You personally must engage in demanding it.

In our increasingly tense world, why should  all our governments have “Ministers for Defence”, perhaps even for “War”, but not for “Peace”? It does not make sense, does it? Peace is the matter of prime importance for the well-being of people everywhere in the world. The horrible pictures of homes destroyed by bombs and drones tell us that without peace everything suddenly falls apart. As the global news tell us, it can happen to all of us, from one day to the next.

So, can you imagine 193 global “Peace Ministers” from each nation – 193 is the current number of member states in the United Nations – to proactively work together to create and maintain peace in the world?  They would be wisest people picked from each nation. They would check what the ultimate interests of people and nations are and how these interests can be balanced, so that instead of war, destruction, and suffering, peace and cooperation are created.

Presently much of the world talks about considerably upgrading their military investments. But, given the predominant importance of peace for our well-being, why not also double our efforts to create and maintain peace? Having 193 wise people in the world working for peace would costs us only very little money in comparison to all the billions of expenditures for military equipment, but it would be of extreme value for humanity, for everyone on earth. Presently the world is becoming increasingly tense. Having “Peace Ministers” from all over the world working for global peace will change our focus, it is likely to make this world a far better place.

The key issue is: Without you, without all of us engaging and jointly putting this demand forward, it will not happen.

So, if you want peace in the world, you must now take action. You must join forces with all people devastated about the tension, the wars, and conflicts in the world. Why not talk to your friends and colleagues, why not demand and, if necessary, protest for the creation of the position of a “Peace Minister”, or more precisely perhaps, a “Minister for Peace and Cooperation”, in your nation? Peace in the world depends on you, on all of us taking joint action.

The world clearly should have 193 Peace Ministers, shouldn’t it?

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According to the great American president Abraham Lincoln democracy is  “government of, by, and for the people”. (He exhorted us not to let democracy die to honour the many fallen for democracy and for our own sake.)

If we start from this fundamental definition, then the question posing itself and which we must answer is, what the exact purpose of this system of “government by the people” should or must be?

If we assume (we need to discuss and agree on this) that the prime purpose of the democratic political system is to support the well-being of the people, next to the second goal of maintaining our societies and our world in a sound state for future generations, then a systematic analysis of the factors affecting our wellbeing makes clear that not only the ability to defend ourselves is important for our well-being. “Creating and preserving peace” rather is a far more crucial, a central precondition for the well-being of everyone on earth. There can be no well-being at all without peace.

But amazingly, despite this crucial role of peace for the world and for the well-being of people, so far most governments on earth have a “Defence Minister”. But that does not help us much.  As we now see, when those drones start flying above our homes at night and bombing our homes, then it is too late, our well-being is finished. To preserve our well-being, our efforts must start far earlier. It is far more useful and sensible to proactively engage in creating and maintaining peace than simply spending (or wasting) 5% of all our public income on weapons. After all, our resources are already scarce, the money we are spending on military equipment around the world is so desperately needed for other purposes, such as social support or for maintaining our planet. Ultimately, the Bible has a reason, when it calls for “beating swords into plowshares”. This is plainly far more sensible for ensuring human well-being then to pour scarce resources into weapons. Certainly, we may have to be able to defend ourselves, but our prime focus must clearly be on creating and maintaining peace.

So, on the situation in Palestine: Let us assume we have Peace Ministers from all nations jointly investigating together with the Peace Ministers of Israel, of Palestine, Iran, and neighbouring Arab nations, how to create peace in Israel and the Palestinian people. Basically, the Ministers could start their endeavours within four weeks’ time.  (It does not take longer to find the wisest people in our societies and to appoint them for the task, does it? It is a matter of the highest degree of urgency.)

What could those Peace Ministers achieve?

The crucial thing they would realise is that it really does not make sense at all for two nations and other nations involved, to be at war for seven decades, to keep killing each other, to keep destroying resources, homes and towns, and to spend billions if not a trillion on weapons. Had these funds been spent over the decades on building two co-operative and friendly nations, then life for the people both in Israel and Palestine would be utterly better. The Peace Ministers would also make it clear that humanity cannot afford such conflicts at all in our world when we are apparently in the process of destroying the earth as we know it. For humanity to lead wars in this critical situation is utter madness.

The Peace Ministers would, therefore, now help to finally create peace in Palestine and initiate what should have started seventy or so years ago, the building of two neighbourly and cooperative nations. They would convince the Arab nations that the Jewish people needed a refuge after six million were killed during WWII, that, as we all know, the Jewish people have a historical connection to the area, and that there is enough space to build two neighbouring nations. They would finally point out that making space for others, when it is available, is a matter of good will and that Islam, like other religions as well calls the believers to help their “neighbours”. For the sake of the people in Palestine and for the sake of humanity, it is now high time to finally create a peaceful and co-operative situation in Palestine.

What could the Peace Ministers do for creating peace in Ukraine?

First, if all nations supporting Ukraine would appoint Peace Ministers offering to investigate and to negotiate options for creating peace in Ukraine that would make a significant public statement about the constructive intentions of the West.

The measure would set Russia under pressure to follow suit and to appoint a Peace Minister too. So far, the motivation of president Putin to lead war in Ukraine appears largely incomprehensible. What really are the interests of Russia and its people? And how can we do them justice? The Peace Minister would make the goals of all parties and the options for arriving at a peaceful cooperative arrangement publicly visible and engage the people in the process of creating peace and cooperation.

As it appears, also in Ukraine, leading war does not make sense at all, it kills people and destroys resources, it substantially compromises the well-being of people not only in Ukraine but also in Russia. Ultimately leading a war in Ukraine is a crime against humanity in a time when humanity needs to use all resources it has only available for stopping Climate Change and the destruction of the planet as we know it. Instead of leading wars, we humanity must work together with the highest degree of urgency and use all resources available on earth with the greatest degree of effectiveness and efficiency to protect the planet.

All over the world, the Peace Ministers the Peace Ministers would analyse the factors driving conflicts and, together with the people, search for solutions. For all people in the world, the Peace Ministers would create a different focus in the world, away from all the bad news about conflicts and wars, to something positive, to humanity thinking about how we can live together in peace and taking the required steps. 

Yes, ultimately, we and our nations may have to be ready to defend ourselves. But the more we  focus on creating and maintaining peace, the better for us. The less need will there be for wasting global resources on military equipment. This shift in priority must be reflected in the fact that all governments in our nations make both, “creating and maintaining peace” the prime concern of their foreign policy, and that each government now appoints a highly respectable personality ideally from outside of established politics as their “Peace Minister”.

Ultimately, as Lincoln declares,  democracy is government by us, the people. This means that every citizen, we all jointly, you personally, must now ensure our governments now appoint a, in the official title, peace and cooperation are tightly connected, “Minister for Peace and Cooperation”.

So, if you want to preserve, or to create and maintain, a peaceful and cooperative world, send letters to your government. Join in peace protests demanding that your government makes a wise person of proven integrity and standing a “Minister for Peace and Cooperation”.

Not only peace in the world, but its entire existence depends on you taking the necessary action for your government to appoint a Minister for Peace and Cooperation.