Peace—What Are the Chances?
DESPITE the newspaper headlines, the truth is, as most of us realize, that mankind is still a long way from real peace. The withdrawal of foreign armies from Afghanistan did not bring peace to that land. And there is still strife of one kind or another in the Philippines, Sudan, Israel, Northern Ireland, Lebanon, and Sri Lanka, to name just a few.
Since most sane people prefer peace to war, why is peace so elusive? Politicians have tried in many ways over many centuries to bring peace, but their efforts have always failed. Why? Let us look at a few examples and see.
Peace Through Religion and Law
Some view the Roman Empire as a successful attempt at peacemaking. Under it, a combination of established law, flexible administration, formidable legions, and well-designed roads for some centuries maintained an international stability known as the Pax Romana (Roman Peace) over large areas of Western Asia, Africa, and Europe. Eventually, though, the Roman Empire succumbed to internal corruption and invasions from outside, and the Roman Peace collapsed.
This illustrates a sad truth about human endeavors. After an initially hopeful start, they usually deteriorate. God himself said: “The inclination of the heart of man is bad from his youth up,” and this bad inclination usually wins out in the long run. (Genesis 8:21) Moreover, the prophet Jeremiah said: “The heart is more treacherous than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) Humans are unpredictable. The good intentions of one person may be subverted by the jealousy or selfish ambitions of others. Or a ruler with high principles may himself become corrupt. In view of this, how can humans ever bring peace?
In the third century B.C.E., a remarkable peacemaking effort was reported from the subcontinent of India. There, a powerful ruler named Aśoka carved out a huge empire through warfare and bloodshed. Then, according to the record, he was converted to the principles of Buddhism. Renouncing warfare, he erected monuments around his domain inscribed with sayings to help his subjects live better lives. And his empire was apparently peaceful and prosperous.
Is Aśoka’s way the one to peace? Unhappily, no. When the emperor died, his peace died with him, and his empire crumbled. This illustrates that even the efforts of a well-intentioned and capable ruler are eventually frustrated because he has to die. The writer of Ecclesiastes mentioned this problem when he wrote: “I . . . hated all my hard work . . . that I would leave behind for the man who would come to be after me. And who is there knowing whether he will prove to be wise or foolish? Yet he will take control over all my hard work at which I worked hard and at which I showed wisdom under the sun. This too is vanity.”—Ecclesiastes 2:18, 19.
Yes, man’s mortality is an insuperable obstacle to his bringing lasting peace. The psalmist’s counsel is surely wise in this regard: “Do not put your trust in nobles, nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs. His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish.”—Psalm 146:3, 4.
Further Efforts at Peace
Other human efforts likewise illustrate why man fails in his endeavor to bring peace. For example, in the tenth century, a movement called the Peace of God was initiated in Europe. Designed to protect church property, it developed into a kind of nonaggression pact that by the middle of the 12th century had spread to much of Europe.
Another concept is termed the “balance of power.” Following this policy, a community of nations—such as Europe—discourages war by maintaining a more or less balanced distribution of power among states. If a strong nation menaces a weaker one, another strong nation temporarily allies itself with the weak one to discourage the would-be aggressor. This policy guided European relations from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the outbreak of the first world war in 1914.
After that war, the League of Nations was established as a forum in which the nations could talk out their differences instead of fighting over them. The League ceased to function when the second world war broke out, but after the war, its spirit was revived in the United Nations, which still exists.
However, all these efforts failed to bring real or lasting peace. While the Peace of God movement was existing in Europe, Europeans fought Muslims in bloodthirsty Crusades. And while politicians were trying to preserve peace in Europe by the balance of power, they were waging war and building empires in lands outside Europe. The League of Nations was unable to prevent the second world war, and the United Nations did not prevent vicious massacres in Kampuchea or conflicts in places such as Korea, Nigeria, Vietnam, and Zaire.
Yes, up to now the politicians’ best peacemaking efforts have failed. Rulers just do not know how to make lasting peace, hampered as they are by the mortality and human failings of themselves and others. Even if that were not the case, however, politicians still could not bring peace. Why not? Because of another obstacle that is truly formidable.
A Hidden Force Preventing Peace
The Bible speaks of this obstacle when it says: “The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) The wicked one is Satan the Devil, a superhuman spirit creature far more powerful than we are. From the beginning, Satan has been involved in rebellion, lying, and murder. (Genesis 3:1-6; John 8:44) His powerful, though hidden, influence on world affairs is vouched for by other inspired commentators. Paul called him “the god of this system of things,” “the ruler of the authority of the air.” (2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2) Jesus more than once called him “the ruler of this world.”—John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11.
Since the world lies in Satan’s power, there is no possibility at all that human politicians will bring lasting peace. Does that mean that peace will never come? Can anyone lead mankind to peace?
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However wise and highly principled a ruler may be, eventually he dies and often others less capable and less principled take over
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The biggest single obstacle to peace is Satan the Devil
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U.S. National Archives photo