Political
and tribal divisions are a fact of history on the planet Earth.
Occasionally such antagonism degenerates into chaos.
When various groups start fighting one another,
the World Peace Force could act quickly to stop the
killing.
All sides would be disarmed.
And the peoples of that land would decide their own future,
using some non-violent
process.
OUTLINE:
1. WHEN CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS FAIL.
2.
THE WORLD PEACE FORCE
WOULD ALREADY
BE THERE WHEN A NATION COLLAPSES.
3.
AFTER THE END OF CIVIL STRIFE.
4.
SUB-DIVIDE THE FAILED NATION-STATE.
5.
THE WORLD COURT
MIGHT HAVE TO
ESTABLISH THE NEW BORDERS.
6.
EXAMPLE: AFGHANISTAN.
7.
EXAMPLE: IRAQ.
8.
OTHER FAILED STATES.
9.
THE WORLD PEACE FORCE
WOULD BE
ORGANIZED BY REASON, NOT TRIBALISM.
WHAT
WOULD THE WORLD PEACE FORCE DO?
When
National Governments Collapse
by
James Leonard Park
1. WHEN CENTRAL GOVERNMENTS
FAIL.
At present, many of the smaller nation-states on
Earth
have unstable governments, which do occasionally collapse.
When the central government can no longer maintain law-and-order,
then other forces usually take over some areas of that failed
state.
We in the more developed nations of the Earth
might need to remind ourselves that our stable governments
did not always control the territory they now govern.
For instance, Europe a few centuries ago was ruled by many warlords,
who had control of small pieces of land.
Their control often depended on having thugs
who would make the peasants behave as the lords dictated.
The oldest cities of Europe were walled cities
precisely because it was often necessary to defend the cities
from hostile forces attempting to conquer them.
Eventually fiefdoms merged to form the larger states
we now know.
But each nation still believes it must maintain strong military forces
because of the lingering threat that other states will try to
take over.
And we only need to remember two world wars in the 20th century,
when some nation-states did
try to take over other countries.
Today there are several small countries that are
unstable.
When one military leader dies or is overthrown, chaos often
results,
in which various armed factions or tribes
try to rule whatever land they can control.
Often family and clan are the bases of these smaller groupings.
And they often commit genocide against other groups,
simply because of their racial, ethnic, or geographical identity.
Sometimes these small nation-states were
intrinsically unstable
because their borders were originally drawn by colonial
powers.
This often created a single state with several tribes or groups
that had no other reason to be together
than that they were so defined by the colonial powers.
During the years of colonial rule,
peace and stability was maintained by the occupying military forces.
And sometimes such colonial rule was much better for the peoples
than when they were still fighting tribal wars
to take over one another's land, cattle, oil, etc.
Once the colonial rulers were finally withdrawn,
the tribes found that they had little reason to cooperate.
The first effort was usually for one tribe or group
to take over the powers previously exercised by the colonial rulers.
And sometimes this did result in a more-or-less stable country,
even tho the less-favored tribes did not like the advantages
handed out to members of the ruling groups.
When power and wealth were distributed,
those in control 'naturally' favored their own people.
The ideal solution would be for all people
to stop
thinking of themselves as members of their own group first
and only secondarily citizens of
their nation-state.
But even in the most advanced countries of the Earth,
no culture has been able to transcend factionalism.
Even when there is basically only one ethnic group,
divisions emerge within every society or sub-culture.
2. THE WORLD PEACE
FORCE
WOULD ALREADY
BE THERE WHEN A NATION COLLAPSES.
When law-and-order breaks down for any reason,
the World Peace Force would immediately know about any such collapse
because there would be officers of the WPF already living in that
country.
And because of instant communications now possible,
thousands more soldiers of the WPF could be mobilized
immediately.
They could be in the failed state within hours.
And they could appear on the streets and in the villages so soon
that the populations who might be tempted to kill one another
would re-think their first tribal urge toward violence.
It would NOT be the role of the World Peace Force
to establish a new government to replace the failed
system.
Rather, the soldiers of the World Peace Force
would keep the people from
killing one another.
And this would sometimes require deadly force:
When combatants will not stop shooting,
they might have to be shot themselves.
The World Peace Force might have to fight armed groups.
But because everyone will know that the World Peace Force will always have enough
soldiers to control any group of fighters,
eventually reason will prevail and the combatants will stop fighting.
And the World Peace Force will studiously avoid
supporting one tribal group or another —even
any appearance
of taking sides in a civil war.
3. AFTER THE END OF
CIVIL
STRIFE.
Once the brief civil war is over,
the area of land previously controlled by the failed nation-state
will be temporarily controlled by the World Peace Force.
Then it will be the duty of the people of that failed state
to decide what to do next.
One temporary solution might be for different ethnic
groups
to control different land areas.
Even a small Island like Cypress has taken this route.
The Greeks control one side of Cypress.
The Turks control the other side.
Eventually they cooperate in ways that benefit
both groups.
A small military force keeps the tribes from killing one
another.
And sometimes, as in Cypress, the World Peace Force
will have to maintain the peace indefinitely
because even rational leaders of the various ethnic groups
cannot agree on a form of government that suits everyone.
4. SUB-DIVIDE THE
FAILED
NATION-STATE.
Separation into two or more smaller states is a
long-term solution
in some situations of failed nation-states.
When it is clear that various ethnic groups cannot cooperate,
then some people might have to move
from one area of the failed state to another area,
where they will be together with people of their own ethnic group.
Later such smaller states might cooperate for mutual
benefit,
such as having a common currency and banking system.
The World Peace Force can maintain some kind of
law-and-order
while the tribal groups try to establish new forms of government.
The new lines of demarcation will have to be negotiated.
These will become the new national boundaries.
And when populations have been deeply integrated for centuries,
sacrifices will have to be made for the peace of the world.
If they give themselves a decade
or more to separate,
separation can be achieved without much bloodshed.
People leaving one geographical area where they are a minority
will be able to sell their homes and businesses
to people who want to move in from another part of the former
country.
An orderly transition will be policed by the World Peace Force.
After everyone has moved who wishes to move,
then new national boundaries can be established and recognized.
5. THE WORLD COURT
MIGHT
HAVE TO
ESTABLISH THE NEW BORDERS.
In some cases, the warring factions
will not be able
to agree on stable and rational boundaries.
History shows that sometimes the borders established by warfare
are actually just the fronts
of the fighting when it finally ended.
When a truce was achieved, the land was divided
according to which armies held what geography at the end.
The World Court would have more rational bases
for establishing new national boundaries carved out of failed states.
While the World Peace Force keeps the factions from killing
one another,
the World Court can take as long as needed to review the facts
and decide the exact location of a new line between the
factions.
Once the new national borders have been settled,
it will be one function of the World Peace Force
to make sure that the new borders are observed by everyone.
In a disarmed world, this should not be as difficult as it has been
in all the history of the world up until the WPF was
established.
When the only soldiers on Earth who have the weapons of
war
are the members of the World Peace Force,
then various groups and factions will have to use non-violent means to
settle their disputes.
Once everyone accepts the new
national borders as permanent,
they will make their next decisions based on this given
fact.
If they held out hope that their old lands might be won back by force,
they might not put down roots where they are.
But once they accept the new national boundaries,
everyone will decide where to live.
Minorities might be tolerated in some societies.
When it is known that minorities will be protected by the local police,
they can live peacefully among members of other ethnic groups.
And sometimes the ethnic identities will disappear
after many years of living side-by-side and sometimes intermarrying.
A peaceful world will be better for all the peoples of the Earth.
6. EXAMPLE: AFGHANISTAN.
The history of the present state of Afghanistan
shows
that it is not a good candidate for becoming a stable nation-state.
Tribal loyalties are much stronger than national identity.
Only military force has been able to govern Afghanistan from Kabul.
The Russians (actually the Soviet Union)
tried for
years to shore up the central government.
And now American troops (with some allies) are trying the same.
The Russians and the Americans had different ideas of economy,
but Afghanistan will not be either communist or capitalist.
After a few more years of trying to shore up the
Kabul government,
the U.S. troops will probably have to be removed from Afghanistan
because the majority of the people of Afghanistan
do not want any government sustained by foreign soldiers.
If the World Peace Force were fully operational,
this would mean that none of the warlords has weapons of war.
They would have to rule because of tribal identities and loyalties
rather than because they can hold territory by force of arms.
The presence of the World Peace Force
would allow
neighboring tribes to cooperate.
But it would not be
the role of the World Peace Force
to establish and maintain a strong central government.
Perhaps Afghanistan will not be ready for a central government
for a few more generations.
Such a situation might require thousands of soldiers
from the WPF.
But this is a price the World can afford to keep the peace.
And keeping the peace
is always cheaper than the
destruction of war.
The USA attempted a similar solution for the
country of Iraq.
However, here the destruction of the previous nation-state
was
committed by the USA itself.
Because we think of
Iraq as one country we
think that Iraq should have a new (democratic) central government.
(But Iraq was held together by a military dictatorship in Baghdad.)
The people of Iraq might not be ready to support
a central government,
unless that government is run by their own tribal group.
Each group wants to control the oil revenues for its own benefit.
If there were a World Peace Force in any country
like Iraq,
then the neutral soldiers
would keep the tribes from killing one
another.
And the various groups of Iraq would have to
decide for themselves
just what form of government works for them.
Instead of engaging in warfare to establish new borders,
they would rationally discuss the future shape of their country.
It might be wise for the World Court to help
establish a new Iraq —or
whatever smaller countries emerge from the recent chaos.
Here are a few
additional essays dealing with Iraq:
Such examples could extend to include
such failed states as:
Somalia, Sudan,
Yugoslavia (now separated into Slovakia and
the Czech Republic),
and other countries sub-divided because of ethnic
tensions.
We can expect other states put together by war or colonialism
to divide themselves into smaller states.
As said before, some such divided states might
eventually re-unite,
after their former reasons for separating have faded away.
For example, if they all speak the same language,
do they really want to be separate nations?
9. THE WORLD PEACE
FORCE
WOULD BE
ORGANIZED BY REASON, NOT TRIBALISM.
Even tho tribalism is likely to be a factor for the
foreseeable future,
the World Peace Force can be organized to operate against tribalism.
As the WPF emerges over a period of 100 years,
tribalism itself will fade away in some places on the Earth.
People will learn to cooperate across lines of division
which were previously seen as reasons for killing one another.
And each formerly-tribal society
will have individuals who have transcended tribalism,
who will support the efforts of the World Peace Force
to keep the peace in their land.
There might always be some people who
prefer to kill their enemies
(as seen even in the USA in gang warfare),
but the majority will eventually see the benefits to all
from an established system of law-and-order.
The World Peace Force will
not impose new systems of
government.
The soldiers of the WPF will keep the factions from killing one
another
while they work out their own destiny, in their own terms.
AUTHOR:
James Park is an independent philosopher,
living and writing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
Much more about him will be discovered on his website: James
Leonard Park—Free
Library
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 on-line essays by James Park
dealing with various dimensions of the proposed World Peace Force.
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You can become one of the first 100 readers,
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