A Model, A Possible Template for Peace Negotiations Around the World

Article Title: A Model, A Possible Template for Peace Negotiations Around the World
Author Name: Craig Lock
Category (key words): “Inspiration”, peace, negotiation, peace negotiations, peace strategy, leadership, South Africa, inspirational writings.
Web Sites: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/craiglock (ebooks) www.creativekiwis.com/index.php/books/74-craigs-books + www.lulu.com/craiglock

The submitter's blog (with extracts from his various writings: articles, books and new manuscripts) is at http://en.search.wordpress.com/?q=%22craig+lock%22 and http://craiglock.wordpress.com

Other Articles are available at:
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/user/15565 and http://www.ideamarketers.com/library/profile.cfm?writerid=981
(Personal growth, self help, writing, internet marketing, spiritual, 'spiritual writings' (how 'airey-fairey'), words of inspiration and money management, how boring now, craig)
Publishing Guidelines:

This piece may be freely reproduced electronically or in print. All my articles (and quotations) may be freely published. If they help at all, or make any difference in people’s lives by bringing some joy, then I’m very happy.

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A MODEL, A STRATEGY, A POSSIBLE TEMPLATE FOR PEACE NEGOTIATIONS AROUND THE GLOBE

Out of a violent and bloody past, South Africa’s extraordinary relatively peaceful transition to democracy was a minor “miracle”…

“South Africa’s ability to overcome deep divisions, to negotiate a common future and to commit itself to reconciliation and reconstruction offers new hope – not only to South Africa, but across the globe.”

"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask 'why'? I dream of things that never were, and ask 'why not'?"

~Robert F. Kennedy

"Few (of us) will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man (or woman) stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, (she or) he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
— the powerful and greatly inspiring words of Robert F. Kennedy (with my little insertions in brackets)

A MODEL, A STRATEGY FOR PEACE

Some thoughts and reflections…

Contemplating the road that my country, South Africa took, here are a few personal thoughts on A MODEL, A STRATEGY FOR PEACE (or at least a more peaceful world) … and a possible road map ahead in the “trouble spots” around the globe.

There HAS to be another, a better way than the past in other conflict-riddled countries! Diplomatic, economic and international pressure (as long as it is united), I truly believe, IS the way to resolve nearly all conflicts and can work wonders. The path to peace, I believe starts with the moral WILL to effect change towards working towards a more peaceful and prosperous future…no matter the country. And (can I begin a sentence with an ‘and’?) this PROCESS comes about little by little through coaxing at times, encouragement at other times through economic rewards, effective and consistent pressure (it can be threats – the “carrot and stick” approach), “bargaining” and most importantly, negotiation. Yes, even talking with “perceived enemies”.

So WHAT to DO?

* An initial contact and approach between adversaries (usually in secret)

* This then slowly opens channels (lines) of communication, leading to gradual acceptance by ‘ordinary’ people in “opressed, occupied and war-torn” countries.

* Use a multi-pronged approach (diverse) with many pressure points. “The “carrot and stick” approach, emphasising benefits, especially economic aid as positive reinforcement, rather than sanctions (largely ineffective as despots just “dig in” in the face of threats)… which leads to more stability. In time, the “scatter-gun” approach of ‘constructive engagement’ will naturally become way more FOCUSED.

* Leaders should see the peace process as an ongoing work in progress. Move negotiations forward in little steps through finding areas of consensus and developing these. TRY really hard!

* Even though there will inevitably be serious differences in position, work hard on narrowing these differences. In doing so a momentum to negotiations will be created. Then slowly, day by day, diligently working on the process of getting to see former adversaries and political rivals as human beings and not as terrorists on one side and “gangsters and brutal opressors” (and perhaps even the “devil”) on the other side. In so doing negotiators affirm another person’s shared HUMANITY.

* Make a commitment to your adversary to not go back in dealings. Make firm resolutions to move forward.

* Absolute COMMITMENT by ALL parties to the process of NEGOTIATION… which in due course will lead to a successful outcome… a “win-win” solution.

* Negotiating and resolving conflict takes HARD work. What is required is great effort, creativity and most importantly, IMAGINATION in solving seemingly impossible problems. Was it Einstein who once said that “imagination is more important than knowledge”? Also big doses of FLEXIBILITY and BOLDNESS. Risks have to be considered and taken…. so be brave in the face of uncertainty.

NB: Have hope, great and high, that the process WILL ultimately bear positive results and be successful to ALL parties. And so benefit ordinary citizens, as peace inevitably brings prosperity.

To end off, back to South Africa for a few concluding thoughts…

Those negotiations birthed in the distant past leading relatively peacefully to a New Democratic South Africa are more than history; they are really relevant today. Because those early contacts between former enemies in the ‘beloved country’ have perhaps formed a ‘trail-blazing and imaginative template’: for these kind of talks and negotiations to provide SOLUTIONS to endemic conflicts around the globe. With fortititude, resolve and especially the political and moral WILL by our leaders, the world WILL slowly become a more peaceful and better place for ALL of us.

Craig Lock ("just another arm-chair warrior, writing for a better and more peaceful world ")

Authors Note:

The above extract is from a new manuscript on which Craig Lock is currently “working” (or rather it’s “writing itself”). It is based on some true and inspiring tales of the indomitable human spirit, that lies within each one of us – stories of ‘Endless Possibilities, Far and Great Horizons’. The central theme of this new manuscript is the “ever-present great thought”… that somewhere “out there”, somehow in the future there exist endless possibilities. The ideal, the vision, the dream, is to usher in a new age to bring some more peace to a world “hell-bent” on destruction. This “story” can be read at different levels from the personal, to a national, international or “spiritual” perspective (“go as deep as you want”). And there are NO limitations to what we human beings can achieve, if we truly know WHERE we want to be. There IS a “spiritual solution” to every problem on earth.

“The greatness of a nation consists not so much in the number of it’s people or the extent of it’s territory as in the extent and justice of it’s compassion.”

- Inscription at the Horse Memorial in Port Elizabeth, for horses killed in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902).

PS

I am reminded of something Dr Martin Luther King, jnr said not long before he was assassinated:

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible; but in the end, they always fall. Think of it, ALWAYS.”

“Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. And now abide faith, hope, love; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13)

“There is only one thing that has power completely, and that is love. Because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power. Only strive for power, if it is not at the cost of other people. Power corrupts. You first have to be pure and righteous, before one can attain power. I believe that love is a greater force than power.”

- Alan Paton, great South African humanitarian and author of the classic ‘Cry the Beloved Country'

“The measure of love is to love without measure.” ~ Saint Augustine

“When the world is filled with love, people’s hearts are overflowing with hope.” – craig

“YOU be the change you wish to see in others. Then in changing YOUR world you help change THE world... for the better”

THESE THOUGHTS MAY BE FREELY PUBLISHED

"Change can only happen when you (negotiators) are first able to get into the heads, then begin to change the hearts and minds of those who oppose you."

"Leaders of countries (and the world) must first understand that reconciliation, real genuine reconciliation cannot merely be a 'feel good' concept; but will only be achieved by an orderly, perhaps even at times a gradual process of social and economic transformation... steadily and with the right motives, the highest moral will and in a spirit of utmost integrity - one of moving towards the ultimate goal. And only by following this path will eradicate disparities between diverse segments of societies and so ensure a lasting and smooth reconciliation of conflicts around the globe."

- craig (as inspired by the words of South African,`JD Allende (former Provincial Chairman of the ANC Youth League and NEC member