www.insearchofpeace.net

As you, the reader, open a new book, you are, so to say entering the front door of the house of a hospitable author. The word 'WELCOME' is woven into the doormat. If you have decided to read the whole book you hang up your coat and settle down to it. If you have any doubts about it, you may first want to read the page of contents, the chapter headings. They correspond with the rooms in the house. Each room or chapter contains different things to suit its purpose. Even the most weary cook will not want a bed in the kitchen.
In choosing to mix a treatise on the desirable conditions of peace with an autobiography I knew I was taking a risk of confusing the reader and making the meal difficult to digest. Yet I believe the autobiography can be understood as a continuous search and the search can be more personal and therefore more interesting. The untidy rooms of busy persons provide insights into their characters and their concerns.
It might have been possible to produce a better, more authoritative, more useful book by securing the cooperation of a number of people each from a different academic discipline, from law, history, mathematics, science, sociology, economics, philosophy, psychology and then attempting to weld the parts into a whole.
On the other hand an attempt has been made to gather the oracular wisdom of sages and proverbs together with the farsightedness of the futurists and to spice the resulting mixture with my own anecdotes, so that no one may accuse me of plagiarism.
This book’s format has been largely determined by the varied sequence of my activities arranged roughly in date order. Stress is rightfully laid on the apparent need to know a little of many subjects and to defy the frequent criticism of being master of none. At the early stages or chapters I was assuming that my wish to do something useful for the general public could best be satisfied by improving the educational system, as far as any single person can reasonably hope to do so, while leaving higher ambitions to others. For the most part Quakers can best work for peace when the violence comes to an end.
The next stage began with the proverbial unsolicited letter on the breakfast table. It took the form of an invitation to join UNESCO's technical assistance programme in developing countries. At the same period, I was invited to join the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and shortly afterwards to manage my parents’ Charitable Trust, which though small at the time was due to grow considerably. Together the three events formed a turning point in my life, which diverted me towards a wider task involving a quest for peace, the abolition of war and what is now termed the establishment of a culture of peace. Although money by itself achieves little, if it is used to strengthen the arms of talented people who have vision, it can achieve a great deal.
Since that time I have kept in touch by acquainting myself more systematically with the numerous conditions in which peace and justice can be manifested. These include the practical experience of United Nations Technical Assistance and working in Belfast and Geneva, but also fundraising for a permanent post at the United Nations Association. They also includes reading books and periodicals, attending conferences and seminars so as to know who and what to support with grants. If there were more of us holding similar views about solving disputes and conflict non-violently rather than by military force, the ridiculous disparity between the funds allotted would be changed. Redirecting one percent of military expenditure each year could well make a start, to develop alternative forms of defence such as a stronger United Nations.
Already, under Kofi Annan's leadership a valuable boost to the UN’s morale has been given by the record breaking donation of a billion dollars from Ted Turner and the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Kofi Annan himself and to the staff. Whether he can call in some of the wiser big firms and Non-Governmental Organisations to keep the more short-sighted sovereign states in order, remains to be seen but the process has started well. This is the drama, which is taking place in our lifetimes and in which everyone has a part to play. The stakes are high. It is not just a matter of life and death but a question of widespread genocide through the destruction of the environment as well as through nuclear weapons. It is said of the dinosaurs: ‘Too much armour, too little brain, died out.’ It could be that this will be the more aptly written epitaph for the human race, if there is anyone left to write it. This was in my mind at a meeting in Geneva, which was addressed by the Vice-President of the USA when he had two armed bodyguards facing the meeting. The two leading experts on nuclear winters from USSR, and the USA were taking part and luckily I was able to be provide them with copies of Byron’s grim poem about the summer which never happened, when in some parts of Europe no one was left to bury the dead because the harvest failed due, as we now know, to such a huge volcanic explosion that the atmospheric dust obstructed the sun, causing crops to fail and famine to spread. By good fortune I had the Russian translation with me.
The inclusion of an anecdote in the introductory pages is intended to indicate that I believe in keeping autobiographies as personal and interesting as possible, hoping that the reader will appreciate the leaven.