The Peace Manifesto

Despite man's incredible advances in science and technology, “peace” has still managed to elude us. Getting my Master’s in Dispute Resolution changed my life by both reminding me of the conflict resolution practices of my Igbo culture and opening me up to a field that contained frameworks that can inspire peace, especially if adopted by more people in society. The issue is, the dispute resolution process as it is practiced currently is an offshoot of the court based legal system. Public policy was implemented to reduce the burden on the already overburdened courts as a form of alternative dispute resolution. In my opinion, a large reason for the growing amount of conflict and division is a lack of common knowledge on how to manage conflict. Conflict in our society today is handled on two opposite extremes of the spectrum, either violence or harsh legal action on one end or passive aggressiveness and outright avoidance on the other end. Our world has never been so connected and conflicted. If violence, litigation or simply ignoring the existence of anything you disagree with can take root as acceptable culture, I am determined to promote a counterculture making the practice of peace just as commonplace. I’m on a mission to develop a culture of peace. I believe, instead of the, so far unsuccessful top down government or institution led approaches to peace we’re used to, peace is treated as a learned skill, to be developed and practiced daily. Maybe the peace the world so desperately needs would be much better achieved if conflict resolution skills, peace inspiring skills and solutions, are put in the hands of people that confront conflict daily.