Dear Minglers,


Peace is undeniably the highest value of our age. Many have tried to teach that peace becomes possible when we acknowledge the existence of other peoples, nations and cultures, that is, when we do not ostracize, but accept and embrace people who are different from us.

Terrorism and international strife occur when we fail to recognize differences and manifest hostility against other parties. We are in urgent need of dialog between civilizations for mutual understanding.

Further, let us emphasize that peace is established through a reciprocal relationship, and that restoring relationships is feasible only if we recognize that we exist for the sake of others.

Some have devoted their entire lives revealing the truth about God, humanity, history and the spiritual world. Sometimes it is a painstakingly philosophy that can offer peace by shedding light on the true meaning of peace, how a peaceful world can be achieved and how to promote a worldwide movement for peace. In the near future, I plan to write a cherished manual for the realization of world peace and furnish invaluable educational content for all people. I sincerely pray for peace to be upon its readers and for the spirit of peace to overflow into their families, nations and the world.

In conclusion, I bow my head in high esteem for those who preach it, practice it, and serve it in our communities, nations, and world.I have ceaselessly endeavored for the realization of world peace for most of my life. Join me in discussing how we can create more peace in our communities, realize peacekeepers working endeavors, understand philosophies given about peace, and enjoy quotes many have used to keep us contemplating.

If you also have suggestions on what should be added in my book about peace that can make a positive impact in people's lives than please share it with me (us).

May you find peace in your heart, mind, and soul.

Yours truly,

Smiless

Thankyou for decorating this thread.

Just all I have to say

Sometimes little can say very much.

At the moment I have been intensively studying to write and speak the Mandarin language. China fascinates me with its history, culture, food, and language. Upon studying the rules of the language, I discover this:

The achievement of peace (pyeonghwa) refers to a subject partner and an object partner being one with each other. The Chinese characters for pyeong and hwa mean "horizontal" and "harmony" respectively. The subject partner does not come into conflict with the object partner, but harmonizes with it.

Harmonize or Harmony is a beautiful word

These comments may have no place in your book but I will express them for your consideration.

Peace is like silence. The absence of sound is like the absence of violence.

Violence is like fire, it requires hate to burn.

Hate is learned, it requires a teacher to bud, nurture, and grow.

Teachers start at birth, as they are taught.

Until hate is no longer taught from birth, peace cannot exist.

May be not belonging in his book..belongs somewhere...

Thank you for sharing your wisdom. I especially like the last one "Until hate is no longer taught from birth, peace cannot exist.

Smiless, God bless your project. I hope your book will become the history pendulum’s turning point, after which the pendulum will begin shifting to the age of reason again.

The impetus for many cases of government-sponsored-mass violence is wealth redistribution. It is the current case of genocide in oil-rich Darfur, Sudan. (I worked there.) It is the case in oil-rich Kurdistan in Iraq. (I am working there.) Appropriation of neighbors’ resources was the purpose of the both World Wars. Prevention of wealth redistribution was the rationale of the Civil War and the Cold War. To stop robbery we need police; one of the main functions of UN (and before that League of Nations) is peacekeeping.

I do not believe cultural or religious differences may be a genuine reason for military conflicts. [All Arabs, when they want to say “hello/Hi/Hay/Hey dude/ Hey man,” say, “Let peace be with you.”] Frequently cultural differences are used as an ideological tool. It is easy to convince “dependent” minds in the following: “They” are not like “us”; “they” are not human beings; therefore killing “them” is an act of honor.

I heard many times, when we almost proudly call ourselves “arrogant” or “ugly Americans.” Is that the result of our strong belief in our cultural superiority? Is that belief the result of being brainwashed? Am I not correct, and our nation is always right no matter what?

Peacekeeping is an extremely complex subject. You have chosen an enormously tough research. I hope you will not give up. I sincerely wish you the best of luck in the success of your project.

You're such a hippie.

Guilty as charged.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to this post and the compliment.

It is very difficult when it comes to religion and cultures. Some religions become a way of life and even a law and some cultures are so different that another culture no matter how hard they try to understand it just can't. This is where prejudice, superstitions, racism, and disagreements happen. How to resolve them is a challenge! So you are absolutely right that "peacekeeping" is a extremely complex subject and perhaps more reason for more people to get involved with.

I also agree that wealth distribution is being abused especially between the most powerful international world banks the world offers including the WTO and the IMF. Their unfair practices of lending at high interests doesn't allow poor countries to ever repay their debt forcing them to have unsettle disputes, resources being raped, and poor conditions leading to poverty and unrest. It is truly a big problem. It just kills me to watch a Indonesian working 36 hours straight for a couple of dollars so we can buy the product at a Nike or Gap store later on. And the Indonesian has to settle for rice and salty fish in a unhygiene shack. It is just wrong! Such discouragements can lead to violence unfortunately.

I will probably will never have a answer to stop all the violence across the world, but maybe this book will somehow influence a few people to review their lives and approach it differently to live more peacefully. That would be great and a big success if can be done.

Concerning Americans. It is such a diverse population that it is hard to say if they arrogant. I personally think that many Americans don't understand how good they might have it compared to a great many countries. One only has to see the quality of life many live to see that. It is saddening when you watch an American giving a waitress a hard time just because he got a mineral water with bubbles instead of it being flat. One can still fix the problem without acting like the world will end or being aggressive about it. The same goes for Europeans also.

I also believe that alot of Americans have a hard time identifying countries and their history. Many Americans usually only understand something about a country after watching it from a news channel. There they will make a judgement from this information. I see it all the time in the political forums here on mingle2.

So yes understanding cultures by actually traveling to them does make a big difference. Understanding its culture, learning there lifestyles and beliefs can help us understand and create chances for peace to establish itself. The problem is how many people can afford to travel around the world to various countries each year? Therefore the internet could be a great way to start projects (if not already) to create peacekeeping ideas. I do hope more will get involved with this project here on Mingle2. I will not hesitate to add credits in the book if more ideas establish itself to be added into the project.

I am sure you are experiencing alot being in Kurdistan at the moment. If I understand correctly most Iraqis are glad Saddam Hussein isn't in power anymore, yet they are not so happy that the Americans are still there in their country. Perhaps you can enlighten us on how the inhabitants of this ancient civilization feel about the situation at the moment and what you believe should be done to eleviate some of the tensions between the US and Iraq.

I also think Americans are having what I call a "Roman Empire" syndrome at times. I too feel they are missing the point that the world is shared by many countries and that they are not the authority of how each country should live. One can only see this by the many replies Americans give when talking about a different country. I do hope the Roman Empire syndrome does reside so other countries can enjoy the American population more.

I cannot agree more with your analysis. “Roman Empire” is the comparison widely discussed in many foreign countries. Some foreign pundits seriously predict the split of the States in several pieces.

There are many opinions (or several opinion groups) among Iraqis about the fortune of their country. I will try to list them: (1) Those who do not forgive us for their liberation, (2) Those who believe that Islam is the most advanced philosophy, morale, and way of life, (3) Those who believe it is Sheas’ time; therefore Sunnis and Kurds must become the second class citizens, (3) Those who believe it is better to split the country in three, i.e. Kurdistan and two independent states for Sheas and Sunnis, (4) Those who wait for our troops’ leave from Iraq and are happy to welcome Iranians replacing our presence, (5) Those who fight for absolute power in unified Iraq and believe it will be possible to gradually convert the proclaimed democracy into dictatorship, [They say, “Dictatorship is the Iraqi cultural tradition.”] (6) Those who do not want our troops leaving Iraq, because a new wave of violence will come and the current government may not survive without our direct military support, (7) Those who do not believe in bright future of Iraq and desire only to emigrate, [Like after Vietnam, we already have significant wave of immigration from Iraq.] (8) Two Iraqis say they believe in democracy in Iraq, but it will require educational and cultural development of Iraqi population, i.e. the process which will take several decades.

Possibly there are other opinions among Iraqis; they are human beings, not stereotypes.

This is a great analysis what you offer. This is very complex indeed. A multitude of opinions with alot of controversy and opinions at work concerning the Iraqi issue. It seems that the majority of the people with exception of Israel want the Americans with their western influence out of their countries. If that is what is going to happen I figure the United States will determine it although I prefer that the people of the country should vote for it.

What it is worth, I hope the two Iraqi's who want democracy will be leading rolemodels that can educate the benefits of democracy. In the end, I hope that there will be some stability and peace so the children can receive a good education and the ability to build their country into a free society that teaches tolerance, the importance of peace, and prosperity for (everyone) in that region. It looks like it will take some time though.

Thank you for taking the time to explain this to me.

cannot agree. fairness of mind is our most prized value. if everyone would treat every living thing fairly peace would be the offshoot. as individuals, fairness of thought is within our power.

Maybe I don't understand the term "fairness of thought", but I do understand people and human nature. What is fair to one person is not always viewed as fair by another. You'd have to get people to see things from the same perspective. Not possible.

I'd like to throw "willingness to help others" into the ring as a most prized value.

Willingness to help others without asking for anything back would be important to create peace in our environment.

Many countries claim they help others, but for what price.

Today we see how poor countries struggle to survive because the rich ones made sure they can never get back on their feet leading to internal conflicts.

But yes willingness to help others is one way to start creating peace.