Solutions for a Safer and More Equitable World

A World of Fear

None of us want to see people dying or being injured in senseless conflicts or in terrorist attacks. It is painful to see children dying in Africa because of genocide, starvation or epidemics. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is also alarming. People are becoming so fearful that they hide their heads in the sand seeking escape, hoping that these problems go away. They won’t if we ignore them or leave them up to people who are not effective at solving them.

 Many have become cynical and resigned. Fearful, misinformed and ineffective foreign policymakers end up seeking violence-based solutions when their attempts at diplomacy fail. Many are hoping that our next President will have the answers we need. There is more hope in that than practical reality. Electing someone does not make them a peacemaker or grounded in relating.

Effective Communication is Missing

Most of the international challenges we face can be eliminated through effective foreign policies and diplomacy. However, diplomacy must reflect an understanding of human behavior. Diplomats and foreign policymakers must be grounded in relating and in communicating. This is rare. Coercion, threats and demands are not diplomatic. They thwart cooperation. Greater self-awareness and greater responsibility is desperately needed. We need to face up to our past mistakes especially when they have produced longstanding resentment.

 What has been missing is taking responsibility for our actions, communicating on the same channel, negotiating with respect, individual and national self-scrutiny, cleaning up past misconduct, magnanimity, real understanding. Diplomacy often fails because it simply isn’t diplomatic.

Core Principles to Source Breakthroughs in Foreign Relations:

• The effectiveness of foreign policies to elicit cooperation to resolve and prevent conflicts reflects the relating and communicating limitations of those who formulate them.
•  Peace agreements that repeatedly fail or which are not kept, bypass fundamental principles of relating. Trying to negotiate effectively without creating a grounded, workable relationship first, is like trying to build a house on quicksand.
• The first step in creating a grounded, workable relationship is to eliminate resentment. The most expeditious way to do this is through unilateral responsibility, having the willingness and magnanimity to say, publicly:

“We admit we have done things that have caused hostility and great harm to your government and people. We are deeply sorry for all these things and will take all the measures necessary to make amends to those harmed. We do not hold you responsible for anything.”

 Some people might be thinking, “How can such a process be implemented given the way our leaders act and think? They don’t even know how to get along with their friends, let alone their enemies. They want to dominate and control everyone and think it’s smart to act tough!”

 New Possibilites of Relating on the World Stage

However, we at OIC know that there are short and powerful communication programs available in the human potential field that can fundamentally alter how people think and relate with one another. They would work for absolutely any leader or negotiator who was committed to their use. Some may ask, “What would motivate a government leader to take this process on?” The answer is that any leader who really cares about the fate of his/her people and who comes to recognize that his/her latent capabilities may hold the key to cooperation success will pursue this course. It will take great courage, self-scrutiny, magnanimity and responsibility.

Through a dramatic expansion of relating effectiveness and through owning responsibility for harm done, new possibilities can arise.

Arnold Keiser is President of the Organization for International Cooperation. You can reach Arnie at: ak@oicworldpeace.org. phone: 856-596-6679.  www.oicworldpeace.org.