War and Peace

Abstract

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives”. While a terrorist act causes innocent people pain, suffering, and even death, war is legitimized state-sponsored terrorism in a grand scale.

Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones.

—Martin Luther King Jr.

Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech (December 11, 1964).

Too many of us think [Peace] is impossible. Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. … Our problems are manmade—therefore they can be solved by man [or woman].

—President John F. Kennedy (June 10, 1963).

The belief that peace is desirable is rarely enough to achieve it. Peace requires responsibility. Peace entails sacrifice.

—President Barack Obama.

Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech (December 10, 2009).

If there is an Internet connection, my camera is more powerful [than my AK-47].

—Syrian dissident Abu Ghassan (June 2012).

Instead of building walls to create security, we need to build bridges.

—U.S. Navy Admiral and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis, TEDGlobal 2012 (June 2012).