The environment we live in and the world peace we aspire of, are universal in nature and global in dimension. Air emission from the factories which has precipitated hosts of problems related to global warming, also remains to be one of the causes of disputes between the developed and developing countries. The ozone holes in the Northern Hemisphere which has been proven to be detrimental to the health of human population is the result of a chemical, known as chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) - a creation of humankind and a source of conflict in human conscience. Retrospectively, the gulf war of 1991 - an epitome of modern conflict - is also the testament of mankind's imperfect understanding of his reactive nature and its environment implication of global proportion. The ongoing regional conflicts in former Yugoslavia and North African nations continue to cause debilitating impacts upon world economy and are draining the global resources. The international peace, in essence, shares the past, present and the future of human survival with the global environment.

The present popularity in the environmentalism offers a much needed impetus for the humankind to reach out and build the global consensus with fellow earthlings to devise a formula which would deliver a better future and brighter destiny for their offsprings on this common earth. An unprecedented success of the 1992 UNCED Rio Conference and the recently held UN Conference in Population and Development in cairo, Egypt, represent the early sign of progress towards that direction. The continuity in this trend and increasing desire among 90s generation to preserve and protect our blue planet from the world conflicts and environmental blunders might be the very prelude we would need to usher ourselves into the state of international peace and clean environment.

In light of such a prospectus, it seems appropriate and timely to seize the opportunity offered by this new wave of environmentalism, to explore whether or not the current state of environmental knowledge & growing global interdependence can be strategically integrated into the socio-economic activities of the nations involved in regional conflicts and help them seek collectively acceptable solutions to their ideological and political differences in the name of the common good of global community. Given the enormity and complexity of the environmental calamities that the modern conflict can cause, it is imperative that urgent efforts be made towards identifying practical means to research peaceful resolutions in international conflicts.

Rajendra B. Shrestha
PUJA, Inc.

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