English translation below
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Daniel Durand
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"A necessary boost for peace "
Tribune
By Daniel Durand, President of the Institute for Documentation and Research on Peace (IDRP).
Between May 2024 and May 2025, we commemorate and remember that eighty years ago we defeated the Nazi Hydra and restored world peace .
Today, our societies, on all continents, seem inclined to take warlike and dangerous paths again. These situations are aggravated by the fact that the amount of military spending is reaching new heights in the world. More than 2400 billion dollars during the year 2023 according to the Swedish institute SIPRI!
The July summit in Washington of the world's largest military alliance, NATO, has heightened concerns. Twenty-three member countries now spend more than 2 percent of their gross domestic product on military spending. Moreover, NATO has decided to re-establish long-range missiles in the heart of Europe and to turn our continent back into a stage for future terrible military confrontations.
For its part, Europe no longer aims to be an actor in world peace but a participant in the power rivalries of today's world. The tone of the latest resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 17 July clearly shows this. It " welcomes the results of the NATO summit and reaffirms its conviction that Ukraine is irreversibly committed to its accession to NATO ".
On the French side, President Macron, after aligning himself with Ms. von der Leyen's positions during his presidency of the European Union in 2023, ultimately chose to play the firebrand by proposing the sending of troops to Ukraine, while planning new increases in French military spending . On July 14, he declared that he wanted to " prepare an adjustment of our military programming for 2025 ", a programming that already marks a 42% increase in French military spending.
It is very worrying to note that in political speeches, and in particular in those of Russian leaders, nuclear weapons are once again becoming a subject of political controversy. Moreover, in order to support its senseless offensive, which is contrary to the United Nations Charter, this country is developing a war economy, which is plunging its population into poverty and serves as a justification for all those who promote the militarization of the world.
The planet is therefore facing the highest risks of war known since the end of the Cold War. In this situation, faced with these dangers, we must go beyond simple observations or critical analyses, which are certainly lucid but powerless. We must imagine innovative solutions to ensure world peace in the 21st century , which can mobilize public opinion around the world and sweep away the resistance of state apparatuses.
Let us ask ourselves: what have we forgotten since the end of the Cold War? Let us open our eyes: all conflicts in the world are linked. Peace will not be resolved on a European scale alone. We have forgotten why the Charter of the United Nations was proclaimed and why the organisation was created.
We have forgotten the basis of its action stated in its preamble and in its article 1: " To achieve, by peaceful means, in accordance with the principles of justice and international law, the adjustment or settlement of disputes or situations of an international character which could lead to a breach of the peace ."
This is the basis of international law. This is the principle and rule that all the great powers are trampling on. This is what we must reimpose.
The obligation, imposed by respect for the United Nations Charter, particularly for the members of the Security Council, is, today, in Ukraine, for example, to obtain a ceasefire, to create the conditions for a framework for diplomatic discussions, to allow the construction of compromise solutions, some of which had been outlined in the Minsk agreements in 2014.
More than two years after the start of the Russian aggression, it is necessary to fully implement Article 51 of the UN Charter, which recognizes the " inherent right of self-defense " of the attacked country, but adds " until the Security Council has taken the necessary measures to maintain international peace and security ." These are the political and diplomatic initiatives that must be taken as a priority now.
More generally, we have reached a turning point in international life. The only positive and forward-looking perspective is to make, in concrete terms, the application of international law the pivot of global multilateralism.
Despite the obstacles, international law is already emerging at the centre of political debates, particularly around the dramatic situation in Gaza. The expectations of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court appear to be the essential levers to use to resolve the situation in Palestine.
We are not doing enough to increase pressure on France and the European Union to enforce the obligation to immediately ceasefire in Gaza .
Beyond the emergency, we must reflect on the new use of international law and the decisions of its organs such as the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court to reform the functioning of the Security Council and to break the deadlocks and impasse caused by the use of the " right of veto " by the permanent members of the Security Council.
How can we impose compliance with the decisions of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, by obtaining a ban on the veto by a permanent member, after a decision by the ICJ, by obtaining that the members of the Security Council are obliged to respect and apply the decisions of the ICJ and the ICC, and, in the event of refusal, that there can be a binding vote by the UN General Assembly. This is possible today, when the Security Council considers that there is a " threat to peace ", within the framework of Chapter VII of the Charter. How can we broaden this notion?
In this year of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United
Nations, should we not launch a major public opinion campaign to
obtain a major international truce for one year in the world, in all
conflicts, to allow a cycle of international discussions to be held.
This could consist of regional peace conferences, continent by
continent, followed by a major international conference, all under
the aegis of the United Nations to build a more lasting peace in the
world.
This proposal could be part of the " Summit
of the Future " to be held in September 2024. It
would be unthinkable for a " Summit of the Future
" to discuss the problems of sustainable development, the
problems of global warming, without placing the same level of urgency
on the issues of world peace and action against the current excessive
militarization?
More than ever, this reflection arises: " to get out of the deadlocks of war, 80 years after its foundation, let us bring back the United Nations, our common Charter, everywhere to the heart of world peace . "
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