Let's talk about a few things that work.
Diplomacy works. The fact that parties to wars can negotiate temporary ceasefires means that they could negotiate permanent ones. The fact that parties to war can negotiate prisoner exchanges and humanitarian aid and shipping lanes, etc., means that they could negotiate peace. Or at least it means that the excuse that the other side is incapable of speech due to being subhuman monsters is a lie. Negotiating compromise is done all the time, it's just usually done when those in power give up on or get tired of a particular war; it could be done at any point during or prior to a war.
Disarmament works. Reduction of armaments by agreement or example leads to further disarmament by others. It also fails, in those cases, such as Libya, where a poor nation, rich in resources, defies the Rules-Based-Murder gang. But most nations don't face that risk. And it's a risk we can work to eliminate. Disarmament also fails for oppressive governments unable to go on oppressing their people, but that's OK with me.
Closing Bases works. Hosting U.S. military bases in your nation makes it a target and makes war more, not less likely.
Abolishing militaries works. The model created by nations like Costa Rica is a success that should be expanded upon.
Moving the money works. Nations that invest more in human and environmental needs and less in militarism get happier and longer lives and fewer wars.
Treating crimes as crimes rather than excuses for worse crimes works. And addressing root causes works. Rather than Remember the Maine and to Hell with Spain, we ought to shout Remember Spain and to Hell with Pain. Foreign terrorism is always concentrated virtually entirely in nations engaged in foreign wars and occupations. On March 11, 2004, Al Qaeda bombs killed 191 people in Madrid, Spain, just before an election in which one party was campaigning against Spain's participation in the U.S.-led war on Iraq. The people of Spain voted the Socialists into power, and they removed all Spanish troops from Iraq by May. There were no more bombs from foreign terrorists in Spain from that day to this. This history stands in strong contrast to that of Britain, the United States, and other nations that have responded to blowback with more war, generally producing more blowback. It is generally considered inappropriate to pay attention to the Spanish example, and U.S. media has even developed the habit of reporting on this history in Spain as if the opposite of what happened happened.
Prosecutors in Spain also pursued top U.S. officials for crimes, but the Spanish government caved under U.S. pressure, as had the government of the Netherlands and others. In theory the International Criminal Court is the global infrastructure that's needed. But it answers to Western and U.S. pressure and to the Vetowhipped United Nations. This state of affairs seems to bewilder a large number of people who always object "But the U.S. isn't even a member of the ICC how can it possibly bow to U.S. pressure?" usually adding the obligatory "How much is Putin paying you?" But not only is the U.S. not a member of the ICC, but it has punished other governments for supporting the ICC, it has sanctioned staff members of the ICC until it gets its way, it has effectively halted investigations of itself in Afghanistan and of Israel in Palestine, even while demanding investigation of Russians, but rather than support any international court, the U.S. this week opened a prosecution of Russians in a U.S. court in Virginia. The ICC has put on a show of investigating people all over the world, but the chief qualification for actually being prosecuted by the ICC remains being African. Several countries' governments have accused the Israeli government of genocide and asked the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israeli officials, but I wouldn't hold your breath.
Then there's the International Court of Justice, which has ruled against Israel in the past, and if any one nation invokes the Genocide Convention, the court will be obliged to rule on the matter. If the ICJ determines that genocide is happening, then the ICC will not need to make that determination but only consider who is responsible. This has been done before. Bosnia and Herzegovina invoked the Genocide Convention against Serbia, and the ICJ ruled against Serbia. The crime of genocide is happening. The intentional destruction of a people, in whole or in part, is genocide. The law is meant to be used to prevent it, not just review it after the fact. Some of us at organizations like RootsAction.org and World BEYOND War have generated many thousands of requests to governments that have accused Israel of genocide asking them to actually invoke the Genocide Convention at the ICJ. One guess is that the inaction is due largely to fear. That's my guess also as to why journalists bow before Israel all the more, the more journalists it murders.
So, what do we need? Part of the answer is in what we need to get rid of. Costa Rica is better off without a military. I read an excellent book this week from New Zealand called Abolishing the Military about how much better off New Zealand would be without a military. The argument seemed applicable to almost anywhere else as well.
But part of the answer is what we need to create. And I think Departments of Peace are good titles for a lot of it. Others on this call know more than I do what has already been created in places like Costa Rica that have some infrastructure for peace, both governmental and educational. We need departments of peace that are empowered to publicly oppose warmongering by others in their own governments and by powerful governments abroad. Such a thing couldn't exist in the U.S. government without outlawing bribery by weapons dealers, or what people in the United States euphemistically call campaign contributions. And if you did get rid of corruption, you could just have the U.S. Congress work for peace. But it would still need various agencies to do so, and other governments need those agencies if only to stand against the warmaking of governments like the U.S. or Russian or Israeli or Saudi, etc.
Within or in addition to a Department of Peace should be a Department of Unarmed Civilian Defense. Plans should be established, as in Lithuania, but not co-opted by the military, as in Lithuania, for training entire populations in unarmed noncooperation with occupation. This past year, World BEYOND War held its annual conference on this topic, and I recommend watching it at ldbeyondwar.org/nowar2023 and I recommend sharing it with others. Have you ever met anyone who said "But you have to have war to defend yourself! What about Putin? or What about Hitler? or What about Netanyahu?" If you have not heard anyone say such things, please let me know what planet you are living on, because I would like to move there.
Of course, the reason governments won't train their people in unarmed civilian defense is that then they would have to answer to their people.
Within or in addition to a Department of Peace should be a Department of Global Reparations and Assistance. Nations that have done more damage to the natural environment owe a debt to those that have done less. Nations that have more wealth, much of it exploited from elsewhere, ought to share with others. Sharing wealth with others costs dramatically less than militarism and does more to make one safe and secure. While recognizing problems with the Marshall Plan, some call this sort of project a Global Marshall Plan.
Within or in addition to a Department of Peace should be a Department of Actual Defense Against Non-Optional Threats. In place of seeking out places in which to engage in mass murder, this department would seek out ways to collaborate and cooperate globally on threats that face us whether we work to create them or not, such as environmental collapse, homelessness, poverty, disease, hunger, etc.
Within or in addition to a Department of Peace should be a Department of Global Citizenship. This would be an agency tasked to determine whether its government is doing everything it can to cooperate and uphold a global system of law and amicable relations. What treaties need to be joined or created? What treaties need to be upheld? What domestic laws are needed to comply with treaty obligations? What can this country do to hold rogue nations, small or large, to the standards of others? How can international courts be empowered or universal jurisdiction employed? Standing up to empire is a duty of a global citizen in the way that we think of voting or waving flags as a duty of a national citizen.
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