Your Excellency: Power Games Don't Work

21 June 2015


An open letter to the diplomatic community

Your Excellency:

The preemptive strike on Iraq was a grab for power. When played on an innocent man, the games reached their ultimate conclusion—a loss of power. This is why the issue of no WMD is so important. It triggered the collapse of the entire paradigm based on games of one-upmanship. It also triggered a grab for power by those see this as an opportunity to get their life on a higher level, and are continuing to play the games that got them into power. They do not see the potential of the plan for the international government.

The preemptive strike brought together five power games in an act of revenge. True power comes from assuming responsibility to undo the damage you and others have done. It is not based on military might or on brutality. The problem with revenge is that it is a means to an end, and no one has the same goal, so everyone undermines each other. No one gets what they want because it was in no one’s best interest for them to have what they were grabbing for.

If grabs for power now don’t work, something that does work must be established. As those who grab for power lose their power, those who assume responsibility to undo the damage are rising in power, and when they reach the point where they are equal, it is possible to end the conflict. The first requirement for conflict resolution is a sense of equality.

By opening these concepts to debate, I hope the diplomatic community will assume responsibility to undo the damage that has been done and work together to solve the problems we are facing as a planet, and that you will hand responsibility over to the international government when it is time to do so. I don’t expect you to make any changes or policy decisions, but just to recognize the games when you see them and understand why the games don’t work. The solution to every crisis that leads to a dilemma is to do what is in everyone’s best interest. With your combined years of experience in the field of diplomacy, there will always be people who can speak from their own experience, and I encourage you to do what is in everyone’s best interest on all matters.

Yours for peace,


Karen Holmes,
Principal
Copy: Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR)