José Ramos (https://actionforesight.net/) and I have been throwing around this idea of creating a participatory futures project idea to bring global citizens together to envision a peaceful co-existence between China and the USA, Pacifica Means Peace. In this blog I’ll beginning to thread together some learnings from research and workshops I’ve conducted over the last few years and an online discussion co-hosted with José Ramos on 12 September 2023.
Most of the time, war is an acknowledgment of the failure of the qualities we admire about humanity: imagination, intelligence, and morality. These qualities are especially lacking in those who initiate a war.
― Kareem Adbul-Jabbar, Blog October 9, 2023
War is not inherent in human beings.
We learn war and we learn peace.
The culture of peace is something which is learned, just as violence is learned and war culture is learned.
— Elise Boulding
Introduction
As the opening quote suggests, war often arises from the failure of three crucial qualities that define human beings: imagination, intelligence, and morality. Imagination drives us to explore alternatives, intelligence enables us to find rational solutions, and morality guides us towards compassion and understanding. When these qualities falter, the results are catastrophic. The recent conflicts in various parts of the world, such as between Israel and Hamas, Russia and Ukraine, or civil wars in many nations around the world, are grim reminders of this failure.
I recently facilitated Johan Galtung’s peace theory method to a course on Management of International Crises. It was entitled “Hope in the time of crisis”. The exercise started by disrupting participants’ beliefs and perceptions that the concept that war and violence were a natural state of affairs between nations.
The discussion began with the ideas of David Graeber and David Wengrow. In their book “The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity”, they argue against the idea that war and conflict are innate or inherent to human nature. Instead after examining the archaeological and anthropological evidence they argue prevailing narratives of history have been influenced by biased perspectives and that war is not a natural or inevitable state of affairs for human societies. From this deconstruction, we were able to open to new possibilities, moving away from deterministic views that emphasize conflict and competition, and instead recognizing the potential for cooperation and diversity in our social and cultural evolution.
Fred Pollak’s quote is instructive,
“The rise and fall of images of the future precedes or accompanies the rise and fall of cultures. As long as a society’s image is positive and flourishing, the flower of culture is in full bloom. Once the image begins to decay and lose its vitality, however, the culture does not long survive.”
How do we view this today, amid conflict? How can we create solutions that allow us to thrive?
Understanding how different types of violence – structural violence, cultural violence, and direct violence in our own societies and in our own passive acceptance of them can contribute to wider conflicts is critical to unpack.
Connectedness in a Divided World
One of the paradoxes of our age is that, while the world is more technologically connected than ever, we seem to be losing sight of what peaceful interactions between nations can look like. The ease with which information and communication flow should ideally foster empathy, understanding, and collaboration, yet it has often been used to further divisiveness, prejudice, and conflict. In an era where we are all interdependent and interconnected, our inability to resolve disputes peacefully is a stark reminder of the work that remains to be done.
The Pacifica Means Peace Project
In such a world, initiatives like the Pacifica Means Peace project play a pivotal role. Established on the foundation of seeking peaceful resolutions and promoting harmony, it embodies the idea that nations and peoples can work together, transcending their differences, for the common good. The project understands the interconnectedness of global issues and the fact that violence in one corner of the world can ripple through the entire international system, causing unrest, suffering, and even more violence.
The idea of creating a participatory futures project, Pacifica Means Peace, to bring global citizens together to envision peaceful co-existence between China and the USA is a compelling and relevant initiative. It involves both futures studies and participatory action learning, each of which can significantly contribute to the success of this project.
Through this project we hope to achieve the goals of:
Conclusion
The Pacific Means Peace project is a platform to have conversations, deconstruct used futures and build a space to imagine how China and the USA can envision peaceful co-existence. Shifting mindsets and co-creating alternative futures is a primary objective.
What comes next?
José Ramos and I will be extending invitations for your participation in building the dimensions of this project and using the space to apply foresight and futures methods. This could include youth engagement workshops, scenario planning workshops, conflict resolution simulations, policy discussions and more.
As for the workshop applying Galtung’s peace method? Participants were sceptical at first, even dismissive and mocking. By then end of the session, the feedback from most if not all agreed that while peaceful solutions may be hard to achieve, they are worth the effort.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Jeanne Hoffman
Dr. Jeanne Hoffman is Chief Futurist of Anticipating Futures and co-editor of the World Futures Review. She is a recent graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Holding a bachelor’s degree in Russian Foreign Policy and Literature, a Master of Applied Economics and a PhD on the Futures of China, Dr. Hoffman has more than 20 years of experience in university education, leading major organizational change, strategic planning, risk management, performance management, and project management. From 2015-2023, she worked as a professor of Futures Studies and Diplomacy and International Relations and was the managing editor of the Journal of Futures Studies (2015-2021) at Tamkang University, Taiwan. In 2019, Dr. Hoffman was awarded Teacher of the Year by students’ and staff in recognition of her work to foster forward-thinking mindsets.
With memberships in Association of Professional Futurists, World Futures Society, Asia Pacific Futurists Network, Dr. Hoffman is an experienced speaker, writer, and facilitator in areas such as strategic foresight leadership, futures thinking and literacy, design and anticipatory action learning. Dr. Hoffman’s area of interest includes education, artificial intelligence governance, strategic foresight leadership, international affairs, macrohistory and organizational transformation.
If you are interested in participating in the Pacifica Means Peace project, contact me or José Ramos to receive a warm invitation to our next meeting.
