Societies free from military tyranny begin with the de-normalization of violence

From the United Nations to the United People: Respecting International Law as an Act of Love

The World Happiness Foundation’s response to the ongoing lack of respect for life.

I studied Political Sciences and Sociology in the nineties and later International Relations and Peace Studies. For years, I was trained as a country diplomat—trained to speak the language of states, interests, treaties, negotiations, and strategic balance. I held a profound belief in the architecture of cooperation, which posited that despite competing agendas, human beings could craft agreements robust enough to curb our worst tendencies and elevate our noblest intentions.

And then something inside me broke open.

It wasn’t a rejection of diplomacy—it was an awakening to something deeper than diplomacy. I began to recognize the vast, invisible landscape beneath politics: the deep wounds carried by individuals, families, communities, and nations. I began to see how much of what we call “policy” is actually unresolved pain wearing a suit; how much of what we call “strategy” is fear seeking control; how much of what we call “security” is trauma demanding certainty.

So I shifted. I moved from being a country diplomat to becoming a conscious catalyst of happiness, well-being, and peace. Because I realized that so many people, so many societies, are not truly living—they are surviving. Surviving thought addictions to violence and power. Surviving inherited narratives of scarcity. Surviving the intoxicating promise that domination can heal vulnerability.

But domination never heals. It only spreads the wound.

International law is a mirror of our inner maturity

International law is not merely a technical field. It is a collective commitment to a simple truth: power must not be the highest authority. When international law is respected, it becomes a moral boundary around our shared humanity—an agreement that dignity is not negotiable, that civilians are not collateral, that borders do not cancel rights, that “might” does not become “right.”

Yet international law is also a mirror. It reflects the stage of emotional development of the world. When we respect the international rule of law, we demonstrate a capacity for restraint, empathy, and long-term thinking. When we violate it, we reveal the opposite: a regression into impulse, revenge, and fear-based identity.

This is why I believe what we are witnessing today is not a polarization of East and West. It is a polarization between two orientations of consciousness:

• those who respect the international rule of law—especially universal laws and values—and
• those who do not.

This divide is not merely geopolitical. It is psychological, emotional, spiritual, and deeply human.

The hidden engine behind conflict: scarcity, fear, greed, and addiction

Many of the forces tearing our world apart are not new. They are ancient patterns in modern clothing.

Scarcity whispers, “There is not enough—so take.” Fear insists, “You are not safe—so strike first.” Greed promises, “More will finally satisfy you—so exploit.” Addiction urges, “Repeat the behavior—so you don’t feel the pain.”

And these patterns—when normalized—become contagious. They evolve from inner dysfunction to social manipulation, from communal division to nation-state polarization. They can be used to justify propaganda, to dehumanize neighbors, to recruit followers into hatred, to label empathy as weakness and brutality as strength.

This is how violence becomes ordinary. This is how military tyranny starts to feel “necessary.” This is how the normalization of harm becomes a culture, and then a policy, and then a destiny—unless we interrupt it.

But interruption requires more than condemnation. It requires balance. And balance begins where all peace begins: inside.

Peace is not the absence of war; it is the presence of wholeness

Peace is not passive. Peace is not naïve. Peace is not surrender.

Peace is the regulated nervous system of a mature humanity.

Inner peace is the capacity to meet pain without passing it on. Fundamental peace is the commitment to protect life—especially vulnerable life—as sacred. Peace is the choice to respond instead of react. It is the refusal to build identity on enemies. It is the strength to hold complexity without collapsing into aggression.

Love, then, is not decoration. Love is not a sentiment. Love is a force of coherence. Love is what reunites what fear fractures.

And here is the essential truth: international law cannot be respected in the world if human dignity is not respected in the heart. The outer treaty is fragile when the inner treaty is broken.

This is why the call to respect international law is also a call to heal. To mature. To evolve.

Respecting international law is a discipline of interdependence

We often speak of sovereignty as if it is isolation. But sovereignty without interdependence becomes arrogance. And interdependence without sovereignty becomes chaos. The future demands both: rooted identity and global responsibility.

International law is one of humanity’s best attempts at institutionalizing interdependence. It is the language through which nations say: we will restrain ourselves for the sake of the whole. We will not normalize invasion, extermination, torture, starvation, or the systematic humiliation of human beings. We will not call cruelty “culture.” We will not baptize violence as “security.” We will not let impunity become tradition.

When international law is violated, something subtle but catastrophic happens: cynicism grows. People stop believing in fairness. They stop believing that words matter. They stop believing that cooperation is possible. And when belief collapses, violence rushes in to fill the vacuum.

The rule of law—international and domestic—is not just legal structure. It is collective hope made operational.

The United Nations must evolve into United People

The world is changing faster than our institutions are adapting. We can feel it: climate disruption, displacement, inequality, information warfare, weaponized identities, algorithmic amplification of outrage, and the old machinery of militarism trying to remain “normal.”

And yet, humanity is also awakening. People everywhere are seeking meaning, connection, truth, and healing. They are questioning inherited ideologies. They are refusing simplistic binaries. They are sensing that the future cannot be built with the same consciousness that built the past.

This is why I say: the United Nations must evolve into the United People.

Not as a rejection of international structures—but as their fulfillment.

Because peace cannot only be negotiated by states while lived by citizens. Peace must be co-created from the ground up: in communities, classrooms, hospitals, workplaces, homes, and hearts. Peace must become participatory. Not a summit. A movement. Not a resolution. A relationship.

And just as the UN must evolve, international law must evolve too: from a framework primarily between states into a deeper culture of interpersonal and interdependent laws—values that are lived, embodied, and practiced across every boundary.

International law must be reinforced by international empathy.

If we want a society true to who we truly are—interdependent, emotional, loving, caring human beings—then we must stop treating violence as inevitable. We must stop calling it “realism.” We must stop romanticizing domination as strength.

We must name what militarism does: it trains hearts to accept cruelty, trains budgets to prefer weapons over well-being, trains minds to see enemies where there are human beings, trains nations to confuse intimidation with safety.

A world addicted to violence will always find a reason to justify it.

A world healing from violence will find a way to outgrow it.

The question is not whether conflict will exist. The question is whether we will manage conflict through law and compassion—or through impunity and force.

A call from the World Happiness Foundation: a path of respect

As President of the World Happiness Foundation, I make a call to all citizens of Planet Earth:

Walk a path of respect—to others and to self. Walk a path of peace, compassion, and love. Walk a path of accountability, maturity, and care.

Because happiness is not separate from justice. Well-being is not separate from dignity. Peace is not separate from law.

Respecting international law is not an abstract political preference. It is a declaration that every human life matters. It is the refusal to let suffering become policy. It is the insistence that our shared humanity is greater than our inherited divisions.

What can we do—now?

We do not need to wait for institutions to become perfect before we become courageous. Here are simple, profound commitments each of us can practice:

• Practice inner law. Regulate your nervous system. Heal what you can. Do not pass pain forward.
• Refuse dehumanization. Notice the language that turns people into objects or threats. Interrupt it.
• Stand for universal values. Human rights, dignity, civilian protection, and non-aggression are not Western or Eastern—they are human.
• Hold leaders accountable. The rule of law survives when citizens refuse to normalize impunity.
• Build bridges locally. Polarization is reduced not only by policies, but by relationships.
• Choose love as a strategy. Love does not mean lack of boundaries. It means commitment to life.

The future is not written by power alone

The world will try to convince us that force is the ultimate language. But we know better. There is an older language than force, and it is the language of belonging.

International law, at its best, is belonging written into agreements.

And the next evolution is clear: a planet where law is not only enforced, but embodied; where institutions do not only condemn violence, but cultivate healing; where nations do not only negotiate interests, but protect humanity.

This is not idealism. This is survival—at a higher level of consciousness.

Let us choose a world where power is guided by principle. Let us choose a civilization where fear is balanced by peace. Let us choose a humanity where greed is balanced by care. Let us choose a future where addiction to violence is replaced by devotion to life.

From the United Nations to the United People—may we become what we are: interdependent, emotional, loving, and caring human beings.

And may our respect for international law be not just compliance—but compassion made visible.

Luis Miguel Gallardo, Founder and President, World Happiness Foundation.

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