Articles by René Wadlow

We found 532 results.


Paul Brunton (21 Oct 1898 – 24 Jul 1981): The Spiritual Search
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 19 Oct 2020

The world citizen Paul Brunton was concerned with building intellectual bridges between the West and the spiritual traditions of Asia, in particular India.

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Nagorno-Karabakh: A Phantom Republic Takes Center Stage
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 12 Oct 2020

9 Oct 2020 – The Phantom Republics is the name given to the States demanding the status of independence after the breakup of the Soviet Union: Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, Transnistea in Moldova, and Nagorno-Karabakh between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The conflicts in Georgia and Moldova are now “frozen”, but they can “melt” at any time.

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Nagorno-Karabakh: Are Con-federal Structures Possible?
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 5 Oct 2020

1 Oct 2020 – On 27 Sep, military forces from Azerbaijan moved into six villages held by Armenian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh area. The Prime Minister of Armenia warned that the two countries were “on the edge of war with unforeseeable consequences”. The President of Azerbaijan declared martial law and called up reserve military.

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Strategic Nonviolent Struggle Spreads
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 28 Sep 2020

25 Sep 2020 – Gene Sharp may be looking down from Heaven as four nonviolent struggles go on at the same time in different political-cultural settings: Hong Kong, Thailand, Belarus, and Libya. It is difficult to know from the outside how much these struggles are the result of strategic planning or a spontaneous reaction to events.

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H.G. Wells (21 Sep 1866 – 13 Aug 1946): The Open Conspiracy for Peace
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Sep 2020

Herbert George Wells, an active world citizen, is usually known as just H.G. Wells. He was a creator of modern science fiction, a pioneer of women’s rights (though he treated some badly in his many love affairs), a journalist, historian and novelist. Above all he was a social thinker devoted to peace and a stable world order.

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Paulo Freire: Popular Participation
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Sep 2020

In the Declaration of Principles and Programme of Action adopted by the 1976 World Employment Conference it is stated, “A basic needs-oriented policy implies the participation of the people in making the decisions which affect them through organizations of their own choice.”

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India the Malevolent Republic
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Sep 2020

Malevolent Republic: A Short History of the New India, by K.S. Komireddi, London, C. Hurst and Co. 2019 – This is a lively analysis of Indian politics since independence.

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Tolstoy and Gandhi: Light as Darkness Approached
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Sep 2020

By 1901 Tolstoy had been excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox Church — not that he expected much light to come from Church-State relations. The Church did insist that no prayers be said at Tolstoy’s funeral. For Tolstoy as for Gandhi, nonviolence was an expression of ‘soul force’ — the outward expression of the Inner Kingdom.

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Turkey-Greece Mediterranean Tensions: Track II Efforts Needed
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Sep 2020

4 Sep 2020 – With Turkish war ships in the Mediterranean and the Greek army on alert, the tensions between Greece and Turkey are growing. Greek soldiers on the Greek island of Kastellorico, some two kilometers from the Turkish coast are on alert. Governmental efforts of mediation especially that of the German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass have not produced positive results.

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Maria Montessori (31 Aug 1870 – 6 May 1952): The Spirit of Education for World Citizenship
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 31 Aug 2020

Maria Montessori’s teaching displeased the narrow nationalist leaders in power in the 1930s. The Fascist government of Mussolini closed the Montessori schools in Italy in 1934 as did Hitler in Germany and then in Austria when Hitler’s troops moved into Vienna. The dictators saw that creative thinking among children was a danger to their authoritarian rule.

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Edward Carpenter (29 Aug 1844 – 28 Jun 1929)
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Aug 2020

Edward Carpenter was an English writer, educator, pacifist, and socialist reformer. He lived in a homosexual relationship with a farmer at a time when homosexuality was considered a criminal offense. He saw that an awareness of the spiritual dimension of each person was the basis for the healing of the nations.

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Edmond Privat (17 Aug 1889 – 18 Aug 1962): The Inner Light
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 17 Aug 2020

It was natural for Privat, a citizen of Geneva, to be drawn to the efforts of the League of Nations. He served from 1923 to 1927 as the vice-delegate for Iran. Privat is an important symbol of those who worked between the two World Wars for new positive attitudes and strong inter-governmental structures that would create a climate of peace. The tasks still face us today.

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Arthur Waley (19 Aug 1889 – 27 Jun 1966): Ways of Thought in Ancient China
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 17 Aug 2020

Arthur Waley was an important cultural bridge-builder between China and the West. He was a translator of Chinese and Japanese poetry and philosophical texts, especially the Taoist classic Tao Te Ching attributed to Lao Tsu.

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World Humanitarian Day
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 17 Aug 2020

In memory of Sergio Vieira de Mello (15 Mar 1948 – 19 Aug 2003). The UNGA has designated 19 August as “World Humanitarian Day” but celebrated to pay tribute to aid workers in humanitarian service in difficult and often dangerous conditions.

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Could the Dogs of War Have Been Kept Chained? Prelude to the Guns of August
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 3 Aug 2020

World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, started on 28 Jul 1914: Guns of August.

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South China Sea Delimitation Disputes: Good Faith Negotiations Needed
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 27 Jul 2020

23 Jul 2020 – Although most maritime delimitations are, in fact, achieved without recourse to adjudication and settled by bilateral negotiations, submitting a dispute to the World Court can better ensure that the results of the delimitation process conform to the rules of international law.

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Religious Liberty: Concern and Opportunity for Action
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 20 Jul 2020

18 Jul 2020 – In an earlier TMS issue, I highlighted two avenues for informing on questions of religious liberty. Today, there is greater use of Track II diplomacy–meetings among relevant people on all sides of a conflict to see what issues might be negotiated. Religious and spiritual bodies have the resources for such Track II efforts. My impression is that they could do more.

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Monitoring Pressures against Religious Freedom
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 6 Jul 2020

3 Jul 2020 – Religious freedom is under pressure today. A worldwide erosion of religious freedom is causing large scale human suffering and grave injustice. In some cases, a religion is closely associated to an ethnic group or a tribal community. It is more inter-ethnic tensions which are the motor of the dispute rather than the core belief system.

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Antoine de Saint Exupéry (29 Jun 1900 – 31 Jul 1944): Solitude and Solidarity
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 29 Jun 2020

Saint Ex for the style was influenced by Frederic Nietzche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra which he had read. However, the spirit is much closer to Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet. There is no indication that he had read Gibran in Saint Ex’s period in New York. It is more likely that both writers shared a common outlook on life.

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Giuseppe Garibaldi (4 Jul 1807 – 2 Jun 1882): Godfather of Transnational Democratic Politics
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 29 Jun 2020

Giuseppe Garibaldi, born in Nice, now France, often called the hero of two worlds because of his efforts for independence in Latin America and then Europe, is in many ways inventor of transnational democratic politics.

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China-India Frontier Tensions: Are Track II Efforts Possible?
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 29 Jun 2020

As Citizens of the World, we devote ourselves to the safeguarding, restoration and construction of peace through dialogue, cooperation and reconciliation. We need to facilitate contacts of the China-India frontier issues to see what doors might open.

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Hermann Hesse (2 Jul 1877 – 9 Aug 1962): Revolt and Enlightenment
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 29 Jun 2020

Rebellion against established structures, the quest for personal values and a religious impulse are all elements in Siddhartha, published in 1922, perhaps his most widely-read book. It is not clear that Hesse found the harmony of enlightenment in his own life. In his last major work The Glass Bead Game (1943) he describes what might be an ideal Buddhist monastery devoted to the discovery, preservation and dissemination of knowledge.

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Norman Cousins (24 Jun 1915 – 30 Nov 1990): A Pioneer of Track II Diplomacy
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 22 Jun 2020

World Citizen Norman Cousins was a pioneer of Track II diplomacy. Track I is official government to government diplomacy among instructed representative of the State. Track II is a non-official effort, usually by a non-governmental organization (NGO) or an academic institution.

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8 June: International Day of the Oceans
René Wadlow - TRANSCEND Media Service, 8 Jun 2020

World Citizens Call for Renewed Efforts to Resolve Asian Maritime Delimitations Dispute – This date can serve as the start of a strong mobilization of voices calling for good-faith negotiations and for a vision of cooperation among the States of the China Seas.

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Comprehensive World Food Policy
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 18 May 2020

In a 12-May-2020 report the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization warned that the COVID-19 impact would increase by some 15 million the 820 million persons who the FAO estimates are the daily victims of hunger.

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Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 – 7 Aug 1941): The Local and the Universal
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 May 2020

In a period of rapid change as we face today, it is often difficult to find the right balance between the cultural contributions and needs of the local, the national, and the universal. One way of finding this balance is to look at the life and work of others, who earlier confronted the same challenges. One such person was the poet, writer and cultural reformer Rabindranath Tagore.

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Teilhard de Chardin (1 May 1881 – 10 Apr 1955): Evolution toward World Unity
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 27 Apr 2020

Pierrre Teihard de Chardin, the French paleontologist, after a lifetime of study of the evolution of the human species concluded that humanity was entering a new age with a higher, peaceful and more responsible sense of the unity of the world community. Optimism and evolution are the two themes that Teilhard de Chardin leaves with us. He insisted at looking at the human population as one global family, developing a network of mutual support − recognizing the need of global solidarity.

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Conscience: The Inner Voice of the Higher Self
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Mar 2020

The United Nations has designated 5 April as the International Day of Conscience. The first celebration is this year 2020. An awakened conscience is essential to meeting the challenges which face humanity today as we move into the World Society. The great challenge which humanity faces today is to leave behind the culture of violence in which we find ourselves and move rapidly to a culture of peace and solidarity.

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Maurice Béjart (1 Jan 1927 – 22 Nov 2007): Starting off the Year with a Dance
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 6 Jan 2020

Maurice Béjart was an innovative master of modern dance. In a world where there is both appreciation and fear of the mixing of cultural traditions, he was always a champion of blending cultural influences. He was a world citizen and an inspiration to all who work for a universal culture.

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The Genocide Convention: The World Court Case Relevant to Myanmar
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Dec 2019

2 Dec 2019 – The complaint lodged by The Gambia at the International Court of Justice against Myanmar (Burma) is the first time that rape as a weapon of war will be presented to the World Court, based on violations of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The hearings are scheduled for 10-12 December 2019. Sexual and gender-based violence is an important aspect of the genocide accusation and the discussions should be watched closely.

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Upholding Freedom of Conscience and Belief at the UN
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 25 Nov 2019

25 November is the date anniversary of the U.N. General Assembly resolution in 1981 to proclaim the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. The Declaration is a development of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights highlighting freedom or thought, conscience, religion or belief. The 1981 Declaration is now recognized as articulating the fundamental right of freedom of conscience, religion, and belief.

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The Importance of Gambia Invoking Genocide Convention against Myanmar
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 18 Nov 2019

The Government of Gambia on 11 Nov has brought to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague a complaint against the Government of Myanmar (formerly Burma) for violation of the 1948 Convention on Genocide concerning actions against the Rohingya.

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The Lasting Impact of the Islamic State
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 Nov 2019

Out of chaos come strange leaders. Most often they are re-absorbed into the chaos. Sometimes they rise above the chaos and impose a momentary order. The death of a person, even if in a leadership position, does not kill an ideology. ISIS’ long-range impact can only be met by strong compassion for all and a positive, inclusive intellectual framework.

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Syria: The Human Cost of War
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 28 Oct 2019

No Turning Back: Life, Loss and Hope in Wartime Syria, by Rania Abouzeid (London: Oneworld Publications, 2018) – A moving book by the Lebanese journalist. As an Arabic speaker, she was able to move in Syrian society to interview a range of Syrians caught up in the violence. She was also able to interview Syrian refugees in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

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24 Oct » U.N. Day: Strengthening and Reforming
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Oct 2019

24 October is U.N. Day, marking the day when there were enough ratifications including those of the five permanent members of the proposed Security Council for the U.N. Charter to come into force. It is a day not only of celebration, but also a day for looking at how the U.N. system can be strengthened, and when necessary, reformed.

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Turkey-Syria-Kurds Violent Conflict: Action Needed
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Oct 2019

On 9 October, Turkish troops began a long-anticipated cross-border assault against the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led militia in northeastern Syria. The Turkish operation is code-named “Operation Peace Spring” but there is a real danger that the situation turns into “Operation Violent Winter”. Before the situation grows worse, clear and dynamic leadership from non-governmental organizations is required. As Turkish Troops Advance, Dangers Escalate

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Jayaprakash Narayan (11 Oct 1902 – 8 Oct 1979): Advocate of the Nonviolent Total Revolution
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Oct 2019

Jayaprakash Narayan was an Indian social reformer in the struggle for Indian independence led by Mahatma Gandhi and a social reformer after the independence of India. “The problem is to put man in touch with man, so that they may live together in meaningful, understandable, controllable relationships. In short, the problem is to recreate the human community.”

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Progress toward Ukraine, Donbas, Russia Conflict Resolution: Serious Negotiations still needed
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Oct 2019

3 Oct 2019 – There is a need for dialogue, trust-building, and reconciliation within Ukraine. The same issues as to what “self rule” means in practice is still the crucial issue. Ultimately, all conflicts can end only when there is an agreement about the shape of government and the rules of law under which people agree to live.

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U.N. General Assembly: Can It Provide the Needed Global Leadership?
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Sep 2019

27 Sep 2019 – The international relations specialist Stanley Hoffmann once quipped “Goals are easy to describe. What matters more is a strategy for reaching them.” This September the UNGA began with a “Climate Action Summit” to evaluate governmental efforts to meet the challenges of climate change. Government leaders set out what they have done, or plan to do, at the national level but they said relatively little on what they could do together.

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Growing Tensions on the Road to Persian Gulf Security
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Sep 2019

17 Sep 2019 – The 14 Sep drone attacks on oil installations in Saudi Arabia have dimmed hope for U.S. – Iranian discussions. Tensions have increased, and oil prices have risen. In fact, the aim of the attacks may have been to lessen the possibility of Iran – U.S. discussions which might have taken place during the start of the UNGA later in September. There is a need for non-governmental efforts today as the Persian Gulf and the wider Middle East are growing ever-more tense.

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Preparing the U.N.’s 2020
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 Sep 2019

Although it is likely that the 2020 U.S. presidential elections will get more media space, the United Nations is preparing a number of 2020 landmarks.  Members of the TRANSCEND network may propose avenues of creative action, and we must prepare now, as negotiations on content are already underway. The UN is sensitive to anniversary dates to look back as to what has been done (or not done) and to look ahead at the new challenges and what can be done to meet them. 

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Immanuel Wallerstein: Ah, We were once both young and hopeful!
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 9 Sep 2019

Immanuel Wallerstein (28 Sep 1930 – 31 Aug 2019) the political sociologist best known for his writings on the “world system” and I were friends in the mid 1950s; perhaps not friends but at least both student activists in the World Federalist-World Citizen Movement, especially in their international dimensions.

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Iran Crisis: Dangers and Opportunities
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 Sep 2019

The Russian proposal for Collective Security for the Persian Gulf follows closely the procedures which led to the 1975 Helsinki Final Act and the creation of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Bogdanov stressed multilateralism as a mechanism for all involved in the assessment of situations, the decision-making process, and the implementation of decisions.

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(Português) Amazônia em Chamas
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 26 Aug 2019

O Presidente brasileiro Jair Bolsonaro declarou que os incêndios são uma questão puramente doméstica e as atitudes do G7 representam uma política neocolonial do passado. Como Cidadãos do Mundo, acreditamos que a Amazônia, assim como outras grandes áreas florestais, fazem parte da herança comum da humanidade; a sua destruição afeta a todos nós.

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Women at the Peace Table: Building from the Grassroots to the Tree Tops
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 26 Aug 2019

There is a need to study how to overcome the cultural barriers, the traditional patriarchal attitudes that prevent women from playing a full role in armed-conflict resolution and to strengthen the capacities of women-led initiatives.

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International Humanitarian Law, Constant Challenges, NGO Responses
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 12 Aug 2019

12 August is the anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Conventions in 1949. The 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Protocols Additional are central instruments of International Humanitarian Law. The Geneva Conventions are also often called the Red Cross Conventions.

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Peace Journalism: Signs and Trends
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 29 Jul 2019

A task of Peace Journalism is to be able to discern trends and to detect signs of emerging political and social issues.  One aspect is what I call “raising a storm warning flag”. This is to highlight growing tensions or inappropriate responses to situations which are not yet on the world security agenda–that is, neither being discussed at the United Nations Security Council nor leading to action in a regular way.

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James Cousins (22 Jul 1873 – 20 Feb 1956): An Effort of Synthesis
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 22 Jul 2019

“From the total push and pressure of the Cosmos come the impulses of life that manifest themselves through desires (emotions) counsel (cognition) and works (action)…In other terms, the intuition flows through thoughts as truth, through feeling as beauty, through action as goodness.”

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Sahel Instability Spreads
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 1 Jul 2019

28 Jun 2019 – Despite U.N. troops, French army troops, European Union military trainers, and national armies, instability is spreading in the Sahel five States: Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Chad–all former French colonies. The French government still plays a large role in the economic, political and security life of these Sahel 5 – what has been called “la Francafrique”.

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Hermann Hesse (2 Jul 1877 – 9 Aug 1962): Revolt and Enlightenment
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 1 Jul 2019

Rebellion against established structures, the quest for personal values and a religious impulse are all elements in Siddhartha, published in 1922, perhaps his most widely-read book. It is not clear that Hesse found the harmony of enlightenment in his own life. In his last major work The Glass Bead Game (1943) he describes what might be an ideal Buddhist monastery devoted to the discovery, preservation and dissemination of knowledge.

→ read full article

Giuseppe Garibaldi (4 Jul 1807 – 2 Jun 1882): Godfather of Transnational Democratic Politics
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 1 Jul 2019

Giuseppe Garibaldi, born in Nice, now France, often called the hero of two worlds because of his efforts for independence in Latin America and then Europe, is in many ways inventor of transnational democratic politics.

→ read full article

Antoine de Saint Exupéry (29 Jun 1900 – 31 Jul 1944): Solitude and Solidarity
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Jun 2019

Saint Ex for the style was influenced by Frederic Nietzche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra which he had read. However, the spirit is much closer to Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet. There is no indication that he had read Gibran in Saint Ex’s period in New York. It is more likely that both writers shared a common outlook on life.

→ read full article

Democratic Republic of Congo: Need for Reconciliation Bridge-Builders
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Jun 2019

21 Jun 2019 -Felix Tshisekedi, son of the late, long-time opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, put an end to the 18-year rule of Joseph Kabila. However, in a number of provinces of the country, especially the east, armed violence continues between the army and different tribal-based militias. In some area, warlords battle among themselves.

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Peace Journalism: The Sower, the Seed, the Harvest
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 17 Jun 2019

There is the New Testament symbol of the Sower and the Seed. The Sower has only one type of seed, which stands for the truth or at least that aspect of the truth appropriate for the period. He throws some of the seeds on ill-prepared hard ground. Some others are thrown on slightly prepared ground, but their roots do not go deep. Finally, some seeds are put into well-prepared ground, take root and in turn produce more seeds that can be used elsewhere.

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After 30 Years of Stagnation, Incompetence and Repression, Omar al-Bashir of Sudan Is Pushed Out
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 10 Jun 2019

The Central government gave the Janjaweed guns, uniforms, equipment and indications where to attack by first bombing village–but no regular pay. Thus the bandit militias had to pay themselves by looting homes, crops, livestock, by taking slaves and raping women and girls. Village after village was destroyed; crops were burned, water wells filled with sand.

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William Butler Yeats (13 Jun 1865 – 28 Jan 1939): The Transition to Aquarius
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 10 Jun 2019

William Butler Yeats is the modern European poet most conscious of the transition within astrological cycles from the Piscean Period to the Age of Aquarius. The concept that humanity is at the end of a 2000-year cycle and about to start a new dispensation at a higher turn of the spiral – the gyre as Yeats called the historic spiral – was the framework within which he always worked.

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8 June–International Day of the Oceans: World Citizens Call for Renewed Efforts to Resolve Asian Maritime Delimitations Dispute
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 3 Jun 2019

Factions in both Japan and China are playing a “nationalist card” concerning the maritime delimitations disputes, no doubt for reasons which go beyond the specific aspects of the disputes. Although the Chinese “nationalist” focus is directed toward Japan, there is a vision among some Chinese that the USA is the cause of the continuing problems with Taiwan and Japan.

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Sri Lanka: Sectarian Violence and the Higher Self
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 27 May 2019

On 14 and 15 May 2019, revenge violence broke out in a number of towns in Sri Lanka against Muslim shopkeepers by Christians motivated by the Easter Sunday attacks on three Christian churches. As has been said, it is difficult to solve problems on the same level from which gave rise to the problem. While Christian-Muslim dialogue is necessary in Sri Lanka, as elsewhere, it is only as the individual person moves beyond their self-identification as Christians or Muslims that a true harmonious society can grow.

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Cameroon: Moving Fast When There Are Short Windows of Opportunity
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 13 May 2019

11 May 2019 – There are two separate and not directly related crisis areas in Cameroon. One is a spillover of instability and conflict in Nigeria and the Central African Republic. The second crisis area concerns the Anglophone area of Cameroon to the south and west on the frontier with Nigeria.

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Tripoli Reflects a Disintegrated Libya
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 6 May 2019

3 May 2019 – The current situation in Tripoli is a reflection of the past seven years of disintegration. The crucial question remains how to structure a country as diverse in terms of geography and tribal societies. It is not certain that the U.N.-led negotiations can be held in the near future although a good deal of preparatory work was undertaken. There may be some room for Track II-type efforts sponsored by non-governmental organizations.

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Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 – 7 Aug 1941): The Local and the Universal
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 6 May 2019

In a period of rapid change as we face today, it is often difficult to find the right balance between the cultural contributions and needs of the local, the national, and the universal. One way of finding this balance is to look at the life and work of others, who earlier confronted the same challenges. One such person was the poet, writer and cultural reformer Rabindranath Tagore.

→ read full article

Teilhard de Chardin (1 May 1881 – 10 Apr 1955): Evolution toward World Unity
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 29 Apr 2019

Pierrre Teihard de Chardin, the French paleontologist, after a lifetime of study of the evolution of the human species concluded that humanity was entering a new age with a higher, peaceful and more responsible sense of the unity of the world community. Optimism and evolution are the two themes that Teilhard de Chardin leaves with us. He insisted at looking at the human population as one global family, developing a network of mutual support − recognizing the need of global solidarity.

→ read full article

A Step Forward in the U.N.’s Efforts against Rape as a Weapon of War
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 29 Apr 2019

On Tuesday, 23 April 2019, the United Nations Security Council voted resolution N° 2467 concerning the use of rape as a weapon in times of armed conflict. The new resolution introduced by Germany contained two new elements, both of which were eliminated in the intense negotiations in the four days prior to the vote of 13 in favor and two abstentions, those of Russia and China.

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Yemen and World Law: Building from Current Violations
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 22 Apr 2019

The aggression against Yemen has created a moral vacuum, an area devoid of the most basic human values both within Yemen and in the countries attacking it.

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After 30 Years of Stagnation, Incompetence and Repression Omar al-Bashir of Sudan is Pushed Out–Problems Remain
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 15 Apr 2019

On 11 April 2019, the Defense Minister of Sudan, Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, announced that the President Omar al-Bashir had been removed from office and was under house arrest along with a few members of his inner circle. General Ibn Auf proposed that a transitional body of military and technicians lead the country for a two-year period after which elections for president would be held. Some have called the events “a recycled coup”.

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Peace Journalism
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 8 Apr 2019

Peace Journalism has two primary tasks: to make creative proposals for the settlement of conflicts and to work for broad inclusion of parties for negotiations held in good faith. Thus Peace Journalists need to work so that all voices can be heard. Inclusiveness may not make negotiations easier.

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Dogon-Peul Conflict in Mali Draws U.N. Attention to Broader Settled Agriculturalist-Pastoralists Tensions in Africa
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 1 Apr 2019

The degree of poor administration and the disintegration of the State of Mali became apparent in March 2012 when there were revolts led by the Twareg in northern Mali. The creation of a new state, Azawed, to be led by ethnic Twareg was proclaimed.

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Rocky Road to World Law: Need for a U.N.-led Conference on the Reaffirmation of Humanitarian Law
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 25 Mar 2019

World law, as world citizens use the term, is more than current international law. World law has as its base universally recognized international law but also the human rights declarations and standards, the oft-repeated declarations of the United Nations General Assembly as well as the international legal bodies such as the World Court and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

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Syria: Concerns Raised and Possible Next Steps
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 18 Mar 2019

I think that it is important for us to look at why organizations that promote nonviolent action and conflict resolution in the US and Western Europe were not able to do more to aid those in Syria who tried to use nonviolence during the first months of 2011.

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The Spiritual and Socialist Start of International Women’s Day
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Mar 2019

8 March is the International Day of Women and thus a time to highlight the specific role of women in local, national and world society. International Women’s Day was first proposed by Clara Zetlin (1857-1933) at the Second International Conference of Socialist Women in Copenhagen in 1911. Later, she served as a socialist-communist member of the German Parliament during the Wiemar Republic which existed from 1920 to 1933 when Hitler came to power. Zetlin went into exile in the Soviet Union shortly after Hitler came to power. She died there several months later in 1933.

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René Dumont (13 Mar 1904 – 18 Jun 2001): Focus of the Small-Scale Farmer and Social Justice
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Mar 2019

René Dumont highlighted the importance of small-scale peasant farmers in the world’s food production. Despite massive displacement of the peasantry toward cities, more than 70 percent of the world’s food is produced by small family-owned farms. René Dumont was an active world citizen and always stressed world citizenship in his justification for his studies of agriculture worldwide.

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Art of the Deal Revisited while Waiting for the Next Summit
Donald Trump with René Wadlow, Ghostwriter – TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 Mar 2019

The Art of the Deal, part biography, part business advice, received wide readership and drew attention to Donald Trump beyond the New York milieu in which he worked. The book was largely written by his ghostwriter, journalist Tony Schwartz. In this spirit, here is a ghostwritten presentation of what Donald Trump should say in his next meeting with Kim Jong-Un which should also be held in Hanoi so that Kim can take a train.

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That Cooler Heads May Prevail
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 25 Feb 2019

25 Feb 2019 – When the drums of war start beating, can cooler heads prevail and negotiations in good faith start? Vijay Mehta has written a useful overview of efforts to create a Department of Peace within governments so that there would be an institutionalized official voice proposing other avenues than war. Such proposals are not new.

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The Warsaw Process: Slow Start, Clear Focus
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 18 Feb 2019

“This is a new era for the future and for prosperity for all the nations” Yusuf bin Alawi, Foreign Minister of Oman, said optimistically in Warsaw at the 13-14 February 2019 Ministerial Conference to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East. The Warsaw Conference may end up as only a “photo opportunity” and for Warsaw to be center stage for a short time, or we may work to have the Warsaw Process be the real start of a new era.

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Warsaw Process toward a Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Middle East
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Feb 2019

On 13-14 February 2019, there is planned The Ministerial Conference to Promote a Future of Peace and Security in the Middle East called jointly by the U.S.A. and Poland. Not all “players” of the Middle East drama are invited to Warsaw. Iran and Russia as governments were not invited. Non-State actors such as the Palestinians, the Kurds, the Islamic State and a host of armed militias – all of whom play a current role – will be officially absent.

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Reprisals on Human Rights Defenders: Need for NGO Action
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 4 Feb 2019

Many human rights defenders are people working in isolated, remote areas far from the international networks of protection. These unsung defenders become a vulnerable target in areas where impunity prevails, and assailants operate with virtual no fear of having to account for their crimes. Nevertheless, international appeals with accuracy of information and speed of reaction can be helpful which the Association of World Citizens knows from direct experience.

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Romain Rolland (29 Jan 1866 – 30 Dec 1944): The Cosmopolitan Spirit
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 28 Jan 2019

It is as the popularizer and exponent of Gandhi’s thought that Rolland played a crucial role for nonviolent action. Gandhi was the embodiment of many of Rolland’s positions: a non-Leninist opposition to imperialism and a concern for movements of national independence. For Rolland, Gandhian nonviolence symbolized a universal hope and a political alternative to the pervasiveness of force in the West

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France: Start of a Difficult but Vital National Dialogue
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Jan 2019

20 Jan 2019 – After two months of protests, discussions, and some physical violence beginning on 17 November 2018, the French President Emmanuel Macron has tried to organize a national dialogue from 15 January 2019 to 15 March. It is a difficult task as French political culture is one in which people easily talk but rarely listen.

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Stringfellow Barr (15 Jan 1897 – 3 Feb 1982): Joining the Human Race
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Jan 2019

Stringfellow Barr was a historian of the classic Greek and Roman period and an active world citizen. He served as president of the Foundation for World Government from 1948 to 1958 and of St. John’s College in Annapolis. The aim of St. John’s under Stringfellow was to turn out well-read liberals who would have studied a common set of “Great Books” starting with the Greeks such as Plato.

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Carl Rogers (8 Jan 1902 – 4 Feb 1987): Healing the Person and the State
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jan 2019

Carl Ransom Rogers was a US psychologist and educator and a leading figure of what is often called “the third wave of psychology.” The first wave was Freud and Jung and their views of psychoanalysis. The second wave was the behaviorists symbolized by B.F. Skinner. The third wave, often called “humanist”, has Abraham Maslow, Rollo May, and Carl Rogers as its best known figures.

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Birth Anniversary of Woodrow Wilson
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Dec 2018

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born 28 December 1856 in Virginia. His father was his first teacher of writing style. “When you frame a sentence, shoot with a single bullet and hit that one thing alone”.

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Steps toward Governance in Yemen
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 17 Dec 2018

14 Dec 2018 – Two useful steps were taken on the long road toward relative peaceful governance in Yemen. The first need of the country is an end the Saudi-led aggression and the civil war conditions.

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Norms, Analysis, Action: Our Tasks
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 10 Dec 2018

9 December was the 70th anniversary of the 1948 Genocide Convention written in light of the events of WWII; the prevention of Genocide has become a world norm. 10 December is the 70th anniversary of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has also become a world norm. However, we know that many human rights norms are not being reached and in some cases are deliberately violated. Thus, our task today is to reflect on avenues of action.

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On Sea as on Land: New Russia-Ukraine Tensions Require Mediation and Negotiations in Good Faith
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 3 Dec 2018

30 Nov 2018 – The tensions arise from fears rather than from structures. Russia fears that Ukraine will join NATO. Ukraine fears that its economy will be deeply harmed by Russian economic measures such as making it difficult for cargo ships to use Mariupol port. The times call for creative proposals and open discussions.

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Donetsk-Luhansk-Ukraine-Russia: Another Round in a Frozen but Deadly Struggle
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 19 Nov 2018

On 11 November, while French President Emmanuel Macron was warning the assembled heads of government in Paris on the dangers of the narrow nationalism which had led to the 1914-1918 war, people in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics of eastern Ukraine were voting in an effort to strengthen narrow nationalism. Since 2014, the eastern, largely Russian-speaking populations of eastern Ukraine have created two republics: Donetsk and Luhansk.

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Central African Republic: Continuing Collapse – Local Peace Building Needed
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 12 Nov 2018

12 Nov 2018 – The continuing violence, refugee flows, internally displaced persons and the lack of government services is a good reminder of the difficulties of creating a functioning State with a top-down approach, especially one that begins by training a national army before there is a State to protect.

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Pakistan Blasphemy Death Sentence Overturned: A One-time Event or a Trend toward Justice?
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 5 Nov 2018

1 Nov 2018 – On 29 October 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan reversed the decision of lower courts sentencing to death Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of four for blasphemy. After 3,422 days of imprisonment in solitary confinement, the Supreme Court reversed a 2010 lower court verdict. Asia Bibi is now in seclusion and will probably leave the country as some 60 persons in Pakistan have been murdered since 1990, accused of blasphemy. Her case had drawn attention in Pakistan.

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Eugene Victor Debs (5 Nov 1855 – 20 Oct 1926): An Early U.S. Socialist Voice
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 5 Nov 2018

With the increasingly high profile of Senator Bernie Sanders in U.S. politics, the term “Democratic Socialist” has become increasingly used. Thus, it is useful to look at the first person on the U.S. political scene to represent the term.

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The Diplomacy of Women: Norms into Practice Needed
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 29 Oct 2018

On 31 October 2002, the UN Security Council adopted unanimously a Resolution urging “Member States to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.”

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The International Court of Justice Reaffirms the Protection of Humanitarian Goods in Times of Sanctions and Boycotts
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 22 Oct 2018

17 Oct 2018 – The 15-member Court published its unanimous decision on 3 Oct 2018 stating that the U.S. “must remove” sanctions that could stop food, medical supplies, humanitarian products and products needed for civil aviation.

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Women’s Critical Role in the Food Chain
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 15 Oct 2018

15 OCTOBER is the U.N. designated INTERNATIONAL DAY OF RURAL WOMEN. It is a day in which to highlight the need to increase food production, especially in those countries that face a persistent food deficit. There is a need to increase production, create better storage methods to prevent post-harvest loss, and improve distribution methods.

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America First and Alone
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 1 Oct 2018

In his 25 Sep address to the UNGA, U.S. President Trump set out clearly, if not eloquently, the narrow nationalist framework for political policymaking: “We reject the ideology of globalism and accept the doctrine of patriotism.”

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Assam: Preventive Diplomacy Needed to Protect Bengali-speaking Muslims
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Sep 2018

22 Sep 2018 – Potentially, the people of northeast India are sitting atop of a smoldering volcano to erupt into catastrophic suffering. The violence would target Bengali-speaking Muslims on the pattern of the Rohingya of Myanmar (Burma). Preventive diplomacy is not restricted to the UN or national government officials. Non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and the media can all play a role.

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Nikolai Kondratiev (4 Mar 1892 – 17 Sep 1938): The Long Economic Cycles
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 17 Sep 2018

17 September marks the execution of Nikolai Kondratiev (also written as Kondratieff) in 1938 as part of Stalin’s “Great Purge” of those who disagreed with him.

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The Uneven Road to Negotiations in Good Faith to Resolve Armed Conflicts
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 10 Sep 2018

10 Sep 2018 – World Citizen Diplomacy is still a new field. As with any new field, there is a process of presenting ideas, of drawing upon different fields of thought, and of distilling experiences. World Citizen Diplomats must learn from government policy-making procedures but must use them creatively, with more sympathy for the people of the country being analyzed and with a broader vision of the healing of the Planet rather than the national interest focus of government policy makers.

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Yemen: A New but Difficult Start to Conflict Resolution
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 3 Sep 2018

31 Aug 2018 – Today, the choice–between an end to the armed conflict with negotiations for a renewal of a Yemeni State on the basis of the con-federal system proposed vs. continued fighting in the hope that one faction become a “winner-take-all”–is relatively clear. There is little of what can be called “civil society” in Yemen, but what little exists should have their voices heard in the negotiations.

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Impact of Sanctions and Boycotts on Children
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 13 Aug 2018

13 Aug 2018 – On the one hand, economic and trade sanctions is one of the few instruments short of war to enforce world law and to modify in a positive direction the behavior of a State. On the other hand, sanctions also can be a blunt weapon hitting the weak, sick and hungry who usually have had no or little influence on the policy being sanctioned.

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Enhancing Human Rights Globally: The Role of NGOs in the UN
Rene Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 6 Aug 2018

3 Aug 2018 – Governments, that alone have the ability to vote UN resolutions, happily take credit for advances. Yet, progress was made by ideas coming from NGO representatives, helped by UN Secretariat civil servants who must keep a “low profile”, and the representatives of some governments where an issue touched them personally. I list 10 victories which seem to me to be real advances.

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Four Freedoms
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 30 Jul 2018

Freedom from Fear: Still an Unmet Goal

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Buckminster Fuller (12 Jul 1895 – 1 Jul 1983): A World View on Doing More with Less
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service, 16 Jul 2018

As all the male members of his family, he began university at Harvard but was expelled twice, being more interested in women than in diplomas. He never received a university degree but was self-taught in design, mathematics and architecture. He brought all his ideas together in what he called “The Law of Progressive Order.” Today, he is best known for his geodesic domes.

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