The qualities of a Peacemaker.

realitykeeper

To be effective as a peacemaker - John Hume needed to be persistent and crucially he had to be willing to talk. This willingness to talk and reason with terrorists may seem obvious but the Thatcher government were dead set against it and for a time so too was the Irish government. They certainly were not prepared to admit that negotiations were taking place.

Thanks to Hitler, modern day politicians seem unwilling to trust each other, particularly when the matter at hand pertains to war or peace. This is a pity because Hitler was more an exception than the norm. People (including politicians) tend to have basic standards below which they rarely if ever sink. Gorbachev broke the mold in this respect in that he won the trust of the Reagan administration and so began a period of goodwill and co-operation between Russia and the United States. Unfortunately, Bill Clinton was not cut out to be a diplomat and he frequently taunted Boris Yeltsin. Clinton was great in helping others in matters of peacemaking but he lacked the ability to practice what he preached.

Conventional wisdom these days is that trust is for the gullible and the naive. However, where trust can be established good fortune tends to follow. Apart from persistence and the willingness to talk and trust - there is another rare quality which the greatest peacemakers have. That quality is humility.

Pride being the opposite to humility frequently prevents negotiators from apologizing for past wrongs. When Pope John Paul II apologized to Muslims and Jews for the crusades he not only helped the cause of peace but he also banished the myth of Papal infallibility for all time. After all, how can one Pope apologies for the decision of another if all popes are infallible.

When the Cold war ended and the Berlin wall came down along with various Communist regimes in Eastern Europe and Russia - it seemed for a while that the world was finally at peace and all would be well in a glorious new age of friendship and co-operation. That opportunity was squandered because of latent animosities, pride and mistrust among US politicians toward Russia.

Looking at the US and Europe today, I sometimes wonder where it all went wrong. Reagan`s challenge to Gorbachev to knock down the Berlin wall was met. Today, Russia is thriving and the west is in decline. In summary, trust, humility etc ought to be for life and not just for Nuclear de-proliferation negotiations.

edward2222

realitykeeper wrote: »

Looking at the US and Europe today, I sometimes wonder where it all went wrong.

Its not about if where it all went wrong, its about on
when do they learn?

This people never learn in their mistakes, its sad to say that
history repeats it self because of them.