Peace is the true defence.
We have a new prime minister in Britain. Andy Burnham has some good ideas, such as giving more power to local councils and mayors. I would like to suggest one another idea.
BUY NOW: Peace is Possible: Selected Works
The British Government should lead the world towards peace by appointing a 'minister of peace'. Hopefully the governments of the other nations will follow the British example. My hope is that Britain will show the way toward a more peaceful world.
I believe that the British people want peace a lot more than they want military superiority. The setting up of the ministry of peace will indicate that the British government is seriously seeking peace.
Citizens
Peace is the true defence. Therefore, I suggest that the British government divide the defence budget into 50-50. Let 50 per cent of the defence budget still go towards the army, air force and navy and the other 50 per cent of defence budget goes towards a ministry of peace which will work to avoid any future war.
That will be the way to ensure that the world is a safe, prosperous and peaceful place for everyone. Nobody wants to see bombs on Tehran, Kyiv, Moscow, Gaza, Beirut, or Tel Aviv any more.
There are 194 countries in the world. Almost all of them have ministries of defence but none of them have a ministry of peace. Why are we then spending so much money on manufacturing bombs and weapons and nothing on promoting peace?
No wonder the world has so many wars. Governments around the world are training millions of soldiers to engage in war but no country offers training for making peace. War becomes possible or even inevitable because all the countries are preparing for war and training their citizens for war.
Wars between Russia and Ukraine, between Israel and Palestine, between USA and Iran have killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Resistance
Pregnant mothers and innocent children are being killed, schools, hospitals and homes are being destroyed. The environment is being poisoned and polluted - with greenhouse gases exacerbating the global warming.
Yet the wars are achieving nothing. It is all totally futile. Let the wars become the history and let the new age of peace be the future.
If we want to make peace possible then we have to prepare for peace, work for peace, provide training for peaceful resistance and create ‘armies for peace’.
Therefore, establishing a ministry of peace in Britain and in every country of the world is a step towards a peaceful world. Let the British government lead the way!
By preparing for peace, providing training and expertise for peaceful resistance, and establishing a ministry for peace, we can show that the British government is serious about building peace.
Nuclear
This will make a vast contribution to international safety and be the way to ensure that the world becomes a safer, more prosperous and peaceful place for all.
Governments of the world spend nearly $3,000 billion on the military and armaments every year, which is a huge amount of money to spend in readiness for war.
One may ask, what is their budget for peace? The answer, very disappointingly will be the sad figure of Zero! There is all the money in the world for making wars but there is precious little money for making peace!
Britain is the sixth largest military power in the world. Our defence budget is the sixth highest, only after the USA, China, Russia, India and Germany. We are a nuclear power. Yet the British government wants to spend more money on defence.
Urgently
However much money we spend, it will never be enough! When we increase our military budget, Russia and China will also increase their military budget.
We can never afford to win such a futile arms race. Therefore, instead of increasing the defence budget we should create a peace budget and establish a ministry for peace.
When we establish a ministry of peace, we, the British public, can feel proud of a government that will not only keep us safe but become a world leader in preparing for a genuinely peaceful world.
I have written a letter to Andy Burnham. If you are a reader of The Ecologist here in Britain and agree with me, please write to the prime minister and to your MPs asking them to work together to establish a ministry of peace urgently.
This Author
Satish Kumar is the author of Peace is Possible: Selected Works, which is available now.
