Dear reader,
I would like to introduce to this essay with a few words about the person who writes the lines below. Firstly I may be Portuguese (proud of it) although above I am European and Citizien of the World. Secondly, my acadamic background lies on International Relations (IR), History, Philosophy and Law. Lastly, but the least in terms of IR I may adopt always a tolerant and pluralistic world analysis however I “belong” to the Contesting Schools of IR, Cristicism and Constructivism.
Yesterday, the United Nations posted “on their social media, We need Peace on their social media! Yes, we, as Humans, dream and aspire to Peace. But what do we mean by that? The simples absence of war and all kinds of conflict, is that it? That’s what we call in International Relations, Negative Peace.
Yes and no. From my vantage as an young International Relations specialist is not totally correct. Nonetheless I believe it is natural to dream about, especially during times like these; after all, it’s still Christmas. The day supposedly “The Christ” was born, and very close to the Winter Solstice, where Light triumphs over darkness.
History is filled with many examples where many people have tried to create that peaceful world by improving the environment or making people happy, but neither approach has been entirely successful.
We all need a new way of thinking about peace and our approach to Peace Studies. We need a fresh start and adopt a more pluralist view, like I have been advocating on my PhD program in International Relations and Political Science. Let’s do a simple gedanken experiment.
Imagine now a new concept of Peace, which icludes and recognizes, the need for Truth above all else. Great Masters and Philosophers (like Plato, Sir Thomas Morus, Sir Francis Bacon and others) have shown us that true Peace can only come when we understand that the environment is a product of human action, and not the other way around. It’s a challenging “new” Idea that we must embrace if we want to achieve the ultimate Peace, true and everlasting Peace.
So, let’s work together to create a world where Truth, embedded in Justice and Freedom, are the ou of true Peace.
Porto, December 27th 2023
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