What Happens After Wars?

 Wise decision making does not need data from another war. Human history already has enough data about the positive and negative results of wars to make additional surveys unnecessary. Marathon runners race 26 miles in the Olympics, because the Greeks defeated the Persians in 490 B.C. But no battle is responsible for Olympic figure skating.

     Clearly, wars have resulted in: disarmament, unemployed military personnel and weapon designers and manufacturers, collective security, land grabs and new borders, displaced populations, inflation, economic collapse, new financing for rebuilding, foreign aid, competing ideologies, independence and self determination for ethnic populations, release of prisoners, and medical advances. The question is: could positive outcomes from wars be achieved without bloodshed?

     Students attend Model UN meetings to discuss current world problems, and each year the Foreign Policy Association (fpa.org) prepares a Great Decisions Briefing Book and DVD to guide group discussions and provide topics for student essays. There also could be summits where students decide what wartime achievements could be gained without wars. (In 2019, the Great Decisions' discussion topics include: nuclear negotiations, cyberwarfare, U.S.-China trade and U.S.-Mexican relations, regional conflict in the Middle East, refugees/migration, European populism.)

     The challenge is to find out how similar subjects have been handled successfully after past wars. Has there ever been a way to incorporate a country's former rebel and military leaders into a productive government? Or could the Kurds who now live in Iraq, Turkey, and Syria break away peacefully and form their own country the way the Czech Republic (Czechia in English) and Slovakia did? Instead, as U.S. troops began pulling out of Syria, President Trump has called on Turkey's government, which is responsible for harsh treatment of its Kurds, to protect the Kurds the U.S. troops fought with in Syria, a questionable idea.

   

Modern Deterrents

Watching today's young Japanese students push their desks to the side of the room and hide under them, as teachers pull shades over the windows to deflect flying glass, only reminds us this was a procedure that couldn't protect populations from nuclear attacks in the 1950s. Strategies designed to protect a retaliatory second strike weapon system after an initial surprise bombing in the 1960s are out-of-date as well.

     Nuclear-equipped enemies in the 21st century include minor nations and possible terrorist groups that have nothing to lose. Major players have cyber soldiers that don't move on their stomachs. They keep coming without food or sleep. Not only nuclear fallout can contaminate an environment, but climate change and asteroid collisions with Earth also threaten the world's food supply.

     We are seeing people taking survival into their own hands. One of the characters on "Orange is the New Black" represents those families who prepare their own caves with guns and a stockpile of food and water. Refugees already begin walking or taking to the sea in leaking boats and rafts to escape war-torn areas. Farmers are developing cross-breeding for livestock and hydroponic and aquaponic growing methods to produce food in new ways.

     Computer hacking and nanotechnology offer new defensive options for compromising the performance of all sorts of enemy systems. Enemies know how each others guidance systems work. Besides shooting nuclear ICBMs out of the sky and scattering radioactive particles over the Earth, redirecting ICBMs (and any enemy weapons) to strike whoever launched them has the potential to transform MAD (mutually assured destruction) into SAD (self assured destruction) and cause the most fearsome tyrant to try to scamper for a submarine.

     Programmers already send drones to destroy targets as small as individuals. There are "Hurt Locker" experts who disable bombs on land. Could drones disable nuclear missiles in space? In films, astronauts also keep asteroids from hitting Earth, and furry little forest creatures cause oncoming cyber soldiers to crash by tangling their legs in vines. Meanwhile, high-tech Star Wars airmen penetrate fortresses through air supply vents.

      In the past, shields have blocked arrows, gun powder reduced castle walls to rubble, tanks swept around the Maginot Line, and an armada of fishing boats rescued an army, while prayer and repentance saved Nineveh from destruction. Alliances change from century to century, but the darkness of night, fog, snow, and a blinding sunrise still have the power to deter an effective military response.

     The wise expect an unending race between offense and defense and use their smarts to triumph.

A Fork in the Road to the Future

How should children be prepared to handle the next 70 or 80 years of their lives? Or 40-year-olds to handle their next 40 years?

The trendwatching.com site, that has spotters all over the world, found people have looked at current conditions:

• immigration
• refugee crisis
• job automation
• depressed wages
• uneven recovery
• generational divide
• racial divide
• fear of terrorism

and sorted themselves into two groups:

• Global citizens open to an interconnected world, where people learn to understand their changing relationships to neighborhoods, cities, and nations
• Nation nurturers who seek comfort in the familiar

Dealing with change, especially rapid change, is not easy. It is understandable that some want to wall themselves off from foreigners; to pretend technology is going to slow down and manufacturing jobs, as we have known them, are going to return; to listen only to broadcasts that agree with them; and to cling to traditional families where a man works and an uneducated woman stays at home with the children.  But you only need look at one example of the future -  shopping malls and stores empty of consumers of all kinds who have switched over to ordering their needs and wants online - to see change is impossible to escape. (Could these empty stores be converted to on-going world fairs where "shoppers" could go to experience and learn new technologies?)

Like it or not, children are going to live in a world of global citizens. Parents and teachers need to prepare to help them feel at home there. 

UN Secretary-General Nominee

Although seven of the 13 candidates for UN Secretary-General were women, Security Council members recommended the General Assembly elect Antonio Guterres, Portugal's former prime minister and a devout Catholic, for the position (See the earlier blog post, "Front-Runners for UN Secretary-General.").

     Guterres served as the UN's High Commissioner of Refugees from June, 2005 to December, 2015. In his campaign-like speech to the General Assembly, he said the UN is "the best place to address the root cause of human suffering." Should he assume the five-year term of Secretary-General on January 1, 2017, he will take on the difficult task of uniting members, including Russia, to end human suffering in Syria.

Clothes: A Platform to Address Global Issues

Sure, clothes are a platform to advertise brands. Interlocking "C"s say Chanel, and red soles mark Louboutin stiletto heels.

     Angela Luna, a student at famed Parsons School of Design in New York, realized clothes were a platform that could do more. Like the peasant dresses and flowered hair wreathes that contrasted peace with war in the Vietnam era, she began designing the clothes today's war refugees need in order to carry their homes on their backs.

     Luna created a line of seven, unisex, one-size-fits-all ponchos and jackets that convert into tents, sleeping bags, flotation devices, and baby carriers. (You can see her designs at ecouterre.com.) Her clothes are versatile, durable, and waterproof. Reflective on one side, jackets and baby carriers provide visibility at night and turn inside out to blend in for daytime wear. Being a design student, Luna added contrasting tapes and as much styling as possible to her functional clothing.

     Citing the TOMS shoe program that lets everyone know that, if you are wearing a pair of TOMS shoes, you have helped give a pair of new shoes to a needy child, Luna sees clothes as an unexpected platform to start a discussion about global issues. Seeing a little girl wearing a stylish jacket made out of white faux fur can remind others lots of bunnies have been saved. How can more clothes start a discussion?

Humor Paves the Way for Refugees

     Transplanted from Syria to Germany, Firas Alshater is a humorous YouTube sensation who has attracted about 2.5 million views. Standing blindfolded on a Berlin street corner, it took an hour and a half for a German to respond to his sign asking for a hug. No worries. He said integration will work; it just takes a bit more time.

     Actually, Firas explained that you can teach yourself to hate anything, even an adorable kitty.

     He showed a dog and cat who had a language problem. When the dog wagged its tail, the cat thought it wanted to fight. When the cat purred, the dog expected a fight.

     On the other hand, Firas showed how a heavily tattooed, right wing protester couldn't help but shake hands with a cute refugee baby in Dresden.

     In Syria, Firas Alshater made films unless, as he reports, he was in prison for making films. Hounded by the Assad regime and Isis, he moved to Germany to work for the Filmbit production company two and a half years ago and decided to stay where he was welcome.