Category: musings

Trust, Diplomacy, and Iran

by xela

Early in the morning, news trickled in that an agreement was reached in the extended P5+1 negotiations with Iran regarding Iran’s nuclear program. I’m no expert on political science, but I’ve long had a penchant for following the evolving world order and the recent climax of this diplomatic effort on Iran has been particularly intriguing.

The details of the full accord haven’t been released yet, but basic information suggests that with the sunset date of the major provision of the deal, the orientation of the deal is clear: the hope is to have Iran, become a normalized sovereign state in international relations, entrusted to uphold the principles of nuclear non-proliferation, like everyone else. Current moderate leadership of Iran seems to be embracing that reality, and suggesting that they can live with it. This is an encouraging sign, hopefully, that trust can be earned. I also find it highly encouraging that the Iranian leadership is publicly giving overtures of peace and reconciliation, and flat out denying that WMDs are an objective (so now we can point to Twitter and say he said it in writing):

Overall, this seems to be a win for the international order and NPT, while extending Iran a gesture of good faith toward its acceptance of nuclear non-proliferation and eventual normalization of diplomatic relations with the world community. Of course, the predictable opponents of the deal have condemned the agreement, and some have gone out of their way to declare their intent to derail it, but overall, the outcome, after years of negotiations is quite encouraging, at least when you compare the alternative that the more hawkish have been proposing for years. It’s worth remembering how far we’ve come since 2013 when the negotiations began.

Naturally, those favoring permanent zero-sum international politics and the hawkish side of the regional players are raising hell about the terms of such a deal. Indeed, it remains to be seen if the conditions improve where verification and trust can be established within the time frame allotted, but I certainly hope so, because the alternative is another generation of distrust, tension, and possibly conflict, which would be a huge waste of human capital. I hold the powers that be responsible for a holding a positive endgame and good faith effort to achieve it.

Each party’s leadership returned home with their positive take on the news, despite existing domestic opposition. Even if there is risk, the outlook of most parties is positive and that I take as encouraging. The disappointment in the outcome from the Israeli side is evident, though somewhat understandable, given Iran’s involvement in other issues in the region. Still, separating the nuclear issue from the sum of a nations foreign policy allows at least progress on this issue.

The world order remains in a state of general peace, with major powers all engaged in cooperative (even if reluctant) efforts at major crises. In this regard, the UN is made a key semi-non-partisan structure. This agreement sows the seeds for another once-adversary of the US to become another player of the international community. The 21st century world order continues to take form. Germany’s rise as a key diplomatic bridge between the US-UK-FR block and the RU-CN is indicative of how diplomacy and statecraft remain key components of international relations. Kudos to Ms. Merkel, however contentions she may be. Kudos to all players involved, however imperfect, an agreement of this scope is a job well done.

Now, it’s up to the nations’ leadership to carry that forward with good intentions.

From the Ashes of War… a Lasting Peace?

by xela

It’s May 9th 2015, around the world yesterday and today were commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II*, the most apocalyptic conflict the world has ever seen, and hopefully will ever see. It’s with an odd detachment that I reflect in this history while sipping a Starbucks frappuccino in Hawaii. For those of my generation, the world we live in is truly the product of our (great-)grandparents’ history, and seventy years seems such a short time ago for the transformation of everything.
(*In Europe, but for the sake of remembrance, let’s say WWII)

If anything gives us perspective into the relative insignificance our problems today, it should be the what the Greatest Generation endured through those few terrible years, which for the dwindling millions still alive today, remains a living memory, and for the rest of us, a foundation of our world we enjoy today. So powerful was the impact of that one terrible War that every single person that lived then and is alive today has been shaped by it and the world order that emerged from its ashes.

In middle school, our class had the privilege of being the audience to veterans of the War. This was in the spring of 2000, when an estimated 5 million US veterans remained alive, mostly in their 70s and 80s. I remember being told that we were very fortunate, as we may be the last generation of children privileged enough to meet and hear their stories first-hand. Recent statistics I’ve read suggest this is likely to be true, as 15 years later, fewer than 1 million vets remain, many in declining health. Still they gather, to remember what they can of a War that will soon become collective history.

Out of deference to the Greatest Generation, even with their first-hand accounts, I admit that I will never truly understand what it was like to live through this crazy period of our modern history, but it’s also with mixed feelings that I reflect on all that was destroyed and lost. How horrible is it that so-called civilized nations would take upon themselves as their national agenda to inflict such vast destruction on each other, drafting mere children, young men and women to slaughter each other and civilians by the millions across the lands of others. Why did this piece of history have to happen? And could it happen again?

Growing up in the United States, my perspective of the war was one where the Allies had no choice but to enter, with the US dragged in by the attack on Pearl Harbor, and fuelled by the just need to fight fascism of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Given the stakes, it can’t be disputed that it was a just, necessary war. But as I’ve grown up, I’ve taken a more balanced perspective from the eyes of a global citizen looking back at humanity’s collective history. The sheer scale of the conflict in aggregate eludes any sense of individual comprehension. That the powers of the so-called civilized world could allow, as national policy, the absolute carnage that was the slaughter of nearly 100 million men, women, and children–most of which had no care in the world of the ambitions of the war’s executioners–defies rational understanding.

As an adult, I’m left with the disturbing realization that even those executioners of the war were mere humans, like you or I–humans, acting out of some sense of purpose and necessity. The victims, were everyone else–all innocents–whether they were the kids drafted into the conflict of their national leaders, or even worse, the victims of ethnic hate and mechanized genocide, and the unthinkable suffering of peoples and families in lands that were laid in waste through the conflict.

We live in an age today where we can, and should, learn to take a global perspective of the War, where the pain and anguish caused to peoples across all nations should be remembered, as to prevent such horrors from ever again touching our common human history. This responsibility is on all of us, and in a world where more nations are democracies than ever before, we must hold our leaders accountable to ensure that the long peace since the War remains a lasting peace for us and our succeeding generations. With the weapons of war at our disposal today, this is an imperative for our survival as a civilization.

It is with this understanding that I have come to further appreciate the international order that came to rise from the ashes of the conflict, not least of which includes the United Nations. Founded in the tail end of the conflict, and remains to this day (albeit imperfect as it is) a body devoted to international peace, it is an incredible common achievement of nations, given the years of horrors that preceded it.

It is certainly an imperfect body, but given that no major power has gone to direct war with each other since it’s founding, I find its role highly successful given its initial goals. The founding document is the United Nations Charter, a sort of constitution if you will, encompassing a shared treaty of all member states, which today is basically all the countries of the world. If you’ve never read the preamble, I encourage you to do so, if anything, to understand the common will of peoples just emerging from the ashes of the greatest destruction that mankind has ever inflicted on itself. For the sake of the lazy, I’ve included the text below.

May we all become more enlightened of our common history, and our individual roles to protect the peace that cost so many millions of lives.

 

 

CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS

PREAMBLE

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

  • to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
  • to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
  • to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
  • to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

AND FOR THESE ENDS

  • to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
  • to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
  • to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
  • to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,

HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS

Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.

Signed, June 26th, 1945
Ratified, October 24, 1945