How to make the world a more peaceful place
Clive Wilson
Author of "Leading Beyond Sustainability"; "Designing the Purposeful World”; & “Designing the Purposeful Organization"; speaker, facilitator and coach
In my new book "Leading Beyond Sustainability - six aspirations for a brighter future ", published last month by Routledge, I describe six aspirations for a brighter future. From engaging with thousands of people like you and me since 2015, I know these aspirations describe the world we want to see.
The book comprises four parts:
In part one, I describe each of the six aspirations and provide a series of "personal encounters", people I know personally who are working hard to deliver this brighter future. These very short stories demonstrate that changing the world is something many of us are doing, often without knowing the full impact of what we do.
In the coming months, I shall share some of these encounters, one at a time, in a series of LinkedIn articles. I hope they will inspire you as much as they inspired me to write about them.
In this article I celebrate the work of Vijay Mehta, author of several books, including "How Not to Go to War: Establishing Departments and Peace Centres Worldwide ". I have chose this particular encounter because it is timely, (a) because of the current conflicts in our world, and (b) because on 14 November Vijay is hosting an online conference that you might wish to attend. Hopefully I'll see you there.
My personal encounter follows below, but first a poem I wrote to open the chapter on this aspiration of peace:
Peace (an opening poem)
With an eerie crack
The last bullet was shot
And the last casualty
Bit the dust of the battlefield
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The news came on X
That the war was over
What happens next?
Silence and then…
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In the distance a bird sang
More sweetly than ever
And then a bell rang
From a church in the East
And another to the North
Like an overture
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Then tears of joy and of sorrow
Men ran to embrace each other
领英推荐
No war
Just a new tomorrow
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We can play football again
Go back to work again
Holiday in each other’s countries again
Spend time with our families again
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Make sure this never happens again
Never ever again
About this personal encounter
From local to global, we get to choose how we make an impact.? There is no wrong or right in this.? We take action as we are called and this encounter is with a man who is having global impact and deserves to have even more.? I encourage you to check his work out, read his books and promote his thinking to any connections you may have, especially in government.
PERSONAL ENCOUNTER 2.4 - Vijay Mehta “Uniting for Peace”
I met Vijay Mehta[i] at the 2018 Uniting for Peace Spring Conference in London.? I had been invited to speak to answer the question 'Can We Unite for Peace: Building Citizen Power for Change'.[ii]
Vijay's book “Peace Beyond Borders: How the EU brought peace to Europe and how exporting it would end conflicts around the world ” was published in 2016 in print and eBook by New Internationalist, with a foreword written by Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Laureate and former president of Timor-Leste.
I was inspired by Vijay’s passion for the European Union model as mechanism for a more peaceful world.? Conscious that since then, we have witnessed a global pandemic, Brexit and the war in Ukraine, I was keen to catch up with him again.
In researching “Leading Beyond Sustainability”, I contacted Vijay in July 2023, and he kindly sent me a copy of his new book, “How not to go to War – Establishing Departments for Peace and Peace Centres Worldwide”.? In a similar fashion to “Peace Beyond Borders”, I found Vijay’s thinking in this new book clear and compelling.? I was unable to put it down!? Vijay sets out the context for the proposition for such departments and centres with great clarity, explaining why things are as they are in a rational unemotional manner.? His suggestions are logical and convincing, leaving me to wonder why there are not more such functions throughout the world.?
His thinking is very much in line with my own.? If we focus on the problem (eg war) our energy for change is limited.? Whereas, if we focus on the opposite (peace), our creativity becomes boundless.? Reading Vijay’s book prompted many creative ideas in my own mind, including a need to revisit some of the other “personal encounters” featured in this chapter.?
Vijay provided me the best reason for hope at a most disturbing time in our history.? His book was published in 2019, just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 which started a bloody war that would see hundreds of thousands of deaths, mainly of the young men (and fewer women) fighting on both sides of the conflict.? The concept of investing in departments and centres for peace is so compelling that I can see very little argument against it.? And, whilst no one wants to see war of any kind, maybe the colossal associated risk will shake the world into examining this and other potential solutions.
Later in July, I had the privilege of speaking with Vijay again.? He recorded our conversation and I added the video to the “Leading Beyond Sustainability” playlist on my YouTube channel.? His passion for peace is immense.?
If there had to be one single action that had the best chance to bring peace, it would be the creation of “Departments for Peace” in every government.? The cost, in comparison to spending on war, would be tiny, and I fail to see how this wouldn’t reduce the cost of conflict over time. ??And, I do mean every government: local, national and regional, with access to a growing number of professional “peace practitioners” who have studied the causes of peace and are keen to promote them.? Duties would include (but not be limited to):
I was delighted that, following my recent catch-up with Vijay, he invited me once again to speak on the subject of Leading Beyond Sustainability at another of his powerful conferences.? A recording of this conference is available at my YouTube channel.
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[i] Vijay Mehta:? https://thepeacebuilding.org.uk/vijay-mehta/
[ii] Clive’s talk at Uniting for Peace (video): https://youtu.be/g3_747zs05s