As I was walking home with a friend from Zaire the other day, I told him that Africa should not look to Europe when it comes to peace. Europeans know nothing of peace. The only reason we’ve had peace for so long now is because we spent the previous thousand years killing each other – that’s why there is so little ethnic or religious strife in Europe. In those parts where there *is* ethnic or religious strife, we’ve not really managed to solve the problem (Basque country, North Ireland, Yugoslavia). In fact, I said, the only thing we Europeans do well is trade and war (”la seule chose qu’on sait faire bien, c’est le commerce et la guerre”).
Think about it.
There is so much we *all* have to learn about making peace and keeping the peace... The last sixty years of peace in Europe are not due to our peacefulness or our wisdom, they are due to our greed, and our fear, and our awe-inspiring death-power. And while we were sitting there like ducks in the shadow of the iron curtain we built, we did what we do best: Trade and war in the rest of the world.
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Yes. Is there any country or civilization where peace was a fundamental basis before end of the twenty century ? I don’t know. But it seems there is something closely linked between exchange, communication (often due to trade reason but not always) and peace. Is peace a result of better communications mechanisms and so a better understanding of people and culture ? Maybe. What is the advice to promote peace ? being open to others culture can be a start to promote peace. Maybe I’m fully wrong but trying something is better than doing nothing. Just my small comment...
– adulau 2005-04-23 10:07 UTC
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I’m reading the history of Modern Japan and was astonished to note that during the Tokugawa period, Japan had basically 250 years of peace. I think the last time we has such a long period of peace in Europe was the Pax Augusta... (See the first three chapters of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
– Alex Schroeder 2005-04-23 11:56 UTC