In today’s contemporary world, there are perhaps more conflicts evolving than the entire polar bears population in the North Pole. Not one country in the world can boast of not having problems with any other country. The whole world is playing hide and seek with each other waiting for the other to make a move so they can trounce them. The tolerance level of our decision makers is nothing to be proud off. In the name of their nations, it is their ego that gets a boost at every conquest. In a great show of hypocrisy the leaders blatantly encourage talks over battles even when their armies are engaged at the frontiers. Negotiations is a word lost to the mighty as it is beneath them to discuss and get half of what they want when they can stomp and get all that they want.
In this situation of gloom and despair all is not lost. To me, there is a single ray of hope that can take the world through. Unfortunately for the rulers, they no more have subjects who bow and take every decision of their rulers as the word of God. Education and the access to unlimited awareness through media has made people sit up and take notice of the injustices that are being showered on them and on others in their name. Students are the forerunners at breaking this long standing tradition of saying aye to the boss. They can make or break governments as the government has no tight hold on them as they have on the working genre. The young blood has nothing to loose but everything to gain. There are no strings attached to their voices. The older generation is slaves of the rulers who obliquely have their earnings entwined with the government. The students are free to say as they please. At a point where globalization is affecting the world in every sense of the word, they think not for them selves but for the world. Unlike their parents who have become accustomed to the doings of the world, today’s students know if they want it different, they would get different. They can force the leaders to resolve conflicts rather then win wars as they have done so in the past where they have united to take matters in their own hands. They have access to be heard, and they are intelligent to be noticed.
Advocates of global peace have realized the power of the students. They encourage student exchange to give them a feel of the world scenario. They provoke them rather than encourage them to realize their worth and counter their governments who are at the mercy of the liberal, educated youth. With no ulterior motives, students should set upon the daunting task of taking it upon themselves to resolve conflicts through their governments and making the big difference that the world desperately needs.
Recently a lot of student movements have been started globally giving the students a chance of being heard, a very significant step towards a peaceful process of globalization. One example of this movements is Model United Nation (MUN)- a convention that simulates the meeting of Ambassadors at the United Nations. Students from all over the world represent different countries at the United Nations. This helps them in grasping the internal and external issues of the other countries to some extent, also giving the students an opportunity to relate to the conflict in large with a systematic and a practical approach rather then what is being fed to them. The inter personal communication between students from different countries, religions and cultures help them in accepting each others way of life as well as the injustices being imposed at them globally. They relate to each other and thus feel for each other at the same time.
Grants provided to Eastern students by the Western Universities is an other practice which is gaining popularity. Grant funding has helped build a diverse community of institutions focusing on international conflict, including a wide array of universities, think tanks, non-profit organizations, schools, in the Western countries and abroad. Through the Grant program of United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has developed new lines of communication among its grantees, and between grantees and the broader community.
Several student exchange programs are also taking place. These programs help students to break the stereotypes associated with the East and paint a softer picture of their countries and cultures with their new globalized identities in the West. Muslims and Pakistanis are now synonyms for terrorists and extremist as far as West is considered. Thanks to these exchange programs, students help in building an image which is anything but extremist and intolerable. How has this helped in conflict resolution? The answer is quick, easy and self-explanatory-the Pakistani student exchange program with the Indian students. These programs have been added bonus to the on going peace-talks as they soften both the countries and making them realize ‘if the kids can do it so can we’.
I do not suggest that through the students we can see a considerable change in counted days. But I do want to establish the fact that with no support from governments and real time for that matter, the students can make a difference. The government and media can not help take notice of them. After all students have been known to stand tall against their governments, protesting against the war on terror and recently the attacks on Lebanon. The immense media attention and the awareness that resulted in it can not be ignored. Going back in history we have seen the students over throwing stiff martial law dictators and helping leaders like Jinnah in getting a separate homeland.
The extra benefit in the positive student involvement in global politics is perhaps a bigger benefit from what we can see now. The bigger benefit is that many of these students will grow up to be world leaders, policy makers and good citizens who will know how to be useful in a democratic society. Unlike their predecessors, they will not let the world become worthless. Students are the base of the intelligentia, if we can make them to lead and trigger a change of perceptions at lower, wider levels that will eventually lead to a world we deserve living in.
