Crimes, Hate, Tremors: From one Cold War to the Other, in Pursuit of Peace and Justice

Jean-Daniel Ruch tells his story, from the middle of the issues facing the world today. From the democratisation of the Balkans in the 1990s to Turkey’s attempts at mediation between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, a panorama of the history of the last thirty years unfolds before our eyes. The journey begins in the Jura region of Switzerland during the most heated period of the Jura conflict that agitated that part of Switzerland until recently. The childhood experience contributed to the author’s political education: there he discovers verbal and physical violence, the battles of narratives and propaganda, and the tearing apart of identities. Almost naturally, it was followed by his involvement in conflict zones in Europe and the Middle East. Either to right wrongs - the prosecution of Balkan war criminals - or to prevent further violence or point the way to peace - his work in the Israeli-Palestinian context. A leitmotif recurs throughout the text: the desire to understand people, individuals. How can a young man become a war criminal? What drives people to hatred? What arouses fear? Violence? Rejection of others? The keys are to be found, of course, in the individual and collective history of peoples. We are in the habit of reacting emotionally to everything the news channels broadcast. Jean-Daniel Ruch, in contrast, says that good decisions and policies must be the fruit of knowledge and reflection. He offers us some clues as to how to get to the root of today’s conflicts.