Confidence Building ²

 

 

One of the tools of those seeking to build international confidence in the eighties was to suggest that states and peoples no longer talk about enemies, but rather of adversaries. And this attempt at adjusting our speech, at least in the West, was to a degree successful. Yet even as we refrained from referring to others as the enemy, we did proceed to treat those on the down side with enmity and to in fact create our new enemies.

 

We side-stepped many elementary principles of international law, weakened and belittled international organizations, reinforced military pacts , ignored questions of economic justice and stability and went on to dismantle much of the structure of the newly developing coexistence and cooperative relations.

 

We created a new world order, that continued to be too much rooted in selective power - unjust and chaotic - hiding this behind a cloak of contrary proclamations. We lied and called it realism, supported dictators and called it clever, bombarded states and called it humanity, made decisions based on self interest and called it justice, acted like a bully and named it responsible, sold our goods and weaponry to the world and made it view our riches via our movies and television, while expecting it to remain subservient and docile.

 

We did not create confidence, but our own enemies, and it is of little importance if we politely side-step that word, for they will not. They consider us their enemy and if we are wise, we shall not attempt to win over them, but win the world back onto a path of adherence to international law, collective decisions, the importance of international organizations, cooperation, true cultural exchange and a recognition of social and economic injustice and inequity and an endeavour to take steps to overcome these, more and more.

 

That is the real alternative. Only that we no longer believe in alternatives.

 

“Another world is possible” says Attac via a small sticker brought onto walls, and we walking by smile for a second, before doubt and disbelief set in. We no longer have trust in change and alternatives, fearing perhaps that in order to bring this about, we may have to lose some privileges ourselves. We are no longer willing to risk anything and want only to gain more.

 

But alternatives can not be sought by a generation afraid of risks, a generation that is its own barrier to a different world. Not a generation too happy to wish for change, but one disheartened and disbelieving, too afraid to be different in any truly substantial manner.

 

We must change that, in ourselves, to be able to change the first. Therefore Confidence Building ², as the new framework of Think Peace.

 

On the international level, we support a just, developing and conscious peace – not void of confrontation, but rather going beyond military solutions towards building confidence by cooperative deeds.

 

On the personal level, we shall seek to build confidence in our generation , in thought, a quality of reflection attempting solutions, cultural identification as well as diversity, an adherence to humane values and  the fact that as change is inevitable, change towards a better world is also possible, if only we believe and attempt it.

 

Thus, all our further steps and actions will be within such a framework.