The following essay was prepared for a peace conference. It was meant to serve as a brief introduction to some basic Unification concepts.

The incomparable contribution to world peace attributed to Reverend Sun Myung Moon is most commonly acknowledged in the context of his astonishing record of substantial achievement in its pursuit. This preeminence expresses itself in terms of institutions and their copious activity, as well as through the integrity and leadership qualities of the personalities allied with these activities.

Three other trademark qualities also have come to signify events or projects as linked to Reverend Moon. These are 1. Meticulous attention to the needs and experience of participants, 2. An inviolable commitment to openness and intellectual freedom, and 3. An extensive lattice-work of related projects and institutions designed to support and augment the peace-seeking activity at hand.

What has generated peace making of this magnitude, excellence, and interior dynamism? What in the vision accounts for meetings in which talks and negotiations invariably move forward, free of acrimony, denunciation, stalemate and breakdown? What engenders the sense that these institutions are nimble, responsive and genuinely progressive, contrary to the dull, obstructive, plodding and withholding experienced in most negotiation? I submit that it is no longer fitting to stand as Samson between Reverend Moon and the nature of his achievements. It is no longer reasonable to note (as per the sheer quantity of his result) "a man of unusual energy," on the one hand and allow as coincidence the consistent, superior quality of the work, or such requisites for that as "how cordial and bright his followers are." The resourceful observer, I believe, should rather pursue the link between the abundance of the work and the uniform, superior quality to be found in its expression. If we consider that the successful attainment of world peace itself must bear precisely these traits -- namely it must be abundant, of uniform superior quality, open, nimble, consistently progressive, and fully linked with supportive institutions -- one might wonder if through steady investment over 40 years the very cornerstone of world-peace has, in fact, emerged in nascent form.

This steady expansion of humanitarian enterprise bearing a consistent stamp of excellence, potential, and relevance derives from a particular world-view rigorously applied (in fact, applied according to its own principles). This world-view is expressed theologically in the Divine Principle, philosophically in Unification Thought, and in expository discourse in the Sermons and Speeches of Reverend Moon. It reflects exacting, investigative research into the principles of the natural order, into the principles of human affairs (historical, religious, cultural, political, and economic), and perhaps most importantly into the dynamic which characterizes the relationship between these potentially harmonious realms of reality.

This thought as applied to a given field generates expressions appropriate to the area under investigation. For the realm of governance, and international relations for example we encounter such neologisms as Headwing ideology, and True Parentism. As applied to marine science, or ballet, or sports for example we would find the world-view expressed and applied in ways appropriate to those fields.

This particular meeting is devoted to research into the establishment of world peace with particular emphasis on the questions of government and international relations. In this essay I present by way of introduction a preliminary application of Unification thought to these issues which stands before us. I will elaborate upon the structural relations among the key dimensions of human affairs which contribute most prominently to war and peace, and examine the internal dynamic constitutive of those relations. The brevity of the essay, prohibits defense of stated propositions by means of academic apparatus.

Often without even noticing, world leaders and scholars tend to think of war and peace primarily, or even exclusively in terms of political and economic relations. The habit arose due to the steady secularization of the intellectual environment during the period in which political, economic and social science arose. The obvious oversight inherent in such lop-sided thinking, is the failure to acknowledge that war and peace results not only from outcomes based on the encounter between governed nation-states, or "economies," but every bit as much through the encounter of religious and cultural collectivities. While most political theorists or activists and leaders are willing to consider the impact of "ethnicity" on international affairs, an actual incorporation of the influence of religion per se has been conspicuously absent in any coherent and inclusive plan for peace. A true envisioning of peace must fully engage the inescapable reality of human religiosity, and cultural self-expression. These transcendent and eternal dimensions of human experience will never fall accidently into place within the schemes of negotiators who focus exclusively on land, money, and political power (c.f. the West Bank, for example).

The Unification world-view recognizes identification with one's religion, culture, and ethnicity as "internal, or vertical." Religion (including materialistic ideologies which function as religions) comprise the vertical or interior ordering of global relations. Identification with one's "nation," or economic bloc may be thought of as external, or horizontal. Nations,"economies," or blocs, constitute the horizontal or physical ordering of human relations. World peace requires that all coordinates on the vertical axis must relate harmoniously (inter-religious harmony), all elements on the horizontal axis relate harmoniously (international harmony, economic cooperation). Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly that the dynamic by which the vertical and horizontal concepts relate must be harmonized. It is for this reason that the Moon's founded the Inter Religious Federation for World Peace (IRFWP), and the Federation for World Peace (FWP) concurrently. No other peace program be it in the world of interfaith work, or in the arena of international peace- keeping is explicitly and integrally linked to its necessary counterpart. Yet this is twin investment absolutely indispensable! The founding of these harmoniously linked World Peace Federations is a direct manifestation of the fact that Unification theory provides a clear theory grounded in structural and cosmological foundations for the establishment of harmonious relations between the spheres of religious and national self identification.

War and peace pertains to relations among two qualitatively different forms of allegiance and committed identification, a vertical form (religion and culture), and a horizontal form (nation and economy). Leaders, whether spiritual or temporal, face the same paired duties of governance. One duty is "internal" or for the governance of the community: "By what manner of spirituality and ecclesiology do I govern my constituents," for religious leaders, and "by what manner of statesmanship and theories of government do I govern my constituents," for political and economic leaders. The other duty is "external" or inter-relational, namely by what vision and theory do I guide and implement how "my religion" relates to all others, or how "my nation," or "my economy" relates to all others.

One can intuit the relationship between these two forms of leadership (spiritual and temporal) by observing how the same truth applies to their respective realms of responsibility: A patriot through his or her understanding of serving the larger cause of the nation, learns through this process to become a peace-maker at the international level. A nationalist, on the other hand, is just the opposite. Likewise, a faithful believer (eg, a true Christian, or a true Muslim, Buddhist or Jew) by dint of loving Truth and God through his or her own tradition, naturally can be a guest of honor in all houses of worship. A religious "fanatic,"however, is the very opposite.

It is important to note through this observation an indispensable and unequivocal affirmation regarding Unificationism. Since the status of patriot, or True Christian, Buddhist, or Jew (for example) is seen to be necessary for relating on the world level, it must be assumed that these means of particular identification actually serves the cause of international peace, rather than detracts from it. The Unification view does NOT promote, explicitly or clandestinely, any version of levelling differences, of lowest common denominator approaches to world peace, or the pursuit of a lifeless uniformity. It affirms unequivocally the necessity to glorify the unique qualities of our primary identifications, both religious and cultural/national as the very foundation for taking the next step toward global harmonization.

The Unification proposal is thus relational in essence, not monistic. As such, the next question must pertain to what the essential nature and quality of such peaceful relations must be. Unificationists approach problems of conflict by studying the direction manifest in a given relationship: Quite simply, are groups so constituted and situated that they are moving toward increasing harmonization, or are they moving toward increasing isolation or hostility. The former defines the condition for peace, the latter for war or the potential for war. What signifiers reveal the fundamental direction of a given nation, religion or economy? The answer lies in the philosophical doctrine of True Parentism.

True Parentism contains the key through which both national, cultural, and religious identification can be promoted AND harmonization may be affirmed in a single analysis. True Parentism contains four indispensable qualities which attest to its viability. These are: 1. Universal applicability and (2) a universally recognizable ground for a transcendent, absolute and unchanging authority. 3. An inherent principle for harmonization, and (4) an inherent progressive dynamic. What is True Parentism? Simply stated, True Parentism is the philosophical doctrine based on that which makes it possible for radically different individuals in a physical family to be harmonized in love for one another even though the exact same individuals were it not for the fact of their common descent, might well be profoundly hostile to one another. Unification theory confidently asserts that the means by which this unifying force successfully exerts itself among members of physical families is God given, and fully translatable to inter-religious, international, and economic relations.

Several important points must be noted concerning this unifying effect of Parents on a family. Above all, it must not be confused with paternalism, other limited and limiting forms of benign authority, or dysfunctional perversions of the parental ideal or family structures. For this reason the unique term True Parentism has been generated. When rigorously and systematically extrapolating from family governance and harmonization to sound political and economic theories, it is important to note that good parents or True Parents have as their primary responsibility the duplication of themselves, the re-invention of their own position. True Parents raise children above all to themselves to become parents at the appropriate moment. All else is secondary. The nature of a Truly Parental administration is not care as an end in itself. Rather it is an unrestrained investment in liberation, the creation of personal responsibility, self-sufficiency, and independence, as characterizing the fullest imaginable participation in love, and life in abundance.

The second important thing to note about the unifying power of True Parents that this is never brought about by force, any other form of coercion, or the application of functional rationality (such as legal contract). Rather it arises as a byproduct of the naturally self-sacrificial nature of parents. This natural self-sacrifice on the part of parents in turn spawns the in the other family members the irresistible impulse to accommodate the Parents' desire for peace in the family. This revelation regarding the power of self-sacrifice contains not only the most important principle by which those in the position of leadership can affectively promote peace, but furthermore discloses that which parties in tension must apply if conditions in their particular situation are to convert to harmony. This principle to which I refer is the role of self-sacrifice in the construction of harmonious relations.

Although space prevents further elaboration, it should be noted that the principle of initiating through self-sacrifice is rooted in the fundamental cosmology of the Unification view. It is a truth pertaining to the original order as much as to restoration. Initiation through giving is the quintessential fabric of harmony, initiation through self-interest or taking is the quintessential fabric of disharmony leading to conflict and war. This primary and indispensable requisite for peace at any and all levels, is found precisely, and universally as the God-given nature of true parents. True Parentism is by definition the premier manifestation of preoccupation with the benefit others (at the family level, one's children), oblivious to the sacrifice necessary to bring that benefit about. This fundamental requisite for peace is already universally and inextricably embedded in the fabric of human affairs by dint of the divinely imparted nature of ideal parents. It is for this reason that this institution alone must be acknowledged as the foundation for sound theory, effective governance and fruitful inter-religious and international relations.

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