Should We Dream of Peace?
“Of all our dreams today, there is none more important — or so hard to realize — than that of peace in the world.” — Lester B. Pearson, former Prime Minister of Canada and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
How do you balance that dream — peace in the world — with the reality of a world where it feels like everyone hates each other? Even one of the greatest diplomatic successes of the last several decades, the Good Friday Agreement, only brought about a temporary halt to physical violence instead of a lasting peace. The tensions that led to “The Troubles,” a violent ethnic-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that resulted in over 3,500 deaths, still exist. The Northern Irish Parliament dissolved in 2022 over Brexit disagreements and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) remains committed to continuing the boycott. High inequality persists. Black chain fences sit on top of enormous concrete barriers — “peace” walls designed to keep Catholic and Protestant communities separate. Only the actual violence has decreased. And even this violence is not entirely gone.
Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, there have been over 150 killings perpetrated by paramilitary members, mostly against people in their own communities. Yet, current and former world leaders celebrated this agreement with much fanfare this past April, which marked its 25th anniversary.
If the international community considers the agreement a success, it is clear that the dream of peace in the world will never be realized. The agreement in Northern Ireland took decades of negotiation and intentional societal transformation. It involved concessions from both sides, which resulted in an quasi-official policy of silence regarding the atrocities that occurred. If all the work that went into the Good Friday Agreement could not produce an integrated and transformed society, the outlook for world peace is bleak.
Seasoned politicians have reached this conclusion. They are the ones sitting at the table listening to the sides go back and forth. They are the ones trying to balance the dreams of everyone at the table with reality. They are the ones who have to balance international and external interests with the domestic politican’s concerns and those of their constituents. Living in this type of world, these politicians are obviously aware that no one’s dream will come completely true, yet often they will continue to promise that peace everywhere is possible. Should we continue to perpetuate the dream of world peace when we know it will never happen? When politicians promise to promote peace, should we applaud them for keeping a dream alive or criticize them for setting unrealistic goals?
Your answer depends on your point of view. Some people would say no, politicians should be honest with people and admit that they will never accomplish this goal. Disguising their motives, or lying through omission, is deceiving to the public. Others would say that promoting the idea of world peace raises people’s hopes too high and disappoints them when only small gains are made. Others argue it is not possible to have too much hope. They believe politicians should continue to support the dream of peace in our world because this idea inspires people to work for the reality of world peace. Oftentimes their work will make a little difference, even if it will not achieve world peace — the “shoot-for-the-stars-and-you-never-know-where- you-will-land” logic. After all, the Good Friday Agreement did lead to a managed peace in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, some argue that it is ethical for politicians to deceive the public by promoting world peace. To them, even small concessions will benefit people more than any deception could ever hurt them.
At the age of 22, I have accepted that I will never see a world completely at peace, I doubt I will ever see a country completely at peace. But I believe the dream of peace is important, so I want to spend my life working for it. Even the small successes of negotiations like the Good Friday Agreement show that if we keep working we can achieve a more harmonious world. Peace is something that politicians should continue to support and spread because it is important to remain optimistic. In the face of horrendous suffering and violence, it is easy to decide that dreaming is not important, but I believe the dream compels you to be better. It makes you want to push for the concession no one said you could get. The one that makes it easier for people to challenge the government. The one that lets women have more representation in government. The one that maybe staves off violence for an extra decade.
Should we be aware of the realities of the world and the inability of world peace to ever happen? Yes. But we should never abandon the quest for peace in the process.