Violence is not the answer. However, there is no better one....

There is an element to the quote this week’s blog is about that is completely true. In the end, violence will settle many things. Most major disputes thus far were settled only after war. Appeasement in World War II, compromises in the Civil War, and embargoes on North Korea have taught use that other types of diplomacy do not work the way that violence does. They are not as effective as going in with weapons blazing, and coming out victorious against a now decimated country.
For those of you that think I am die hard serious, think again. Obviously, you should take that as the most extreme statement in agreement with the quote. Now that I wrote that, I am going to take that entire paragraph, and try my hardest to prove it wrong. Lets start with my poorly ordered examples. All of them are true. Appeasement did not work, compromises before the civil war had people only counted as 3/5’s and has an imaginary line separating freedom from slavery, and N. Korea is still ever so insistent on making nuclear weapons. Yet, for the two past occurrences, war was the final, action. Because we, as a people, like to believe that we can solve of differences in a more humane matter. In a “mature” way. That “mature” way is, as I am sure many of the Leadership Gateway students have discovered first hand, the United Nations. Yeah, we are definitely going to need to think of a new solution, just ask the gateway students. The UN needs to be stronger. But until that happens, there has to be a way, right?
Well, let’s think. War, as we look at it, leads to treaties often establishing that one side won, and another lost. But how can we get to those treaties without violence? Trade is a factor to be sure, but only if that country is dependent on it. Trade embargoes do not work on N. Korea because, quite simply, their leader couldn’t care less how his people are affected, as long as he looks strong. So obviously, that route is out. How about through helping them in exchange for them not making weapons? Seems win-win for them, better relations with other countries and their people are helped. However, once again, the influx of new ideas would hurt the leader’s image, so that is out. Can you see a way to stop N. Korea from making these weapons? I can’t not without violence on our part. That’s never a good thing.
But that does not mean I don’t maintain hope for the system. Diplomacy must work now. There is no other option, because violence now is difference from the violence of the Civil War and WWII. Don’t misquote me, those wars were terrible, and resulted in too many brave men killed for defending against bad ideas. Slavery and concentration camps are bad, and by the way, no offense to the Southerners who see it this way, but in no way was it a war of Northern Aggression. It was a war of unity. Sorry for side tracking from my rambling thoughts. Anyway, now with the birth of these ultra destructive weapons, war is no longer viable as an option. War means billions of deaths. Diplomacy is the only way.
So how do we make this work? I can’t say for sure yet. Foreign Service has to be able to bargain better. We need to get people to understand that sometimes, there can be no winner. Sometimes, there are only losers. That’s what a bargain sometimes is. But in the end, saving billions of lives from war is a good win. Take it from me, in 50 years; people would look at you as a hero. Those who are willing to give up the short run to make the long run better are going places. And if we can get those people who are tough (we cannot give everything away, that wouldn’t work but reasonable, we can survive without violence. Obviously, in the case of N. Korea, if they allowed us to have U.N. watchdogs in there at all times to make sure there is no proliferation, and in turn we took away the trade embargo, both sides would win. And potential war would be averted.
Of course, this rarely works. No matter how hard we try, there will be people who take things to the extreme. There is nothing to stop this. Nothing. Can we try to bargain? Sure, of course we can. Will it work. 99% of the time it will not. And unfortunately, violence may be the only way to stop these people from hurting others. It might be. I am afraid that it is. I have not seen us get far with bargaining with extremists, they won’t listen. No matter what.
I guess what I am trying very hard to say is that violence is not the answer. It is just the only solution we have right now.