Are we really committed to peacebuilding?

As the birthday of the United Nations is celebrated there are heated debates focused on its relevance, impact, success and its future. The chief reason for the United Nations is to maintain peace on a global scale. Crazy as it seems, on a global scale we are moving ever so slowly towards peace. However in contrasts, why is it that there is such a belief that war and chaos are rampant? Recently I heard an interview where the topic was that very question. One answer that I thought really made sense of the reality versus the perception was this comment: “News reports and information tells us about situations/realities that are out of the ordinary from our everyday life. The more we are made aware of war and chaos is partly due to the fact that we experience a relatively peaceful life”. That quote does have truth rooted in its point. However, there is a great deal of work still ahead for greater peace in the world. This goal of global peace, in reality is not going to arrive in the next few weeks or the next year. This is due to the collection of old minded leadership styles currently in power. There is no need for chaos to continue in places like Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Iraq or Afghanistan. The only reason that wars rage on in these areas is very much due to the lack of leadership in the world. For example, the world has a ready made solution to every war or civil collapse. This solution is peacekeeping with ceasefire agreements. Even though this solution exists the leaders of the world have failed to utilize this tool. When it does use peacekeeping strategy, implementation is so poorly executed that any mention of such tactic is quickly denounced. Furthermore the need for weapons bans are in deep need. We only have to look at the current ceasefire agreement in Ukraine to see how poorly we manage peace. Additional we can look how poorly the transition of peace in Libya has played out? Again, how much longer are we going to live with the insanity of the Palestine and Israel relationship? In each of the examples there have been all sorts of methods rooted in violence, fear, physical power dominance and revenge ideology used to bring peace. We have experienced the power vacuums created when such tactics are used as well. As these power vacuums become a reality, the next reality is a protracted war leading to a failed state. We have had enough of the failed methods used in Ukraine, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Israel, and other conflict zones. It is time to really put the resources of a true ceasefire, peacekeeping, and negotiated governance model into action.