Billera Blog 2

Simone Billera

March 2nd, 2022

Blog Post #2

“Is the World Getting Safer?” by Nikita Lalwani and Sam Winter-Levy is an intensely intriguing article, especially under the circumstances we face today in regards to Russia and Ukraine. The authors provide a plethora of arguments from different scholars, all of which address the question of whether or not international violence is on the decline. At the end of the reading, there is an exceptionally powerful quote from Henry Kissinger, a German-American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant. Speaking about an expression known as the Long Peace, he states: “The sense of the tragic was lost; it was forgotten that states could die, that upheavals could be irretrievable, that fear could become the means of social cohesion” (6). The intensity of this line resonates with me immensely. War and violence have been a distant problem for me, one that I had the privilege of studying and acknowledging without feeling its wrath. For me, “the sense of the tragic,” as Kissinger puts it, was not “forgotten” but never actually felt in the first place. Thus, the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine is my first small taste of such dissension, its presence looming darkly over our heads. 

The war between Russia and Ukraine is the largest European state-on-state conflict since World War II. It is not surprising that the United States is involved in the ensuing conflict. It is not surprising that its presence in the media is immense. It is not surprising that it is discussed in almost every one of my courses here at Bucknell. It is not surprising that this is the closest I have ever felt to a war; however, this is not a reality for everyone. Although Kissinger’s quote resonates with me, this cannot be said for everyone. The term “Long Peace” is almost laughable when looking at the conflicts that have ensued over the past decades, the wars fought and the lives lost, not covered by the media and not discussed in classes. I recently saw an article published by Vox entitled “The war in Ukraine could portend the end of the ‘Long Peace.’” Yes, the Long Peace may be faltering for the Western world, but other countries have been facing such perils with each passing day, lacking any distance from the violence, lacking an escape. I am not making such statements to compare hardships or to diminish the ongoing conflict in Russia and Ukraine. I am simply stating these facts because they cannot go unacknowledged amidst today’s current events. A large part of our world’s population has not experienced the luxury and tranquility of the so-called Long Peace.