“Storytelling is very important. It is through context and relations that we understand the importance of human dignity. The concept means nothing as an abstraction. It's important for us to understand why people do the things they do, including the monsters - the suicide bomber and the war criminal. Understanding is not acceptance. Understanding is exploring the human psyche. If we want to put an end to violence, we need to have the sort of conversation I had with the teenage suicide bomber.” PeopleMeanImportantWarUnderstandingViolenceAcceptanceDignityImportanceRelationSuicideStorytellingExploringTeenageHuman Dignity Author:Payam Akhavan
“I hate the tribal hatred thesis - in Yugoslavia and Rwanda and places like that they kill each other because that's just what people do there. I think it's profoundly ignorant. I was astonished when Samuel Huntington wrote his famous clash of civilizations essay in response to the Yugoslavian war. I was on the streets in Sarajevo and every other person I met came from a mixed marriage. And here is Professor Huntington from Harvard writing this is a clash of civilizations. That was absurd.” PeopleThinkingWritingWarHateHatredI HateResponseIgnorantAbsurdEssaysClashThesisRwanda Author:Payam Akhavan
“When I joined the UN War Crimes Tribunal, it was a realization of the dream of justice, that finally after Nuremberg, the UN is going to put the accused on trial again! And I still believe that accountability that eradicates impunity is very, very important for transforming the sordid culture of politics and power that we see in the world. But we need to be humble about the fact that justice will not bring back the dead.” WorldBelieveImportantWarDreamCultureJusticeCrimeHumbleRealizationAccountabilityAccusedBe HumbleI Still Believe Author:Payam Akhavan
“In Yugoslavia we were told we were not only naive idealists in wanting war criminals to be prosecuted but that we were actually standing in the way of a ceasefire which would save more lives. The idea was that, by giving amnesty to these ruthless warmongers, you would give them an incentive to stop killing. I found that incredibly naive, never mind cynical. Having been on the ground and having met with these ruthless killers, I knew the only thing they understood was the language of force.” GivingMindWarLanguageKillingCynicalIdealist Author:Payam Akhavan
“The reason why the war ended in Bosnia was not because of amnesty but because a combined Croat-Bosnian offensive defeated the Serbs on the battlefield. Sometimes naïveté belongs not to the human rights activists but to the politicians.” WarSometimesReasonPoliticianHuman RightsActivistDefeatedOffensive Author:Payam Akhavan