Crimea Independence

As world leaders continue to take sides in situations such as Syria, Ukraine and other countries, the people who are paying the price are youth. The rhetoric of world leaders is just garbage talk. If any of them actually cared we would not have chaos in Syria or in Ukraine. At best international laws are written to be expansive ideology. At the root of such law is the absolute right to self-determination and Crimea has exercised that right. This is the exact same reasoning the people of Ukraine used to topple the former government. Basically any action taken outside of the governmental structure is open to violation of international law. Instead of the sabre rattling of world leaders and pointing fingers why was there so little talks of commonality? In the realm of peacebuilding the practice of community building and the whole of government approach has been seriously disregarded by all world leaders. Really all that is being done is reactionary politics and that is poor leadership. The damage is done and the clean up is poorly being managed. Here we sit with Ukraine in crisis, Crimea has separated and is now independent. We must wonder who or what area is next. Economic support is needed, government support is needed, diplomatic support and good relations are needed. At best we are getting more tension from leaders which will only make the situation worse. Sadly most leaders today do not have the capacity to understand how to be peaceful in such situations. They think that economic sanctions are a good step. Why was there no economic sanctions against the Republic of the United States when they illegally invaded Iraq? Within that question is the root of the larger problem. We do not live in an equal world. Some can do as they please while others must hurdle the tallest of bars. This is the hypocrisy which must stop. Voicing concerns of what is being done and how leaders act are a big part of diplomacy. However, ensuring that leaders are working to improve situations is rarely the outcome. More often we get stand offs and media sound bites of measured aggression. For all that we hear about peaceful efforts, there is certainly very little being done other than grand standing and rhetoric. Both those actions only serve to strain relations and cause more damage. We have seen the same thing with Syria and look what that has brought us. Now we can actually solve a situation before it gets worse and what do we do? We do exactly what we did in the past and expect a different result. Idiocy of the most magnificent order. Crimea had to deal with an uncertain future inside a collapsing country. Not much of a choice really. So the most stable avenue was to become independent and work with Russia. That was their choice. Just like the choice Syrians made to follow a referendum. The Syrian referendum was overshadowed by the infiltration of weapons and violence the very next day. So far the Crimea situation is vastly more peaceful than Syria, even though world leaders are doing everything to ensure it is not peaceful.

Perception is not Reality

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” – Albert Einstein The above quote speaks to how the brain interprets sensory information. We know that the brain can be impacted with a great many elements which alter how the world is perceived. Again, Shakespeare wrote “What's in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. The meaning behind this quote is that reality deals with what is and perception skews reality. Today we say that perception is reality and Einstein would agree, according to the above quote. However when it comes to the heavily controlled “message” that is being put forth today, perception is far from reality. For the past few decades we have been told that perception is reality. This mantra has seeped very deep into the psyche of most of the population. Both perception and optics are now very much seen as the focal points for policy development and governance agendas. However, the statement of modern wisdom which tells us that perception is reality, in fact is 100 percent wrong and very harmful. The fact of the matter is, perception and optics are Ponzi schemes. These schemes start off as television news clips, news articles, the harm that has been done in pursuit of addressing perception has brought the world economy to its knees. Perception has brought the country of Iraq to complete destruction. Perception has brought us grocery stores full of junk processed foods, cities engulfed with polluted environments and poor leadership. The statement perception is reality, is very much an abstract painting on the expert scale of Picasso. We can see whatever we want to see and that is our personal perception of the art work. The perception we have towards a certain piece of art will change the moment we learn of the artists intention, explanation and experience. The art never changed but our perception does. We must understand the world at it very simplest and expand from there. The complexity of the world is there, yet we do not have to buckle under that complexity. Nor do we have to hide behind the complexity in order to bring order and peace to the world. Those that live and defend the mantra of perception have bought into a systemic mindset. This mindset has been causing great damage. The reality is we are being sold fools gold at gold prices.

Ukraine - Peace or war

World leaders need to go back to elementary school understand how poorly they handle breakdowns in peace. The permanent five members of United Nations Security Council need to be fired and a new system put in place within the United Nations security department. For far too long we have had to endure the slowly rotting situations in the Middle East, Ukraine, Afghanistan, East Africa, South China Sea, and Latin America. Basically the entire world has taken a huge hit due to mismanagement. Still I wonder how the world allowed the complete destruction of Iraq to take place with very little consequences for those that performed the illegal act of invasion. Again, I wonder how the world allowed a massive fraud scheme to cripple the global economics with hardly anyone being held accountable. Today we hear leaders act with concern as they speak about the violence in Ukraine. The situation in Ukraine has been boiling for many years and we have to ask, who was minding the situation as it was eroding? The question I ask is why do we wait for violence to take over before we seek partnerships to help solve such issues? Such a strategy of wait and see has failed us enough to know that it can no longer be an option. The protests in Ukraine were indications and calls for support from partners. Russia, European Union and others should have started talks months ago to ensure peace. The same should have been done in Syria. However we are dealing with weak leadership when peacebuilding is concerned. Due to the poor international management, we are left with old ideology and methods of conflict resolution. These tactics leads to a destroyed society, power vacuums, strained relations and short term solutions. As the short term solutions are put in place there will be those that will cling to such agreements for years and decades to come, thus creating long term problems. Managing peacebuilding is an art form that rarely is given the credit it deserves. What we have now are people who can speak about peace but have very little courage to implement their words. This is how we end up with tough talking politicians who do nothing or even worse do the wrong thing. Having the Ukraine military march without weapons and request the Russians to stand down was a brave act. Such a display of peace is what the works for the betterment of resolving a violent confrontation. Now it may look differently on television and the hawks will laugh at such a peaceful act but, those people are the ones responsible for the deaths and destruction of society. To change we as individuals have to change and request that our leaders change as well. Being peaceful is not an easy path.

Cold War ideology/ nothing new, just a different spot.

The cold war stand off is in high gear with Ukraine now being another battle ground. In addition to the situation in Syria, Ukraine has the potential to follow a similar path into chaos. There is one major difference between Syria and Ukraine. That difference is that parts of Ukraine are legally autonomous, which has a right to ask for Russia to protect the area of Crimea and that ask was made. So here we are with a crumbling state of Ukraine broken up along lines that were very loose to begin with. The international community staking high claims of consequences due to Russian involvement while forgetting that those who are now heaping scorn upon Russia are guilty of worse actions within Syria and Iraq. This is the hypocrisy of leadership that must stop if peace is ever going to take hold. At some point the leaders must stop being the idiots of the world. They (the leaders) will never stop as long as the people support such idiocy. This is why every individual is so important to the world reaching the goal of peace. We must demand better leadership. Tell those that stand up for public office to stop the hypocrisy, stop the bloodshed and stop the rhetoric of war, violence, suppression and segregation. We deserve better leadership than we have been getting these past two decades. Russia took a major step forward with the dismantling of the USSR. Knowing that such corrupt politics is not sustainable the people moved forward. The rest of the world stayed behind. That inaction has lead Russia to fall back into the comfort spot of the Cold War ideology. There was a great chance to grab onto peace yet the people (each of us) and the leaders who succeeded the 1989 – 1991 world have failed. Again we have a chance to work together and bring the Middle East into a peaceful era. We failed as we fell back on cold war ideology, knowing it does not work. Now we have Ukraine and again we are failing because of faulty ideology. Sadly the truth is that we have the intelligence to move past such idiocy, we just do not have the courage to do so. Such a world is unknown, new and therefor feared. We know what to expect with the divisions of yesterday but, we need the reality of peace that is tomorrow to take roots somewhere. Ukraine could have been that place where peace began but poor leadership has brought us back to 1945 politics and the Yalta conference. All we can expect now is another five to ten year war in Ukraine. Thousand will die, very little will change except the size of cemeteries and still we will seek out a peaceful world. Why do we always wait for the killing to start before we try to stop such violence?

Ukraine and who will lead the next society.

Revolutions are very much about the explosion of emotions. Until the actions of revolt are taken there is a great degree of repressed emotions. The general social mindset is one of fear and containment. These feelings are psychological jails for society and without proper avenues to vent, we get exactly what we have in Ukraine. We must realize that the people will act with very little rationale. In such times the emotions of repressed feelings explode. As we read, hear and watch the reports about the situation in Ukraine there is the question of what needs to be done to quell violence, to stop a power vacuum, to insert a legitimate government and bring order to the chaos. All these tasks are very difficult in times of chaos. The people need to vent. The challenge is to have that need met in an environment where no one else is harmed. The political discussion about who will lead what groups, who is to be at the negotiation table, who is to provide security (police) when that trust has all but vanished and then how to resolve the past damages are topics to focus on. At the moment there is no neutral party which can intervene because the East and West major players are heavily involved. This is not a new issue and the hurdles of politics make the challenges even more rooted in geopolitical history. The people in some parts of Ukraine are pulling down the statues of the past while other people are disgusted with such irrational acts. The very history of Ukraine is being put into question. There are deep sentiments that Moscow preserved itself on the backs of Ukraine throughout history. Such an understanding has been passed down through the ages which has been displayed in the revolution. Add to this the fact that the revolution has been burning for many years now. The architect of revolution began in the 1950’s and took physical shape with the 1989 reunification of Germany. The current situation in Ukraine is an extension of that transformation Russia embarked upon with Gorbachev. Here we sit today looking at another wave of protest that has spiraled out of control. The strong desire to hold on to power, control and influence is at the forefront of the revolution. We will see this battle take place with those that are placing themselves in line to be the next leader. This is the power vacuum/grab which is very much the danger that needs to be dealt with. Despite the geopolitical and historical battle, the real battle will be the fight for who will lead next.

Ukraine

For those who thought the Cold War was over has just been given another lesson in global politics. Ideological wars never end and the Cold War is an ideological war. At the heart of the situation within politics such as we are experiencing in Ukraine is exactly the same as what has and is taking place in Syria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Baharain, etc… The situation deals with corruption within government and a complete lack of trust for those who rule. The people are divided and the poor leadership of both civilians and government has brought chaos and violence to another capital city. The international community is playing chess with the people of Ukraine. The two sides are the cold war rivals and the tug of war is on. What is the peaceful way to solve this situation? The two sides need to have a meeting and work together. The European Union, Russia are the biggest players who must set out a unified plan. This plan must look at securing the peace within Ukraine. A joint effort of support from both sides to bring the violence to an end. This may include foreign soldiers to intervene or it may be a statement of non-interference of outside forces. The non-interference is most likely the method taken. From there, a massive effort to talk with the people about the future course of Ukraine needs to take place. This step must be without interference of outside forces. Of course such a dream is rarely ever realized. However the effort must be made. The people of Ukraine must be allowed to speak for themselves. This is their future, no one elses, let them decide. Political and economic agreements must be made that will benefit people not the ideological tug of war that the cold war is rooted in. Ukraine needs a unified focus for the future. At the moment the people are divided and broken. The international community can repair a great deal of the damage by working together and offering agreements that benefit the people. We must remember that a diverse economy is better than a monopolic economy. In such a Ukraine both Russia and the European Union can offer economic packages that sustain trade, jobs, people, culture and relationships. Here we are on the edge of another collapse. The international community can do the right thing and work together or do what it has done most often, which is pick sides and fight.

Letting Go

Peacebuilding on a scale of what Syria must endure requires so many things to happen for it to go well. In no small part is that the personal component. Scan over the media of the past few months and there are threads of hate and predetermined outcomes woven throughout. In past postings I have written about the transformations of Russia, Czech Republic and other countries. Each of these countries at some point had to look past current thoughts and take leaps of faith into the unknown. These leaps of faith are the portions of letting go that must take place for peace to unfold. On a personal level each of us encounter moments where we must let go. Taking our first steps requires that we let go and stand on our own. That may seem like a small point in life but really the courage and willingness is what is required for peace to take root. As we get older we find our selves in situations where we must take emotional first steps, mental first steps and then do those on a community level. In such times we look for inspiration when we need to change something in life. However the true courage must come from within first. The courage to not act violently, to seek understanding, to be able to say that history is unchangeable but our future is still unknown. Who do we want to be and how do we want to live are questions that must not be answered with bullets, suppression and segregation of any kind. If anyone can do that, you have reached a level of peace rarely seen in our entire history. Understanding that is to know how difficult peace is to obtain. Further more such peace requires that we seek to be that peaceful today and every day. We must do so even though our governments are killing each other, religious leaders are telling followers to kill in the name of God and people all over the world are hated because they are different. We need to let go of the fear violence has on us. If you reach a state of peace no one needs to fear you. However many will laugh at you, despise you and may want to kill you because they can not understand you. Sadly the courage to live peacefully is often killed because of fear. Let go of the fear and be peaceful.