New hope for peace on earth

Christmas is a special time of year, whatever the impulse for marking the season.

For Christians, of course, it is a joyful observance each year celebrating the birth of Jesus, the event that their faith tells them is the ultimate cause for hope.

But there is a reason that, at this time of year, people of all religious persuasions — and those without — pause, reflect and feel inspired about prospects for the future. Through history, societies that harvested what they could from the year’s work have sought to brighten the months ahead. And as the calendar nears the end of another cycle, thoughts of renewal come naturally.

This holiday spirit is catching. For all the weariness with commercialism, Christmas has so many delightful aspects and traditions that, also naturally, it has been adopted and adapted globally. All can embrace the mantra of Christmas: Peace on Earth.

Considering the horrible strife afflicting many of the world’s trouble spots — South Sudan, Syria, North Korea, Afghanistan and Somalia, just counting on one hand — hope seems to be a scarce commodity. As 2013 draws to a close, the misery of the poor, hungry and displaced continues to mount.

And yet, what seemed to be an accelerating pace toward catastrophic developments has slowed somewhat. In the past year, the possibility of a military strike on Iran was contemplated by serious defense and foreign-affairs analysts. The subsequent talks, aimed at slowing down or stopping Iran’s progress toward nuclear weapon development, have not yet pointed the way toward a workable settlement. But they offer hope for a peaceful resolution.

The prospect of large-scale chemical weapons use against Syrian civilians convinced many worried Americans that this country was likely to escalate its involvement in that civil war. The U.S. stopped short of proceeding down that path. Instead, an international watchdog agency, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, has developed a plan for destroying the weapons, nonetheless warning that delays are likely.

Plainly, the path to peace is riddled with boulders, and negotiations are being conducted in treacherous conditions, with landmines at every turn. But if anything has been made even more plain by U.S. military misadventures of the past, it is rare that the instrument of war can be wielded cleanly or the long-term repercussions anticipated.

The fact that Secretary of State John Kerry is willing to take risks as he pursues his own career-defining legacy has helped to propel the U.S. to new exercises of diplomacy. President Barack Obama, who could ultimately prove worthy of the aspirational Nobel Peace Prize awarded at the outset of his first term, has said that diplomatic avenues must be fully explored. That is a rational approach, a fitting New Year’s resolution that Americans, depleted by more than a decade of war, should endorse.

On Afghanistan, America’s longest entanglement, the war exit seems increasingly to be blocked by a wall of complications. Iraq has slid into a new morass of instability in a dangerously unstable region. Still, in the spirit of the season, we all should maintain our hopes for a careful, continued draw-down in troop commitments, whether in combat or training capacity.

We should hope that the U.S. can support more autonomy among its international partners, and that partnership rather than dominance becomes the mark of foreign-policy success.

Finally, the energetic debate that has erupted — how to weigh privacy and security in an era of powerful surveillance technology — is a healthy one. The U.S. must renew its pledge to value individual rights and dignity for its citizens at home, as well as for international neighbors.

Seeing movement in all these directions does provide a measure of hope at a time when the world truly needs it. Repeat those words often, now and throughout the coming year, as a reminder: Peace on Earth.

And, just for today: Merry Christmas.