Strengthen the borders

Over the past number of years I have been developing the idea of using Peacekeepers for border security forces.

The security collapse of Libya is the largest contributor of the Mali government being taken over. The loose border around Iraq has made weapons flowing like water across those borders. We have known that the Syrian border has been breached many times as military equipment is carried through. Now we have the further breakdown of the Syrian border as fighting has occurred across the Turkish/Syrian border.

There are also the border issues along the Democratic Republic of Congo. The roads from Eastern Congo that connect with the ports in Kenya and Tanzania are routes are known to be used to transport illegal minerals, weapons and other contraband items. The exact same reality is taking place along the Afghanistan border. Weapons and drugs are crossing these borders.

As the borders become strong the noose can be tightened on the violence. The tightening by security forces can close in on the areas of violence and set up perimeters. This will limit the weapons if not the people fighting from entering.

Now this is not a new tactic of thought, obviously. We have borders and they must be patrolled, they have to be patrolled. We are seeing the results of poor border management in areas of conflict. In reality I have gone through more security checks going across the Canada/RUSA border than I have crossing almost any other border and those two countries are siblings.

Such a tactic will not stop all flow of weapons, militia or contraband items. However it will slow the transfer of such resources that fuel violent conflicts. It is a step towards the dream of ending violent conflict.

As I have mentioned before, the world is insane and such a tactic will not be utilized because it costs too much. That is the reality. No one knows how much each person is worth on an individual basis but when we start talking about entire nations and countries, the price of peace usually is said that it cost too much. Although in reality peace is better for economics than war ever has been or will be, in the long term.

It is a very important matter to understand that phrase, “in the long term”. Peace is very much a long term solution and task, where as war is a very short term solution. The issue of border security is also a long term solution as it can never be left unattended.

There is a great deal on information on this topic if you search Sector Security Reform. Every country knows this and we use this ideology daily. An example is the build up of security measures at airports due to the violence experienced. For some reason such efforts are not used in the most critical of situations, which Syria is dealing with now.

Fear, Security, Power, Rights and Dreams

When a government uses fear to control, uses threats of violence to persuade and speaks to the need for the use of physical force to defend freedom, we are all in for chaos and hell.

There is no greater threat to peace than physical violence.  There is not greater threat than an insane person with the capacity to use violence.  Right now all I can see are the ones that have the capacity to use violence are the ones that are insane.

As individuals we are all very much alike.  As we begin to form groups we lose a little bit of our commonalities.  These groups we gravitate to become insulated and the fear of the other starts.  Russia is now in the midst of such a battle, Libya has gone through such a battle and may have a further war developing due to the desires of group power struggle.  Europe is going through a very difficult time and the causes are so complex that a solution is lost due to the search for blame. 

In these situations, the words that divide us have become so vague that mistrust builds exponentially.  We are experiencing a nuclear explosion of mistrust around the world.  It is difficult to find a government that is trusted by its people.  This mistrust builds fear, which is met with a need for security, which is secured through a show of power, which is justified through our right to protect, which was developed from a dream that we should live peacefully. 

We are caught in a prisoner’s dilemma.

That is why I wrote about game theory a few days ago.  We are involved in a game of Russian roulette.  There is only one strategy in that game, be in or out.  To phrase it another way as it was once stated, with us or against us.  Such a game is pure chaos.  To be part of such a game acknowledges that you have no hope for the future; it is an all or nothing end game.  The problem we face is that the leaders are at the table playing roulette yet they are pointing the gun at the citizens.  In turn the citizens know that the gun only has a limited number of bullets so fire away.  This is the enduring spirit of the dream that peace will prevail.

We have seen peaceful demonstrations all over the world, many that were countered with bullets and all with some degree of public disdain –such as the occupy protests in Canada.  The part in which the peaceful protesters play in this game is very dangerous.  The protesters know they can be killed but they also know that a just society is possible.

In Egypt and Tunisia, ultimately the soldiers would not fire upon people.  We had seen this same peaceful resolve during the Russian August coup in 1991 and I believe that we have witnessed the same resolve in Russia during the past weeks.  Libya was not so lucky, neither is Syria, Yemen or the DRC.

We are indeed living through an interesting time period.  The political games that are now taking place have deep connections to history.  Political lines are being redrawn, new identities being forged, flawed ideology are being brought to light and discarded, hopefully the result will provide for ideology and strategy for peace.