Evangelicals Invade Iraq
United States based evangelical NGOs and evangelical churches alike mobilized their forces to distribute humanitarian aid, as well as a plethora of Christian literature and an army of missionaries. As the efforts were underway, the onlooking Muslim world suspiciously questioned such motive
Driving Deterioration. How the car culture contributes to escalating human misery
The author asks the reader to consider how the car in the last 100 years has been responsible for turning an area of natural landscape in the U.S. the size of Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania into concrete or asphalt. To consider that it has been directly responsible for injuring 250 million, nearly equivalent to the current population of the U.S., and killing more than have died in all the wars in which the country has fought. To consider that the widespread use of this same contraption burns 8 million barrels of oil daily, making the U.S. increasingly dependent on and entangled with a severely unstable world region. To consider that it kills one million wild animals every week. The automobile continues to be responsible for myriad negative effects that, when assessed rationally, far outweigh the benefits. And the rest of the world is close behind…
Uganda Needs its Human Rights Commission!
Some elements of the Ugandan Government want to abolish the Human Rights Commission. The Commission, argues, Ferdinand Katendeko, is vital for the health of the Ugandan Democracy.
Greed or Grievance in Colombia. Why does the FARC keep fighting?
Katharina Röhl analyses the driving forces behind the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in their continuing fight in an ever more violent armed conflict that has now lasted over four decades. While grievances certainly have been important, increasingly greed plays its part which in turn leads to new grievances.
The Japanese Constitution as Peace System
The wars in Asia would seem to demand that certain European countries, the U.S., and Japan all re-examine the value systems that presumably provided the justification for those wars. Many situations of “instability” in this century were actually based on the preconceptions and deeds of the nations that applied that label. Now as ever, if a country has reason to be opposed to something, it will typically display a tendency to assume that other countries are engaged in strategic designs or acting from an adversarial position.
The business of war
Saddam was captured by regular troops. However, underlying the tactical and strategic operations in Iraq, has been and is an emerging new generation of US military tactics that relies increasingly on sophisticated information and communication technologies, which are not only developed and produced by the civilian industry, but can in fact only be maintained and operated by civilian experts.
Violent or Non-violent Solutions? The Child Soldiers of Northern Uganda
Ask the question can von-violent methods help to end the war that has lasted seventeen years in northern Uganda destroying the lives of thousands of children and young people. She notes that progress has been slow but that is no excuse for stopping. Quite the opposite, and one way of moving forward is to shout as loudly as possible. The Peace and Conflict Monitor is helping. Join in the cacophony.
Where do ideas come from? An Intellectual History of the United Nations
As lifelong participants and observers of multilateral development work and diplomacy, it struck Dr.Emmerij and his collaborators for some time that the UN story deserves to be better documented if it is to be better understood and appreciated. This article examines the importance of the history of ideas in relation to the United Nations, its formation and its major contribution to world peace and well-being.
Sudan’s 50 Year War
Ferdinand Katendeko looks at the underpinnings of the conflict in Sudan, which has taken over four and half million lives, and asks what changes of attitude amongst the combatants are necessary for peace to take root in this conflict.
You can’t make a deal with the dead
You cannot negotiate with dead men. MI6 and, eventually, the British government recognised that a political struggle requires a political solution. However brutal the IRA’s day-to-day terrorism, a strong, coherent republican leadership was in the strategic interest of the British state.