The International Day of Peace is observed anually on 21 September. It was officially established by the UN General Assembly on 7 September 2001. According to the General Assembly, it symbolises world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence. On this day, everyone participating in the celebration of the holiday can wear a badge in the shape of a dove of peace.
Peace and war will be the topic of our conversation with Karolina Wojtasik, PhD, whose scientific interests include the activities of Salafi terrorist organisations and the security of critical infrastructure.
Violetta Kulik: Doctor, “dove of peace – a symbol of peace between nations, used by various peace movements after World War II”. This the Wikipedia version. However, nobody expected that in 2022 we will become witnesses of such a cruel war in Ukraine. What is peace?
Karolina Wojtasik, PhD: The paradox is that pigeons are not examples of the most peaceful birds, and Picasso, who is the author of the symbol, simply just painted pigeons for years. When Louis Aragon asked his friend, Pablo, to design a project for a poster before the congress in Paris, the artist showed him the already finished works and sketches, and Aragon simply selected one of them. In 1949 walls of Paris were decorated with the famous dove annoucing the First World Congress of Peace Defenders, and thus the bird became an international symbol. Is it just a coincidence? Only the participants of these events know it. However, it is quite symptomatic that even the symbol of peace is somewhat far-fetched, while much more famous work of Piscasso is “Guernica” showing the horrors of war. The International Day of Peace was established by the UN General Assembly on 7 September 2001, exactly four days before a series of terrorist attacks which showed the world that the concept of peace is very relative, and that the absence of war does not exclude the existence of an armed conflict and the use of violence. Personally, I am very much convinced by the words of the former UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, on the occasion of the International Day of Peace, 21 September 2016, who said that Peace is something more than just putting your weapons aside. Peace means building a global society where people live free from poverty and benefit from their achievements together. Peace means common development and mutual support in one worldwide family”.
Violetta Kulik: There is no unequivocal, universally accepted definition of war. Attempts to define it have been made since antiquity. What phenomena make up the concept of war?
Karolina Wojtasik, PhD: War is a way of conducting politics and consolidating power. The enemy acts strategically in a state of war, peace is only an episode… I would like to point out that the war as we have been watching it since 24 February in Ukraine is the final stage of a process that has been going on for years. It is not without reason that it is more and more often emphasised that in comparison to the conventional war that we see in Ukraine, hybrid war and the so-called hybrid activities connected with it may appear not so barbaric and spectacular, however – they are still a serious theat. Action below the threshold of conventional war – a combination of disinformation, economic pressure, sabotage, cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, and the presence of unguarded foreign armed formations (the so-called “little green men”) – is how war is waged today. Hybrid actions weaken the state and its position in the international arena, cause losses in the economy and distrust the state and its democratic institutions. They are intended to show its weaknesses and make people distrust each other and be afraid of the future. That is why describing war as a way of conducting politics, it is hard to recall hybrid war, as it is not directly visible, therefore such actions are disregarded.
Violetta Kulik: War and terrorism are closely related. Both are associated with violence, death, and fear… But these two terms indicate different phenomena – how would you define them?
Karolina Wojtasik, PhD: Terrorism assumes the pursuit of political goals through the use of violence or the threat of violence against innocent people. Currently, the target of terrorists’ activities are, first of all, innocent civilians, killed at random, just to arouse fear, terror and exert pressure, show strength, and lead to specific decisions. Terrorism is defined as the equivalent of war crimes during the peacetime. Terrorists do not have the resources to wage conventional wars, so they intimidate, threaten, show power, and lead to economic losses. During the war, civilians are protected by conventions, after the war, war crimes are judged by special tribunals, and there is humanitarian law. A terrorist attack is not regulated by any law, because it takes place as part of an undeclared war against the whole society. Many times in the jihadist press, i.e. publications intended for supporters of terrorist organisations, I read that everyone is to blame, that every European is to blameresponsible for the colonisation: for the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan, or the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, that everyone who is a member of society invaders and occupiers, regardless of their views, deserve death, if only for this reason an attack can be organised anywhere and on everyone. A terrorist does not divide society into civilians and soldiers. At the same time, it is worth noting that during the war it is mainly civilians that die, and the atrocities in the Ukrainian Bucha or Izium show that the mere existence of the Geneva conventions does not mean that they will be respected.
Violetta Kulik: You run a popular science YouTube channel “Anatomia zamachu” (The anatomy of terrorist attack). Currently, there are more than 60 episodes on terrorist attacks, terrorist organisations, critical infrastructure and reviews of movies, books and series about terrorism in a broad sense.
Karolina Wojtasik, PhD: Social media offer amazing opportunities to popularise knowledge, tell about your own passions, and show the effects of your scientific work. The channel was created out of passion and the belief that you can talk about terrorism in a way different from the news snapshots. An attack is a multi-stage process, a terrorist organisation is created under certain conditions, and the present situation in Afghanistan is the result of political processes and decisions from several dozen years ago. YouTube gives you the opportunity to reach a very different audience, from specialists who use these materials in class, through people who are interested in the modern world, to random passers-by who stay longer because they discover that it’s fun to know more. Instagram can be a place where you post photos of your newest bag, but it can also serve as a platform where you upload simple infographics explaining what the famous Allahu Akbar means, who is kafir, or when Al-Qaeda was created. This knowledge is worth spreading outside the academic walls. An educated society is a conscious society that is less susceptible to disinformation and manipulation, which is extremely important in the era of hybrid threats.
Violetta Kulik: Immediately after the declaration of the war in Ukraine, you recorded an episode about the security alert levels in Poland. Is our society prepared for emergencies?
Karolina Wojtasik, PhD: The critical situation does not have to be related to an armed conflict. How many of us can use the AEDs available in the university buildings? How many of us have practiced cardiac massage on the phantom under the supervision of a paramedic or other specialist? Who remembers what the modulated siren sound for three minutes means? Sometimes I get the impression that the most basic things are forgotten when discussing safety. Our own safety, and the safety of our loved ones. A good first aid course costs as much as getting hybrid nails done, or a visit to a barber, and somehow the institutions doing such courses are not so much in demand. In discussions about threats, we focus on the spectacular ones, completely neglecting the basic issues. I wonder how many office workers know where the emergency exit closest to their workplace is? How often is building evacuation practiced? In the event of an emergency, it will be necessary knowledge. Every two or three years I repeat the first aid course in training units operating at the emergency medical services. I work with people, I am among them and feel the need to have such knowledge. The mentioned episode about the security alert levels and the levels of CRP alert was created when I noticed a lot of entries on the Internet by people who simply panicked, deliberating that the introduction of alert levels means that someone will immediately attack us… that there will be a war, etc. It is easier to panic than to read the law and regulation. That is why I recorded a video about the conditions for introducing levels, their types, and above all, to what extent CHARLIE-CRP or BRAVO concerns us. Paradoxically, there is a lot of educational materials – the Government Centre for Security (RCB) has a thriving social media with good infographics, similarly on the website of the ABW Terrorist Prevention Centre (CPT) you will find well-made videos on behavior in crisis situations – a terrorist attack, hostage situation or everyday activities, e.g. sharing sensitive data on the Internet. These videos have several hundred, maximum one thousand views on YouTube. That is why we usually do not have this knowledge, but we also do not seek it.
Violetta Kulik: What can we wish for on this special day?
That we will never get used to war, that concepts such as “violence”, “armed conflict” or “refugee” would not become commonplace to us, so that there will not be a moment when our sensitivity to the cruelty of war will simply cease to exist and we will recognise it as natural order of things.
Violetta Kulik: Thank you very much for the interview.
Karolina Wojtasik, PhD