Rise For Peace

As I close my eyes and drift away to a land where there is love, health, peace and blessings. I wanted to take the time to think and reflect.

     The truth is that I have been taking the time to think about my previous thoughts, where I left off posing a question. Is Barbarism what we have to resort to? This is a question that I have asked many times, knowing the answer myself - I would never want the cycle of violence to continue. With the continuous tensions with North Korea, I began to wonder why China would think to build a relationship with North Korea when their values of spiritual, intellectual, and economic growth were tied to a peaceful rise of China. North Korea's recent displays absolutely contradict the values that China supposedly has invested in because of the recent hard power displays that we are seeing.

     Then I began to wonder maybe China wants to use North Korea for protection, or as a mechanism for their defence? We can never truly know what the goals of other nations are, but we can try to facilitate the building of good, flourishing, relationships that seek peace, value for life, and Economic prosperity. However, other nations have responsibilities to adhere to agreements, build and maintain trust, with other nations that help them. So if China wants to build a relationship with North Korea, it is obvious that this will cause tensions with the United States, and also other countries that the U. S. has built strong relationships with.

     This is when I began playing connect the dots within my own thinking. I wondered if China has built effective relationships with Africa, with the offering of assistance and high level attention, then a relationship with North Korea could affect the relationship with Africa. If China is linked to Australia through exchanges, education, and trade, and the U. S. is linked to Australia and to the U. K., then again a relationship with North Korea will affect relationships with U. S., U. K., and Australia. Then once again I began to think about Africa. If Africa has historical ties to France, and if China is connected to North Korea, then this too will also affect the relationships with other nations as well. 

Mind Mapping - Connect The Dots.

After making all these connections within my own thoughts, I arrived at the conclusion that North Korea's threats are actually a waste of time. If China does decide to engage with North Korea, then they would risk the relationships with all of the other countries that I have mentioned. I am sure there are other countries as well, that could potentially be affected. 

Hard power defence or the powers that are being shown off by North Korea, to me are actually barbaric. It alerts me, and alarms me because the future of our children, and grand - children is at stake. We don't want war, nor do we want these types of continuous threats. Why would anyone want continuous destruction of lands and people? It does not make sense to us.

     This is why we must engage in diplomacy and knowledge intelligently, to curb this kind of violence. This is not only the responsibility of the United States of America - It is the responsibility of every intelligent thinking nation. There was a time when  weaponry, arms and military was at the forefront of defence.   However, we are seeing times when humans are becoming more intelligent, because of information accessibility. Knowledge is being maneuvered not only for intelligence, but also for harm, when we see terrorist groups using tech for their own political gains.

     Soft power can be in the form of knowledge mobility for the purposes of diplomacy and exposure. The exposures reveal truths, which can be viewed as attacks. This is why we are still seeing attacks through weaponry responses, or deaths. It is quite ironic that the truth is met with attacks, but again how would groups survive if they weren't exposed? The exposures is what they fear. 

     I think that there is a great potential for information and knowledge maneuvered for diplomacy. The love of a nation also means to own flaws, identify areas of improvements. During the Presidency of George Bush, there was a large growth, and displays of military forces, when we saw the war in Iraq, and also the presence in Afghanistan. These were a direct response to the 9/11 terror attacks. On one side you can say that  President Bush was doing the best he could to protect his nation and allies from threats, and the attacks of 9/11. On the other side there is a potential conversation about the destruction that happened in Iraq, where there was bloodshed, and innocent civilians who died. What sides have in common is that there was destruction on both sides. So what have we learned? Are invasions, terror attacks and threats the answer?

Even though we cannot erase a past, keeping an attitude of hostility is actually not good, for the health of a nation. We can actually think at the level of the individual. If you are constantly angry, bitter, you can risk your health with heart disease, stroke etc. So how will hostility, anger, calculate at the level of the macro? These are important questions that have to be considered if we want to find meaningful healing from past hurts. We cannot erase wounds. We can heal and learn.

     Leaders need to hold conversations such as those at the G20 Summit. Ultimately leaders are concerned about the health, prosperity, and growth of their own nations, but these don't happen without relationships that have been cultivated, and carved with great care. I think that the recent meeting with President Trump and President Putin is something to feel hopeful about. At least they engaged in a conversation.
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Quote from G8 Nations

Dedication: The words of this being are dedicated to the worlds children and grand - children, rise with hope and peace. My thoughts to share with love & kindness! :) 

Notes: These thoughts are originally hand - written on July 11th 2017.

Image 1 - Web Link
Image 2 - Mind Map
Image 3 - Web Link
Image 4 - Personal Collection