A Note on World Peace

According to the Writer’s Almanac: Antarctica was deemed a military-free continent on this date in 1959. The Antarctic Treaty was an agreement signed by 12 nations – including the United States and the Soviet Union – stating that the continent was to be used for scientific research only; it also banned any military installations or weapons testing of any sort, and it was the first arms control agreement signed during the Cold War.

Provisions of the treaty include: “Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only” (Art. I); “Freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and cooperation toward that end shall continue” (Art. II); and “Scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available” (Art. III).

In his statement on the treaty, President Eisenhower said, “The spirit of cooperation and mutual understanding, which the 12 nations and their delegations exhibited in drafting a treaty of this importance, should be an inspiring example of what can be accomplished by international cooperation in the field of science and in the pursuit of peace.”

More countries signed on over the years, and in 1991 the agreement was expanded to include a ban on mineral and oil exploration for at least the next 50 years. It’s also been supplemented by agreements concerning things like wildlife preservation and waste disposal. There are now 53 signatories to the Antarctic Treaty System, as it’s now called; more than half of them have active scientific research projects underway on the continent.

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Ike really nailed it. But let’s think for a second: If we can have one military-free continent, why can’t we have two or three–or seven?

War is as much the paradigm for the resolution of international disputes now as it’s ever been in human history, yet the vast majority of the people on Earth hope with all their hearts that our civilization can get past this and move on to solutions of rationality, diplomacy, cooperation and peace.

I wish I could say that the incoming administration in the U.S. brings even an iota of this spirit with it, but sadly, the exact opposite is the case.  Having said that, we all need to stay focused on creating the kind of world in which we want to live.