Building a Just World Order: Alfred de Zayas, author. A book review.

 

What comes first?  Massive institutional change required to create a just world order, or the massive popular support required to make that institutional change possible - and then stick?

From my work over the last 4.5 decades on human rights, global health, the UN Charter, then 4 years (1998 – 2002) as Issues Director for the World Federalist Association in WDC – it appears little has changed to achieve a global democratic solution.  I am certain that solving this problem will require a reversal of the order our movement has always taken.  I urged WFA’s leadership on this with the release of each of three reports from President Bill Clinton’s bi-partisan Presidential Commission on National Security in the 21^st Century.  His commission started in 1999 and its third and final report was released March 2001.    Unfortunately, both WFA’s leadership and the Bush administration ignored its findings and clear warnings.  WFA understandably continued to advocate for the ICC - because President Bush removed the US from it his first day in office.   WFA ignored the warnings, while the Bush Administration also ignored it, then started planning for the invasion of Iraq using the fear of its possession of nuclear, bio, and chem WMD.  Strategically, his Administration was committed to positioning US military power in the heart of Middle-East oil.  To Al Qaida, that was a gift that keeps on giving.

After 9-11, 2001 WFA had the perfect excuse to advocate for ‘world law’ instead of a ‘world war’ against terrorism, a tactic that could never be defeated.  Oddly, WFA’s new leadership decided that would not be a good path and instead prioritized the environment.  Later, around 2002 WFA went broke  -having made virtually no progress in advancing global governance, nuclear disarmament, or US military cuts.  A few years later WFA was rebirthed as Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS) thanks to the economic blessings from many highly intellectual minds and progressive pocketbooks. 

My experience with WFA decades ago convinced me that it had two fundamental weaknesses. One was not walking its talk of changing the international system and creating stronger world institutions. Instead the focus was on controlling nuclear weapons, achieving disarmament, and attempting to build some legal structures necessary to prevent war.  Important objectives...but entirely inconsistent with the direction that the world, American minds, and dual-use technologies were heading. 

Now, with hyper political polarization in the US - largely driven by Truth decay and social media, while over 20 other democracies back slid into populists’ movements to seek strong leaders - us globalists push the cart from behind with the horse.   

Important question!  Why do you believe people in democracies clamor for strong leaders?  A simple partial answer exists, yet I’ve not heard any pundit make it.  Here it is - powerful and ignorant minds persist in believing globally interdependent disruptive forces can be stopped or reduced by nations based on independent national and department decisions.  “Delusion” is the word Albert Eintein calls this fantasy if independence.  Simply because everything in the known universe is connected, interdependent, and vulnerable. And only a global effort can remedy this. Not walls, powerful militaries, prosperous economies, strong leaders, or prayers. 

What’s needed first, is a vast majority of the world's population generating the political will needed to prevent these disruptive forces from leaving their place of origin- then ignoring map lines.  The solution must first begin in every local community globally.  Starting with primary health, basic education, clean water, safe sanitation, and other basics – simply so people have the energy and will to unite.  Then take coordinated actions in transforming our existing failed UN global architecture.  A system and structures that have always put the protection of national sovereignty and wealth  - above the protection of human rights and nature.

It is difficult to persuade people to support fundamental changes in international institutions when their immediate concerns are child survival and family protection. With community security next.  Certainly, anyone can see that it is particularly difficult to persuade nations to surrender or substantially reduce military capabilities when they do not trust one another - and believe their own security may depend upon maintaining them.

If we are serious about transforming the existing system – we must reverse the sequence.

Rather than asking people to reform the UN first -  so it can solve the world’s problems, we must first demonstrate that international cooperation can help solve the life and death problems most people experience every day.  Even when there are no wars.

This means beginning with the fundamentals of human well-being: health and education.  And by health, it means health in its broadest sense.  Health of the mind, body, and spirit; family; community; environment; government; and economy. These systems are not independent. They irreversibly interconnected.  And a weakness in one increasingly produces weakness in the others.

Those who engineer the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights understood this wisdom. But the powers then rejected any need for power to enforce them.  Thus, we have the insanity of the world we see today.  And we must admit that the 30 basic rights within the UDHR will never be enforced by laws.  But most of these basic rights can be purchased!   And the must be urgently- to avert catastrophic global consequences within all nations.  Failing Covid supply chains and closing the strait of Hormuz were minor disruptions to what’s possible if current wars expand or AI gets out of control.

In June 2023, Bank of America Chair & CEO, Brian Moynihan spoke on the state of the economy, the U.S. financial system, and capitalism. He said, ‘the SDGs will cost approximately’ “$6 trillion annually”. “Governments are too debt burdened” and “charity is insufficient”. “Business leaders” “like the oil companies” and others must step up and prioritize a balancing of ‘short-term gains’ with ‘long term interests’. ‘Profits must be good for business and society all the way down to the community level’. “Capitalism” “requires a greater purpose than making more profit.” Neither capitalism or profit making is sustainable without these SDG goals being achieved.'  C-span covered this interview hosted by the City Club of Cleveland. Program ID: 529044-1 https://www.c-span.org/video/?529044-1/bank-america-ceo-remarks-city-club-cleveland

Never before has humanity had so much wealth.  Cost is not the issue.  The issue is the sanity of the three progressive movements (Peace, Environment, and social/economic Justice), and the thousands of organizations within each, not forming a Movement of Movements (a MoM).  For at least 5 decades they have been competing with each other for money, active members, media attention, and time with key policy makers.  While conservatives have united while teasing us with distractions - weakening us further.

The UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals provide an extraordinary framework for achievement of purpose.  The health of people, nature, government, and the global economy.  They translate the broad aspirations of human rights and sustainable development into concrete areas of human need. The SDGs themselves were designed as a comprehensive, integrated, holistic, and syncretistic agenda in which economic, social and environmental objectives are indivisible, not individually prioritized.

Consider a different theory of change: Meet basic human needs → improve the health and security of communities → build trust in cooperation → create public enthusiasm for solving shared problems → generate the political will for institutional reform → strengthen the international system.

That sequence is fundamentally different.  Beginning with institutional reform and hoping that improved institutions will eventually produce healthier societies is pie in the sky- and you all know it.  There’s a term the defines doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.  This means I’m insane believing progressives will ever unite.  Over the last few years, I repeatedly invited major globally focused organizations and institutions to take up this challenge.  Rotary International, Bahais, Citizens for Global Solutions, Charter for Compassion, I AM Humanity, United Nations Association...(over a hundred others) but each progressive organization’s mission bubble of was impenetrable. Each had a vital and important mission with a global vision, but none picked up the MoM flag.  

Time is running out.  The evolution of technology (now with exponential growth on top of exponential growth), accelerating far beyond our mind’s linear capacity for thinking (now with the decline of rational thinking), plus our former flatlined capacity for government change – now going backwards – the evolution of war, weapon systems, government debt, environmental extremes, and the capacity of new, cheap, and unprecedented ease of developing bioweapons using AI... nuclear disarmament should be the least of our worries.

The moral and practical case for eliminating nuclear weapons is overwhelming. But expecting nations to disarm while international tensions are rising—and while powerful nations continue to distrust one another – develop new weapon systems – during a time of enormous political challenges... OMG.

I became a world federalist after reading Emery Reves’ 1945 book ‘Anatomy of Peace’.  As a biologist I trust fundamental principles. Rarely the human principles that ignore them.

“Once the mechanics and the fundamental causes of wars – of all wars – are realized, the futility and childishness of the passionate debates about armament and disarmament must be apparent to all.  If human society were organized so that relations between groups and units in contact were regulated by democratically controlled law and legal institutions, then modern science could go ahead, devise and produce the most devastating weapons, and there would be no war.  But if we allow sovereign rights to reside in the separate units and groups without regulating their relations by law, then we can prohibit every weapon, even a penknife, and people will beat out each other’s brains with clubs.”  Emery Reves, The Anatomy of Peace, 1945

“The main focus of international attention must move beyond the symptoms of weapons proliferation to its causes.  It may seem easier to control supply, yet it is demand that raises the tide of proliferation.”   Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists for Jan-Feb 1999, p. 76, "Book Note" on Kosta Tsipis and Philip Morrison's book, "Reason Enough for Hope."

Disarmament requires trust. Trust requires security. Security requires confidence that one’s basic needs and interests will not be abandoned. And confidence is difficult to create among populations experiencing poverty, poor health, inadequate education, environmental degradation and political instability.  In any civilization the prioritization of maternal and child health and survival must be a foundational priority.

This is particularly important in an era of truth decay, declining trust, indebted budgets, and rising tensions among powerful nations. Information itself has become a battleground. Populations are increasingly exposed to competing narratives, misinformation and political polarization. Under those circumstances, asking nations to make historically unprecedented concessions in their security policies becomes extraordinarily difficult.  Therefore, we must make the case for international cooperation in a different way.

A united world once eradicated smallpox.  A simple virus that killed more people in the last century than all the wars, revolutions, and genocides combined.   Today any virus can be weaponization to make smallpox seem the common cold.

Health for all, nature, and the global economy will make stronger families and sustainable communities.  This would make institutions trustworthy instead of an abstract global ideal.  It’s an inspiring vision that is possible through international cooperation, coordination, and the human caring that is in the very DNA of our global social species.

Something the ideology of politics, national sovereignty, and the extremely wealthy have resisted in solving human problems first.  This is what’s been missing in UN reform.

De Zayas was right regarding the international system needing substantial reform. But the reform movement needs to change its starting point. We must not waste our energy trying to persuade people to reform an institution in the hopes of eventually producing humankind’s well-being.

We must invest first in humanity and nature – to demonstrate the value of cooperation to best make the political demand for institutional reform.  This is the foot bridge to a just world order.  The most realistic path toward achieving it.  The ultimate objective remains the same: a world in which nations can resolve their differences without war, where forms of WMD no longer threaten humanity, where international law has genuine authority, and where global institutions are capable of addressing other problems that no nation can solve alone. This is the foundation upon which just and sustainable institutions can stand.   And the foundation for making effective reform politically possible.

By first building healthier people, families, communities, and economies, we will build a healthy and sustainable environment.  Then build institutions capable of protecting and extending that health.

Building human well-being first will provide the public enthusiasm, trust, and political legitimacy needed to accomplish the much larger transformation that de Zayas envisions.

“For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you.” - Neil deGrasse Tyson (another wrestler).

“The future depends on us--on our ideas, our votes, and the decisions of those we put in power.   Mario Vargas Llosa, Liberalism in the New Millennium [2000]

"We have it in our power to begin the world over again." -  Thomas Paine

Americans are better off being rich and guilty, than poor and innocent.

This is not sustainable.  And a transformation of the US government is urgently needed. 

“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”   Thomas Jefferson  

Words matter! When it comes to true justice in our courts or dealing with other countries, principles are useful. But our principles are rarely fundamental principles (FPs).  These are vastly more functional and urgently needed. They are the “self-evident” “Truths” that we should all hold!  They are found in the 1776 Declaration that inspired the creation or our “thirteen united States of America” 250 years ago.  

"All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience."  -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe  (1749-1832) German writer, statesman. 

A principle is simply a rule or guideline our human minds construct to achieve a goal; a fundamental principle is a much deeper.  They abide by the laws of nature and in the DNA of most social species.  They are a foundation on which every mentally constructed rule or guideline should be judged.

“Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.”  Abraham Lincoln

 The Justice Department itself describes “equal justice under law” as a founding principle.  And its mission includes fair and impartial administration of justice, but it’s a legal system that too often fails. 

Real justice aligns with the Golden Rule - the foundation of every legitimate religion and human culture.  Yet too often human principles fail to be applied equally in every jurisdiction.  FPs are Truths that all living systems depend on. 

This distinction is vital.  The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is a highly developed legal system of laws, regulations, courts, prosecutors, procedures and rules. But a legal system is not necessarily a justice system.  Law is a mechanism; justice is a purpose.  And our U.S system is supposed to have “equal justice under law”. These very words are carved above the entrance to the Supreme Court.  They are more than a legal procedure. They represent a fundamental promise of American government.  And that promise is increasingly threatened when the administration of law becomes dependent upon partisan political power, unprecedented wealth, special influence, or financial access to superior legal representation.  This increasingly threatens our legal system’s legitimacy.  One American saying captures this problem, “You are better off being wealthy and guilty than innocent and poor.”  In the US and other nations wealth purchases experienced attorneys, investigators, experts, time and access to a legal system that is extraordinarily expensive to navigate. No justice system should depend upon one’s ability to purchase it.  Popes have said, “No Justice. No Peace”, and this vibe beats in the heart of anyone mistreated by any legal system.  Not everyone turns to violence, but violence should not be shocking when it comes.  And it will come.

Our DOJ therefore has a fundamental responsibility far greater than simply enforcing laws. It must ensure our laws deliver justice—and justice is available to everyone.

Our government is simply unsustainable in preserving the letter of the law while losing the fundamental principle of “liberty and justice for all”.  Every American has pledged allegiance to this, under our stars and stripes.  Have those brave men and women who sacrificed their lives been in vain?

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."  -- John Quincy Adams   (1767-1848) 6th US President

"That no free government, or the blessing of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles." –- George Mason, Virginia Declaration of Rights [1776]

“If you get the basics right, everything else falls into place.”  Lewis Pugh  

“Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.”  Jim Rohn  

“Most of us forget the basics and wonder why the specifics don’t work.”  Garrison Wynn  

“The minute you get away from fundamentals whether it’s proper technique, work ethic, or mental preparation, the bottom can fall out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, whatever you’re doing.”  Michael Jordan  

Achieving Peace is Rotary maximizing health

Achieving Peace requires a broader vision of human security:  Rotary must view mental health as the foundation of Peace and Peacebuilding..   Aug 2026

Ultimately, the purpose of civilization is not simply the absence of war. It’s protecting life, the reduction of suffering, and the creation of conditions in which every person has the opportunity to survive, thrive and flourish.

Wars and genocide rightly capture our attention because of their immense human tragedy. Yet, even in years without major wars, millions of children and adults die from causes that humanity already knows how to prevent. And even more needlessly suffer.  Yet annually, preventable infectious diseases, malnutrition, unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, maternal and infant mortality, poor mental health, environmental degradation, and extreme poverty continue to claim lives on a scale that often dwarfing those lost in armed conflict.

Most people do not simply want to avoid war—they want to prevent unnecessary suffering wherever it occurs.  All parents share the same hope: their children will grow up healthy, safe, educated, and able to realize their potential.  Far more people die from the violence of poverty, lack of access to the basics of a basic education, primary health care, clean water, and a healthy environment. This is why prevention must become humanity’s and Rotary's guiding principle. Rotary can lead the way with a focus on mindful solutions to address root causes instead of its seven unsustainable reactionary pillars of action. 

In early 2026 Buddhist monks marched barefoot in winter from TX to DC.  The Washington Post printed my 'letter to the editor' below acknowledging their purpose and its wisdom.  Not coincidently, two of Rotary's 26 action groups, Rotary Action Group for Peace (RAGFP) linked up with Rotary Action Group for Mental Health Initiatives (RAGMHI).

Dear Editor,

    Mindfulness, stripped of mysticism, is disciplined awareness of how we think. Whether one approaches mindfulness spiritually or scientifically, the proposition that healthier minds contribute to healthier societies is not fringe; it is foundational.

    At a time when violence — international and domestic — seems increasingly normalized, the psychological roots of conflict deserve serious attention. Wars begin long before the first shot is fired. They begin in the mind: in distorted concepts, in ambiguous language, in narratives that frame domination as security and dehumanization as necessity.

    Descartes wrote, “I think, therefore I am.” The human mind’s creativity is remarkable, including its ability to rationalize mass violence with chilling sophistication. That dual capacity may be our greatest vulnerability. Descartes might now say, “I think, therefore I am ... probably wrong. Where can I get a fact check?”

    At minimum, the Buddhist monks’ winter walk for peace invites a conversation about whether the prevention of violence begins not only in treaties and arsenals but also in the architecture of thought itself.

The United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide the closest thing the world has to a comprehensive blueprint for preventive action.  Although organized into 17 goals, they function as a comprehensive, interconnected, holistic, and synergistic system needed to address root issue.  These have the same intention as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.   These 30 basic human rights will never be enforced but they can affordably be purchased with the SDG's.  Progress in health supports education. Education strengthens economic opportunities. Economic opportunities improve social stability. Environmental protection safeguards food and water. Strong institutions foster trust and justice.  Each reinforces the others – leading to fewer conflicts.

This holistic approach reflects a vital truth: civilization itself is sustained not by solving one problem at a time, but by recognizing that our greatest challenges are deeply interconnected. And all life is interdependent and vulnerable.

Rotary is uniquely positioned to help communities embrace and empower this systems perspective. Through more than 42,000 clubs across over 200 countries and geographic areas, Rotary already possesses the relationships, credibility, and volunteer leadership needed to help communities identify their greatest needs, strengthen local partnerships, and wisely prioritize prevention over crisis response.

Mental well-being plays a foundational role in this work. Communities that cultivate empathy, resilience, trust, cooperation, and critical systemic thinking are better equipped to improve health, reduce poverty, protect the environment, strengthen education, and prevent violence before it begins.

In that sense, investing in mental well-being is not simply another humanitarian priority. It is an investment in the foundation of long-term sustainability of civilization itself.

If our shared goal is to save the greatest number of lives while reducing the greatest amount of human suffering, then prevention must become our highest priority. Peacebuilding remains an essential part of that mission, but it flourishes most effectively when communities are healthy, resilient, and committed to meeting the basic human needs that unite us all.

Within this context, mental health in the form of systemic thinking is the wisest foundation of Rotary’s Peacebuilding mission and leadership.

For more than a century, Rotary has demonstrated that lasting change begins at the community level. From eradicating polio to expanding access to clean water, sanitation, education, and economic opportunity, Rotary has consistently addressed the root causes of human suffering. Today, however, the world faces an interconnected web of challenges unlike any in history: growing armed conflicts, political polarization, social isolation, misinformation, environmental degradation, economic inequality, forced migration, and growing distrust of people and institutions among most nations.

These crises often appear unrelated, yet they share a common characteristic—their origin is in the way human beings think, perceive, relate to one another, and organize society.  This largely unexamined assumption presents an extraordinary opportunity for Rotary and all of its 26+ Rotary Action Groups for peace.

Rather than viewing the Rotary Action Group for Peace (RAGFP) and the Rotary Action Group for Mental Health Initiatives (RAGMHI) as separate efforts, we should recognize that they are addressing different dimensions of the same challenge. Peace may be one of humanity’s highest aspirations, but health, particularly mental well-being is one of its essential foundations.

This is not to suggest that war or violence is simply the result of mental illness. That’s both inaccurate and unfair. Most wars are not started by individuals suffering from psychiatric disorders. Instead, they emerge from a far more complex interaction of collective beliefs, institutional incentives, historical grievances, fear, trauma, competition for resources, and the mental models through which societies interpret the world.

Conflict exists on many levels.  When I first joined Rotary six years ago when Polio returned to the US with Covid.  With my background in all national security issues, a year later I became a RAGFP member and participated in our RAGFP District 7620 youth conference in Maryland.  We chose to define “Peace” from at least three levels: personal, community, global.  It turns out there are others.   At the individual level, unresolved trauma, chronic stress, addiction, and emotional dysregulation can contribute to violence.  At the interpersonal level, poor communication, mistrust, and lack of empathy fuel conflict between families, neighbors, and communities.  At the societal level, political polarization, prejudice, misinformation, and competing identities divide populations. While at the institutional level, governments, laws, economic systems, and international structures sometimes create incentives that unintentionally reward competition rather than cooperation.   And finally, at the global level, nations frequently operate from mental models that emphasize separation, sovereignty, and zero-sum competition, even though humanity has become increasingly interconnected.

Each level influences every other level. The remarkable insight both RAGFP and RAGMHI came to early in 2026 was that strengthening mental well-being also strengthens our capacity for cooperation, resilience, empathy, problem-solving, and constructive dialogue at every level. Communities with stronger social connections, healthier relationships, and greater emotional resilience are naturally more capable of preventing conflict before it escalates.   This principle of wise benefits extends far beyond peacebuilding.

Consider Rotary’s Areas of Focus. Disease prevention depends upon trust in science and public health. Water and sanitation projects require community cooperation. Maternal and child health depends upon education, stable families, and supportive communities. Economic development benefits from collaboration, resilience, and hope. Environmental stewardship requires people to think beyond short-term interests toward shared responsibility for future generations.

Healthy minds help create healthy communities, and healthy communities create more peaceful societies.

Researchers often distinguish between the immediate causes of conflict and its underlying causes. A disputed election, an act of violence, or competition over resources may ignite conflict, but deeper conditions—fear, mistrust, social fragmentation, inequality, and unresolved trauma—often determine whether disagreements become violence or opportunities for cooperation.  With the accelerating growth of weapon systems, pathogens, environmental problems, with nation’s debt problems, this is why prevention matters.

Rotary has already shown the world that prevention is both more humane and more cost-effective than crisis response. The global effort to eradicate polio stands as one of history’s greatest examples of prevention. Vaccinating a child before illness occurs is far better than treating paralysis afterward. 

The same philosophy can guide peacebuilding.

Instead of waiting until communities experience violence, polarization, or social breakdown, Rotary can help cultivate the emotional resilience, trust, critical thinking, compassion, and collaborative leadership that make conflict less likely in the first place.

This suggests an exciting possibility. What if every Rotary club became not only a service organization but also a catalyst for community well-being?  Rotary’s Community Corps concept already exists.

Imagine clubs partnering with schools, health professionals, businesses, faith communities, local governments, and nonprofit organizations to strengthen the mental, social, environmental, economic, and civic health within their communities.   Such initiatives could reduce isolation, improve resilience, encourage respectful dialogue, support youth, promote evidence-based decision-making, and foster stronger relationships across political, cultural, and economic differences.

The effects would ripple outward into every Rotary Area of Focus and every Rotary Action Group instead of these competing with each other for money, active members, media attention, and time with key policy makers.  Peace would ultimately benefit.   Disease and conflict prevention could benefit most, with education and economic development benefits.  Then community development and environmental stewardship would follow.

Indeed, nearly every humanitarian objective becomes easier to achieve when communities possess greater trust, empathy, resilience, and psychological well-being.

Then RAGFP and RAGMHI and all other RAGs need not compete for attention or resources. Together they can become partners in advancing a broader vision of human flourishing.

Mental well-being is not an alternative to peace. It is one of the conditions that allows peace to emerge and endure.

With more than 42,000 Rotary clubs serving communities in over 200 countries and geographic areas, Rotary possesses one of the world’s largest grassroots networks for preventive action. Few organizations are better positioned to help communities strengthen not only their physical infrastructure but also their social and psychological resilience.  And there are many large and increasingly powerful organizations already focus on specific issues knowing UN global ‘health for all’ campaigns go back decades – but were never prioritized or united. RI could fix that. 

The growing challenges facing humanity now are increasingly interconnected. Thus, our solutions must become equally interconnected.

By recognizing mental well-being as a foundational element of peacebuilding, Rotary has the opportunity to lead a new generation of preventive service—one that addresses the underlying conditions from which conflict, suffering, division, and environmental destruction arise.

If we aspire not merely to end wars but to build communities where health and peace can flourish naturally, then investing in prioritizing mental well-being may be one of the most important service opportunities of the twenty-first century.

Health of mind, body, spirit, family, community, environment, government, and economy is about prevention of problems...to best address most other root causes.