Blueprint for Peace in C21st: Too Little Done, But Not Too Late

“Those of us who live in peace take it for granted – it’s the invisible canvass upon which we paint and live our lives,” said Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, MBE in her opening remarks for the annual 2021 Queen’s Lecture. “When we put ourselves in the shoes of others – see them as we see ourselves, – we are all the same – regardless of our culture or accident of geography.”

The annual lecture was founded by HM Queen Elizabeth II as a gift to the City of Berlin on the occasion of her state visit in 1965. Each year, a renowned British scientist delivers a lecture on their area of expertise. The Queen’s Lecture is a collaboration between Technical University Berlin, the British Embassy in Germany, and the British Council in Germany.

The event opened with a message from HM Queen Elizabeth II:

“This year’s Queen’s Lecture focuses on the situation of women and their role in peacebuilding in international conflict zones. Dr Sanam Naraghi Anderlini will not only speak about peace in the 21st century but also about the role women play in conflict regions and in peacebuilding processes as well as about the impacts climate change has by fuelling conflict situations. I congratulate the Technische Universität Berlin on its 2021 Queen’s Lecture and wish you all an interesting evening.”

Drawing on more than 20 years of experience as a peace strategist and advocate dealing with violent conflict around the world, Anderlini compared the promise and determination of world leaders to commit to multilateralism and peace at the dawn of the 21^st century to today’s proliferation of violence, inequality, and militarization.  Anderlini noted that the post-war generations were given the gift of the potential for world peace with the formation of the United Nations and the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Yet today, inequality is rising, social cohesion is decreasing, military expenditure has grown by 74% in two decades, and democracy and peacefulness have declined.

“Our Blueprint for Peace in the 21^st century is actually the blueprint we were given in 1945: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” she said. “If our governments had persisted in upholding these rights not just as values, but as attainable goals against which governance and leadership were measured, the world would be a very different place.”

She spoke of the positive developments in peacebuilding practices as well as the missed opportunities and the untapped potential of global grassroots campaigns. She challenged the audience to consider how feminist perspectives offer alternative solutions and the difference it makes to have women peacebuilders present as recognized delegations of peace actors in war and peace negotiations. 

“Those who take on the responsibility to protect should be at the peace table,” she said. “They are the peace actors.  When warring parties target civilians and kill children, how can they be credible representatives of those constituencies?” 

“We have ample qualitative and quantitative evidence to prove that women’s presence in peace processes improves the chance for peace by 35%. Yet apathy, adhockery and amnesia prevail,” she said. Referring to the Afghanistan crisis, Anderlini asked: “Imagine if Afghan women peacebuilders, Afghan women from across different professions – judges and journalists, community social workers, doctors, teachers, and human rights activists – were given their rightful seat at the tables of negotiation. Would the country be at risk of collapse now? Would families be so desperate as to sell their 9-year-old daughters into ‘marriage’ to 50-year-old men?”

Anderlini warned against the broader implications of the failure of the Western alliance in its political and diplomatic efforts as well as the military withdrawal:  “by leaving Afghan nationals – who were the peacebuilders – behind, we have shredded our own credibility around human rights and responsibility to protect. The withdrawal was sold to us as ending the forever war, but in the failure of the diplomatic efforts and operations, we have unleashed war forever against a nation where 40% of the population are under 14.”

She pointed to the decline of multilateralism and the dual rise of transnational, identity-based violent extremism and increasing authoritarianism. In spite of these trends, she cautioned, “It’s easy to be pessimistic or feel overwhelmed and hopeless, but pessimism is the privilege of the privileged. Our silence and inaction in our own countries and contexts enables the war profiteers to carry on business as usual.”

For two decades we have lived under the cloud of the “War on Terror” she noted, but we’ve lost our war.  Her challenge to the audience and to world leaders was simple: “What do we stand for?  What do we represent – what values and ideals, what vision of society and humanity and the world?”