According to the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (PRIO), 59 state-based conflicts were recorded in 2023, the highest number since the end of World War II. The wars in Ukraine and Gaza were the primary generators of the tens of thousands of combat-related deaths as well as the loss of innocent civilian lives, with still no end in sight as 2024 draws to a close.
In parallel, inequality and insecurity about jobs and well-being, climate and diseases are on the rise, feeding a global wave of populist movements with authoritarian leanings. Xenophobic nationalism and shrinking civic space form part of that wave, with the Trump victory in the US elections likely to exacerbate the trend.
Faced by these multiple attacks and threats to peace, the international community seems to be struggling to imagine an alternative to confrontation and violence as a way forward. The seeming incapacity of international organizations, particularly the United Nations, to provide effective solutions to these issues has also eroded commitment to multilateralism as a path to the resolution of global problems.
Hence, the urgent question: How do we build a culture of peace under such conditions? In particular, how do we convince the world that peace is indeed a viable alternative? And how do we persuade parties on opposite sides of seemingly unbridgeable divides that it is possible to talk to one another to find common ground?
Please Note: the next FOGGS Open Consultation Mondays is on 20 January 2025, instead of 13 January mentioned in the video. Register for the next - bit.ly/foggs-open-consultation-mondays-4
Subscribe to FOGGS Newsletter for all updates: www.foggs.org/newsletter