Leaders pour la paix

Jean-Pierre RAFFARIN

President of LEADERS POUR LA PAIX

In these times of global turbulence, my thoughts turn to you and our shared passion – world peace.
Violence is everywhere, yet we did not expect to be struck by an invisible weapon and plunged into grief.
All the ingredients of war are there: fear and courage, anxiety and recklessness, opportunity and misfortune, healthcare heroes and black-marketeers, solidarity and controversy, and, on an international level, alliances and lockdowns…

Suffering is intangible.

But two things are certain: we must be more mindful of nature’s wrath as well as of the progress of science.

Fortunately, as is always the case in periods of anguish and uncertainty, human relationships are strengthened, family ties are reinforced, the basic essentials take a front row seat again, even in sorrow.

Our struggle for a new multilateralism is now also justified, because scientific, medical and humanitarian cooperation between the nations serves as a beacon of hope. The solidarity between scientists in this war should give politicians pause for thought.

Straining for peace

Threats abound and challenges are growing. Forces and the forms they take are changing, alliances and methods are shifting, yet one thing remains constant: Risks are increasing. The great nations are at war but are living in peace. War is being waged against everything – unemployment, the climate, pollution, corruption and even violence. The banalisation of the word clouds our judgement of its reality.

Our emotional response to the many crises is fierce, but we make little use of reason and we are often caught off guard. Our ability to anticipate remains weak. It has become apparent that any awakening was due to increased public awareness of the seriousness of our situation. The spirit of peace is only possible if there is an awareness of war. As shown by Ambassador Pierre Vimont in this general report, this weakness has less to do with the analyses than with efficiency. Our methods have barely changed and our solutions are focused on the immediate future and are often not thought through. These days, we need innovation not only in understanding things but above all in managing emerging crises, so that we can introduce new solutions. For example, we can measure the inadequacy of the use of sanctions on the scale of the international balance of power. We must restore dialogue in conflict. The aim is not to radicalise the enemy. The continuation of bilateral procedures undermines the achievements of multilateralism. Manicheism and complexity advance on the weaknesses of multilateral institutions, revealing the need for reforms. These are the findings behind the establishment of our NGO, “Leaders pour la Paix”. Indeed, we believed it necessary to commit to a collective approach based on three ambitions:

– To promote awareness of the seriousness of the global situation by educating the public about crises

– To encourage innovative approaches to rethink peace and its methods

– To choose a strategy to influence global players

To do this, we, a group of 25 figures with experience in international relations and knowledge of public opinion, joined together to support this project.
We do not presume to resolve conflicts and we are not so arrogant as to think our experience is superior – we are simply searching, together, for new ways to achieve peace. Our rationale is not event-driven, but contributory. Each year, we publish a report and publicise its content.

The spirit of peace that we wish to promote is neither a utopia nor a resignation. Our experience has taught us resistance and insight. We reject the spirit of Munich just as we rule out the dream of eternal peace. In this world where information reigns, have we done enough to achieve peace?

Today, it seems that the thinking on this subject is lagging behind. We are looking for fresh ideas, in touch with reality – our thinking will always, as is the case in this report, hinge on real, emerging crises. And because we know, because we see that peace never takes hold by itself, our view coincides with Montesquieu’s notion of “straining for peace”, quoted by Jean Claude Carrière: “We call peace this straining of all against all” (1). This notion is our project.