armaments.
OUTLINE:
1. AVOID PREMATURE DISARMAMENT.
2.
ELIMINATE
ALL NATIONAL WEAPONS OF WAR.
3.
NO
STANDING MILITARY FORCES.
4. REPLACING THE WARRIOR CULTURE OF EACH NATION.
5.
WHEN ANY GROUP NEEDS PROTECTION OR DEFENSE,
THEY WILL CALL
UPON THE WORLD PEACE FORCE
INSTEAD OF
TRYING TO RE-ARM THEMSELVES.
6.
THE WORLD PEACE FORCE WILL PREVENT KILLING.
THE
MEANING OF COMPLETE WORLD DISARMAMENT
by James Leonard Park
Never before in all of human history has there ever been a time
when human beings did not possess weapons.
Weapons of war were sometimes used to capture new lands and people.
But in recent history, the weapons of war
were always for the purpose
of defending the
nation.
In the history of the
USA, this 'change' of purpose
was even reflected in the name of the department
that controlled the weapons of war.
It was originally known as the War Department;
now it is called the Department of Defense.
(And during the 'cold war' between the West and the Soviet bloc,
it might better have been called the Department of Nuclear
Retaliation.)
Complete disarmament means
that there will no longer
be
any national military forces.
This will be possible only after a World Peace Force has emerged
and probably has about 1 million men and women employed full-time
to maintain peace everywhere on planet Earth.
The United States of America has been acting as
world policeman.
We have 700 military bases outside of the borders of the USA.
(We have even more soldiers stationed within the USA.)
And we can extend our military might anywhere we
please.
We have not always respected the borders of other nations,
when it seemed to us that they needed 'help'.
For example, if they were not controlling terrorists,
we have not hesitated to take over their countries
in order to do the job better.
Afghanistan would be the prime example of this.
And unmanned drones have been used
to kill 'terrorist' leaders in many countries.
1. AVOID PREMATURE
DISARMAMENT.
As long as there are national military forces that
can cause problems,
we need other
military forces to keep them in
check.
Would nations disarm while their perceived 'enemies' still have
armies?
But once the World Peace Force is up to sufficient strength,
then the national governments will see the economies of reducing
and eventually eliminating their own national armed forces.
The World Peace Force will have to prove itself in
actual combat.
Once the World Peace Force has shown that it can defeat and disarm
the military forces of renegade nations,
then the peoples of the Earth will welcome the new
law-and-order
created by the World Court and the World Peace Force.
2. ELIMINATE ALL
NATIONAL
WEAPONS OF WAR.
Over the centuries of human history,
the weapons of
warfare have advanced.
In the earliest times, all weapons were held in human hands.
They were used to kill the enemy one person at a time.
Sticks and rocks were probably the first weapons of war.
Later, weapons that could kill
at a distance were developed.
Spears and arrows were also used against wild animals,
either to prevent them from killing and eating humans
or to kill the wild animals and eat them.
Because such weapons are so easy to make (or pick
up),
it would be impossible to eliminate all such individual weapons
—or
items such as knives that could easily be used as weapons.
Modern times have created huge weapons of warfare:
Warships, tanks, & planes have become so common
that it would be difficult to imagine a world without these.
But it could happen.
Imagine a planet where all needed weapons
are possessed exclusively by a planetary peace force.
If and when this happens on the planet Earth,
it will mean that all nations have given up
their armies, navies, & air forces.
No more warplanes will be manufactured or possessed by anyone.
There will be no more warships of any kind,
since they will have no role in keeping world peace.
And there will be no national armies
—with
all of their machinery and equipment.
3. NO STANDING
MILITARY
FORCES.
Under the coming condition of complete disarmament,
there will no longer by any human beings employed by any nation
for the purpose of 'defending' that nation.
All needs for defense will be fulfilled by the World Peace Force.
Having no military budgets and no military personnel
will be one of the easiest ways to enforce complete disarmament.
It is very difficult to hide the fact that some people
are engaged in preparing for warfare.
The World Peace Force will exist everywhere on the planet
Earth.
So they will know whenever anyone is organizing a military
force.
And they will take all actions necessary to disarm any such groups.
Most of the national weapons of warfare are very
difficult to hide.
Where would one conceal
an aircraft carrier?
And even military airplanes would be hard to hide.
If no nation is permitted to have weapons of war,
then all national military bases and armed forces would disappear.
And the peace-loving peoples of the Earth would make sure
that no nation is secretly rebuilding a military capacity.
No nation
will have a military budget.
Since the various nation-states will no longer need any defense,
no tax-monies will be devoted to any national military expenditure.
In the USA, this will be a huge relief to the taxpayers.
And we will gladly give our money to the World Peace
Force
because we no longer need the Pentagon
or the thousands of other parts of our former military budget.
When even Americans embrace the love of peace,
we will report to the World Peace Force
if ever any individual Americans begin to rearm themselves.
We will simply not tolerate any human beings being trained for war.
When men or women anywhere in the world
feel called to the military life,
they can apply to join the World Peace Force
instead of joining the army, navy, or air force of any nation.
The armed forces formerly operated by any nation
will exist only as historical memory.
When we have better ways to keep
the peace,
then national military forces could only do harm.
National leaders will govern without depending on military force.
4. REPLACING THE WARRIOR
CULTURE OF EACH NATION.
It will probably take a generation or more
after the
establishment of the World Peace Force,
but eventually national pride in military forces will disappear.
When the last person ever employed
by any branch of the armed forces of the USA has died,
then there will be no more need for new military cemeteries.
We can honor the military leaders of history,
but we will not be creating any more national heroes
who made their mark by fighting for the homeland.
Instead, we will honor those who kept world peace.
All members of the World Peace Force will, of course,
come from particular nation-states.
And each country will find its own ways of honoring
those who die in the cause of enforcing world peace.
Perhaps there will be special cemeteries for them.
But, more likely, they will be buried (or otherwise remembered)
in the same ways that we honor all human beings who have died.
This could be similar to the ways we now honor
people
who served as local police officers:
There is no need to say that they served their country.
Rather they served the people who were protected by their services.
When they retire and later die,
they are honored by their own families
without involving any national leaders.
Likewise, most of the officers of the World Peace
Force
will retire rather
than be killed in the line
of duty.
In their old age, they will return to their countries of origin,
live out their peaceful retirements and be honored
in whatever private ways are common for their people.
Their years in the World Peace Force will be duly recognized.
But they will not be said to have defended their own country.
They served to keep the peace
of the whole planet Earth.
During the U.S. military occupations of
Iraq and Afghanistan,
it was somewhat awkward to honor the U.S. military personnel who died.
When our soldiers were blown up patrolling the roads of a distant
country,
in what sense were they 'defending America'?
Those who planted the bombs to kill American military men and women
were acting in what they perceived to be their national interest:
They wanted to kill the foreign invaders who have taken over their
country.
However, if the World Peace Force were patrolling
the
same roads,
they would be welcomed
by all peace-loving people.
Instead of attempting to impose a strange system of government,
the World Peace Force would prevent
killing in
all forms.
This could empower
the
people
to create a new government of
their own devising
---not based on violence or the threat of violence.
5. WHEN ANY GROUP NEEDS
PROTECTION OR DEFENSE,
THEY
WILL CALL UPON THE WORLD
PEACE FORCE
INSTEAD
OF TRYING TO RE-ARM
THEMSELVES.
Tribal feelings will remain when the World
Peace Force is established.
But tribal feelings will no longer lead to warfare between the tribes.
Because the World Peace Force will be the only military force on
Earth,
the WPF can send all necessary troops
to maintain peace between hostile tribes.
Nations will occasionally experience the collapse of
law-and-order,
which could lead to tribal killing.
But instead of allowing the tribes to arm themselves against their
rivals,
the World Peace Force will send as many men and women as needed
to prevent the hostile groups from killing one another.
And the World Peace Force might have to use thousands of troops
to keep the peace in a fractured nation
while the peaceful leaders of that nation re-create
whatever form of government seems best to them.
A world-wide change of consciousness will be
necessary,
since the military impulse has been so strong thru-out history.
After a few generations of positive experience with the WPF,
children of every nation will grow up assuming
that the WPF will handle the problems that used to lead to warfare.
When people anywhere in the world feel threatened in
any way,
they will first call upon their local police for protection.
If the local police have been doing their job well,
individual trouble-makers and small groups of law-breakers
can easily be identified and arrested.
And if ever violent groups become too large for the
local police,
someone who knows about them will call the World Peace Force,
who can disarm any gangs with whatever force is necessary.
And the World Peace Force can maintain whatever presence is
required
to prevent those gangs from arming themselves once again.
The World Peace Force will also operate prisons,
where violators of world peace will be kept
until they recover from their violent inclinations.
6. THE WORLD PEACE FORCE WILL PREVENT KILLING.
Local police might occasionally call upon the World
Peace Force
when they cannot handle problems emerging in a certain place.
Because the World Peace Force will
have bases in every country,
they will be ready to step in with the most appropriate forces.
And they will have soldiers who speak the languages of
the people.
Only the worst local situations will require world soldiers
stationed in other
countries to come in temporarily to restore order.
Once any particular crisis has been resolved,
the soldiers of the WPF can return to their regular
home-bases.
Sometimes local police are corrupted by
drug-money or tribalism.
In those cases, the peace-loving people of that locality
will call upon the World Peace Force to enforce law-and-order,
even if that requires shooting the corrupt local police.
Some leaders will attempt to use local and national police
for their own political purposes.
In such cases, the World Peace Force might be required
to restore
impartial peace while the political situation is resolved.
When a former nation-state has fragmented,
the World Peace Force might have to prevent killing from every side
until some new order emerges.
Perhaps a failed state will sub-divide into smaller nations.
Each new state will have its own system of government.
And no particular system of government will be enforced by the WPF.
The planet Earth will have several different forms
of government
once the World Peace Force comes into its own.
Some nations will have hereditary monarchies.
Some nations will be governed by religious leaders.
Some nations will be controlled by one political party.
Some nations will operate like huge corporations.
Some nations will choose various forms of democracy.
The only forms of government that will no longer be possible
will be military
dictatorships, which were formerly possible
because whoever controlled the national armed forces ruled that land.
When no country has its own armed forces,
then military dictators cannot emerge or survive.
The disarmament of the planet Earth will create a
new era.
When national military forces no longer exist anywhere,
what new forms of human government might we invent?
Created
April 2, 2009; Revised 5-6-2009; 8-2-2009;
3-20-2011; 8-14-2011;
10-26-2011; 11-20-2011; 7-4-2012;
1-24-2013; 8-29-2013; 9-18-2013; 9-23-2013;
8-13-2014; 2-5-2015; 4-22-2016; 1-4-2017; 4-13-2019; 3-7-2020;
AUTHOR:
James Park is an independent philosopher,
living and writing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Much more about him will be discovered on his website:
James
Leonard
Park—Free
Library.
LINKS
TO SIMILAR THINKING AND AN ON-GOING SEMINAR:
The future we create will depend on what we imagine
now.
And
the Internet will be one way
that
creative imaginations from anywhere on our planet
can
share their visions of a world without war.
When
such similar thoughts are discovered,
they
will be linked from here.
World
Peace Force—Early
Thinking
This
link leads to a collection of other essays
dealing with various dimensions of the proposed World Peace Force.
See related related on-line essays:
World
Without
War
Blessed
Are the
Peacemakers
World
Peace Force—100
Years for Transition
Disarm
the Planet Earth—One
Nation at
a Time
Eliminate
all Weapons of Mass Death