Why is Peace a Radical Act in Today’s World?

Peace isn’t passive. It’s a daily act of leadership and resistance. Here’s why I’ve built my life and work around this often misunderstood core value.

This is an abridged version of my third article in a four part series about living a Self-Reliant Life. In this article, I reflect on how I stay aligned with a value that is at odds with the world. Please read the full article over on my Substack.

We often talk about peace as if it’s a given: an ideal state, a diplomatic goal, or simply the absence of war. But in today’s world, peace has become strangely controversial.

As someone who has worked in both law and peacebuilding, I’ve come to see peace not as a soft ideal, but as a daily practice. A discipline. A value that challenges me more than any other, often because it puts me at odds with the world around me.

When I talk about peace, I’m not just referring to global affairs. I mean peace as a way of being. It’s choosing presence over reactivity. Compassion over resentment. Dialogue over domination. It’s how I try to lead, relate, and live. But it’s not always easy.

In fact, it once led me to leave a role I cared about. The organisation was shifting its focus toward military and defence tech clients, which was a direction I couldn’t align with ethically. Walking away wasn’t easy, but it was necessary. Because living your values is a form of leadership, too.

Read my earlier post on creating and committing to personal values.

Mainstream systems often conflate peace with security, but they are not the same. Policies built around “peace through strength” tend to normalise militarisation, not reduce conflict. In contrast, peacebuilding – real peacebuilding – requires empathy, creative problem solving, compromise, and long-term thinking.

I was lucky to learn this not just through work, but through mentors and family. My father, a student of history and theology, always said that war is a waste of life. He taught me that true strength lies in restraint, negotiation, and the willingness to understand others.

In a world that rewards speed, power, and outrage, peace can feel like resistance. But that’s exactly why it matters.

Thanks for reading this article. Next week, I’ll publish the fourth and final piece in this series on living a self-reliant life. I’ll write about one of the most important acts of self-reliance – asking others for help.