Building Respect for the Sheriff
Even in pursuit of the most laudable purposes, the use of military force exacerbates rather than transforms conflict, and perpetuates the cycle of violence and injustice. This is true in compelling cases as well, such as efforts to thwart gross violations of human rights, or for other humanitarian purposes.
INSPECT THIS: WMD Inspections in the United States?
INSPECT THIS: WMD Inspections in the United States? Author: Frida Berrigan, World Policy Institute Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on: 04/14/2003 Category: Special Report As the controversy over how long the United Nations should continue weapons inspections in Iraq rages on, questions are being raised about the United States’ stockpile of chemical and […]
Measuring disarmament
Bonn International Center for Conversion, Conversion Survey 2003: Global Disarmament, Demilitarization and Demobilization, Feb 2003, pp. 180ISBN 3-8329-0135-3.
www.bicc.de
The Bonn International Center for Conversion, directed currently by Dr. Peter Croll, was founded in 1994, and, among its many activities associated with disarmament and conversion largely funded by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, it has published the Conversion Survey 2003.
The Global Environmental Challenge: Is the Developed World Up to It?
This Opinion is an edited version of the keynote speech delivered by Ambassador Van Haren to the Environment UK 2002 Conference hosted by the Environment Agency in October 2002. Further details of the conference at http://www.environmentagency.gov.uk
Barack Obama: a new beginning?
Johan Galtung reviews the monumental challenges that Barack Obama will face as the 44th president of the United States, as well as the intense support he is likely to receive from his own citizens and the international community.
Challenging US War Myths
About the book: When many Americans hear that the US may go to war against another nation, they tend to believe there’s probably a good reason for it or that no viable alternatives exist—or they don’t think about it at all. They trust their leaders to represent them and defend their values. They accept their leaders’ claims that war is to ensure their safety when others wish to harm them.The parties of war play on Americans’ basic values to bring them online. The media reassures them that the reasons for war are altruistic— that Americans wish to spread democracy and allow others to adopt their way of life. But is this the case?
With 24 compelling illustrations, maps and graphs, this book is intended to serve as a tool for peace advocacy. Well known peace advocates respond to 19 of the most common illusions held by the American public which weaken their opposition to Washington’s wars.
Negotiation, not strikes, needed for Iran
Key Words: US, Iran, Conflict, Negotiation, Diplomacy, Oil, Nuclear, Non-Proliferation Treaty, Foreign Policy
Pacifism Post 9/11
Amardo Rodriguez discusses the charge, raised in many mainstream media sources in the United States, that pacifism cannot be defended in the post 9/11 world. A new framework for communication is suggested – an ecology of communication – so as to broaden the scope of possibility amd allow for a deeper understanding of violent conflict.
Military Escalation Will Harm Afghan People, US Interests
“I know that Obama’s election has brought great hopes to peace-loving people in the United States. But for Afghans, Obama’s military buildup will only bring more suffering and death to innocent civilians…”
— Afghan parliamentarian Malalai Joya
Politics of the Absurd: Sarah Palin and the mindset for war
Pandora Hopkins reflects on the adsurdity of the 2008 US elections, offering some insight into the archetypal “warrior” and “clanmom” figures of John McCain and Sarah Palin. Hopkins writes: “My hope is that, by using a folkloric perspective—by examining the tales told by and about Sarah Palin and John McCain (stock figures in this drama)–we can begin to find ways to promote the hope that Obama has inspired—and the satirical energy that Sarah Palin
engendered.”