Peace First: A New Model to End War

by Uri Savir

Uri Savir has an ambitious, indispensable to bring peacemaking into the 21st century. “Little in today’s world,” writes Savir, “is more progressive than modern warfare. Yet little is more archaic than peacemaking.” We remain trapped in a centuries-old mindset, with leaders bargaining warily for concessions and signing treaties that collapse because no one on the ground has any real stake in them.

Drawing on his experiences negotiating the Oslo Peace Accords as well as on trenchant examples from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Northern Ireland, and the former Yugoslavia, Savir argues that an enduring peace is built from the bottom up, not from the top down. He describes a new model based on establishing and nurturing mutually beneficial forms of cooperation beginning on the local level, city to city and organization to organization.

This process of “glocalization”—involving local actors in global issues—is the first step toward constructing a peace a comprehensive transnational culture dedicated to breaking down the psychological and social barriers between former enemies. These efforts are furthered through the establishment of joint ventures that give each side a tangible stake in maintaining peace. Diplomacy still has a role, but it must reject maneuvering for gain and instead emphasize the advantages both sides will gain with the cultivation of lasting peace.

Throughout Savir provides concrete examples of how these concepts have been put into practice. And he ends with a detailed vision of how this model could bring an enduring peace in one of the world’s most war-torn the Mediterranean Basin. Peace First offers a pragmatic yet revolutionary new approach that promises to end our most intractable conflicts.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author was one of the chief negotiators of the Oslo Accords, subsequently served as a member of the Israeli Knesset, and worked in The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, among other things, providing him with decades of first-hand experience about what works and what doesn't work in trying to make peace between seemingly intractable enemies. Sadly he passed away last year, because I really want to know what he'd make of the current situation since October 7.

The book includes an insightful post-mortem on the Oslo process, and identifies the areas in which it fell short from the beginning, as well as the subsequent implementation that doomed it to fail. One of the inherent issues was that the agreement was between governments, and largely ignored the people whose lives would be affected. Without tangible benefits, popular support dwindled, which made the leaders less willing to make concessions, which stalled progress and led to a downward loop.

There's a lot of information in the book, it often reads like a list of bullet points lifted from a PowerPoint presentation that he's giving to a room full of diplomats at a conference. This approach can be a bit clinical, but thankfully it wasn't too laden down by technical jargon or political doublespeak. Still, it would have been nice to include more specific examples to make it less abstract.

Aside from the myriad plans and suggestions on how to establish ties between two warring sides, the biggest take away for me is the need to both be precise in writing a formal treaty to avoid misunderstandings and clarify expectations and responsibilities of all parties (including international observers, NGOs, etc), but also flexible as the situation changes down the line, which it inevitably will. He suggests mechanisms that foster better communication and cooperation to decrease tension, and prevent minor incidents from escalating to wider conflicts.

And most critical of all, the need to get the two populations thinking of each other as neighbours and not as enemies. Education, sister cities, student exchange programs, language studies, business ties, joint development projects, etc. should all be fostered alongside the security coordination and diplomatic efforts.

It does seem possible to reach agreements if the sides are willing to follow his instructions, but ultimately the success or failure seems to boil down to one fundamental issue: both sides need to want peace. If they do, they'll find a way to make it work, and if not then no amount of external pressure or negative consequences or iron-clad treaties will help. So everyone involved needs to read this book immediately and start implementing measures to reduce tension, re-humanize the other side, and start building bridges (both figuratively and literally) to a brighter tomorrow (more like 20 years at this point, but you get the idea).

[David Tensmeyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a negotiator involved in the creation of the Isreali-Palestinian Oslo Accords, Uri Savir is well placed to question prevailing views on peacemaking. Drawing from his own experience as well as observations of peace processes worldwide, he examines such paradoxes as the tendency for "peace negotiators" to be the very same people who pushed for war in the first place.
Savir outlines several principles that must be followed if we are to create a more effective peace process. For the most part, these principles can be generalized under the overarching theme of broader participation in peacemaking. For example, his term "glocalization," while a bit ungainly-sounding, points to a real need for local actors from each side - think schools, businesses, sports clubs - to engage with each other to build a coalition for peace. This focus on expanding the peace process from stuffy government ministries to the millions of citizens who stand to benefit from real peace is refreshing, and makes the book well worth a read for anyone interested in working towards a more conflict-free world.

[Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author presents his ideas on finding peaceful solutions to conflicts based on his experiences as a peace negotiator for Israel. However, it's presented more as a seminar for other peace negotiators, and as such didn't have specific practical applications to the general public. He recommends including youth programs and involvement, financial cooperation, joint ventures, etc. While fundamentally and theoretically good ideas, and the value of these recommendations are apparent, his target audience seems more to be apprentice peace negotiators. He recommends Committees and sub-committees for peace negotiations, and tasks they should take up. But he doesn't make an effort to tie these ideas and solutions to other applications. He has many recommendations, many platitudes, and while useful as a negotiators handbook, it didn't seem too practical for the general reader.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very hopeful. In light of the recent outbreak of hostilities in Gaza, one could say this book is needed more than ever. Or, one could get really depressed and feel the situation is hopeless.