Everyday Canvas

Can We Really End Wars?

Prompt: Ending Wars
On April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant bringing the Civil War to an end.
In what ways can we end wars whether they are personal or worldwide?

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End wars? Bah, Humbug! My own prompt just made me laugh. Is that ever possible, I ask.

We cannot end any wars unless we really, truly dig deep and find out what their underlying causes are. This goes for all wars, between nations, worldwide, or persons.

Let's see what seemed and seems to work in some instances:

Using a neutral third party or mediators.
Sometimes this works because a neutral country or person can tame their use of vocabulary, find a common ground, and clarify misunderstandings. Sometimes though, because the weirdness of our human nature, the third party is also drawn into the war. For example, when Germany was attacking other nations on the mainland Europe, British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, flew to meet Hitler at his private mountain retreat in Berchtesgaden in an attempt to resolve the crisis. Guess what happened to Great Britain afterwards!

Humanitarian Aid and Development Assistance:
Addressing some or most of the effects of war on people and providing humanitarian aid to them can help ease the suffering, therefore opening more tolerance for a peace negotiation. I don't know all history in its details but I dare think this doesn't help any peace negotiation. It may, however, aid the suffering populations and ease our conscience for letting one nation kill, maim, and hurt many people of another nation.

International Law and Conflict Resolution Unions:
This does work, however, for only a few decades, the way I see it. The League of Nations before World War II came to an end. As is Nato and EU are losing effect at this time. What next? I tremble with fear.

Just who will be there for conflict prevention, arms and insult control, good communication, cultural exchange? The players always change, and if they are effective, it is only for a short time.

My guess is, the world peace has come down to the individual person. If each person refrained from harsh words, harsh thoughts, harsh actions, and cultivated in himself the love for humankind regardless of differences, maybe, in the very long run, we could have good leadership and worldwide good will for peace. Not doable? Seems so, but let's hope.


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