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In The Peace, Roméo Dallaire shows us the past, present and future of war through the prism of his own life. Trained in classic warfare during the Cold War era of mutual deterrence, Dallaire in good faith commanded the UN’s peacekeeping mission for Rwanda in 1994, only to see the country abandoned and descend into the hell of genocide. The battered, tortured warrior who emerged from that catastrophe grew determined to help repair the new world disorder—to prevent genocide, abolish the use of child soldiers, and find ways to intervene in, even prevent, conflicts in defence of humanity. And so Dallaire helped advance the doctrines of Responsibility to Protect and the Will to Intervene only to witness those initiatives falter because of the same old power politics, national self-interest and general indifference that had allowed the genocide in Rwanda to unfold unchecked.
In his final act, Dallaire has become a warrior working towards a better future in which those old paradigms are rejected and replaced. In The Peace he calls out the elements that undermine true security because they reinforce the dangerous, self-interested belief that “balance” of power and truces are the best we can do. Too often we say we are “at peace” because the bombs are falling elsewhere and we, ourselves, are not under attack. Dallaire shows us a path, instead, to what he calls “the peace,” a state where, above all else, humanity values the ties that bind us and the planet together—and acts accordingly. This book is the cri de coeur of a warrior who has been to hell and back and hopes to help guide us to a better place.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
April 2, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780345814425
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780345814425
- File size: 894 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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April 1, 2024
A renowned human rights activist and former Canadian senator surveys the world and finds it wanting. Dallaire's previous books (Shake Hands With the Devil, etc.) centered on his work in Rwanda, whose people were "abandoned to the killing" in the genocide of 1994. As the author notes, the international handling of that crisis, in which millions died, was similar to the current mismanagement of "geopolitical tensions, large-scale violations of human rights, and the erosion of representative government," among other things likely to provoke violence and challenge peacekeeping efforts. The international part is important, writes Dallaire, because the crises we face, such as climate change and mass migration, are borderless. In a wandering but on-point narrative that examines hate and its consequences, the author advocates for what he calls "The Peace." His path toward peace may seem unlikely, given that Dallaire's lifelong profession was soldiering; as he writes, "to be a solder is to inhabit a purgatory of choices between equally bad outcomes." (The purgatory part is important because Dallaire is fond of alluding to Dante, and he does so without stretching those allusions to absurdity.) Peace has enemies in both people and habits, one of which is denial, the refusal to accept responsibility for bad behavior that, in turn, impedes any possibility of reconciliation. It has its friends in both people and habits, such as "a vision of justice that embraces fairness, equality, rightness and trust." Dallaire, a self-described baby boomer, comes off a little too New Age-y at points, as when he writes that The Peace leverages "our extraordinary potential to give--to radiate energy out into the universe." Still, it's clear that he's had experiences enough of peace and war to make his insights worth considering. If giving peace a chance is still a possibility, this is a worthy guide.COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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