When the world turns ugly, apathy is no answer
If you’re worried that changing the world is beyond your capabilities
and feel powerless to affect the machinations of the political elite,
Dan Plesch says it’s time for a rethink. Alison Thomas assesses his
battleplan
If
you’re worried that changing the world is beyond your capabilities and
feel powerless to affect the machinations of the political elite, Dan
Plesch says it’s time for a rethink. Alison Thomas assesses his
battleplan
When it comes to eye-catching book titles, it’s hard
to better The Beauty Queen’s Guide to World Peace – particularly when
the cover is also adorned with a picture of US president George Bush,
radiant in a tiara.
Starting from the premise that a desire for
world peace is almost universal – why else would every beauty queen
list it among her ambitions? – academic, writer and campaigner Dan
Plesch lists some of the most serious problems and sources of conflict
facing the planet, from al-Qaeda to dwindling energy reserves, then
suggests solutions. Simple as that.
Actually, no, it isn’t
simple at all. Nor does Plesch suggest that getting rid of weapons of
mass destruction, curbing the excesses of capitalism in general and
shareholder power in particular, or reducing dependence on oil in the
industrialised economies – to name but three of his ingredients for a
better world – are going to be anything remotely resembling a piece of
cake.
But he remains refreshingly upbeat in the face of daunting
challenges, and suggests that the difficulty of the tasks is not an
argument for doing nothing.
To the individual feeling
powerless in the face of global problems, Plesch suggests that even the
smallest of steps in effecting change are significant – a local
community getting together to lobby their MP, or a local council
deciding to promote renewable energy, for instance.
His
background as a former CND activist and a member of the team organising
(if that’s the right word) the Glastonbury festival, before he moved on
to Washington think-tanks and academic research, certainly provides
ammunition for those who would accuse Plesch of starry-eyed optimism
and having his head in the clouds.
His counter to charges that
he is being unrealistic and naïve is to ask just what is so realistic
about America’s policy in Iraq. And if it is so unrealistic to
challenge the powerful, he argues, then how was apartheid overthrown in
South Africa?
He certainly scores some hits in his analysis of current policy, pointing out,
for
example, that America appears to have no fall-back position from its
plan A of military intervention to secure Gulf oil supplies – other
than a plan B of making sure plan A works.
There is plenty to
disagree with in Plesch’s analysis, and even more to provoke lively
debate, and this turns out to be a strength of the book. It’s a breath
of fresh air, looking at familiar problems from unexpected angles,
stimulating debate and generating new ideas.
Meanwhile the
plaudits it has already earned from sources as diverse as former
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and former assistant chief of the defence
staff Air Marshall Lord Garden suggest, at the very least, a
groundswell of unease about current orthodoxies and a recognition of
the need for new approaches to today’s complex international problems.
What’s
more, The Beauty Queen’s Guide to World Peace is written in simple,
direct and lucid prose, enlivened with frequent touches of humour. It
proves that serious, important books don’t have to be stuffed with
obfuscatory jargon, but can be readable and accessible.
And in a worrying world, that’s one reason to be cheerful, at least.
Published: 08/09/2004
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