Articles by UN
We found 3984 results.
WHY DO WE CELEBRATE NEW YEAR?
Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra, PhD – Univ. of Mumbai,
29 Dec 2009
Why do we celebrate New Year? When the year approaches its end we start preparing ourselves for celebrations to bid farewell to passing year and to welcome New Year. We do it in our own ways but anyhow we do it. My point is besides the customary repetition of pomp every year in welcoming New […]
→ read full articleGood News From The Holy Land
Johan Galtung,
28 Dec 2009
There was midnight mass in the little village church. The news–or olds–from the Holy Land were recited by the young priest: For us is today a Savior born, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The amens filled the church. Next morning an AlJazeera panel about the Holy Land: “West Bank settlers are dominated by a messianic-eschatolgical minority”, […]
→ read full articleA Week of Bad Climate
Johan Galtung,
21 Dec 2009
The mountain in Copenhagen gave birth to a mouse that can hardly crawl. No legally binding agreement, only vague promises for Mexico in 2010. There are national and corporate interest- guided pledges with figures ending in 0 for a year ending in 0 (USA 18%, though). Adding confirmed proposals reduces warming by 2050 from 4.8 […]
→ read full articleA Nobel War Prize Speech by a War President
Johan Galtung,
14 Dec 2009
President Obama’s Nobel Prize acceptance lecture in Oslo 10 December 2009–the Human Rights Day!–added tragedy to the comedy. It was vintage Orwell, war is peace, serving outdated thoughts by nations trying to legitimize their warfare, with the eloquence and charm that came through to many of that persuasion. A reactionary speech, more becoming to war […]
→ read full articleIS FREE PEACE RESEARCH POSSIBLE? IMPOSSIBILITY OF FUNDING PEACE RESEARCH THAT REFUSES TO BE INTELLECTUALLY “EMBEDDED”
Jan Oberg - Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research,
14 Dec 2009
Reflections on the increasing impossibility of funding peace research that refuses to be intellectual ‘embedding’ in power. SUMMARY This analysis has come about for four reasons: 1. Over the last couple of decades, it has become virtually impossible to do research that is truly free. This applies particularly to smaller organizations which, if they do […]
→ read full articleWHY NOT TURKEY IN THE EU?
Jonathan Power – The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research,
11 Dec 2009
LONDON – Enlargement of the European Union to bring in Turkey was never meant to be so tense an affair. When the Berlin Wall came down opinion makers in Western Europe were breathless before the quite unexpected overthrow of tyranny and were falling over themselves in their attempt to wave broadly stretched arms of welcome […]
→ read full article(ITALIAN) GANDHI NEL XXI SECOLO
Prof. Bhikhu Parekh – The Gandhi Foundation,
11 Dec 2009
The Second Fred Blum Memorial Lecture Se dovessi riassumere Gandhi in una sola (sua) espressione, direi che impegnò la sua vita “per crescere di verità in verità”. In altre parole, egli disse che come essere umano aveva solo percezioni parziali della realtà ultima, ossia della verità su qualunque cosa, e la vita consiste nel nostro […]
→ read full articleGANDHI IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Prof. Bhikhu Parekh – The Gandhi Foundation,
11 Dec 2009
The Second Fred Blum Memorial LectureIf I were to sum up Gandhi in just one phrase (his phrase) I would say he committed his life, as he called it, “to grow from truth to truth”. In other words, as a human being he said he only had partial perceptions of ultimate reality, or what is […]
→ read full articleTHE POWER OF NONVIOLENT ACTION IN HONDURAS
Stephen Zunes – Yes! magazine,
11 Dec 2009
The massive nonviolent movement that put pressure on the coup government may be only the first chapter of an important and prolonged struggle for justice in one of Latin America’s poorest and most inequitable countries. The decision by Honduran coup leader Roberto Micheletti to renege on his October 30 agreement to allow democratically-elected president Manuel […]
→ read full articleGlobal Warming in Copenhagen
Johan Galtung,
7 Dec 2009
Of course we all wish the Copenhagen conference the best of luck. It is billed as a conference on a major social evil, even a martian invasion of the world supposedly uniting us all. The problem is, as usual, whether it is the right approach; and what may be lurking underneath the surface. We have […]
→ read full articleCARING AND KILLING: TIME IS RUNNING OUT, MR. PRESIDENT
Robert C. Koehler - Tribune Media Services,
4 Dec 2009
Dear Barack . . . Mr. President . . . brilliant, courageous (I once thought) guy I voted for: You’re great. I mean the way you put words together. As I listened to you on Tuesday night, I thought about the interlocking, dovetail-joint perfection of your language: the crisp-edged certainty of your delivery, the clean […]
→ read full articleHUMAN RIGHTS: THE EMERGENCE OF THE PERSON
Rene Wadlow, at the UN,
4 Dec 2009
All human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated. The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis. While the significance of national and regional peculiarities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be born in mind, it is […]
→ read full article“Incredible India”…
Johan Galtung,
30 Nov 2009
… they say in the publicity spots. Yes it is truly incredible how India is selling itself to that bidder, USA, in one display of americanization after the other. The Washington angle to this is easily understood. Their empire falling, fighting three unwinnable wars on terrorism, Afghanistan and Iraq, allied with problematic regimes in Israel […]
→ read full articleANOTHER EUROPEAN DEFICIT: DOES RESPONSIBLE SCHOLARSHIP EXIST?
Biljana Vankovska, in Macedonia – Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research,
30 Nov 2009
A spectre has been haunting the intellectual circles in the region of former Yugoslavia for years. It’s probably more appropriate to talk about a haunting fear of being seen as a follower of any of the nationalistic policies that ended in a Balkan tragedy. Even the new generations of scholars and intellectuals bear the scars […]
→ read full articleWHAT’S IN A NAME
Håkan Wiberg – Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research,
30 Nov 2009
There are many cases of conflicts where one party (sometimes both) makes demands that appear absurd to an outsider, not least because they will obviously be unacceptable to the other party. The eight points in the Greek position on the name issue of Macedonia looks like a good example.Sovereign and internally recognized states sometimes change […]
→ read full article(SWEDISH) KRIGET I AFGHANISTAN, PALME OCH ORBACK: NÅGONTING MÅSTE HA GÅTT FRUKTANSVÄRT FEL
Håkan Wiberg – Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research,
30 Nov 2009
Replik till artikel om kriget i Afghanistan av Jens Orback, Generalsekreterare för Olof Palmes Internationella Center, Aftonbladet 11. november 2009 Efter massmordet den 11 september 2001 måste USA:s president (vem han än hade varit) för att överleva ta en fruktansvärd hämnd. De flesta av gärningsmännen, inklusive den förmodade ledaren, var saudiska och aktionen hade planerats i […]
→ read full articlePTSD and PGED: Post Glory Exuberance Disorder
Johan Galtung,
23 Nov 2009
Washington: There is much talk about post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, these days. Yes, it must be tough to kill so many Afghans who fight secularism, Kabul and foreign soldiers dying for that fraudulent dictator Karzai, and invasions by some chess game drunk players. And, at a risk of an IED, US$ 10 per piece, […]
→ read full articleA Paradise Lost; An Empire Gained
Johan Galtung,
16 Nov 2009
Asunción: The tragedy Paraguay suffered is emblematic. It carries messages of the soft vs the hard Occident, and of soft development vs hard “growth”. And how a genocide drove out the soft. The reference is to the attack in 1865 on Paraguay by the Triple Alianza (or Quadruple): Argentina-Uruguay-Brazil, indeed encouraged by No. 4, England, […]
→ read full articleHOW THE SERVANT BECAME A PREDATOR
William K. Black, Assoc. Professor, Univ. of Missouri, Kansas City,
16 Nov 2009
Finance’s Five Fatal FlawsWhat exactly is the function of the financial sector in our society? Simply this: Its sole function is supplying capital efficiently to aid the real economy. The financial sector is a tool to help those that make real tools, not an end in itself. But five fatal flaws in the financial sector’s […]
→ read full articleA GANDHIAN CRITICISM TO MODERN SCIENCE (Part 1)
Prof. Antonino Drago - Univ. of Pisa and Univ. of Florence,
15 Nov 2009
Contents: 1. Is Western progress a truly human development, or a misleading spiritual direction? 2. A radical criticism by authoritative non-violent figures of the dominant scientific and technological progress; 3. Any conflict within science? 4. The birth of conflict and pluralism in science during the French revolution; 5. Formally qualifying the conflict in […]
→ read full articleA GANDHIAN CRITICISM TO MODERN SCIENCE (Part 2)
Prof. Antonino Drago - Univ. of Pisa and Univ. of Florence,
15 Nov 2009
6. A verification: Pluralism in stating the inertia principle The clearest demonstration that science as a whole diverges with regard to its formal foundations is obtained by an examination of the inertia principle, which, being the starting pointing the most important theory of traditional science, Newton’s mechanics, represents the beginning of modern science. Descartes-Newton’s version […]
→ read full articleSTEALING MONEY, SELLING HEROIN AND RAPING BOYS
Patrick Cockburn - Counterpunch,
15 Nov 2009
Meet Our Afghan Ally There is a dangerous misunderstanding outside Afghanistan about what ‘corruption and mismanagement’ mean in an Afghan context and a potentially lethal underestimation of how these impact on American and British forces. Just when President Barack Obama looked as if he might be railroaded into sending tens of thousands more US troops […]
→ read full articleWHAT CAN PALESTINIANS LEARN FROM THE AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT?
Aziz Abu Sarah – Common Ground,
13 Nov 2009
Appealing to the Jewish Conscience The struggle for civil rights, freedom and independence is not unique to the Palestinian people. Many nations have travelled the same road. Palestinians today have the advantage of looking back and learning from those who succeeded in their struggles. The American civil rights movement in particular has important lessons for […]
→ read full articleBELLO, CLAPPERTON-1824, YARADUA’S AMNESTY, AND THE NIGER DELTA
Rev. Olufemi Oluniyi, Ph.D. - Centre for Values and Social Change, Nigeria,
12 Nov 2009
In 1823 Hugh Clapperton, a British adventurer, set out to unravel the Niger waterway. He arrived in the Bornu in the Lake Chad region late that year and went westward to Kano in 1824, and later to Sokoto in the same year. Sultan Bello, the ruler of the Muslim empire founded by his predecessor, Uthman […]
→ read full articleThe Trilateral Conflict USA – North Korea – South Korea
Johan Galtung,
9 Nov 2009
Seoul: Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen; a great honor to be invited for a keynote on unification–a key concern of mine since 1972–in a room in the National Assembly, the symbol of democracy. And we are meeting in the context of the 20th anniversary of that 1989 miracle, the Fall of the Berlin Wall, and then […]
→ read full articleA STEP TOWARDS A WAR-FREE WORLD: CRIMINALIZE WAR
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia,
9 Nov 2009
Why We Must Reject War Criminalise War Conference, Opening Address, 28th October 2009 Speech by [former Malaysian Prime Minister] Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad at the Criminalise War Conference and War Crimes Tribunal 2009 at Putra World Trade Center, Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 28 October 2009 WAR AND CRIME 1. As one of the convenors […]
→ read full articleA PALESTINIAN VIEW: PALESTINIAN RECONCILIATION AND THE PEACE PROCESS
Walid Salem - Center for Democracy and Community Development, Jerusalem,
2 Nov 2009
With the current paralysis in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process–which is due to the Israeli government’s refusal to abide by its obligations under previously signed agreements, notably the roadmap–it might at first glance seem strange to ask what are the ramifications of Palestinian unity for Palestinian-Israeli relations. But this is an Israeli government that tries to […]
→ read full articleDisconnected Giant on Clay Feet
Johan Galtung,
2 Nov 2009
Greensboro-NC, USA: What is the mood of the giant these days? One method is through the excellent TV channel C-span, with congressional hearings, politics in the open, debates over the double crisis, the economy, and the war. Another method is to ask people, like down in Heartland USA, North Carolina, bordering on the Blue Ridge, […]
→ read full articleDRUG DECRIMINALIZATION: A TREND TAKES SHAPE
Coletta A. Youngers and John M. Walsh,
28 Oct 2009
Latin American frustration with the “war on drugs” is growing. Harsh anti-drug laws have failed to stem apparently rising drug use, and incarceration rates are climbing—up 40 percent on average in Mexico and South America over the last decade—with more drug users and low-level dealers behind bars. But high-level drug traffickers carry on with impunity. […]
→ read full articleChina and the Economic Crisis
Johan Galtung,
26 Oct 2009
Chongqing: The American Friends Service Committee (the Quakers) and the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament–a state-supported NGO like many in the West–had a conference 18-21 October on the economic crisis and social conflict and harmony. World experiences in conflict resolution and state-civil society cooperation were shared with Chinese experts; to handle the […]
→ read full articleFULL TEXT OF THE ‘GOLDSTONE REPORT’
UN Human Rights Council,
24 Oct 2009
United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza ConflictPresentation of the report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict to the Human Rights Council – 29 September 2009 Head of the UN Fact Finding Mission Justice Richard Goldstone presented the report of the Mission to the Human Rights Council in Geneva […]
→ read full articleLANDMARK PACT INDICATES GLOBAL SUPPORT FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, SAYS UN EXPERT
UN News Centre,
24 Oct 2009
19 October 2009 – The international community showed its support for the world’s nearly 400 million indigenous people by adopting the landmark 2007 declaration outlining their rights, a United Nations independent human rights said today.The adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People came after more than two decades of debate. “The adoption […]
→ read full articleTurkey Getting Unstuck
Johan Galtung,
18 Oct 2009
Istanbul – Imagine a country losing an empire in their command for more than five centuries, ending with the occupation of Istanbul 1918 at the end of World War I. England (Mr. Sykes), France (M. Picot) and the Russians had conspired, engineering Arab uprisings against the Ottomans (“Lawrence of Arabia” being a part of that)–promising […]
→ read full articleThe Nobel Peace Prize
Johan Galtung,
12 Oct 2009
The Nobel Peace prize to a president for rhetoric, with no real achievement, is like a peace prize for a movie to a former vice-president, with no real achievement either. True, people are touched by a rhetoric everybody has heard, and even by a movie few have seen; but neither of them meets the criteria […]
→ read full articleMANIFESTO: GLOBAL ECONOMIC ETHIC – CONSEQUENCES FOR GLOBAL BUSINESSES
UN Headquarters, New York,
9 Oct 2009
6 October 2009 Preamble For the globalization of economic activity to lead to universal and sustainable prosperity, all those who either take part in or are affected by economic activities are dependent on a values-based commercial exchange and cooperation. This is one of the fundamental lessons of today’s worldwide crisis of the financial and product […]
→ read full articleGandhi and Mao: Two Giants Compared
Johan Galtung,
5 Oct 2009
The past week had two important anniversary messages. One came through loud and clear in the Western media: the 60th anniversary of the triumph of the Chinese Revolution, guided by Mao, restoring China to its own people, violently, on October 1. The other message was considerably more subdued: the 140th anniversary of the birth of […]
→ read full articleWHAT HAVE WE DONE TO DEMOCRACY?
Arundhati Roy,
3 Oct 2009
The U.S. and Europe Have Propped Up So Many Corrupt "Democracies" That the Word Is Losing Meaning Of Nearsighted Progress, Feral Howls, Consensus, Chaos, and a New Cold War in KashmirWhat’s next in a world where democracy has been so hollowed out? While we’re still arguing about whether there’s life after death, can we add […]
→ read full articleThe Tide is Turning: UNGA 64
Johan Galtung,
28 Sep 2009
This UN General Assembly will go down in history because of three persons: Hu Jintao, Qaddafi and Chávez, from the three Third World continents. And Obama will be less remembered for a speech–a high school essay promising to honor the UN multilateralism his country is committed to as a UN member–than for Chávez’ comment about […]
→ read full articleTHE GUAM TREATY AS A MODERN ‘DISPOSAL’ OF THE RYUKYUS
Kunitoshi Sakurai, Introduction by Gavan McCormack,
22 Sep 2009
Introduction Little attention internationally was paid to the agreement signed in February, 2009 between the newly commissioned Obama government in the US and the declining and soon to be defeated Aso government in Japan — the Guam Treaty. Many commentators drew the bland conclusion that by choosing Tokyo as her first destination Secretary of State […]
→ read full articleThe Cold War as a Metaphor
Johan Galtung,
21 Sep 2009
The Cold War is worth remembering. There is much to learn about conflict and meta-conflict. For West vs. Islam. That self-inflicted threat to humanity lasted officially 40 years 1949-89. But it started with the Bolshevik revolution October 1917, and ended with the combined collapse of Communism and the Soviet Union. 1917-1991. Almost a century. I […]
→ read full articleSpirituality and Conflict Work
Johan Galtung,
14 Sep 2009
There is an important connection: with some spirituality conflict work is much easier, whether directed toward the past as conciliation after violence–and after a solution has been found–toward the present as mediation, or the future as peace-building, weaving webs of positive peace as a protection against conflicts turning violent. An example: the ubuntu ‘I am […]
→ read full articleSOMALIA: WHO IS FIGHTING WHOM?
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN),
10 Sep 2009
Somalia has experienced conflict since 1991 when the late President Mohamed Siad Barre’s government was overthrown by opposition forces. Up to 2006, the fighting was largely between clan-based warlords clashing over territory and resources. In the process, one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world was created. In 2006, Islamic groups in Mogadishu fought […]
→ read full articleTHE FREE GAZA MOVEMENT
Tun. Dr. Mahathir Mohamad,
10 Sep 2009
We all remember the brutal Israeli attacks against Gaza last year. Many of us were outraged by the killings of some 1,300 Gazan Palestinian, men, women, the disabled, the children, the sick and the maimed.Hospitals and schools were destroyed. The condemnation of this brutal assault had forced the Israelis to stop the massive retaliation against alleged […]
→ read full articleThe World Peace Academy in Basel
Johan Galtung,
7 Sep 2009
Ladies and gentlemen: Today, 4 September 2009, will go down in the history of peace studies as a day to remember: a true world peace academy has been inaugurated, here in Basel, the city straddling three countries, Switzerland, Germany and France. The WPA, brilliantly conceived and launched by Pierre and Catherine Brunner, has a three-point […]
→ read full articleMore Creativity, Please!
Johan Galtung,
31 Aug 2009
The world is often seen in terms of two or more nuclear superpowers; a more positive perspective would be two culinary superpowers, China and France. We had just enjoyed a *** (Guide Michelin) French meal. Indescribable, so better not try. But immensely creative. Tastes unknown were conjured unto the human palate. The esthetics of each […]
→ read full articleSEARCHING FOR PEACE IN A KINGDOM OF VULTURES
Nirmanusan Balasundaram,
29 Aug 2009
“Peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part.” The armed conflict in Sri Lanka came to an end by mid May 2009 – after more than three decades – with a ‘military victory’ of the Sri […]
→ read full articleWE SHALL NOT BE MOVED
Robert C. Koehler, Tribune Media Services,
24 Aug 2009
“A fight, a fight . . .” Oh Lord. From what depths did this story come? This was the power of the peace circle, pulling something out of me beyond any known zone of emotional safety. There were five or six of us, in a small breakout group, challenging one another with the deepest […]
→ read full articleGlobal Domestic Policy: Wrong Approaches
Johan Galtung,
17 Aug 2009
The self-appointed Inter Action Council, IAC, chaired by German ex-Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (of US missile stationing fame) had its 27th Annual Meeting in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia 10-13 May, with 20 other former prime ministers and presidents, many right wing social democrats, attending. They issued a Final Communique with a Present State of […]
→ read full articleGlobal Domestic Policy – GDP
Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
10 Aug 2009
The slogan was coined by the famous German nuclear physicist, philosopher and peace researcher, Carl Friedrich von Weizscäcker, who passed on in 2007 at the age of 94. The term Weltinnenpolitik caught on, with GDP as translation into English; in search of one appealing word. But that is but a word. What does it stand […]
→ read full articleBURMA’S STRUGGLE, AUNG SAN SUU KYI’S ROLE
Kyi May Kaung,
8 Aug 2009
The eighteenth anniversary of the “8-8-88” massacre in Rangoon is a moment to reaffirm the core principles of Burmese people’s long march to democracy, says Kyi May Kaung. Burmese people across the world, whether in the homeland or in exile, have for the last eighteen years marked today’s date with particular sharpness and poignancy. 8 […]
→ read full articleThe Power-Shift to the South
Johan Galtung,
3 Aug 2009
The South is coming, with or–hopefully without–a vengeance. Look at the basic facts in the power distribution. The abrahamic Occident expanded three times: islam 622-1492 from Iberia to the Philippines; christianity from 1492 on all five continents; and judaism in its zionist form from 1948 in the Middle East. They left and leave behind […]
→ read full articleBUSINESS AS USUAL: VEDANTA MINE PLANS THREATEN INDIA’S POOREST
Arundhati Roy,
28 Jul 2009
An ecosystem destroyed. A way of life gone forever. Private profit and public pain. And we call this progress? Bauxite mountains are part of a very delicate ecosystem. The mining of bauxite and the process by which it is turned into aluminum is among the most toxic, environmentally devastating processes imaginable. If Vedanta is allowed […]
→ read full articleAfter the US Empire: A World of Regions?
Johan Galtung,
27 Jul 2009
A key hypothesis in the recent The Fall of the US Empire – And Then What? (www.transcend.org/tup) is that the successor system to the US Empire will be neither a hegemony run by one big actor like China or the EU, nor globalization run by the TNCs, but a world of regions with regional currencies. […]
→ read full articleGONZO GASTRONOMY: HOW THE FOOD INDUSTRY HAS MADE BACON A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION
Arun Gupta,
23 Jul 2009
The confluence of factory farming, the boom in fast food and manipulation of consumer taste created processed foods that can hook us like drugs.Among my fondest childhood memories is savoring a strip of perfectly cooked bacon that had just been dragged through a puddle of maple syrup. It was an illicit pleasure; varnishing the fatty, […]
→ read full articleDECLARATION BY THE PRESIDENCY ON BEHALF OF THE EUROPEAN UNION ON THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN HONDURAS
Presidency of the European Union,
23 Jul 2009
The European Union reaffirms its support to the President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, to facilitate a peaceful negotiated solution to the political crisis in Honduras. The EU calls on the parties in the talks sponsored by Costa Rica to do their outmost to reach a swift resolution to the crisis, as proposed by President […]
→ read full articleTurkey, EU, France and Germany
Johan Galtung,
20 Jul 2009
Of course Turkey will become a member of the European Union, with French and German support. It will take some time, but they need each other. The marriage is written in the stars. When, it is more difficult to say. Probably by 2015, for sure by 2020; it may also come much sooner for reasons […]
→ read full articleSHOWDOWN IN ‘TEGUCIGOLPE’
Stephen Zunes,
14 Jul 2009
One of the hemisphere’s most critical struggles for democracy in 20 years is now unfolding in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa (nicknamed "Tegucigolpe" for its long history of military coup d’états, which are called golpes de estado, in Spanish). Despite censorship and repression, popular anger over the June 28 military overthrow of democratically elected President […]
→ read full articleWhy That Much Violence These Days?
Johan Galtung,
13 Jul 2009
We find it all over, right now in the streets of Tegucigalpa, Tehran, Urumqi; as massive killing in connection with US-Allies attacks on Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, and elsewhere. There will probably be much more, looking at the world conflict maps. Politically, each nation ruled not by its own kind but by some “majority”, […]
→ read full articleIS THERE LIFE AFTER DEMOCRACY?
Arundhati Roy,
8 Jul 2009
While we’re still arguing about whether there’s life after death, can we add another question to the cart? Is there life after democracy? What sort of life will it be? By democracy I don’t mean democracy as an ideal or an aspiration. I mean the working model: Western liberal democracy, and its variants, such as […]
→ read full articleHonduras and Iran: What is going on?
Johan Galtung,
6 Jul 2009
The brief answer is Obama’s answer: we have to see how it all sorts itself out. Politically this usually means–like Condi Rice’s famous “birth pangs of a new Middle East Order” during the massive killing in Lebanon Summer 2006–that something is going on that should not be interfered with. Or that Obama wants neither to […]
→ read full articleRECORD TURNOUT FOR ARMS TRADE TREATY WEEK OF ACTION
Amnesty International - 22 June 2009,
3 Jul 2009
Last week, campaigners in the largest number of countries so far took part in an annual worldwide Week of Action, aimed at highlighting the need for an effective Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). NGOs in over 90 countries organized activities to draw attention to the treaty, and the rapid rise in the human cost of armed […]
→ read full articleMORAL CAPITALISM: AN OXIMORON OR SCIENTIFIC POSSIBILITY?
Prof. N. Doran Hunter,
30 Jun 2009
1 When discussing with my colleagues at the university the possibility that science might be on the cusp of declaring that the human brain is hard wired to make moral decisions, a gasp of rational unbelief and theological skepticism fills the room with miasmic laughter and Augustinian bemusement. Wait a minute, you idealistic innocent they […]
→ read full articleHELP ADDICTS, BUT LOCK UP THE CASUAL USERS OF COCAINE
George Monbiot - Published in the Guardian 30th June 2009,
30 Jun 2009
The UN’s Proposal for Decriminalisation is Senseless and DestructiveIt looked like the first drop of rain in the desert of drugs policy. Last week Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said what millions of liberal-minded people have been waiting to hear. “Law enforcement should shift its focus from […]
→ read full articleMilitary Peace Missions and Cultural Awareness
Johan Galtung,
29 Jun 2009
Inaugural Speech CITpax Seminar, European Commission, Madrid, 17 Jun 09 Officials from the Ministry of Defense, Officers from the Army, Ladies and Gentlemen, Power comes in hard and soft varieties, be that as economic power, exploitation vs equity; military power, offensive vs defensive; or political power (dictatorship vs democracy). Or as cultural power, legitimizing the […]
→ read full articleSIX MONTHS ON: THE WASTE OF ISRAEL’S GAZA WAR
Sherine Tadros, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza - June 27, 2009,
27 Jun 2009
Exactly six months ago – minutes before Israel launched its war – I was sitting in a coffee shop in Gaza City’s main square. Six months later, here I am again. At the same table, ordering the same drink from the same waiter who is talking about the same thing – no fuel, no electricity, […]
→ read full articleHOPE FOR GAZA: ADDRESS TO THE UN RELIEF WORKS AGENCY’S HUMAN RIGHTS GRADUATING CLASS
Jimmy Carter, 2002 Nobel Peace Laureate - in Gaza, 16 Jun 09,
20 Jun 2009
Director of UNRWA operations John Ging, thank you for inviting me to Gaza. Distinguished guests, children of Gaza, I am grateful for your warm reception. I first visited Gaza 36 years ago and returned during the 1980s and later for the very successful Palestinian elections. Although under occupation, this community was relatively peaceful and prosperous. […]
→ read full articleMANIFESTO AGAINST ISRAEL’S TWO-YEAR BLOCKADE OF GAZA
Press Release: United Nations, 19 Jun 09,
20 Jun 2009
UN, Aid Agencies Call For End To Israel’s Two-Year Blockade Of Gaza Forty international aid agencies and NGOs have released a joint statement condemning Israel’s blockade of Gaza, to mark the second anniversary of the coastal territory being hermetically sealed off from the outside world thus causing the population of 1.5 million to be almost […]
→ read full articleWomen and Men, Peace and Security
Johan Galtung,
15 Jun 2009
European Commission Speech – Making the Difference: Strengthening the Capacities to Respond to Crises and Security Threats; Brussels, 03/May/09 Ladies and gentlemen, My approach to this topic is based on 50 years experience with how women and men relate to peace and security issues; in formal and informal politics, in mediation and mediation training, in […]
→ read full articleDECLARATION ON THE RIGHT OF PEOPLES TO PEACE
UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,
11 Jun 2009
Approved by General Assembly Resolution 39/11 – November 12, 1984 The General Assembly, Reaffirming that the principal aim of the United Nations is the maintenance of international peace and security, Bearing in mind the fundamental principles of international law set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, Expressing the will and the aspirations of […]
→ read full articleIT’S TIME FOR A SECOND AMERICAN REVOLUTION IN THE SPIRIT OF PERESTROIKA
Mikhail Gorbachev - June 10, 2009,
10 Jun 2009
Years ago, as the Cold War was coming to an end, I said to my fellow leaders around the globe: the world is on the cusp of great events, and in the face of new challenges all of us will have to change, you as well as we. For the most part, the reaction was […]
→ read full articleConcluding Remarks: Wrapping Up, the Road Ahead
Johan Galtung,
10 Jun 2009
Keynote Speech, European Commission, Making the Difference: Strengthening the Capacities to Respond to Crises and Security Threats – Brussels 04 Jun 09 This fine conference has 4 tracks–Security and Development, Strengthening Cooperation, Lessons Learnt-Geography; Lessons Learnt-Thematic–with 4 sessions for each on specifics and 16 rapporteurs. My role is to wrap up, presenting an overview indicating […]
→ read full articleU.N. ENVIRONMENT CHIEF URGES GLOBAL BAN ON PLASTIC BAGS
Grace Chung,
10 Jun 2009
Single-use plastic bags, a staple of American life, have got to go, the United Nations’ top environmental official said Monday [Jun 8]. Although recycling bags is on the rise in the United States, an estimated 90 billion thin bags a year, most used to handle produce and groceries, go unrecycled. They were the second […]
→ read full article2008 GLOBAL ARMS SPENDING HITS RECORD
China Daily – Jun 9 2009,
10 Jun 2009
STOCKHOLM – Global military spending reached a record $1,464 billion last year with the United States taking up by far the biggest share of the total, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Arms shipments were up 4 percent worldwide from 2007 and 45 percent higher than in 1999, the think tank said in […]
→ read full articleWhat Peace Research Would Be Like If Founded Today
Johan Galtung,
8 Jun 2009
On the occasion of the Peace Research Institute, Oslo-PRIO 50 Years – Oslo City Hall, 5 June 2009 Lord Mayor, friends: Incredible all that happened only 50 years ago! Like PRIO, the institute we are celebrating today, In the English name there are four letters. There was some thinking behind all of them, not only […]
→ read full articleUNPUNISHED MASSACRE
Le Monde – Editorial 1/Jun/09,
2 Jun 2009
The Sri Lankan regime is exultant. It’s about to get away scot-free with the massacre of thousands of civilians on its country’s northeastern beaches. According to a UN estimate, close to 20,000 people could have perished in the Sri Lankan army’s end of January to end of May offensive against the ultra-violent Liberation Tigers […]
→ read full articleQUESTIONS ABOUT NORTH KOREA’S NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND THE INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO IT
Gunnar Westberg,
31 May 2009
North Korea is again at the centre of the world stage. The regime has challenged the strong powers in the world and in the UN Security Council (UNSC). The strong reactions from international politicians and media serve the interest of the leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea and give him an undeserved […]
→ read full articleNORTH KOREA: THE U.S. AND RUSSIA ARE GREATER GLOBAL THREATS
Gunnar Westberg,
31 May 2009
Once again Kim Jong Il, the dictator of North Korea, has succeeded in placing his country, and himself, in focus, “The developments in North Korea represents a serious threat”, state media headlines. How concerned should we actually be? And in what ways has the government of the DPRK, North Korea, broken international agreements and treaties? […]
→ read full articleDialectics of History: Germany-Israel
Johan Galtung,
31 May 2009
“I feel uneasy. I love him, but how do I know how he is?” The councilor said, “Watch how his father treats his mother. This is his key model. Unless challenged to the contrary this is what he takes for normal, natural. If you have problems with that as his model, rather challenge it now. […]
→ read full articleOn Truth
Johan Galtung,
27 May 2009
Norwegian Literature Festival, Lillehammer-Norway, 26 May 2009 The idea of Truth is as relevant for the arts as for the sciences. Truth is an attribute of a symbolic articulation–a thesis, a text, a painting-sculpture, a piece of music–when held up against reality: does it reflect, agree with what we consider “reality”? Some deny the existence […]
→ read full articleObama 100: Trop Beau, Ce Président!
Johan Galtung,
17 May 2009
“Too handsome that president” was the conclusion of the French women’s magazine Voici (27/12/08) “le président plus sexy jamais élu”, the most sexy president ever elected, “attendu comme le Messie”, awaited like the Messiah”. In the swimming trunks, also appearing in an IHT column 16/05/09 calling Michelle’s remark about being “proud about her country for […]
→ read full articleCambodia’s Killing Fields and the Rule of Law
Johan Galtung,
12 May 2009
There are many of those fields in this country treated extremely badly by history. An enormity of structural violence by Phnom Penh on the countryside for centuries, legitimized by a Hindu caste system, softened by a Buddhism that eventually became state religion. Thai and Vietnamese invasions and occupations. French colonialism (as part of “Indo-China”) 1863, […]
→ read full articlePiracy and Somalia
Johan Galtung,
4 May 2009
To start with the conclusion: the piracy issue–in 2008 40 of 100; in 2009 so far 25, attacks succeeded, 18 vessels with about 310 sailors captive, ransom average $2-3 million–can be solved but only if treated as part of the whole Somalia complex. But USA and EU detach piracy as a crime to be fought, […]
→ read full articleFOUNDATION FOR MODERN TERRORISM FROM THE ANNALS OF THE WORLD HISTORY
Victor Ragunathan,
29 Apr 2009
"The Black War of Van Diemen’s Land" was the name of the official campaign of terror directed against the Black people of Tasmania between 1803 and 1830. The Black aborigines of Tasmania were reduced from an estimated five-thousand people to less than seventy-five. With the declaration of martial law in November 1828, Whites were authorized […]
→ read full articleWOMEN IN NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS
Inter-Parliamentary Union,
22 Apr 2009
The data in the table below has been compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the basis of information provided by National Parliaments by 28 February 2009. 188 countries are classified by descending order of the percentage of women in the lower or single House. Comparative data on the world and regional averages as well as […]
→ read full articleJesus, Judas and Che Guevara
Prof. Johan Galtung - TRANSCEND Media Service,
20 Apr 2009
There is an exercise called Western Civilization, and a dramatic narrative at the center of that exercise with two persons in the key roles, Jesus and Judas. Easter times, now, are here to remind us of the drama. The outer events, delivered through the millennia, by Mark in the 70s, Matthew in the 80s, then […]
→ read full articleNIGER VILLAGES SAY NO TO FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION
UNICEF Television,
16 Apr 2009
Ten villages in western Niger have decided to end the practice of female genital mutilation. The Real News Network1:40-Min. VideoCLICK TO VIEW
→ read full articleInto Africa: Cameroon
Johan Galtung,
14 Apr 2009
This is about non-news from a country not high on the scale of countries, elites not world famous, no particular event to report, only something quite permanent: a country that works, with smiling, gentle, generous, kind people, 18 million of them, in the midst of Africa; in peace with itself and others. True, there is […]
→ read full articleREPORT ON THE TREATMENT OF FOURTEEN “HIGH VALUE DETAINEES” IN CIA CUSTODY
International Committee of the Red Cross - Regional Delegation for United States and Canada,
14 Apr 2009
ICRC Report on the Treatment of Fourteen “High Value Detainees” in CIA Custody along with the cover letter that accompanied it when it was transmitted to the US government in February 2007. This version, reset by The New York Review, exactly reproduces the original including typographical errors and some omitted words.CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE ORIGINAL […]
→ read full articleG20, and NATO, and the World.
Johan Galtung,
6 Apr 2009
The white, tall, Anglo-American, Wall Street defenders in London won; but Lula was wrong about blue eye color, and one was black. No “turning point” (Obama) in the 29 points, but: * one trillion, in bailout money for the financial economy, no stimulus for the real economy, protecting wrong banks, not right people, on top […]
→ read full articleTHE SILENCE SURROUNDING SRI LANKA
Arundhati Roy,
1 Apr 2009
New Delhi – The Horror that is unfolding in Sri Lanka becomes possible because of the silence that surrounds it. There is almost no reporting in the international press – or in the mainstream media in India, where I live – about what is happening. From the little information that is filtering through, it looks […]
→ read full articleRetired in all Lands, Unite!
Johan Galtung,
30 Mar 2009
You have only your exclusion, your marginalization to lose. We simply have a major flaw in our social construction: the institution of obligatory retirement, the final stage in biological life, the R in Childhood-Education-Work-Retirement. Nobody will argue against the right of the tired to be retired, from the duties of work, of inputs into […]
→ read full article(PORTUGUESE) SOBERANIA ENERGÉTICA E REFORMA AGRÁRIA UNIFICAM MOVIMENTOS DE BRASIL E PARAGUAI
Daniel Cassol - Correspondente em Asunción, Paraguai,
25 Mar 2009
Um ato simbólico nesta quinta-feira (26/Mar) reunirá organizações sociais do Paraguai e do Brasil na Ponte da Amizade, entre Ciudad del Este e Foz do Iguaçu. A iniciativa simboliza o começo de um processo de articulação entre movimentos sociais dos países vizinhos, em defesa de soberania energética e reforma agrária. O Congresso Unitário Político e […]
→ read full articleThe Energy-Environment-Development Triad
Johan Galtung,
23 Mar 2009
A very felicitous idea to bring together three major concerns in what could become a political, economic and intellectual pact. Like a poor, creative family in Kerala wanting to boil their rice, having neither electricity nor kerosene nor wood nor matches but a sheet of black paper, a used tire, a piece of window glass […]
→ read full articleU.N. PANEL SAYS WORLD SHOULD DITCH DOLLAR
Jeremy Gaunt, European Investment Correspondent,
21 Mar 2009
LUXEMBOURG, Mar 18 2009, (Reuters) – A U.N. panel will next week recommend that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies, a member of the panel said on Wednesday, adding to pressure on the dollar. Currency specialist Avinash Persaud, a member of the panel of […]
→ read full articleEconomy, Economics, Economists
Johan Galtung,
9 Mar 2009
What would we say about meteorologists unable to foresee major hurricanes devastating humans beings and their creations, like towns and houses, whirling them into the air to crashland them far away? We might accept their inability to do anything about it, but would we accept the absence of any early warning? No, and they are […]
→ read full articleEND THE USE OF CHIMPS IN RESEARCH
The Humane Society of the United States – Mother Jones,
6 Mar 2009
EXPOSÉ Watch Our Video, Then Take Action 6:50-Min. VideoCLICK TO VIEW
→ read full articleFreedom of Expression vs. Freedom from Humiliation
Johan Galtung,
2 Mar 2009
Basic thesis: A false dichotomy. With some skill we can deliver both, refusing to be trapped by fundamentalists of either kind. How? Well, let us first do our best to clarify the two freedoms. On the Big Island, Hawai’i, a US army physician was once asked to identify the most vulnerable points of the […]
→ read full articleFORGET NUCLEAR AND FOCUS ON RENEWABLES
Tony Juniper,
23 Feb 2009
Very careful analysis is still needed before going with the nuclear option. By making this choice we could inadvertently waste time and money and therefore not achieve what we could do by pursuing other options – for example, through energy efficiency, cleaner cars and renewable power. The first issue is the scope of what nuclear […]
→ read full article1421 1434
Johan Galtung,
20 Feb 2009
In 1421 the Chinese traveled to America – more than 70 years ahead of the event used by the West to celebrate itself: Columbus “discovering” America and taking the Watling Island in the Bahamas in possession for Spain 12 October 1492. “These remarkable Chinese admirals rounded the Cape of Good Hope sixty-six years before Bartolomeu […]
→ read full articleClass, Nation and the Philippines
Johan Galtung,
14 Feb 2009
Key comments in the conversations in Manila 4-9 February 2009 about the process between Government panels and Parties for change in class and nation relations were: paralyzed, no prospect, limbo, stuck, insincere, agreements unimplemented, broken. But Parties are mesmerized by the peace process, and want to get unstuck. How? The key positions of the Parties–lifting […]
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