A peace whisperer in a fragile and divided world...

Peace is not hallelujah...

Peace is an uttermost tough mission in dimensions of humanity, culture, politics, diplomacy and economics. One might judge the relevance of peace in terms of values, norms or ideologies but real peace whisperers talk about achieving a balance, resilience and peaceful existence of multipolarity and diversity.

Some call George Yeo, Singapore’s former foreign minister, a ‘China Whisperer’, and rightfully so for his unique ability and knowledge to explain China to the world. Though the term ‘peace whisperer’ might incline to be more accurate.

George Yeo delivered a fascinating lecture with title ‘China in a Multipolar World’ last week touching history, multipolarity, culture, politics and human morality in relation to the major threats to peace in this era, especially the geopolitical conflict between the United States and China.

The annual Goh Keng Swee Lecture was delivered by George Yeo at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore on 15 December.

Peace is not an ideology or a norm, it is a constant pragmatic mission for people around the world living and let live. Peace requires peace whisperers talking and acting straightforward about this continuous mission taking the different perspectives and complexities of history, diplomacy, culture, politics, economies and trade, and morality into account.

George Yeo explained as follows in his lecture on the essence of multipolarity and its challenges :

“Multipolarity should express a view of how we see one another as fellow human beings. Multipolarity is not co-existence, it is about you respect my identity and I respect yours but we have a deeper identity as human beings.

The most difficult challenge to multipolarity is to be humble, to understand the other party for what it is in his history and civilization. And to see good in it even though we do not embrace all of it.

The key question for peace is whether we are bound together by a spirit of fraternity. It is a moral question and a moral challenge. Are we in the end still brothers and sisters?”

Highly recommended to listen to George Yeo's lecture learning about the history and culture of today’s major geopolitical conflicts along with suggestions moving forward to increase peace stability, and with strong reminders of the potential threats to further escalation.

Watch here George Yeo's lecture with introductions by Bert Hofman（郝福满）, Director and Dr The Kok Pen, Chairman of the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore (including interesting Q&A after the lecture):

China in a Multipolar World by George Yeo | Goh Keng Swee Lecture on Modern China (youtube)

Full transcript of lecture here :

George Yeo: China's rise is creating a multipolar world that could benefit the US (ThinkChina)

A peaceful 2023 !

#peace #multipolarity #multilateralism #diversity #diplomacy #geopolitics #china #usa #europe #uschinarelations #beijing

Pictures : unsplash | zhang kaiyv , google