Keep the fire burning?

I have been travelling for the past 30 years and visiting many war-torn areas, conflict zones and crossfire lines in Iraq, Gaza, Chechnya, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Darfur etc. My experiences have enabled me to learn a lot from the philharmonic music of bullets, missiles, bombing, screams, cries, destruction, tanks and jets.

Beethoven’s symphonies have entranced us for centuries, however our own musical war machines are a completely different kettle of fish altogether! Beethoven creates a peaceful atmosphere, while the war machine drags you out into the void.

Everybody aims towards peace however sometimes parties fail to reach ceasefire agreements. We need to take a step back and understand the motives behind that. Could the agreement be not comprehensive enough? Or not realistic? Or unjust? Does it address all current and future needs?

There are many more questions that could be asked, but the most important one, in my view, is what are we, the international community, doing about it? We need to stand as pendulum for the scale of humanity and use our moral value as weight and decide: keep the fire burning?