Newsletter #41 |
|
Newsletter #41 |
|
#41 Good News on Peace vs. Tragedy in Paris (Nov 2015)Much of the world grieves for Paris, The City of Lights, and the families and friends of those killed and maimed. A Future Without War shares that sorrow.
![]() This explosion of ISIS evil and others like it from this death cult could send us into utter despair for the future. It could cause us to feel, with broken hearts and spirits, that there is no hope that we will ever be free from war. This depressing event will be front and center for thousands of hours in every kind of media for days and weeks to come.
![]() Despair could cause us to yield to fear and give up the good fight for a global peace. But what is regrettably rarely reported for our consideration is that a movement to end war continues to gather steam! As the song says, "War is Over. If You Want It"
To counter despair this newsletter highlights the One Earth Future Forum 2015, a most impressive example of one of these efforts. The goal of the gathering is to discuss the empirical evidence for what needs to be done to advance the cause of enduring peace, and then to identify practical points of entry to advance that vision. You can read about this meeting of notable minds on the forum's website.
These are the 22 attendees (short bios can be found on this web page): Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini, co-founder of the International Civil Society Action Network Juan Andr�s Cano, founder of Business and Human Rights, Semilla, Value4chain and PeaceStartup Sister Joan Chittister, co-chair of Global Peace Initiative for Women Tom Crick, associate director of the Conflict Resolution Program at the Carter Center Professor the Hon Gareth Evans, chancellor of the Australian National University Professor Galia Golan, chair of the Program on Diplomacy and Conflict Studies at the School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya Professor Joshua S. Goldstein, professor emeritus, School of International Service, American University Dr. Hrach Gregorian, president of the Institute of World Affairs Dr. David Harland, executive director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue Ambassador Swanee Hunt, chair of the Institute for Inclusive Security Professor Andrew Mack, founder of the Human Security Report Project Rita Manchanda research director, South Asia Forum for Human Rights Patrice Martin, co-lead and creative director of IDEO.org Rohinton P. Medhora, president of the Centre for International Governance Innovation Dr. Stewart Patrick, director of the Program on International Institutions and Global Governance at the Council on Foreign Relations Sandra Pepera, director of Gender, Women, and Democracy at the National Democratic Institute Dr. Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor at Harvard University's Department of Psychology Dr. Gary Slutkin, Founder of Cure Violence Major General (USAF, Ret.) Charles Tucker, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the World Engagement Institute ("WEInstitute") Dr. William Ury, co-founder of Harvard University's Program on Negotiation Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Nobel Women's Initiative founder Graeme Wood, Contributing Editor to Atlantic Magazine and Lecturer in Political Science at Yale University Here is how they describe the gathering's objectives: "The OEF Forum is an annual discussion among global thinkers on the growing body of empirical literature demonstrating that the world is moving towards peace, and on the actions that can be taken to illuminate these trends. The agenda will be based on how we chart a course to continued peace. This year's event will build upon the ideas generated at OEF's 2014 forum with a focus on three tracks:
This effort is only one of many occurring with increasing frequency at higher and higher levels of influence in locations all over the globe. Ending war can be done by creating a global peace system (click the link to see an inspiring video that describes what amazing progress the world community has already made). This really is "an idea whose time has come." Check out the OEF Forum website, where you can read the bios of these varied, and notable, participants. Then pass the word (and the link) to your friends and colleagues to remind them that these grotesque acts of ISIS are not what the world's people desire. And that if the peace-seekers of the world remain steadfast in their work, ISIS will ultimately be on the wrong side of human destiny. The sooner, the better. |
Quotable Quote
"Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war." Martin Luther King, Jr A Good Book The book introducing the Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai, "I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban." Whether Malala knows it or not, her advocacy of education for girls is a major weapon in the struggle to end war, because the empowerment of women is a necessary condition for winning and maintaining such a future. A Good Movie "Suffragette", starring Meryl Streep in a cameo of Emmeline Pankhurst and Carey Mulligan as a British woman who is awakened to the need for women to have a vote in order to have a say. The harsh lives of women of that era are powerfully depicted, and serve as a gripping reminder to the young women of now just what kind of lives they might have been living if the women who went before them had not been wiling to suffer beatings and jail and even risk-of-life to make change happen. A Future Without War
Believe in it. Envision it. Work for it. And we will achieve it. QuickLinks These three quick links are to Dr. Hand's core articles on paradigm shift: To Abolish War Shaping the Future Paradigm Shift: Swift and Enduring More Links: How Long Ending War Would Take Why Women Are the Key to Security The Nine Cornerstones AFWW Newsletter Archives |