The Mercy Corps Blog

Blog Post Posted June 15, 2009, 3:16 pm by Roger Burks

Peace begins with honesty

Hundreds of thousands of Iranians have taken to Tehran's streets to protest election results they feel are deceptive. Photo: Flickr, courtesy of mousavi1388

“All war is based on deception,” said Sun Tzu in his ancient treatise on battlefield strategy, The Art of War.

So does that mean that all peace is based on honesty?

I’ve been captivated and saddened by the dissent and bloodshed arising from Iran’s disputed Presidential elections. This is brutality and turmoil borne of deep distrust — a consensus among hundreds of thousands that they are being cheated out of change by illegitimate poll results. And so gunshots are fired into crowds of protestors. Buildings are ransacked and vehicles set afire. Swaths of Tehran smolder.

This is violence arising from perceived deception: war in the streets between voters and a government that is supposed to represent their interests. Today, the crowd at a pro-reform rally in central Tehran stretched for five miles.

The bravery of turning out in the streets despite government warnings to stay home is a good measure of hope, despite ongoing tragedy. After all, in some of the countries where Mercy Corps work, the control of information and savagery of the military are such that a sustained protest like the one we’re seeing in Iran would never even rise.

War is based on deception, as is control of populace.

Peace is based on honesty — on disclosure, on debate, on dialogue. These are not necessarily easy things to begin or sustain, but they lead to truth.

Dialogue is a catalyst of peaceful change. Mercy Corps has seen this in communities from Ethiopia to Tajikistan. It’s happened on soccer fields in Iraq and over Liberia’s airwaves. It can begin as simply as a conversation between two women from warring ethnic groups before it envelops — and changes — entire communities.

I’ve seen it happen, first-hand, in places like Guatemala’s Alta Verapaz region. During my first trip for Mercy Corps, back in 2004, I attended a meeting between the residents of adjacent villages that were involved in a land dispute. I didn’t write about it at the time but, at one point during that meeting, a resident from the village of Milagro told his neighbor from the village of Tierra Linda that he could “stick that map [where the sun doesn’t shine].” It could’ve been a disastrous declaration, especially given the country’s decades of civil war but you know what? People laughed out loud. They laughed, then they started talking a little bit more freely, then they agreed to meet again to discuss things.

Sometimes people raise their voices in dialogue. Debate can be vigorous. People might disagree and walk away. As Americans, we’re fortunate enough to have those facts so deeply rooted in our tradition. We’re generally truthful with our government, and they with us. Change is not just a hope, but an often-renewed action.

Peaceful change is transparent and truthful. But coming clean and beginning to tell the truth is often the hardest part of all.