The Baker “Peace” Conference is poorly named.
Considering last year’s choice of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who supports violent foreign interventionism, as the keynote speaker of the “peace” conference, I should not have been surprised to hear that the keynote address this year will be given by a retired Marine general associated with Blackwater.
I am perplexed by those who organized the 2011 meeting. Many panel discussion members are affiliated with the military, and they are overwhelmingly male. Why bring in those who support an inherently violent institution for a “peace” conference?
Why don’t we actually promote peace, bringing in peace activists, many of whom are female, and others whose actions have advanced peace efforts? Last year’s theme was “Women’s Rights are Human Rights,” yet this year’s conference is dominated by males. It appears that the Baker “Peace” Conference gave women a “girls night” before returning to marginalizing women in their proceedings.
The very topic of the 2011 “peace” conference, “Failed States,” is not conducive to peace. I wonder how many white military males will be speaking about “failed” African states, for example.
Is this conducive to peace, or does it further divisiveness by perpetuating Western imperialist attitudes?
Panel discussion topics will include “fundamentalist societies,” “fragile societies,” and “the future of war – a military response.” This stinks of patriarchal white supremacist colonialist attitudes, and I hope that the 2012 “peace” conference might actually be geared toward peace.
Eden Almasude is a senior studying molecular biology.
