Peace &
nonviolence - positive thoughts and events
East
and West - the reach of
reason
Amartya Sen philsophizes in the recent issue of the
New York Review of Books on the basis of Jonathan
Glover's book "Humanity: A Moral History of the
Twentieth Century."
Gandhi
Research and Media Service -
Gandhi.serve
A rich site with things to buy and sources for the
study and spreading of Gandhi's thoughts.
The
Great Turning
Joanna Macy, writer and Buddhist scholar, took time
out from the WTO protests to speak with YES! editor
Sarah Ruth van Gelder. Their conversation took place
the day following the massive blockade of the WTO and
the labor-led march through Seattle.
The
World Peace
Portal
Peace Portal is an interactive, multimedia Peace
project dedicated to the construction of a global
based social & economic platform developed "for
the people...", and updated "...by the people..."
Through a unique mix of New Media & Internet
technologies, members will be empowered to share their
causes, stories and products with a growing network of
supporters and sponsors of World Peace. Our prayer is
that this work results in a tangible global dialogue
dedicated to personal and planetary Peace, supporting
present global community building efforts.
"Pact
against Violence" signed by Albanian and Serb leaders
in Kosovo
Kosovo Serbs and ethnic Albanians ended with both
sides declaring a "Pact against Violence," the US
State Department and the private US Institute of Peace
said Monday. The first intensive face-to-face
discussions between ethnic Albanian and Serb Kosovars
facilitated by the institute were aimed at getting the
two sides working toward a multi-ethnic society in
Kosovo, still torn by ethnic violence.
North
& South Korea
Special reports and links by the Guardian.
This
sounds like good news from Somalia..the 13th peace
agreement, will it
hold??
Hope is indeed growing that the chaos might soon come
to an end. For the past three months, more than 2,000
Somalis have been meeting in neighboring Djibouti,
trying to thrash out a deal that will put an end to
the most miserable decade of Somalia's long history.
In a rare spirit of unity and compromise, delegates
agreed on a draft charter last month that allows for
the establishment of a new 225-member Transitional
National Assembly. As soon as the new charter was read
aloud, the conference crowd erupted into jubilant
cheers, belting out excited strains of the national
anthem. But joyful optimism alone can't make an
agreement stick.
Armament and the
new Cold War
The
Weekly Defense
Monitor
- from Center for Defense Information (CDI). Short
informative analyses of e.g. the Ballistic Missile
debate, why the Feira EU meeting took EU
militarization a further step and spells problems with
NATO and the US, on child soldiers and on peacekeeping
and rogue states. And read all
about the National Missile Defence
there,
too.
China
Daily's special feature on Putin's visit to
China
Full of interesting links, documents - and their
agreement to oppose the US Star War
project.
Britain
still selling arms to violatros in world
hotspots
Two of the biggest buyers of British arms are
Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, both with poor human
rights records. The two account for 25% of British
arms sales. Meanwhile it emerged on Monday that the
Government broke its own and the European Union's arms
sales rules by granting seven licences for the sale of
Hawk aircraft spares to Zimbabwe in
February...
Vietnam
wants Clinton but not his missile
plans
Vietnam's foreign minister praised President Clinton
Sunday and said he was welcome to make a historic
visit to the country, but added that Hanoi opposed
Washington's missile defense plans. Nguyen Dy Nien
told a news conference after returning from meetings
on regional security and other issues in Bangkok that
Clinton had made ``great efforts'' toward
normalization of relations between the former Vietnam
War enemies.
Russia
targets Norwegian radar allegedly being part of the US
"Starwars" project
The controversial Vardo X-band radar site in Norway
has been targeted by Russian nuclear missiles,
Norwegian press reported this week, quoting Russian
sources. Moscow has previously alleged that the radar
is a part of the U.S.-proposed national missile
defense (NMD) system, and as such violates the 1972
Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. In response,
Norway's Defense Minister Sigur Frisvold suggested
that Norway be included in a U.S. missile defense
program, ostensibly to protect against threats from
"terrorist nations." However, the timing of the
request a day after the Russian threat to target Vardo
with nuclear missiles makes it abundantly clear that
Norway desires protection from a possible Russian
nuclear strike against the Vardo radar.
Globalization -
imperialism
The
debt trap
Billions of people in the world's poorest countries
are held captive by debts that can never be repaid.
Year after year their governments struggle to pay back
millions of pounds - with little hope of ever clearing
their debts. See what the world development movement
does to help solve the debt problem.
The
G8 Okuinawa Summit
Watch
Last year, almost one million people took to the
streets to demand debt cancellation. Their actions
ranged from a massive rally in London, from human
chains in Lima and Kampala, to church services and
public meetings throughout Canada. This year those
people are ready to show their anger at the failure of
the G7 leaders to live up to their promises on debt.
In the countdown to the summit of the G7 leaders in
Okinawa on July 21-23, more people than ever around
the world will be holding events to tell the world's
leaders about their concern and anger that the richest
nations are still taking money from the poorest
people.
The
Japan Times Summit
Watch
All aspects, government and NGO, speeches etc -
including President Clinton's in which he made no
promises to reduce the extremely heavy military
presence on Okinawa. Also many links that will give
you the immensely interesting history of
Okinawa.
Nigeria's
leader Obasanjo frustrated with G8
inaction
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo expressed
frustration Thursday over the lack of concrete action
by the Group of Eight major nations to cancel the
debts of developing countries. "We are satisfied with
the words that are coming from them (the G-8
leaders)," Obasanjo told a news conference in Tokyo
after the first-ever meeting between the G-8 leaders
and leaders from developing countries. "But . . . what
we want to make sure happens is that those words are
matched by action." Obasanjo was speaking on behalf of
the Group of 77 nations, a U.N. lobbying group of 133
nations that he currently heads. Apart from Obasanjo,
South African President Thabo Mbeki, Thai Prime
Minister Chuan Leekpai and Algerian President
Abdelaziz Boutef met with the G-8 leaders and their
proxies.
The Balkans and
Kosovo/a - and Corsica....
The
US weighs strategy to get rid of
Milosevic
US officials would consider supporting a shadow
government in Serbia in one of the latest scenarios to
oust Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. In theory,
a shadow government could try to convene a legislative
council and provide some public services. It could be
funded by the West. But winning public support for the
idea would hinge on the anti-Milosevic opposition
doing well in coming elections.
Kosovo
- NATO's occupation and reign of
terror
"This "new" Kosovo is the face of what Noam Chomsky
has termed the "new military humanism". Wasn't the
world told by President Clinton that the bombing and
occupation of Kosovo were about stopping ethnic
cleansing? The terror there today is carried out not
under the watch of Slobodan Milosevic, but that of the
US and its European allies. Every child that is gunned
down, every person that is expelled, every church that
is blown up, is a cry for an end to NATO's
"humanitarian interventions" - writes Jeremy Scahill
is a reporter for Pacifica Radio's Democracy
Now!
Compare
French policies in Corsica with Yugoslavia's in
Kosovo
In a risky move to end nearly a quarter century of
nationalist violence, French Prime Minister Lionel
Jospin announced an agreement that is already
ricocheting through Europe's other independence-minded
enclaves - further weakening European nation-states.
Some, led by Interior Minister Mr. Chevènement,
say the reforms will lead to the end of the French
state as it now exists and say Corsica is about the
worst place imaginable to carry out such an
experiment. In short, the Corsicans are about to get
what the Albanians got in 1974...
Voice
of Russia on Kosovo
The Russian agency's stories and comments day by day
since NATO's bombs started falling.
Justice
- a foreign term in
Kosovo
The day after one of Kosovo's first war-crimes trials
has begun, Judge Christer Karphammar feels close to
quitting, and not for the first time. Mr. Karphammar,
a dapper Swede, is one of six foreign judges brought
to Kosovo to help restore confidence in a judicial
system that has floundered since the province of
Serbia came under United Nations administration a year
ago, following 11 weeks of NATO bombing.
What was the
truth then? What is it today? The role of the
media
Reporting
the Peace Journalism
War
How to cover the complexities of conflict better - by
Jake Lynch. See also his much longer analysis on
TFF's
website.
The
media's own Kosovo crisis
The
new possibilities suggested by the Internet point up
the sclerosis of the old system. Even the most
well-staffed newspapers seem unable to respond quickly
enough to the regional crises that flare so often in
the world today. The problem is not new. Back in the
late seventies, for instance, when Central America
erupted in revolution, few papers had correspondents
in the region; most had to scramble even to find
someone who spoke Spanish. Going back further, the war
in Vietnam was initially entrusted to young,
unseasoned correspondents plopped down in an alien and
complex world. The Halberstams and Sheehans eventually
became quite adept, but not before the Unite States
had a massive ground force in the country.
Visit
John Pilger's
website
A fascinating site with texts and interactive
materials on Vietnam, East Timor, Burma, Iraq, the
media and forums. And you can talk to Pilger on July
31...
The US as a
world order problem
The
U.S. Military
Online
A Directory for Internet Access to the Department of
Defense
William Arkin's guide about which he says: The U.S.
Military Online is not a how-to guide about accessing
or using the Internet nor an exhaustive listing of its
resources. It is instead a decoding of the U.S.
military and its information assets as represented by
the websites of the hundreds of bases, commands and
activities, presented, it is hoped, in easily
accessible form--by organization, subject matter, and
geographic location. Because I believe that the
Internet does not spell the end of the printed word, a
variety of means are presented for contacting military
establishments, whether by good old-fashioned
telephone and postal service, or via E-mail. The
Guide is thus also a general directory of the U.S.
military that will be useful to any scholarly
researcher, journalist, librarian, or active citizen
hoping to make heads or tails of America's most
influential institution.
Drug
Control Or Biowarfare Against
Colombia?
President Clinton signed a $1.6 billion military aid
bill for Colombia, allegedly to be used in the so
called war on drugs. This aid package comes at a time
when numerous massacres committed by forces linked to
the U.S.-backed Colombian military, are being
uncovered. It's interesting that The New York Times
ran a front page article on one of these massacres
that took place in February. The piece ran a day after
Clinton signed the aid package.
Human
rights and military aid for
Columbia
The US government professes to struggle for human
rights and practises its own version of humanitarian
inteervention in Columbia. On Tuesday, June 20th, the
U.S. Senate voted by a margin of 89 to 11 to reject an
amendment from Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone that
would have removed $225 million of military aid for
Colombia and redirected that money toward drug
treatment and prevention programs in the United
States. Later the Senate voted 79 to 19 to
reject an amendment from Washington Senator Slade
Gorton that would have reduced the Colombia package
from $1 billion to $200 million. The lopsided
votes against these amendments clearly demonstrated
that the majority of Senators in both parties had
decided to back massive military aid.
Ever
heard of Vieques?
Well, Okinawa hosts US military facilities. So does
Vieques - and the locals don't like it.
The
US Congress' unrequested spending for Pentagon: 3,7
billion US$ !!
As part of its work on the Fiscal Year 2001 budget,
Congress funded a number of military programs not
included in the Clinton Administration's request for
the Pentagon. Here you find a partial list of programs
added by either the House or Senate and approved by
Congress as part of the Fiscal Year 2001
Appropriations Act for which the Pentagon had not
requested funding.
Scott
Ritter back in Baghdad - the US doesn't like
THAT
Former U.N. arms inspector Scott Ritter, once accused
by Iraq of spying for the United States, returned on
Saturday to film a documentary about weapons sites and
the impact of U.N. sanctions, an Iraqi official said.
``Ritter arrived in Iraq to film a documentary on the
impact of the unjust embargo on the Iraqi people and
(show) that Iraq has no more weapons of mass
destruction,'' Hussam Mohammed Amin, head of the Iraqi
National Monitoring Directorate, told
Reuters.
Bush's
running mate, Cheney, is a hawk who believes in
military solutions
Jonathan Steele's excellent analysis of the views,
predictions and policies we can expect from Dick
Cheney - a man behind the "Son of Star War," NATO's
expansion and much else.
Time
to see the truth about ourselves in
Iraq
"All of us that live in the silent democracies are
responsible for sustained genocide in Iraq. Today the
prime minister, Tony Blair, is on the defensive on a
range of largely domestic issues. He does not appear
to be on the defensive over genocide. His unending
endorsement of the Clinton/Albright programme for
killing the children of Iraq is seldom mentioned. Have
decision-makers learned nothing from the Pinochet
humiliation? Or do they still feel immune under
international law for crimes against humanity?" - asks
Dennis Haliday in The Guardian.
Humanism,
human rights and "humanitarian"
intervention
The
WHO World Health
Report
- aims to stimulate a vigorous debate about better
ways of measuring health system performance and thus
finding a successful new direction for health systems
to follow. By shedding new light on what makes health
systems behave in certain ways, WHO also hopes to help
policy-makers weigh the many complex issues involved,
examine their options, and make wise choices.
Death
Watch - the belated global response to AIDS in
Africa
Ten years ago Interagency Intelligence Memorandum
91-10005, distributed in classified channels the
following July, foretold one of the deadliest
calamities in human experience. Titled simply, "The
Global AIDS Disaster," the report projected 45 million
infections by 2000--inexorably fatal, the great
majority in Africa. The number beggared comparison.
There were not that many combatants killed in World
War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined.
The
Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court
Read the document about the institution we ought to
have instead of the Hague Tribunal.
Europe's
gypises lobby for status as non-territorial
nation
The main body representing Europe's 12m Gypsies wants
the Roma people to be given recognition as a
non-territorial nation, and says it will back this up
with its own "floating" parliament and embassies in
various countries. It is the first time that the
International Union Romani has made such a demand for
international recognition since it was founded in
London three decades ago.
Gandhi
Today reminds us about the plight of the Iraqi people
the last 10 years
A fine site where you can also acquaint yourself with
many aspects of the Iraqi situation and support IFOR's
Campaign of Conscience for the Iraqi
People.
What
is the UN Secretary-General really
saying?
Recent events in Sierra Leone's and the Congo, have
persuaded him that ''the time has come for us to base
our planning on worst-case scenarios: to be surprised
by cooperation, if we get it. And to go in prepared
for all eventualities, including full combat, if we
don't.'' This would be a major philosophical turn for
a political body built on good intentions, not on
coercive power. But Mr. Annan says the UN peacekeeper
will become an endangered species if the
transformation does not come - weites Jim Hoagland in
International Herald Tribune, August 3,
2000.
World
future, sustainability and strategy
The
communication
initiative
A site to improve strategic communication thinking on
development issues. Search for Programmes, Impact
Data, Communication Trends, Interviews, Planning
Models, Change Theories, Consultant Info, Strategic
Thinking, etc. Search The Communication Initiative
site or this site PLUS many other sites - all in one
process!
Chomsky
on unsustainable
nondevelopment
"In fact, if you look across the board, what's being
instituted is a regime which will prevent the kind of
development that has taken place in the countries that
today are rich, industrial countries&emdash;not the
best kind of development we can imagine, to be sure,
but at least development of a sort. If you go back
from England to the United States, to Germany, France,
Japan, Korea--every one of these countries developed
by radically violating the principles that are now
being built into the World Trade Organization. These
principles are methods of undermining growth and
development and ensuring concentration of
power."
Digital
divide deepens rich-poor
gap
South Asia has emerged as the most promising region
for sourcing information technology (IT) expertise,
but this is an achievement that is of use only to the
rich nations, say critics. The so-called digital
divide between industrialised and developing nations
is being replicated within the region, widening the
already big gulf between the majority poor and an
English language-speaking, Internet-savvy elite, they
point out. On average, less than one out of every 10
of the 1.3 billion people in the subcontinent have
access to computers and only a small fraction of these
use the Internet.
Coalition
says global compact threatens UN mission and
integrity
An international coalition of human rights and
environmental groups denounced a new UN-corporate
collaboration as "threatening the mission and
integrity of the United Nations." The coalition sent a
letter to Secretary General Kofi Annan today urging
him to re-evaluate his partnership with the private
sector. The letter was released as the top executives
of some of the world's most powerful (and destructive)
corporations prepared to converge on the UN for the
first Global Compact partners meeting.
WIRE Editor
Jan Oberg with TFF
Associates
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