Sustainable Peace Building Architecture

Abstract

In 1521, the Goddess of Peace complained that it was deemed foolish and wicked to open once mouth in praise of peace. She was disappointed because nothing was done toward permanent peace, and lashed the hypocrisies of those who talk peace but connive at war. She believed that wars could be limited when the decision to go to wars needed the full and unanimous consent of the whole people. In The Complaint of Peace , Erasmus, one of the West's greatest humanists, envisaged a world in which the people would repose in the beauty of peace. Since then, the West and the world has experienced cycles of peace and violence, such as the Thirty Years' War, slavery, colonialism, the Napoleonic War, World Wars I and II, the wars of independence from colonialism, etc. Today, 500 years later, the building of “permanent” or better sustainable peace is not anymore an option; it has become a vital urgency, driven by humanitarian considerations and threats to the survival of mankind and the earth. The article attests to the common urgency and problematic of sustainable peace building in the 21st century. It is written at a time when conversational droplets could kill interlocutors. As emeritus it's easier to scrutinize the big picture and less risky to speak out critically. At first, an analysis is made of the accumulation of systemic crises, the high level of violence in the world, and the deteriorating legitimacy of the international behavior of the West and of the international system. Next, it presents an operational definition of sustainable peace, and lists the characteristics of sustainable peace thinking and the reasons why sustainable peace building is not anymore, an option, but an urgent necessity. Third, the article justifies the use architecture, identifies the sustainable peace-enhancing conditions, and discusses how to raise the coherence of peace building process. Finally, the attention is drawn to the crucial role of time and temporament (the way time is handled) in sustainable peace building.