World Peace Dream and Reality!
How the world shall get peace and what we should do for world peace
Various political ideologies
World peace is sometimes claimed to be the inevitable result of a certain political ideology. According to former U.S. President George W. Bush: "The march of democracy will lead to world peace."[4]
Leon Trotsky, a Marxist theorist, assumed that the world revolution would lead to a communist world peace.[5]
[edit] The Democratic peace theory
Proponents of the controversial democratic peace theory claim that strong empirical evidence exists that democracies never or rarely wage war against each other. Several researchers find no wars between well-established liberal democracies.[6] Jack Levy (1988) made an oft-quoted assertion that the theory is "as close as anything we have to an empirical law in international relations".
An increasing number of nations have become democratic since the industrial revolution. A world peace may thus become possible if this trend continues and if the democratic peace theory is correct.[citation needed]
There are, however, several possible exceptions to this theory.
[edit] Capitalism peace theory
In her "capitalism peace theory," Ayn Rand holds that the major wars of history were started by the more controlled economies of the time against the freer ones and that capitalism gave mankind the longest period of peace in history—a period during which there were no wars, involving the entire civilized world—from the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
It must be remembered that the political systems of the nineteenth century were not pure capitalism, but mixed economies. The element of freedom, however, was dominant; it was as close to a century of capitalism as mankind has come. But the element of statism kept growing throughout the nineteenth century, and by the time it blasted the world in 1914, the governments involved were dominated by statist policies.[7]
However, this theory ignores the brutal colonial wars waged by the western nations against countries outside Europe; as well as the German and Italian Wars of Unification, the Franco-Prussian war, and other conflicts in Europe.
[edit] Cobdenism
Some proponents[who?] of Cobdenism claim that by removing tariffs and creating international free trade, wars would become impossible, because free trade prevents a nation from becoming self-sufficient, which is a requirement for long wars. For example, if one country produces firearms and another produces ammunition, the two could not fight each other, because the former would be unable to procure ammunition and the latter would be unable to obtain weapons.
Critics[who?] argue that free trade does not prevent a nation from establishing some sort of emergency plan to become temporarily self-sufficient in case of war or that a nation could simply acquire what it needs from a different nation.
More generally, other proponents[who?] argue that free trade - while not making wars impossible - will make wars, and restrictions on trade caused by wars, very costly for international companies with production, research, and sales in many different nations. Thus there will be a powerful lobby arguing against wars that is not present if there are only national companies.
[edit] Mutual assured destruction
Mutual assured destruction (sometimes known as MAD) is a doctrine of military strategy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two opposing sides would effectively result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender.[8] Proponents[who?] of the policy of mutual assured destruction during the Cold War attributed this to the increase in the lethality of war to the point where it no longer offers the possibility of a net gain for either side, thereby making wars pointless.
[edit] Globalization
Some see a trend in national politics by which city-states and nation-states have unified, and suggest that the international arena will eventually follow suit. Many countries such as China, Italy, the United States, Germany and Britain have unified into single nation-states, with others like the European Union following suit, suggesting that further globalization will bring about a unified world order.
[edit] Isolationism and non-interventionism
Proponents[who?] of isolationism and non-interventionism claim that a world made up of many nations can peacefully coexist as long as they each establish a stronger focus on domestic affairs and do not try to impose their will on other nations.
Non-interventionism should not be confused with isolationism. Isolationism, like non-interventionism advises avoiding interference into other nation's internal affairs, but also emphasizes protectionism and restriction of international trade and travel. Non-interventionism, on the other hand, advocates combining free trade (like Cobdenism) with political and military non-interference.[citation needed]
Nations like Japan are perhaps the best known for establishing isolationist policies in the past. The Japanese Edo, Tokugawa, initiated the Edo Period, an isolationist period where Japan cut itself off from the world as a whole. This is a well-known isolation period and well documented in many areas.[citation needed]
[edit] Self-organized peace
World peace has been depicted [9] as a consequence of local, self-determined behaviors which inhibit the institutionalization of power and ensuing violence. The solution is not so much based on an agreed agenda, or an investment in higher authority whether divine or political, but rather a self-organized network of mutually supportive mechanisms, resulting in a viable politico-economic social fabric. The principle technique for inducing convergence is thought experiment, namely Backcasting, enabling anyone to participate no matter what cultural background, religious doctrine, political affiliation or age demographic. Similar collaborative mechanisms are emerging from the Internet around open-source projects, including Wikipedia, and the evolution of social media.
[edit] Religious views of world peace
Many religions and religious leaders have expressed a desire for an end to violence and/or world peace.
[edit] Bahá'í Faith
Main article: Bahá'í Faith and the unity of humanity
With specific regard to the pursuit of world peace, Bahá'u'lláh of the Bahá'í Faith prescribed a world-embracing collective security arrangement as necessary for the establishment of a lasting peace. The Universal House of Justice wrote about the process in The Promise of World Peace.[10]
[edit] Buddhism
Many Buddhists believe that world peace can only be achieved if we first establish peace within our minds. Siddhārtha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, said, “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”[11] The idea is that anger and other negative states of mind are the cause of wars and fighting. They believe we can live in peace and harmony only if we abandon the anger in our minds and learn to love each other and practice altruism.
[edit] Christianity
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The basic Christian ideal promotes peace through goodwill and by sharing the faith with others, as well as forgiving those who do try to break the peace. Below are selections from two gospels:
"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:44 - 45
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:34-35
Followers of Pre-millennial Dispensationalism believe that world peace will be unachievable until Christ's Second Coming and the 1000 year reign of Christ after the Tribulation and Judgement. So, although Christians should work towards spreading the message of salvation through Christ Jesus alone, their eschatology teaches an ultimate increase in war and natural disasters through the 7 year Tribulation where the Anti-Christ rules until the initiation of the thousand year reign of Christ.
[edit] Hinduism
Traditionally Hinduism has adopted a saying called Vasuda eva kutumbakam[12] which translates to "The world is one family." The essence of this saying is the observation that only base minds see dichotomies and divisions. The more we seek wisdom, the more we become inclusive and free our internal spirit from worldly illusions or Maya. World peace is hence thought[by whom?] to be achieved only through internal means—by liberating oneself from artificial boundaries that separate us.
[edit] Sikhism
“All beings and creatures are His; He belongs to all” (Guru Granth Sahib, 425). Gurus furthermore preached to “Sing the Praise of the One, the Immaculate Lord; He is contained within all” (Guru Granth Sahib, 706). “The special feature of the Sikh of the Guru is that he goes beyond the framework of caste-classification and moves in humility. Then his labor becomes acceptable at the door of God” (Bhai Gurdas Ji, 1). [13]
[edit] Islam
Main article: Islamic Peace
This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. (July 2009)
According to Islam, faith in only one God and having common parents Adam and Eve is the greatest reason for humans to live together with peace and brotherhood. Islamic view of global peace is mentioned in the Quran where the whole of humanity is recognized as one family. All the people are children of Adam. The purpose of the Islamic faith is to make people recognize their own natural inclination towards their fraternity. According to Islamic eschatology the whole world will be united under the leadership of prophet Jesus in his second coming.[14] At that time love, justice and peace will be so abundant that the world will be in likeness of paradise.
[edit] Judaism
Judaism holds that when the Messiah comes, all nations will be united in peace.[citation needed]
[edit] See Also
• peace movement
• World Peace Council
