The news about wars and conflicts that are frequently watched often make people feel small and powerless. Since International Relations (IR) covers the issues about borders, treaties, and weapons systems, it can be portrayed as a complicated story. However, a deeper look into the boundaries of the map shows the “people” who desire to protect their precious things, and sometimes who fear an uncertain future.
The Heart Behind the Mask: IR as a human Story
While the term “international relations” may seem grand and academic, it is indeed a long conversation between people wearing the mask representing the “nation”. Nations do not think or feel themselves. It is the individuals who are parents and children of someone who make decisions in the name of the countries. The reason why friends having misunderstandings at school can seem surprisingly similar to a conflict of nations is because of the “human mind” in the center.
Walls Built by Anxiety: The Security Dilemma and the Silence of Empathy
One of the most challenging aspects of IR is when the conflict begins without any malice. The “Security Dilemma” that explains this well begins with “anxiety”, one of the most primal human emotions. When the fence that one built to feel secure is seen as the preparation to attack the neighbor, both end up building a higher fence, plunging into an endless cycle of fear.
This is a “gap in perception.” People tend to view their own actions as inevitable defenses but misunderstand that others’ actions are intentional attacks. This distance of mind sometimes causes conflicts that no one wants.
Future Diplomacy as Building Bridges of the Heart
The era of Artificial Intelligence (AI) calculating complex data and predicting the outcomes of the war is approaching. However, regardless how much technology develops, it cannot recognize the sincerity behind the trembling voice of the others or the historical scars that the nation carries in its heart.
Therefore, I want to be a future diplomat who puts warm insight before cold statistics. I want to lay a bridge of mind to instill trust in the place of fear and to agonize over why the other country made such a choice. After all, it is not the brilliant technology that makes the world safer, but the warm gaze that views the opponent across the border as one person like me.
