A bridge to peace
Dr ElBaradei, 2005 Nobel Laureate for Peace, gave a keynote speech titled Global Equity and Security as part of the 5th ASEAN Bridges Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace event series
If we work on eliminating the drivers of insecurity and violence, including the abolition of all weapons of mass destruction, the odds are we will be able to avert, or at least mitigate, most wars.
This is the strong belief of Dr Mohamed ElBaradei, Nobel Laureate for Peace, who spoke on Global Equity and Security as part of the Bridges Dialogues Towards a Culture of Peace speaker series, jointly hosted by NUS and Yale-NUS College and facilitated by the International Peace Foundation. The lecture, held on 11 February at the Shaw Foundation Alumni House, saw the respected advocate of humanity share his views on the danger of maintaining the status quo and the urgent steps that need to be taken to avoid self-destruction.
Dr ElBaradei discussed the effects of poverty, the most lethal weapon of mass destruction. He illustrated how the condition, compounded by human rights abuses, a lack of good governance, marginalisation, and a deep sense of injustice and anger, becomes fertile breeding ground for conflict. It is no exaggeration to observe that the state of the world today, in my view, is appalling, he said. Inequality and the distribution of wealth among countries and people has reached obscene levels, he added, highlighting how the eighty richest people in the world have as much money as the poorest 3.5 billion people.
He observed that while globalisation has facilitated the movement of goods, ideas and people, it has also swept away barriers that confined and localised security threats such as poverty, terrorism, climate change, communicable diseases and human trafficking. By their nature, these threats require global cooperation and if the insecurities of some are ignored, they will soon become the insecurities of all, he said.
Dr ElBaradei acknowledged that globalisation has allowed us to become closer through scientific and technological advances. Ironically, we have also become more distant from each other with increasing inequity, polarisation and, in some cases, stereotyping bordering on dehumanisation.
We need to build a society based on human solidarity and not myopic national interests, said Dr ElBaradei
Finally, on the importance of nuclear disarmament, Dr ElBaradei emphasised that relying on nuclear weapons is becoming increasingly hazardous and decreasingly effective. He added that force and violence remain our primary choice to settle differences and it borders on insanity that a mere one per cent is spent on peacekeeping operations and disaster relief per year, in contrast to the 1.7 trillion dollars spent on armament. When asked about the over 16,000 nuclear weapons still existing worldwide, Dr ElBaradei commented that to give them up would mean having to find alternative security measures and it is, sadly, always easier to rely on what one already knows.
During the question-and-answer session, an attendee asked if Dr ElBaradei envisioned a world without nuclear weapons. Although responding in the positive, he deemed it unlikely to happen in his lifetime, adding that it is up to the younger generation to lead the change and make a difference. We have to recognise that we are one human family and that none of us is going to prevail alone, he concluded.
