Cooperative Peacebuilding Efforts Urgently Needed
TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 9 Mar 2026
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service
4 Mar 2026 – At this time when there is armed conflict and strong political tensions in the world society, broadly-based efforts are needed to develop a harmonious political culture based on world law. A political culture is a set of attitudes and beliefs which give order and meaning to a political process. Such a positive political culture is a product of both the collective history of a political system and the life histories of the members of that system.
” To establish conditions under which justice and the respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained” is one of the four objectives of the United Nations as set out in the preamble to the Charter, firmly related to the three other aims: the prevention of war, respect for human rights, and social progress. The phrasing of the aims rightly stresses not the enactment of international law but rather the need to “establish conditions” under which justice and respect for international law is possible.
Respect for international law should place limitations upon the number of options open to a government in choosing how to carry out a policy in foreign affairs. The most fundamental limitation is the prohibition on using military action except in self-defense against aggression.
When abuse of State power, denial of human rights, corruption, and the absence of participation in decision-making are the daily routine, people look upon law as a method to establish justice. The rule of law at both the international and national level must be based on a social consensus.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can play a vital role in developing this social consensus on the rule of law. NGOs have proven that they can respond effectively to the challenges faced by today’s world society. Thus there is a growing role for NGOs within the United Nations system in the making and implementation of policies. NGOs are involved more than ever before in global policy-making and project implementation. They bring citizens’ concerns to governments and advocate specific policies.
Today, with armed violence ongoing in many parts of the world, cooperative peacebuilding efforts are urgently needed. NGOs are playing an increasing role in such peacebuilding efforts and must be encouraged.
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René Wadlow is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment. He is President of the Association of World Citizens, an international peace organization with consultative status with ECOSOC, the United Nations organ facilitating international cooperation and problem-solving in economic and social issues, and editor of Transnational Perspectives.
Tags: Conflict Mediation, Conflict Resolution, Politics, Violent conflict
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 9 Mar 2026.
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