Blessed are the peacemakers of the world

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God,” goes one of the Beatitudes of our Lord Jesus Christ. And there is no better way to start the new year than with this immutable message of peace. For the year 2014 was anything but peaceful. That year was dominated by crises. The Russia-Ukraine conflict that started in February resulted in Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the shooting down of the Malaysian airline in Ukraine, killing all the passengers and crew on board. The abduction of the Chibok girls in April put the Boko Haram insurgency on world map, and triggered a global uproar. There were natural catastrophes too. The Ebola epidemic ravaged West Africa, killing over 7,000 people, and sent panics across the world. The markets also failed in 2014. World oil prices plunged to historic lows, putting the public finances of oil-producing countries in deep trouble. Sadly, some of these crises will rumble on in 2015.

Yet in the midst of these tragic events came the uplifting news. On December 17, the US president, Barack Obama, and the Cuban leader, Raul Castro, announced a historic deal to restore full relations, more than 50 years after they were broken. This is a significant diplomatic breakthrough that, as the British Times newspaper puts it, “heralds the biggest economic and social upheaval anywhere in the Communist world since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989”. It will also have repercussions throughout the world.
The path to peace was long and tortuous. Fidel Castro’s military coup in Cuba in 1959 triggered the longest diplomatic standoff in recent history. His decision to ally with the Soviet Union brought Communism to Cuba and provoked a swift response from the US, which instituted a total trade boycott in 1960. Two years later, the world was nearly brought to a nuclear war when the USSR attempted to install nuclear arms in Cuba, 90 miles away from the US, forcing the US into full nuclear mode. Although the USSR later retreated, this pattern of hostile stalemate continued throughout the Cold War.

However, although the US-Cuban crisis posed serious threats to global security, its greatest impacts were on international economic relations and law. The decades-long US trade embargo crippled Cuba’s economy, strained economic relations between the US and its allies, and impaired international law.

For example, the 1996 Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act, also known as the Helms-Burton Act, which codified the trade sanctions against Cuba, gave the conflict an extraterritorial effect. It threatened to exclude from US territory any foreign national engaging in commercial activity with Cuba. This exposed several Western countries, particularly the Europeans, which had strong commercial presence in Cuba, to the risk of exclusion from the US market. The EU challenged the US law at the WTO on the ground that it violated WTO law. But politics intervened, and the case was withdrawn to allow for “further negotiations”. The offensive provision remains part of US law, albeit unenforced.

International trade lawyers will also be familiar with the Havana Club Rum case. Here, again, international economic relations and law were the victims. In 1998, the US enacted a law on the world-renowned Havana Club rum, which Fidel Castro confiscated from its original owners, the Arechabala family, in 1960. The US law prohibited any Cuban or foreign national from using the Havana Club trademark in the US without the consent of the original owners. Fair enough, you would say, after all, the asset was confiscated from the original owners without compensation. But, in fact, the law was designed to help a US company acquire the rights to the trademark from the original owners, and to stop a French-Cuban consortium, which had previously registered the trademark in the US, from using it on the basis that they did not have the original owners’ consent.

The EU challenged the US law at the WTO and won, with the WTO Appellate Body ruling that the law breached the WTO’s non-discrimination rules. Twelve years after that decision in 2002, the US has not complied with the ruling, despite being constantly needled and harangued at the WTO over the issue.
For nearly 50 years, the battle over the US trade embargo was fought at the United Nations and the WTO. There are over 17 resolutions by the UN General Assembly against the embargo. When these failed to change the US stance, Cuba tried to challenge the embargo at the WTO but ran up against the WTO’s national security defence. Then, recently, it tried blackmail, by threatening to veto a crucial deal at the WTO 9th Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2013, unless it included measures to ease the US trade embargo. In the end, it yielded to pressure to support the deal.

But, now, at last: the historic breakthrough! What trade sanctions, military brinkmanship and international law failed to achieve for over 50 years, political will, genuine statesmanship and papal diplomacy have now made possible. Presidents Obama and Castro will now tear down the last vestiges of the Iron Curtain, thanks to their political leadership and willingness to take chances for peace against the odds. Just as significant was the role that the Pope played behind the scenes to bring the two countries together. For 18 months, the Pope engaged in secret talks to help both parties reach a deal.

Papal diplomacy has emerged from this glowingly. In 1935, Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator, was asked to make peace with the Pope. He replied cheekily: “The Pope! How many divisions has he got?” But he was wrong. The Pope’s authority does not flow from the barrel of a gun but from his “good offices” and moral standing.
Most of the world’s crises are linked to religion and politics, often against each other. Yet, politics and religion can be forces for good and come together to make the world a better place, as in this case. This synergy works well when religious leaders selflessly use their “good offices” and moral authority to facilitate the process of peace, and politicians have the will and determination to labour for peace. This model will usually produce results even in delicate situations.

For instance, although the Boko Haram insurgency has a religious undertone, there is clearly a political force behind it, as there is behind many religious conflicts in the world. And if truth be told, there is no military solution to the insurgency. The way forward must include a concerted effort to win hearts and minds, and an attempt to identify and tackle the political causes. Of course, if it is purely religious and Boko Haram is fixated on martyrdom, that approach might not work. But it would be wrong not to see the religious as well as the political dimensions.

Nigeria’s politicians should therefore stop their partisan squabbling and seek a bi-partisan, cross-party, solution. That’s how British politicians and political parties tackled the Northern Ireland conflict: they were united in finding a comprehensive solution. And Nigeria’s religious leaders should emulate the Pope and work secretly for peace. Of course, none of this will stop the insurgency immediately, but it can never be wrong to labour, and take chances, for peace. The benefits usually unfold in the end, often unexpectedly!
Happy New Year! I wish you all a prosperous and peaceful 2015.

 

Olu Fasan