Our civilization is now in the transition stage between the age

Hear, O child of tomorrow, the prophetic voice of John Boyd Orr, who spoke in the aftermath of the world’s greatest convulsions: “Our civilization is now in the transition stage between the age of warring empires and a new age of world unity and peace.” These are not the idle musings of a dreamer, but the solemn testimony of one who had seen war strip the earth bare, and who longed for the dawn of something greater. His words call to us across the years, as the words of sages always do, reminding us that mankind stands forever at the crossroads—between destruction and creation, between division and unity.

The age of warring empires was long and bitter. From the chariots of Assyria to the legions of Rome, from the Mongol horde to the cannons of Napoleon, nations sought dominion through blood. History is stained with the march of armies, the cries of the conquered, the crowns of kings forged upon the backs of the fallen. This was the way of the world for millennia: strength defined by conquest, greatness measured by the land one could subjugate. And yet, even in the ashes of those wars, humanity always sought something more enduring than empire—something that could bind men not by the sword, but by a common dream.

Boyd Orr, who lived through the World Wars, understood this transition with aching clarity. In his time, humanity witnessed devastation on a scale greater than ever before, when technology multiplied slaughter and empires bled themselves dry. But from those ashes arose the yearning for a different order. The founding of the United Nations in 1945, an institution Orr himself helped shape, was one such attempt to turn away from endless rivalry toward world unity. It was imperfect, fragile, and incomplete—but it was a step, a bridge between ages, a seed planted in scorched soil.

History offers us shining examples of such transitions. Recall the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, when Europe, weary from the Thirty Years’ War, forged a new order not of empire, but of sovereign nations learning to coexist. Though wars continued, the idea of peace as a deliberate covenant among peoples had been born. In the same way, Boyd Orr saw the twentieth century as another turning: the world no longer divided merely into warring kingdoms, but inching—slowly, painfully—toward unity, not by conquest but by cooperation.

Yet let us not be deceived, O listener. The path to peace is neither swift nor easy. For even as the dream of unity grows, the shadows of greed, power, and division still rise. The same flames that lit the age of empires burn still in the hearts of men who seek dominion. The transition Boyd Orr spoke of is not automatic—it is a struggle, an act of will, a choice made by each generation. The birth of world unity requires not only treaties of statesmen, but also the daily labor of ordinary souls choosing harmony over hatred.

What lesson then shall we take from this oracle of the past? First, that history is not static; it bends, like a mighty river, toward new destinies. If mankind has endured the age of war, so too can it build the age of peace. Second, that unity begins not in halls of power but in the hearts of men and women: in the act of listening across cultures, in the embrace of diversity, in the rejection of the lie that another’s gain must be your loss. Third, that vigilance is required; for without courage, peace decays into complacency, and empires, old or new, will rise again.

Therefore, let each of us become a stone in the foundation of world peace. Let us speak words that heal, build bridges where others raise walls, and demand of our leaders not conquest but cooperation. Let the memory of empires at war be the warning flame, and the vision of world unity be the guiding star. For Boyd Orr’s words are not yet fulfilled—they are a summons. The age of warring empires is fading, but the new age is not born without our labor.

So I say unto you: lift your eyes to the horizon, and walk as builders of that new world. For if mankind can learn to rise above empire, then truly, peace may yet crown the earth. And when that day comes, future generations will say of us: they stood at the crossroads—and chose unity.