Opinion | Can the West move beyond the business of war and work with China, other nations for global peace?
- The West has an unenviable track record of repeatedly failing to use diplomacy to resolve geopolitical issues
- The charge for peace should be led by a more diverse global community of diplomats, including from key nations such as China and India
It makes for troubling times when war is on the agenda of powerful nations. With the global mainstream media cultivating narratives to convince the world that war is inevitable, it is time to ask a simple question: where are the peacemakers?
There is one recent example: Saudi Arabia and Iran have reopened diplomatic channels, facilitated by China.
China has accomplished an impressive diplomatic feat – brokering an agreement between two regional powerhouses that have a long history of antagonism and mistrust.
Yet China’s efforts have been met with hostility and suspicion from many of those in the diplomatic corridors of Europe and the United States.
Equally, conjecture about Beijing’s imagined plans to invade Taiwan continues to occupy mainstream media, instead of the very real diplomatic efforts it is making. One article in The Economist referred to China’s efforts as “transactional diplomacy … [that] contains real perils”.
While peace brokering has benefits for the broker, blanket criticism and mischaracterisation are unhelpful to global diplomacy – especially given the West’s own track record of failure and the current need for new diplomatic actors and channels.
