Newsletter #41 |
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#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 |
U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry
John Kerry on the Critical Role for Women in Building a Lasting Peace System
The essential, necessary role women must play in building lasting peace could not be better explained than by US Senator John Kerry. His Op-Ed piece for the DipNotes Blog in May 2014 is given here in full.
International Women's Day is more than a moment marked on a calendar. It is a day not just to renew our determination to make the world a more peaceful and prosperous place - but to recognize that a world where opportunities for women grow, is a world where the possibilities for peace, prosperity, and stability grow even more.
I see it every single day as Secretary of State. Even as the Assad regime's barrel-bombing of Aleppo continues, showing the world a brutal regime's true colors, with every act of courage and perseverance, Syria's women show the world their true colors as well. We heard from some of these remarkable women in Montreux just last month.
Their stories spoke to the bravery of countless other Syrian women. One woman from Idlib worked with the Free Syrian Army to ensure that the people of her village could remain in their homes and till their own land. Another woman from Aleppo got restrictions on humanitarian access lifted by offering food to regime soldiers at the checkpoints. If that isn't courage under fire, I don't know what is.
It's not just in Syria that women offer us hope for resolution to conflict. Women are vital to our shared goals of prosperity, stability and peace. That's as true when it comes to ending our battles as it is jumpstarting our economies. The fact is that women bear the greatest burden in war. But their voices are too rarely heard in negotiating peace.
That has to change.
Countries that value and empower women to participate fully in decision-making are more stable, prosperous, and secure. The opposite is also true. When women are excluded from negotiations, the peace that follows is more tenuous. Trust is eroded, and human rights and accountability are often ignored.
In too many countries, treaties are designed by combatants for combatants. It should come as no surprise, then, that more than half of all peace agreements fail within the first 10 years of signature. The inclusion of women in peace building and conflict prevention can reverse that trend.
So how do we get there?
Evidence from around the world has shown that deadly conflicts are more likely to be prevented, and peace best forged and protected, when women are included as equal partners.
That's why we are working to support women in conflict and post-conflict areas around the world.
In Afghanistan we are advocating for the inclusion and election of women at all levels of governance. Afghan women today are marching forward in ways unimaginable just 10 years ago. They're starting companies. They're serving as members of parliament. They're teaching in schools and working as doctors and nurses. They are the foundation upon which Afghanistan's future is being built.
As the people of Burma work to resolve the conflict that has plagued their nation for decades, the United States is supporting the meaningful participation of women in the peace process and inter-communal peace initiatives.
We know that the security of women is essential to their participation in peace building. That's why we are working to ensure women get equal access to humanitarian assistance and relief, wherever we work.
The United States is also leading by example. My sister has worked for many years at the United Nations, following in the State Department footsteps of our father many years before I did myself. She's a trailblazer. But she's not alone. It's no coincidence that some of our top diplomats and peace negotiators are women - from National Security Advisor Susan Rice, to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, to Deputy Secretary of State Heather Higginbottom, to Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman. Today, all but one of the State Department's Regional Assistant Secretaries are women.
We celebrate their accomplishments not just because they are women, but because their work around the world will make all people - men and women, boys and girls - more secure.
Peace is not the absence of conflict. It is the presence of every member of society working together to promote stability and prosperity.
No country can succeed unless every citizen is empowered to contribute to its future. And no peace can endure if women are not afforded a central role. So today, we mark the miles women have traveled around the world - but more importantly we commit to the next miles of the journey.
The essential, necessary role women must play in building lasting peace could not be better explained than by US Senator John Kerry. His Op-Ed piece for the DipNotes Blog in May 2014 is given here in full.
International Women's Day is more than a moment marked on a calendar. It is a day not just to renew our determination to make the world a more peaceful and prosperous place - but to recognize that a world where opportunities for women grow, is a world where the possibilities for peace, prosperity, and stability grow even more.
I see it every single day as Secretary of State. Even as the Assad regime's barrel-bombing of Aleppo continues, showing the world a brutal regime's true colors, with every act of courage and perseverance, Syria's women show the world their true colors as well. We heard from some of these remarkable women in Montreux just last month.
Their stories spoke to the bravery of countless other Syrian women. One woman from Idlib worked with the Free Syrian Army to ensure that the people of her village could remain in their homes and till their own land. Another woman from Aleppo got restrictions on humanitarian access lifted by offering food to regime soldiers at the checkpoints. If that isn't courage under fire, I don't know what is.
It's not just in Syria that women offer us hope for resolution to conflict. Women are vital to our shared goals of prosperity, stability and peace. That's as true when it comes to ending our battles as it is jumpstarting our economies. The fact is that women bear the greatest burden in war. But their voices are too rarely heard in negotiating peace.
That has to change.
Countries that value and empower women to participate fully in decision-making are more stable, prosperous, and secure. The opposite is also true. When women are excluded from negotiations, the peace that follows is more tenuous. Trust is eroded, and human rights and accountability are often ignored.
In too many countries, treaties are designed by combatants for combatants. It should come as no surprise, then, that more than half of all peace agreements fail within the first 10 years of signature. The inclusion of women in peace building and conflict prevention can reverse that trend.
So how do we get there?
Evidence from around the world has shown that deadly conflicts are more likely to be prevented, and peace best forged and protected, when women are included as equal partners.
That's why we are working to support women in conflict and post-conflict areas around the world.
In Afghanistan we are advocating for the inclusion and election of women at all levels of governance. Afghan women today are marching forward in ways unimaginable just 10 years ago. They're starting companies. They're serving as members of parliament. They're teaching in schools and working as doctors and nurses. They are the foundation upon which Afghanistan's future is being built.
As the people of Burma work to resolve the conflict that has plagued their nation for decades, the United States is supporting the meaningful participation of women in the peace process and inter-communal peace initiatives.
We know that the security of women is essential to their participation in peace building. That's why we are working to ensure women get equal access to humanitarian assistance and relief, wherever we work.
The United States is also leading by example. My sister has worked for many years at the United Nations, following in the State Department footsteps of our father many years before I did myself. She's a trailblazer. But she's not alone. It's no coincidence that some of our top diplomats and peace negotiators are women - from National Security Advisor Susan Rice, to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, to Deputy Secretary of State Heather Higginbottom, to Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman. Today, all but one of the State Department's Regional Assistant Secretaries are women.
We celebrate their accomplishments not just because they are women, but because their work around the world will make all people - men and women, boys and girls - more secure.
Peace is not the absence of conflict. It is the presence of every member of society working together to promote stability and prosperity.
No country can succeed unless every citizen is empowered to contribute to its future. And no peace can endure if women are not afforded a central role. So today, we mark the miles women have traveled around the world - but more importantly we commit to the next miles of the journey.
Lorelei Kelly on National Security
In an online article for Truthout in October 2008 Lorelei Kelly, a civic technologist based in Washington D.C. and involved with the project "Resilient Democracy," addressed the topic of Women and National Security, saying that "women must define the priorities debate." She makes the link between traditional "women's issues," which center around creating stable and safe communities by tending to such things as health care, education, clean water, and economic justice, and what needs to be done to create a stable and safe world. Here are some quotes to give you a sense of the article:
"The world has changed significantly, and America must make different choices about how to secure our future."
"The United States ranks 69th in the world in Congressional female representation. That's below both Afghanistan and Iraq...."
"The old 'guns versus butter' line is obsolete."
"The U.S. Army considers girls' education a vital link to achieving long-term stability."
"Whether the field of action is within our borders or abroad, national security today demands a broad understanding of what constitute making and defending the peace."
You can read the entire article here. Hers is just one of thousands of articles and books published within the last ten years pointing the way to a more peaceful, just, sustainable future for our descendants that will rely on the empowerment of women.
In an online article for Truthout in October 2008 Lorelei Kelly, a civic technologist based in Washington D.C. and involved with the project "Resilient Democracy," addressed the topic of Women and National Security, saying that "women must define the priorities debate." She makes the link between traditional "women's issues," which center around creating stable and safe communities by tending to such things as health care, education, clean water, and economic justice, and what needs to be done to create a stable and safe world. Here are some quotes to give you a sense of the article:
"The world has changed significantly, and America must make different choices about how to secure our future."
"The United States ranks 69th in the world in Congressional female representation. That's below both Afghanistan and Iraq...."
"The old 'guns versus butter' line is obsolete."
"The U.S. Army considers girls' education a vital link to achieving long-term stability."
"Whether the field of action is within our borders or abroad, national security today demands a broad understanding of what constitute making and defending the peace."
You can read the entire article here. Hers is just one of thousands of articles and books published within the last ten years pointing the way to a more peaceful, just, sustainable future for our descendants that will rely on the empowerment of women.
About A Future Without War
We want to provide newsletter readers with a reminder about our extensive website, www.afww.org. The materials can be a reference for personal use, something to share with friends or colleagues who doubt that it would ever be possible to abolish war, and as thought pieces to stimulate discussions, for example, by your students, a book group, or peace activist organizations. You will find on the site:
We want to provide newsletter readers with a reminder about our extensive website, www.afww.org. The materials can be a reference for personal use, something to share with friends or colleagues who doubt that it would ever be possible to abolish war, and as thought pieces to stimulate discussions, for example, by your students, a book group, or peace activist organizations. You will find on the site:
- A Mission Statement
- An Action Plan
- Keynote Speech - Åbo University, Vaasa, Finland 2014 - "War is Not Inevitable"
- Capstone Essay: "To Abolish War"
- "Overview" Essays - 7 essays explaining the core rationale for why it is reasonable to believe we could abolish war if we make it a priority.
- "Cornerstone" Essays - 9 essays explaining each of the broad categories of "good works" that we need to attend to simultaneously in any campaign to abolish war and maintain that state into the future.
- "The Books" - a Table of Contents, reviews, and FREE download of Women, Power, and the Biology of Peace, links to purchase that book and also A Future Without War: the Strategy of a Warfare Transition"
- A Link to the AFWW Blog
- A Map of Nonviolent Cultures
- A Video of Dr. Hand
- Several Movie and Book Reviews
- Archives of AFWW Newsletters
- Links to over 150 Organizations involved in some aspect of the campaign to abolish war
- Miscellaneous AFWW Essays
- Is Ending War Possible? - An Action Plan for a Nonviolent Campaign to End War Permanently
- Ending War is Achievable. Five Reasons Why.
- The Myth of the Savage Savage Needs Debunking
- Locked in the Embrace of Male Biology: A Block to Positive Paradigm Shift
- To Date, Nonviolence Movements Were "Before Their Time." Now They Are Poised to Change History
- A Symphony of Transformation - San Jose, Costa Rica 2008 - Conducted by The Alliance for a New Humanity
- Women's Global Security Summit - New York - 2007
- Essential Human Goodness
- Origins of War and Human Destiny
- Changing the Biological Chemistry of Nonviolence Movements: Women on the Frontlines
- Rick Santorum is a U.S. Presidential Candidate - and a Warmonger
- Capstone Essay: "To Abolish War"
- Sarah Palin and Why All Women are Not Progressives
- Corporations are People? - If so, Democracy is Doomed
- Darwin, Gandhi, Obama, and Berkeley University's Greater Good Science Center all Agree - Humans are Basically Good
- World Peace Map - Nonviolent Cultures
- What Makes Us Happy Will Help Us End War
- Liberian Women Demand and Get Peace!
- Budgeting and War
- "Capitalism: A Love Story" - An AFWW Review
- Obama Wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize - Controversy in America
- Women, Poverty, Economic Development - "Half the Sky"
- The Unveiling of Ardi - How Old Is War?
- Shaping the Future: a Proposal to Hasten a Global Paradigm Shift for the Security and Well-being of All Children Everywhere
- A Cultural Paradigm Shift: Swift and Enduring
- The Mutilation of Wonder Woman
- Gort, Climate Change, Ending War
- Balancing Oxytocin and Testosterone - the Key to Ending War
- Drone Warfare and Moral Choice
- !War is Obsolete!
- Book Review - The Moral Molecule: the Source of Love and Prosperity - Dr. Paul Zak
- Dismantling the War Machine
A Future Without War