A Blog Post by Forest Whitaker on the Conflict in Ukraine
“Leaders need to move to peace.” These words by the UN Secretary-General have been with me ever since he pronounced them a few days after Russian troops stormed into Ukraine. In recent weeks, Ukraine has been under assault, which has reminded the world of a type of crisis we thought belonged to the history books. The cities of Ukraine are receiving insufferable bombings resulting in thousands of casualties among civilians, a level of violence that is forcing millions out of their homes. The bravery and resilience of Ukraine’s citizens has been extraordinary, and while it certainly brings some solace that many individuals and organizations from across the globe are expressing their sympathy for the victims, our growing feeling is that of fear. We fear for the peoples of Ukraine, but we also fear for ourselves — because of the existential threats this war presents to the world.
Millions and millions of us paused in angst when reference was made to atomic arsenals. No one can be immune from such fear: even those who believe – foolishly – that the battleground is far from their homes. The levels of physical and verbal violence that we are witnessing are not just threatening the courageous peoples of Ukraine; they are threatening every one of us. They signal that we are at risk of locking ourselves into a dangerous escalation, with mutual destruction in sight for the first time in decades. For this very reason, we need to have an immediate ceasefire. But we must also think of long term, sustainable peace – a peace that can only be based on dialogue.
It is always very difficult to champion peace and dialogue, and this is especially true while combat rages and innocent lives are wasted. Many people will, at this hour, label dialogue as ineffective, arguing that only shows of force can succeed. I am not surprised by such beliefs. Because I work in conflict-affected places where I promote ideals of peace and nonviolence, I constantly hear people say that dialogue cannot achieve much when violence rages — and further, that conflict is innate to humans. But, in fact, any serious peacemaker acknowledges that conflict is a basic fact of human life. Since people have different interests, competition and conflict are bound to happen. However, these peacemakers also know that conflict can take many forms — the most violent of which can often be avoided. Peacebuilding is fundamentally about preventing the escalation of conflict into even more violent and uncontrollable forms. We should always remind ourselves that the two world wars of the 20th century started precisely because local conflicts were escalated to a global level, even without our current atomic capabilities.
A decade ago, I founded WPDI because I believe that while conflict is an inescapable aspect of human life, everyone can be equipped with skills to prevent conflicts from becoming lethal. All year long, our teams in Mexico, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, and the United States teach conflict resolution to thousands of people, including children, adolescents, and adults, stressing that while conflict is part of lives, it doesn’t need to escalate to violence. In this light, the primary mission of our youth peacemakers is to create dialogue spaces for communities, armed groups, and clans that have been locked for years in deadly conflicts that have escalated to a point where no one knows exactly how the violence started in the first place. This is how we hope – and often succeed – to materialize values, attitudes, and behaviors conducive to a culture of addressing conflict through peaceful means — even in places that have been affected by violence for decades. I think that the responsibility of our leaders is not different; only they work on a different scale than the rest of us, albeit with the same duty to ensure that conflicts don’t degenerate into levels that could become lethal to both countries and to humanity itself.
We can still have a world where conflict can be mitigated – but all of us must work hard for it. Today, I offer my sympathy to the peoples of Ukraine and commend those who strive to bring them whatever humanitarian assistance is in their power. In the meanwhile, through our continued efforts and methodology, WPDI will hope to support both those who are helping, and those have been harmed by this conflict. We must all reflect on the words of the Secretary-General and hope that world leaders are able to swiftly resolve this invasion and find ways of moving to long term, sustainable peace.