SOME DOCUMENTS OF HOPE

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(Une version française suit en dessous)


Thanks to Roland Nivet of Mouvement de la Paix and Jean-Marc Cléry of the trade union FSU, I had to chance to speak to a hundred school teachers represented by the FSU in Bretagne. The blog this month is based on my remarks.

Your students, like all young people today are pushed towards pessimism by the mass media and the pronouncements of their national governments. Is there some way that we can give them hope for the future?

I want to give you four documents of hope. However, your students need to know that they will not be found by listening to the mass media or government. In fact, the media and government want to prevent them from knowing about these documents. Let me tell you something about their history.

The first is the Seville Statement. In 1986, the United Nations International Year for Peace, I was one of twenty scientists who met in Seville, Spain, to answer the question, “Does modern biology and social science know of any biological factors that constitute an insurmountable or serious obstacle to the goal of world peace ?” The scientists came from all regions of the world and from all the relevant scientific disciplines, including the most prominent experts in animal behavior, brain research on aggression and behavior genetics. After examining the scientific data, we came to the conclusion that war is a social, not a biological construction, and quoting the great anthropologist Margaret Mead, the same species that invented war is capable of inventing peace.”

The Seville Statement was adopted as policy by UNESCO and by many scientific organizations, including the American Psychological Association, American Anthropological Association and American Sociological Association. I organized the press conference to announce this. When I called the major news agencies, they said they were not interested, and one even said, “but call us back when you find the gene for war.”

Even Science magazine, the official news magazine of American scientific associations, refused to come to the press conference. So we sent a letter to the editor, signed by the president of several scientific organizations, including the American Psychological Association, which was technically their boss, but they refused to publish it.

This was only a few years after the Commission of the American Senate on CIA infiltration of the mass media that found all major news agencies had at least one CIA agent to determine what they could print. Someday, when the CIA archives are opened, I think they will find that there was an agent in Science magazine.

Thanks to one of the signatories of the Seville Statement, I went to work for UNESCO. Federico Mayor, who helped draft the Statement in 1986, was chosen as the Director-General of UNESCO in 1987 and he invited me to come to UNESCO to publicize the Statement.

At UNESCO, I proposed the culture of peace program and became responsible for the United Nations International Year for the Culture of Peace. In that capacity, we produced two documents.

One was the the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace that we sent from UNESCO to the UN General Assembly where it was adopted in 1999. This is the document that describes a programme for the culture of peace with eight areas of action. This approach has been adopted by Mouvement de la Paix.

The adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action was opposed at each stage in its development by the the United States and the European Union. First, they tried to stop the submission of the draft document by saying that it had not been approved by the UNESCO Executive Board. Then, they tried to stop its adoption process by the UN General Assemby which led to a record number of informal consultation sessions where they expressed their opposition. During this process they managed to remove all references to the culture of war, claiming that there is no culture of war in this world. I had developed the draft document by listing the characteristics of the culture of war and proposing their opposites for a culture of peace.

Fortunately, the process of informal consultations was managed by the courageous ambassador from Bangladesh, Anwarul Chowdhury, who was trusted by the UN Member States from Africa, Latin America and Asia, and as a result they were able to get the document adopted despite the opposition of Europe and North America.

It has been said that the Declaration and Programme of Action is the most important UN declaration since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but the budget for its distribution and implimentation was removed from the resolution by the US and European Union.

The second document we developed at UNESCO is the Manifesto 2000. This is a popular version of the Declaration and Programme of Action, which individuals could sign, by which they promised to develop a culture of peace in their family, community and country. Their were six points in the Manifesto: Respect all life; Reject violence; Share with others; Listen to understand; Preserve the planet; and Rediscover solidarity.

The Manifesto 2000 was circulated in India by Brahma Kumaris. In Colombia by UNICEF. In Brazil by the UNESCO office. In Algeria it was sung from the minarets and distributed on the streets by the Scout Movement. In Japan by the National Federation of UNESCO Associations. In Korea by the National Commission for UNESCO. Overall, the Manifesto was signed by 75 million people, one of the largest peace mobilizations in all history.

What happened then? Federico Mayor had retired from UNESCO, and the United States installed a new director of programming who came from the Heritage Foundation. He told me bluntly that his tasks included getting rid of me and ending the culture of peace initiative. He even wrote a memo to the New York Office saying that I should not be allowed to enter it when I returned to the United States. There was a UN Decade for the Culture of Peace with UNESCO in charge, but they did nothing for it.

Once I left UNESCO, I developed the Culture of Peace News Network and did the research for two books, the History of the Culture of War and a utopian novel about how the world arrives at a culture of peace. The book is called “I have seen the promised land.” It imagines that after a global economic crash there is a window of opportunity to change the system of global governance by reforming the United Nations so that the Security Council is managed by representatives of the mayors of the world instead of nation-states with their culture of war.

I approached many book publishers but they told me they were not interested. Peace would not sell.

Despite l’opposition, these documents remain essential for the construction of a new world. If such a world is possible, it is the new generation who can achieve it. For this task they need to reactivate and use tools such as these.

All four documents are available online. Here are the links where you can read them.

Seville Statement on Violence

Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace

Manifesto 2000

I have see the promised land

See also the Culture of Peace News Network

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QUELQUES DOCUMENTS D’ESPOIR

Grâce à Roland Nivet du Mouvement de la Paix et à Jean-Marc Cléry du syndicat FSU, j’ai eu l’occasion de m’entretenir avec une centaine d’enseignants des écoles représentés par la FSU en Bretagne. Le blog de ce mois-ci s’appuie sur mes remarques.

Vos étudiants, comme tous les jeunes d’aujourd’hui, sont poussés au pessimisme par les médias et les déclarations de leurs gouvernements nationaux. Existe-t-il un moyen de leur donner de l’espoir pour l’avenir ?

Je veux vous donner quatre documents d’espoir. Cependant, vos étudiants doivent savoir qu’ils ne seront pas trouvés en écoutant les médias ou le gouvernement. En fait, les médias et le gouvernement veulent les empêcher de connaître ces documents. Laissez-moi vous raconter quelque chose sur leur histoire.

La première est la Déclaration de Séville. En 1986, Année internationale pour la paix des Nations Unies, j’étais l’un des vingt scientifiques réunis à Séville, en Espagne, pour répondre à la question suivante : « La biologie et les sciences sociales modernes connaissent-elles des facteurs biologiques qui constituent un obstacle insurmontable à la paix mondiale ?” Les scientifiques venaient de toutes les régions du monde et de toutes les disciplines scientifiques concernées, y compris les experts les plus éminents en matière de comportement animal, de recherche sur le cerveau sur l’agressivité et de génétique du comportement. Après avoir examiné les données scientifiques, nous sommes arrivés à la conclusion que la guerre est une construction sociale et non biologique, et, citant la grande anthropologue Margaret Mead, « la même espèce qui a inventé la guerre est capable d’inventer la paix. »

La Déclaration de Séville a été adoptée comme politique par l’UNESCO et par de nombreuses organisations scientifiques, notamment l’American Psychological Association, l’American Anthropological Association et l’American Sociological Association. J’ai organisé la conférence de presse pour l’annoncer. Lorsque j’ai appelé les principales agences de presse, elles m’ont dit qu’elles n’étaient pas intéressées, et l’une d’entre elles m’a même dit : « mais rappelez-nous quand vous aurez trouvé le gène de la guerre ».

Même le journal Science, le magazine d’information officiel des associations scientifiques américaines, a refusé de venir à la conférence de presse. Nous avons donc envoyé une lettre à l’éditeur, signée par le président de plusieurs organisations scientifiques, dont l’American Psychological Association, qui était techniquement leur patron, mais ils ont refusé de la publier.

C’était seulement quelques années avant, que le Sénat américain a crée une commission afin d’examiner l’infiltration des médias par la CIA. La commission a constaté que toutes les grandes agences de presse disposaient d’au moins un agent de la CIA pour déterminer ce qu’elles pouvaient imprimer. Un jour, quand les archives de la CIA seront ouvertes, je pense qu’ils découvriront qu’il y avait même un agent dans le journal Science.

Grâce à l’un des signataires de la Déclaration de Séville, Federico Mayor, je suis parti travailler pour l’UNESCO. Il a contribué à la rédaction de la Déclaration en 1986, et a été choisi comme Directeur général de l’UNESCO en 1987, à la suite de quoi, il m’a invité à venir à l’UNESCO pour diffuser la Déclaration.

À l’UNESCO, j’ai proposé le programme de culture de la paix et je suis devenu responsable de l’Année internationale des Nations Unies pour la culture de la paix, l’Année 2000. À ce titre, nous avons produit deux documents d’espoirs importants.

L’un d’entre eux était la Déclaration et le Programme d’action sur une culture de paix que nous avons envoyés par l’UNESCO à l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies où il a été adopté en 1999. Le document décrit un programme pour la culture de la paix avec huit domaines d’action. Cette approche a été adoptée par le Mouvement de la Paix.

L’adoption de la Déclaration et du Programme d’action a rencontré des oppositions à chaque étape de son développement par les États-Unis et l’Union européenne. Premièrement, ils ont tenté d’empêcher la soumission du projet de document en affirmant qu’il n’avait pas été approuvé par le Conseil exécutif de l’UNESCO. Ils ont ensuite tenté d’arrêter le processus d’adoption par l’Assemblée générale des Nations Unies, ce qui a conduit à un nombre record de séances de consultations informelles au cours desquelles ils ont exprimé leur opposition. Au cours de ce processus, ils ont réussi à supprimer toute référence à la culture de guerre, insistant qu’il n’y a pas de culture de guerre dans le monde. Le projet de document avait été élaboré en énumérant les caractéristiques de la culture de guerre et en proposant leurs contraires pour une culture de paix.

Heureusement, le processus de consultations informelles a été géré par le courageux ambassadeur du Bangladesh, Anwarul Chowdhury, en qui les États membres de l’ONU d’Afrique, d’Amérique latine et d’Asie avaient la confiance, et qui ont ainsi réussi à faire adopter le document malgré l’opposition de l’Europe et de l’Amérique du Nord.

Certains disent que la Déclaration et le Programme d’action sont la déclaration de l’ONU la plus importante depuis la Déclaration universelle des droits de l’Homme, mais le budget pour sa distribution et sa mise en œuvre a été retiré de la résolution par les États-Unis et l’Union européenne.

Le deuxième document que nous avons élaboré à l’UNESCO est le Manifeste 2000. Il s’agit d’une version populaire de la Déclaration et du Programme d’action, que les individus pouvaient signer. En signant, ils se sont engagés à développer une culture de paix dans leur famille, leur communauté et leur pays. Il y avait six points dans le Manifeste : Respecter toutes les vies ; Rejeter la violence ; Libérer sa générosité ; Écoutez pour se comprendre ; Préserver la planète ; et Réinventer la solidarité.

Le Manifeste 2000 a été diffusé en Inde par Brahma Kumaris. En Colombie par l’UNICEF. Au Brésil par le bureau de l’UNESCO. En Algérie, il était chanté depuis les minarets et distribué dans les rues par le Mouvement Scout. Au Japon par la Fédération nationale des associations UNESCO. En Corée par la Commission nationale pour l’UNESCO. Au total, le Manifeste a été signé par 75 millions de personnes, ce qui constitue l’une des plus grandes mobilisations pour la paix de toute l’histoire.

Ce qui est arrivé ensuite? Federico Mayor a pris sa retraite de l’UNESCO et les États-Unis ont nommé un nouveau directeur de la programmation, un homme lié à la Heritage Foundation. Il m’a dit sans ambages que sa tâche, entre autres, consistait, à se débarrasser de moi et à mettre fin à l’initiative pour une culture de paix. Il a même écrit une memo au bureau de New York disant que je ne devrais pas être autorisé à y entrer à mon retour aux États-Unis. Même s’il y a eu une Décennie des Nations Unies pour la culture de la paix, sous la direction de l’UNESCO, ils n’ont rien fait pour cela.

Une fois que j’ai quitté l’UNESCO, j’ai développé le site Internet, réseau d’information sur la culture de la paix et j’ai fait des recherches pour deux livres, l’Histoire de la culture de la guerre et un roman utopique sur la manière dont le monde parviendrait à une culture de paix. Le livre s’intitule « J’ai vu la terre promise ». Il imagine qu’après un krach économique mondial, il existe une fenêtre d’opportunité pour changer le système de gouvernance mondiale. Les Nations Unies sont réformés afin que le Conseil de sécurité soit géré par des représentants des maires du monde. Leur politique serait culture de la paix plutôt que la culture de guerre des États-nations.

J’ai contacté de nombreux éditeurs de livres, mais ils m’ont dit qu’ils n’étaient pas intéressés. La paix ne se vendrait pas.

Cependant, tous ces documents, actant d’une prise de conscience du lien entre la culture de la paix et l’avenir de l’Humanité, restent les outils essentiels à la construction d’un nouveau monde. Il appartient aux nouvelles generations de s’en saisir pour cette tache.

Si ces quatre “documents-outils” sont appropriés et réactualisés par la nouvelle generation, ils peuvent changer le monde.

Les documents sont disponibles en ligne. Voici les liens où vous pouvez les lire.

Manifeste de Seville sur la Violence

Déclaration et Programme d’Action sur une Culture de la Paix

Manifeste 2000:

J’ai vu la terre promise

Voir aussi le Culture of Peace News Network

LET THE CHILDREN MAKE PEACE

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(Une version française suit en dessous)

Two years ago, in 2020, I wrote in this blog:
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“On the International Day of Peace there was an enormous mobilization of school children to celebrate peace in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. It seems that the parents and teachers in these countries, much more than what we found in our survey from the rest of the world, are raising the children to be partisans of peace and to oppose the culture of war. This approach is not evident in the political leadership of those countries, but perhaps it means that there is a deep popular sentiment that the leadership of their countries should turn towards peace. In the case of the Ukraine, the celebrations were often coupled with an explicit call for an end to the armed conflict in that country.

“The mobilizations for peace with children in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are no doubt a legacy from the rhetoric of the Soviet Union from which they split one generation ago. That rhetoric was dismissed by the West during the Cold War, but its resurgence now shows that, contrary to Western propaganda, there was a genuine longing for peace to be conveyed to future generations. Going back one or two generations further, we can see that it was the result of the terrible suffering of these countries during World War II.”

Today, in 2022, I wrote in the CPNN bulletin:

Participation in the International Day of Peace in the Ukraine and the Russian Federation are a special case since they are at war. Despite this, there were 61 events from Ukraine and 45 from the Russian Federation, which is especially remarkable since, according to UNICEF, half of the children of Ukraine are out of school because of the war. Most of the events involved school children. On both sides of the war, they drew or cut out paper doves and wrote their wishes for peace on them. Often they sent them into the sky on balloons. Their actions were especially heart-wrenching this year. Has there ever been such a time when the children on both sides of a war could express and publish for the world to see their wishes for peace?

It seems that if we could give the decision to the children in the Ukraine and the Russian Federation, they would end this terrible war and find a way to a peaceful resolution. In a few cases the children baked cupcakes or collected clothes to support the soldiers of their country or called for victory. But in the vast majority, they simply regretted the suffering and called for peace, as described above, often writing their wishes on paper doves and even sending them into the sky on balloons. It is worth reading their comments in detail.

Children in the Ukraine and Russia sing the same song:
May there always be sunshine,
May there always be blue skies,
May there always be mama,
May there always be me!

Is it just an idle dream that the children could bring peace to the Ukraine and Russian Federation? Or will the moment arrive when it can be possible?

Already, the Russians are calling for a ceasefire as their military campaign has failed. As for the Ukraine, were it not for the pressure from the United States to defeat Russia and the arms being sent to them for this reason, it would be reasonable for them to end the suffering of their people and agree to a ceasefire. At that point, would it not be wise for them, on both sides, to give the microphone to the children and to listen to their peaceful wishes, using that as the pretext for their work towards a peaceful solution?

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LAISSEZ LES ENFANTS FAIRE LA PAIX

Il y a deux ans, en 2020, j’écrivais dans ce blog :

“Lors de la Journée internationale de la paix, il y a eu une énorme mobilisation des écoliers pour célébrer la paix en Russie, en Ukraine et au Bélarus. Il semble que les parents et les enseignants de ces pays, bien plus que ce que nous avons trouvé dans notre enquête dans le reste du monde, élèvent les enfants à être des partisans de la paix et à s’opposer à la culture de la guerre. Cette approche n’est pas évidente dans la direction politique de ces pays, mais cela signifie peut-être qu’il existe un profond sentiment populaire selon lequel les dirigeants de leur pays devraient se tourner vers la paix. Dans le cas de l’Ukraine, les célébrations se sont souvent accompagnées d’un appel explicite à la fin du conflit armé dans ce pays.

Les mobilisations pour la paix avec les enfants en Russie, en Ukraine et au Bélarus sont sans aucun doute un héritage de la rhétorique de l’Union soviétique dont ils se sont séparés il y a une génération. Cette rhétorique a été rejetée par l’Occident pendant la guerre froide, mais sa résurgence montre maintenant que, contrairement à la propagande occidentale, il y avait un véritable désir de paix à transmettre aux générations futures. En remontant une ou deux générations plus loin, nous pouvons voir que c’était le résultat des terribles souffrances de ces pays pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

Aujourd’hui, en 2022, j’écrivais dans le bulletin du CPNN :

La participation à la Journée internationale de la paix en Ukraine et en Fédération de Russie est un cas particulier puisqu’elles sont en guerre. Malgré cela, il y a eu 61 événements dans l’Ukraine et 45 dans la Fédération de Russie, ce qui est d’autant plus remarquable que, selon l’UNICEF, la moitié des enfants ukrainiens ne sont pas à l’école à cause de la guerre. La plupart des événements impliquaient des écoliers. Des deux côtés de la guerre, ils dessinaient ou découpaient des colombes en papier et y inscrivaient leurs souhaits de paix. Souvent, ils les envoyaient dans le ciel sur des ballons. Leurs actions ont été particulièrement déchirantes cette année. Y a-t-il jamais eu une telle époque où les enfants des deux côtés d’une guerre pouvaient exprimer et publier pour que le monde entier peut lire et voir leurs souhaits de paix ?

Il semble que si l’on pouvait donner la décision aux enfants d’Ukraine et de la Fédération de Russie, ils mettraient fin à cette terrible guerre et trouveraient une voie vers une résolution pacifique. Dans quelques cas ci-dessus, les enfants ont préparé des petits gâteaux ou collecté des vêtements pour soutenir les soldats de leur pays ou ont appelé à la victoire. Mais dans la grande majorité, ils ont simplement regretté la souffrance et appelé à la paix, comme décrit ci-dessus, écrivant souvent leurs souhaits sur des colombes en papier et même les envoyant dans le ciel sur des ballons. Cela vaut la peine de lire leurs commentaires en détail.

Les enfants de Ukraine et de Russie chantent le meme chanson:
Qu’il y ait toujours du soleil,
qu’il y ait toujours un ciel bleu,
qu’il y ait toujours maman,
qu’il y ait toujours moi.

Est-ce juste un vain rêve que les enfants puissent ramener la paix en Ukraine et en Fédération de Russie ? Ou le moment arrivera-t-il quand cela sera possible ?

Déjà, les Russes appellent à un cessez-le-feu car leur campagne militaire a échoué. Quant à l’Ukraine, s’il n’y avait pas eu la pression des États-Unis pour vaincre la Russie et les armes qui lui étaient envoyées à cette fin, il serait raisonnable qu’elle mette fin aux souffrances de son peuple et accepte un cessez-le-feu. À ce moment-là, ne serait-il pas plus sage pour eux, des deux côtés, de donner la parole aux enfants avec leurs souhaits pacifiques et de s’en servir comme con prétexte pour qu’ils travaillent à une solution pacifique ?

Consciousness + Institutional Change = Culture of Peace

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People are taking to the streets to defend human rights and demand democracy around the world, including Hong Kong, Russia, Sudan, Algeria, Czech Republic and Brazil as described on the pages of CPNN and reviewed in this month’s CPNN bulletin.

They join the millions of people who have taken to the streets for human rights and democracy in the last few years in France , Germany and the United States.

And perhaps most important, it is the new generation that has often taken the lead, as we have seen in the global student movement to demand that we change the policies that are contributing to global warming. This is the new generation that is on the front lines every year to celebrate the international day of peace.

We see the development of a global, universal consciousness. But is it strong enough to counter the rise of authoritarian governance that is also developing at this moment of history, whether in the rich counties or in the poor countries?

In my little utopian novella I have imagined that people will take to the streets to resist the imposition of fascism after the present system crashes. It was fascism that was installed when the financial system collapsed in the 1930’s?

I come from the generation of the 60’s which also saw people taking to the streets to oppose the American war in Vietnam. In fact, in the 1990’s when we looked around the table of UNESCO workers developing the Culture of Peace Program, it turned out most of us had been involved in the movements of the 60’s in one way or another in France, Ecuador, Costa Rica and the United States. The consciousness developed in the 60’s came to fruition in the 90’s.

But consciousness is not enough. We need institutional change towards a culture of peace such as the initiative developed thanks to the leadership of Federico Mayor at UNESCO in the 1990’s. The United Nations resolution for a culture of peace which he inspired will have its 20th anniversary this September and will be celebrated at the annual High Level Meeting on the Culture of Peace at UN headquarters.

To see and understand these institutional changes, we cannot depend on the commercial media to which they are almost invisible. This was the case with the UNESCO culture of peace initiative, which was never mentioned in the American press at the time despite our signed agreements with two American institutions with 50 million members, the American Association of Retired Persons and the National Council of Churches, and the 75 million signatures on the Manifesto 2000 obtained around the world.

At CPNN we provide an alternative media that seeks out news about institutional change towards a culture of peace. A good example is the adoption of restorative justice princiiples and practices by the entire judicial system of Brazil, as described this month in CPNN. Over the years we have followed this initiative that was largely due to the work of Judge Leoberto Brancher. I don’t think it is by accident that prior to this he was involved in the development of city culture of peace commissions that came out of the UNESCO program and the UN Decade for a Culture of Peace.

We need more such institutional change if we are to harness the consciousness of people in the coming decade when the global financial system has crashed and a window of opportunity opens for us to move from the culture of war to a culture of peace.

Roadmap for peace activism

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In this month’s bulletin of CPNN we try to identify those to whom we can look for peace leadership in these turbulent times. Let us consider their actions and advice.

Let’s listen first to the new generation of youth activists.

The Panafrican Panafrican Youth Network for the Culture of Peace has provided a roadmap for actions in Gabon, which can serve as a model everywhere. It includes promotion of a culture of peace, support for the UN SR resolution 2250 on youth, peace and security, and development of social enterprises for youth employment.

The Resolution 2250 is especially important because provides a link between the developing global youth movement which has taken the lead in the fight to save the climate to global warming (see blog this April ) and the United Nations which, despite its weakness at the present moment of history, is still our best hope for a future institutional base for the culture of peace (see blog on the paradox of the United Nations). Resolution 2250 was adopted as the result of several years of intensive lobbying by youth organizations for the UN to recognize and guarantee the role of youth in peacebuilding and violence prevention.

At the same time, let us also listen to “the Elders.” Mary Robinson, now President of the Elders, formerly President of Ireland and UN Commissioner for Human Rights, recalls the founding of their organization by Nelson Mandela in 2007. “At first I was quite skeptical. Isn’t it a bit arrogant to want to be elders for the global village. But as soon as he [Nelson Mandela] sat with us and talked, it was as if we had a mandate that was overwhelmingly important.”

The Elders continue to be involved as peacemakers around the world and to give us good advice. Most recently in Ethiopia, they have lauded efforts to establish universal health care. As stated by Mandela’s widow, Graça Machel, “Health is a human right, and health workers are human rights champions.” Among other priorities identified by the Elders are the development of Green economies, the continuation of the Colombia peace process, multilateralism as now championed by China (while it seems increasingly abandoned in the West), and a solution to the terrible suffering in the Middle East by means of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.

And let us listen to those who have won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Women’s Initiative recently brought 50 women from over 20 countries together in Monrovia, Liberia to discuss feminism, power, activism and peace. According to one of the participants, “the overarching theme was that we (women) are powerful and worthy; that we must claim our space, we must use our voice and we must not ask for permission to do so.”

One of the themes at Monrovia was the need for “self and collective care, wellbeing and healing as critical components in our struggles for rights, justice and peace. We heard from Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchú Tum on how they look after themselves and how they continue to do the work that they do. Jody mentioned how easy it is to feel overwhelmed by urgency and righteous indignation, however with time she has learned the value of granting herself personal time and space. By exposing their own humanity and vulnerability, these powerhouse women let the young people in the room know that it’s ok to not feel strong sometimes.”

Another major theme at Monrovia was the need for alliance building, tapping into different networks on a local and global scale. There was a commitment to feminist leadership, to multi-generational organising and to building communities of care.

Alliance-building was also an important theme in the work of the Panafrican Youth Network for Peace Culture; they are urged to collaborate with other youth organizations for greater synergy and social impact.

A concrete example of alliance-building comes from the plans for the 17th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. In addition to at least 21 Nobel Laureates, the meeting expects to include representatives of the following Institutions: American Friends Service Committee, Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, International Peace Bureau, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, Albert Schweizer Institute, International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Amnesty International, Institute of International Law and the Kim Dae-Jung Presidential Library and Museum.

The preceding themes, activism, affiliation, personal integration and world historic consciousness, correspond to steps of consciousness development identified in the survey of great peace activists described in my 1986 book, Psychology for Peace Activists. They provide a universal roadmap for the development of peace activism.

Let us continue to listen to the youth, to the women, to the Elders, to the Nobel Peace Laureates, and let us strengthen our commitment to activism, affiliation, personal integration and world historic consciousness as we work for the transition to a culture of peace !

CAN STUDENTS BECOME A REVOLUTIONARY FORCE?

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As often remarked in this blog, the world is in such a mess that we need radical action. In fact we need revolutionary change.

But where can it come from? Who can be the revolutionary actors?

A century ago, it was thought by some that revolution would come from industrial workers.

They were constantly and obviously exploited by their capitalist bosses.

They were concentrated in large numbers in factories

They had the power to stop production by going on strike.

Today there are few such factories in the rich countries of the North. Factories have been automated or transferred to China and the poor countries of rhe South.

We don’t hear anymore that factory workers will change the world.

On the other hand, as described this month on CPNN, it seems we are now starting to see student strikes to demand that their governments address the problem of climate change. Can this movement become revolutionary?

Students are beginning to see that their world is being exploited by their governments and that their schools seem to be in complicity with the governments.

Students are concentrated in large numbers in schools.

Their strikes do not stop production in the short term, but in the long term their compliance is necessary if governments are to continue their inaction. At least that is the hope of the American Youth Climate Strike who say in their mission statement that “if the social order is disrupted by our refusal to attend school, then the system is forced to face the climate crisis and enact change.”

Students today have a tool that was not available to workers a century ago. They can connect up rapidly everywhere by means of social media. An example of this is the initiative of Greta Thunberg whose actions have inspired the student movement around the world. Her twitter accounts and her website list events in 1325 places in 98 countries going on strike on March 15, including Washingto DC, Moscow, Mumbai, Shanghai, Lagos, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Nuuk, Paris, Nairobi, Santiago, New York, London Hong Kong, Berlin, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Beirut, Zurch, Kyiv, Havana, Cork, Kampala, Buenos Aires, Seoul, Cape Town, Kyoto, Mexico City, Brussels, Por Vila, Los Angeles, Rome, Kuala Lumpur, Madrid, Auckland and Södertälje just to name a few.

What else does this student movement need to become truly revolutionary?

They would become more powerful by broadening their agenda to include other issues related to the question of environmental catastrophe. One such issue should be nuclear disarmament, given that a nuclear war would be even more catastrophic than global warming. In the long run both are important components of a global agenda to move from the culture of war to a culture of peace.

And they need to develop alliances with other movements that contribute to a culture of peace. One such alliance is the movement for equality of women, given that women have always been exploited and kept down by the culture of war and have usually taken the lead in movements for peace.

The largest mobilizations of the student strike movement have taken place in the rich countries of Europe and North America. To be come more effective they need to link up with students in the poor countries of the South, understanding and supporting their needs for education and development. This is not simple, since schools in the North may seem irrelevant, even oppressive, while education in the South is more often seen as liberation.

Insofar as the student strike movement broadens its agenda, other movements would be wise to accept their leadership. It may not always be easy for older generations to accept the leadership of the young. This was a problem in the 60’s in France when the organized workers refused to march with the revolutionary students, and in the US when the older peace activists refused to accept any leadership from the youth such as those of SDS (the Students for a Democratic Society). On the other hand, in South Africa, when the students took up the struggle against apartheid, their leadership was widely accepted by the older generation who were in prison or exile, and, as a result, this led to one of the greatest victories for justice in our times.

All this may seem fantastic in the face of the monolithic American empire and its alliances throughout the world, but, as often remarked this blog, the empire is crashing and we are coming into times of extraordinary change – and opportunity as well as danger. Let us hope that the students can rise to the challenge of leading us towards a better world.

The answer is blowing in the wind

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(Une version française suit en dessous)

During the week (actually it took two weeks) during which I was seeking out the information about the observation of the International Day of Peace, I came across the article published by Unfold Zero about two meetings at the United Nations on the same day concerning nuclear weapons. The major nuclear states (USA, France, UK, China and Russia) all went to a meeting for non-proliferation and boycotted the meeting for nuclear disarmament. As the article correctly concludes, the nuclear states “place very little priority on their obligations to eliminate their own weapons of mass destruction, focusing instead on preventing others from acquiring such weapons.”

The contrast could not be stronger between the actions of these national governments and the great numbers of schools, cities and towns, civil society organizations and individuals everywhere in the world who took part in the International Day of Peace.

Having used more or less the same methodology this year as last year, we can see that the involvement in the International Day of Peace is increasing in most of the world. In fact, this is probably the best measure we have of the increasing anti-war consciousness of the peoples of the world.

Not only does this mean that new people, localities and organizations enter the celebration of Peace each year, but we can imagine as well that for those who have been involved before, there is an accumulation and strengthening of their anti-war consciousness.

And most important of all, the greatest part of the celebrations took place in schools with schoolchildren taking part in the International Day of Peace. This gives us great hope for the future. We are raising a new generation who, hopefully, can finally undertake the abolition of war.

The schoolchildren took part in a wide variety of actions for the Day, but for me the most symbolic was their release of balloons and doves into the sky, and their watching them disperse with the wind, as if they were going around the world. After all, the sky is something we share with everyone else in the world. Symbolically, “the answer is blowing in the wind,” as in the anti-war song written by Bob Dylan in my generation opposed to the Vietnam War.

The continuing growth of anti-war consciousness, as expressed by “the answer blowing in the wind,” is absolutely essential to our hopes for peace, including nuclear disarmament and the abolition of war. Perhaps it is not enough, as I have often emphasized in this blog, since we also need to develop an institutional framework for peace. But even if it is not enough, it still essential and indispensable.

Let us be like the children and launch our balloons and doves and desires for peace onto all the winds and involving all the peopes of our planet ! And knowing that the days are numbered for the national governments that hold onto nuclear weapons as instruments of power, let us look forward to the day when their power has crashed and they are replaced at the United Nations by true representatives of the people conscious of the need for a culture of peace.

* * * * *
La solution souffle dans le vent

Au cours de la semaine (en fait, cela a pris deux semaines) au cours de laquelle j’ai cherché des informations sur l’observation de la Journée internationale de la paix, je suis tombé sur l’article publié par Unfold Zero à propos de deux réunions le même jour aux Nations Unies sur les armes nucléaires. Les principaux États nucléaires (États-Unis, France, Royaume-Uni, Chine et Russie) se sont tous rendus à la réunion sur la non-prolifération et ils ont boycotté ainsi la réunion sur le désarmement! Comme l’article le conclut à juste titre, les États nucléaires “n’accordent pas de priorité à leur obligation d’éliminer leurs propres armes de destruction massive, mais se concentrent plutôt sur l’empêchement des autres d’acquérir de telles armes”.

Le contraste ne pouvait pas être plus fort entre les actions de ces gouvernements nationaux et le grand nombre d’écoles, de villes et villages, d’organisations de la société civile et d’individus du monde entier qui ont participé à la Journée internationale de la paix.

Après avoir utilisé plus ou moins la même méthodologie cette année que l’année dernière, nous pouvons constater que la participation à cette Journée s’intensifie dans la plupart du monde. En fait, ces chifres sont probablement la meilleure mesure que nous ayons de la conscience croissante des peuples du monde entier contre la guerre.

Cela signifie non seulement que de nouvelles personnes, localités et organisations y participent chaque année, mais nous pouvons également imaginer que, pour ceux qui ont été impliqués auparavant, leur conscience anti-guerre s’accumule et se renforce.

Et le plus important de tout, la plus grande partie des célébrations de la Journée a eu lieu dans les écoles avec des écoliers. Cela nous donne un grand espoir pour l’avenir. Nous élevons une nouvelle génération qui, espérons-le, pourra enfin entreprendre l’abolition de la guerre.

Les écoliers ont pris part à de nombreuses actions pour la Journée, mais pour moi, le plus symbolique a été de lâcher de ballons et de colombes dans le ciel et de les regarder se disperser avec le vent, comme s’ils partaient faire un tour du monde. Après tout, le ciel est quelque chose que nous partageons avec tous les autres peuples du monde. Symboliquement, “la solution souffle dans le vent”, comme dans le chanson anti-guerre écrit par Bob Dylan de ma génération opposée à la guerre du Vietnam.

La croissance de la conscience anti-guerre, exprimée par “la solution qui souffle dans le vent”, est absolument essentielle à nos espoirs de paix, y compris le désarmement nucléaire et l’abolition de la guerre. Comme je l’ai souvent souligné dans ce blog, cela n’est peut-être pas suffisant, car nous devons également mettre en place un cadre institutionnel pour la paix. Mais même si cela ne suffit pas, cela reste essentiel et indispensable.

Soyons comme les enfants et lançons nos ballons, nos colombes et nos désirs de paix dans le vent pour arriver dans tous les coins de notre planète! Et sachant que les jours sont déjà compté avant que les pouvoirs nucleaires tombent dans un crash économique, attendons avec impatience ce jour quand leur pouvoir se sera écrasé et quand ils seront remplacés aux Nations Unies par de véritables représentants des peuples conscient de ce qui soufle dans le vent !

Towards a global movement against all violence

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The growing mobilizations by teenagers in the US and Palestine, cited in this month’s CPNN bulletin, remind me of the mobilizations by youth against the War in Vietnam in the 1960’s and by youth against Apartheid in the 1970’s.

If we learn from those mobilizations, now 50 years ago, there is a possibility that they can be expanded into a global movement against all violence.

Both began as localized movements and rapidly spread around the world, especially through the engagement of young people.

I had been active in the anti-Vietnam movement in the mid-60’s in the US and spent a year in Italy in 1968. The students in Italy joined the movement with enthusiasm and enlarged the agenda to include a general demand for education reform. 25 years later, working with the UNESCO team for a National Culture of Peace Program in El Salvador, we discovered that each of us had been radicalized in the movement of the 60’s and active in more than one country (USA/Italy, Nicaragua/France, Ecuador/France, etc.).

The student-led movement against Apartheid in South Africa was picked up by students around the world, including those at my university in the United States which became the first American university to divest its portfolio from companies doing business with the Apartheid regime. I was proud to be their advisor.

At that time there were still active movements of Communist Parties around the world that provided strategic and tactical support to the youth movements, helping them to achieve global networks and inspiration.

The Communists also helped broaden the agendas of action against all sorts of violence. Our actions in the USA against the Vietnam War were linked by the Left to the actions of the Civil Rights movement against the violence of racism. For example, with the help of the Left, a civil rights activist from the South who had been threatened with death in the South came north to help with our political campaign in Connecticut which gained the greatest number of votes of any anti-war candidate in 1966. And in April 1967 Martin Luther King united the civil rights movement with the anti-war movement in two dramatic speeches, one of which he delivered to an anti-war march to the United Nations. Accused of being pro-communist by FBI director J.Edgar Hoover, he was assassinated one year later.

In the 1960’s, It was Communist veterans from the 1930’s who taught us to recognize the agents provocateurs of COINTELPRO, the government agents who tried to infiltrate our ranks with guns and dynamite in order to give the government an excuse to crush our movement with violence.

The movement against the violence of Apartheid produced political leadership of people like Bishop Tutu and Nelson Mandela whose inspiration reached far beyond South Africa, inspiring us all towards a global movement against all kinds of violence and oppression.

Those of us who are veterans of the 60’s and 70’s need to assume the role played by veterans of the 30’s in those years and provide strategic and tactical support to the new generation. We need to help them broaden their agenda to protest all forms of violence and broaden their scope to become a truly global movement.

The time is short. Johan Galtung has repeated his prediction, first made in 2004, that the American Empire cannot be sustained beyond the year 2020. The window of opportunity is soon arriving when the culture of war and violence can be transformed into a culture of peace and nonviolence. The strength is in the hands of the new generation, but the support and advice of the older generation is still needed.

Can we learn from history?

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The events reflected in recent CPNN bulletins concerning the voting split in the United Nations and the results of last fall’s elections, remind me of turbulent periods of the 20th Century and raise the question if we can learn from what happened then.

The rise of populist and potentially fascist parties last year remind one of the rise of fascism in the 1930’s. What can we learn from those times?

First of all, we must avoid a Third World War. That requires a unified opposition against fascism and preparations for war such as those that took place in Germany and Spain in the 1930’s. A lesson from the 1930’s is that the opposition was weakened by serious infighting between communists, socialists and anarchists. In France, in the late 1930’s there was a united front under the leadership of Leon Blum (who later played a major role in the establishment of UNESCO), but by then it was too late for united fronts in Germany and Spain.

Lesson 1: the need for solidarity of those opposed to fascism and war.

These times also remind us of the 1960’s and the movements for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. I was part of the new generation at that time in the United States, and our generation was opposed by many peace activists of the previous generation who were influenced by the anti-communism of the government and the media. We were considered too radical! Of course, there were some in the previous generation who worked with us, the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcolm X. but they paid for it with their lives (to what extent at the hands of government forces remains an open question). In Europe, too, the new generation took a revolutionary stance in the face of opposition for the most part from their elders.

Lesson 2: the need to listen to the new generation and work with their progressive leadership.

Returning to the voting split in the United Nations, we can ask if the Global South can provide leadership at this period of history beyond their votes at the UN. In recent years, this blog has followed progressive trends in Latin America and Africa, but the more a regime is progressive the more likely it will be overthrown by the forces of imperialism. The classic example from a previous generation was the government of Allende in Chile. But now, Venezuela is overturning the left-wing legacy of Hugo Chavez and Brazil has overturned the leftist legacy of Lula. And perhaps most dramatic was the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, we may assume because of his leadership for African unity to oppose Northern imperialism.

Lesson 3: the need to develop oppposition based in the civil society rather than relying on states to provide the leadership that is needed. Even in Colombia, which has provided leadership for peace in the last year, we have warned that the people should develop a strong civil society and not depend on the government to remain progressive. Even if the government is not overthrown, it may be weakened by corruption as is the case now in South Africa.

As for the reaction to the rise of right-wing politics, we have been following the post-election fightback for human rights in the USA, which can also serve as an example for other countries faced with similar problems. One of the outstanding aspects of the fightback for human rights in the USA is the leadership of cities. Something like 300 American cities continue to maintain their stance as sanctuaries to protect undocumented immigrants against national police raids, despite the threat of the new president to cut funding to those cities. These are the cities that voted against Trump and that mounted huge demonstrations on the day after his inauguration.

Lesson 4: the need to develop an alternative progressive movement based on cities.

These lessons are played out at a local level in my city, where I am writing the annual report, The State of the Culture of Peace in New Haven, for the official city peace commission, of which I am a member. Here are some of the remarks of activists who were interviewed for that report and who were asked about how to respond to the new political situation in the country:

* Ideally, we should unite the widest movement possible to defend the human rights of everyone, beginning with the most vulnerable. And at least, we should struggle against divisiveness, not necessarily to convince the other, but at least to find ways to collaborate.

* Listen to the youth. They have a more holistic view than us adults, especially with regard to sexual orientation. They’re angry and will not tolerate inaction. We need them in public office to push the legislature to defend public services and policies.

* Resistance is needed at every level against hate and persecution. For immigrant rights, the city needs to continue providing leadership and link up to the resistance on a national level. Despite the election results and false news by some of the mass media, we must realize that progressive opinions are those of the majority of Americans.

* Protest is necessary, but with an agenda that is clear and unifying. We need dialogue at every level, engaging the opposition and taking care that legitimate anger does not stifle dialogue. We need the emergence of a moral voice like that of Martin Luther King, with an effective media strategy.

I have presented a rationale previously that we need to develop a movement of progressive cities that can take control of the United Nations if and when there is an economic and political crash that leads the Member States to more or less abandon the UN.

But now we arrive at a major contradiction. On the one hand, cities are more progressive than rural areas, but on the other hand, they are also more vulnerable if and when there is a global economic crash. And there is reason to think that such a crash is imminent. We face the possibility of a sudden and traumatic reversal of the trend towards urbanization that has been developing over recent centuries.

That leads us to Lesson 5: The need to develop links between progressive organizations based in cities (such as City Peace Commissions) and adjacent rural associations that can help us survive a global economic crash.

In this regard, an economic crash at this point in history could be worse than that of the Great Depression, because small, self-sufficient farming has been replaced by industrialized farming dependent on oil deliveries. It is not easy to find an historic precedent or roadmape for how we should respond. Perhaps the closest is the experience of Cuba after loss of oil deliveries following the crash of the Soviet Union when they reformed their agricultural production to be more diversified, more integrated, and smaller in scale.

Entering a watershed period of human history

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(pour la version française, voir en dessous)

“We’ve seen two shocking election results recently: the defeat of the referendum for the peace accords in Colombia, and the election of Donald Trump in the USA based on a racist and xenophobic campaign. What does it mean? It means that voters in the two countries are alienated from their governments – quite simply, they do not trust the government. And they are angry. So what comes next? Do we slide back into war or into fascism? Or do we return to the people, listen to their fears and anger, and organize them in the sense that Martin Luther King told us?: “The supreme task is to organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force.

Hopefully, we can avoid a nuclear war, which might have been greater if Clinton had been elected.

But at the same time, yes, we are moving backwards.

By looking at the big picture, we can see that this is inevitable. As I describe in my novella, “I have seen the promised land“, the American empire is crashing, and it will bring immense human costs in dislocation and suffering, far greater than we can imagine at this time. As a result, we may assume, as I describe in the novella, that there will be attempts to impose a fascist “solution” much as was done during the greatest economic collapse of the 20th century.

In fact, the election of Trump promises to embolden fascists everywhere. We already see fascism in Turkey, and it is threatened in Brazil and Venezuela. Not to mention fascist political parties on the rise throughout Europe.

Hence, we are aleady challenged to overcome fascism now, before we suffer from the economic collapse. Perhaps that is to our advantage, because the struggle will be more difficult later when economic survival becomes the priority.

In the CPNN bulletin, we list some of the measures being taken already in the fightback against the attacks on human rights in the United States and towards territorial peace in Colombia. The move towards sanctuary universities, cities and states in the USA is especially impressive. Were there such moves when minorities were targeted in Germany during the 30’s? We cannot forget the words of the pastor Martin Niemöller in Germany at that time, “First they came for the communists and I did not speak out— because I was not a communist.” Then the trade unionists. . Then the Jews . . . Then the catholics. “Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

We note that in both the USA and Colombia, the fightback takes place primarily on the local level, often at the level of cities and towns. At the national level, the corruption of the culture of war continues. We may be slow it down, but it cannot be eradicated there because it is too much entrenched in the structure of national government. At the local level, however, we can be free from the culture of war and free to develop strength for the culture of peace.

In Colombia, there was consideration of a process by which the revised peace accord would be adopted through open municipal councils with direct participation of citizens. Unfortunately, however, there is so much violence and threat of renewal of war that it was decided not to take this route but rather to seek ratification immediately from the national congress. However, in the long run, I have argued elsewhere, the peace will not be sustainable until it is established and maintained at the local and municipal level.

We also note that in both the USA and Colombia, the leadership is being taken by young people. That is inevitable and necessary. As I documented previously in my history of American Peace Movements, each new peace movement must reinvent its methods, because the preceding movement has become rigid and inflexible in its approach. However, that does not mean that the older generation should remain on the sidelines. We have ever more work to do as advisors to the new generation. In that regard, I call your attention to the example of I.F. Stone who served as an advisor to the youth movements of the 1960’s. The new generation of activists will have to look for our advice based on the experience of previous generations, and we must be there alongside them.

To some extent, our advice will be tactical. We must teach the methods of nonviolence and mass mobilization. We must alert the new generation to avoid the influence of agents provocateurs.

But even more so, it is important to provide strategic advice. The most important task is to prepare both the consciousness of the people and new institutional frameworks, so that when the institutions of the culture of war have momentarily collapsed, we can create a new United Nations based directly on the people.

We are entering a watershed period of human history. Although it is being pushed forward by economic factors, the ultimate determining factor can become the social consciousness of the people themselves.

      NOUS ENTRONS DANS UNE PERIODE CRITIQUE DE NOTRE HISTOIRE

    Nous avons vu récemment deux résultats électoraux choquants: la défaite du référendum sur les accords de paix en Colombie et l’élection de Donald Trump aux Etats-Unis après une campagne raciste et xénophobe. Qu’est-ce que cela signifie ? Cela signifie que les électeurs dans les deux pays se sentent aliénés, dépossédés de leurs gouvernements – tout simplement, ils ne font plus confiance à leurs dirigeants et ils sont en colère. 
Alors, que va t-il arriver maintenant ? Allons-nous tomber dans la guerre ou dans le fascisme, ou retournerons-nous vers les peuples ? Serons nous capable d’écouter leurs craintes et leur colère et de nous organiser dans le sens exprimé par Martin Luther King? :”La tâche suprême est d’organiser et d’unir le peuple pour que sa colère devienne une force transformatrice“.

    Espérons que nous pourrons éviter une guerre nucléaire, bien que cela ait été plus probable si Hillary Clinton avait été élue.

    Mais en même temps, oui, nous sommes dans la régression. 

En regardant les grandes lignes, nous pouvons voir qu’une régression est inévitable. Comme je l’ai décrit dans la Nouvelle: «J’ai vu la terre promise», l’empire américain est en train de s’effondrer, et il entraînera des coûts humains énormes dans la dislocation et la souffrance, beaucoup plus grands que ce que nous pouvons imaginer. En conséquence, nous pouvons supposer, comme dans mon roman, qu’il y aura des tentatives pour imposer une «solution» fasciste, comme cela a été le cas lors du plus grand effondrement économique du XXe siècle, en 1929.

    En fait, l’élection de Trump promet d’encourager les fascistes partout. Nous le voyons déjà en Turquie, et il semble vouloir émerger au Brésil et au Venezuela. Sans parler des partis politiques fascistes à la hausse dans toute l’Europe.

    Par conséquent, nous devons lutter MAINTENANT contre le fascisme, avant que nous ne souffrions de l’effondrement économique. Peut-être est-ce à notre avantage, parce que la lutte sera bien plus difficile plus tard lorsque la survie économique deviendra la priorité.

    Nous citerons quelques-unes des mesures qui sont déjà prises pour lutter contre les atteintes aux Droits de l’Homme aux États-Unis et pour aller vers la paix territoriale en Colombie. Les initiatives pour les sanctuaires dans les universités, les villes et les États aux États-Unis sont particulièrement impressionnantes (cf. cpnn). Y a t-il eu de tels mouvements lorsque les minorités ont été ciblées en Allemagne dans les années 30 ? Souvenons nous des paroles du pasteur Martin Niemöller en Allemagne à cette époque : “Quand ils sont venus chercher les communistes, je n ai rien dit, je n’étais pas communiste. Quand ils sont venus chercher les syndicalistes, je n’ai rien dit, je n’étais pas syndicaliste.” Puis ils sont venus chercher les juifs, ensuite les catholiques. “Puis ils sont venus me chercher. Et il ne restait plus personne pour dire quelque chose.”

    Nous notons que, aux États-Unis comme en Colombie, la lutte se fait principalement au niveau local, souvent au niveau des villes. A l’échelle nationale, la corruption de la culture de guerre continue. Nous espérons pouvoir éviter le fascisme et ses extrêmes ; mais la culture de guerre ne peut pas être éradiquée dans la structure du gouvernement national parce qu’elle y est trop ancrée. Au niveau local, cependant, il n’y a pas de culture de guerre et nous sommes libre de développer la force de la culture de la paix.

    En Colombie, avait été envisagé un processus par lequel l’accord de paix révisé serait adopté par des conseils municipaux ouverts avec la participation directe des citoyens. Malheureusement, il y a tellement de violence et de menace de renouveau de la guerre qu’il a été décidé de ne pas emprunter cette voie, mais plutôt de demander immédiatement la ratification du congrès national. Cependant, à long terme, comme je l’ai toujours soutenu , la paix ne sera durable que si elle est établie et maintenue au niveau local.

    Notons aussi que, aux États-Unis comme en Colombie, les jeunes sont les nouveaux leaders. C’est logique, souhaitable et nécessaire. Comme je l’ai documenté dans mon histoire des mouvements pacifistes américains, chaque nouveau mouvement pour la paix doit réinventer ses méthodes, parce que le mouvement précédent est devenu rigide et inflexible dans son approche. Cependant, cela ne signifie pas que les générations précédentes doivent rester à l’écart. Nous avons encore plus de travail à faire en tant que conseillers pour la nouvelle génération. Je me souviens de l’exemple de I.F. Stone qui a servi de conseiller aux mouvements de jeunesse des années 1960. La nouvelle génération de militants devra chercher nos conseils sur la base de l’expérience des générations précédentes, et nous devons être là, à leur coté.

    Dans une certaine mesure, nos conseils seront tactiques. Nous devons enseigner les méthodes de non violence et de mobilisation de masse. Nous devons alerter la nouvelle génération comment éviter l’influence des agents provocateurs.

    Mais plus encore, il est important de fournir des conseils stratégiques. La tâche la plus importante est de préparer à la fois la conscience du peuple et les nouveaux cadres institutionnels, de sorte que lorsque les institutions de la culture de la guerre s’effondreront, à ce moment nous puissions créer une nouvelle ONU basée directement sur le peuple.

    Nous entrons dans une période critique de l’Histoire de l’humanité. Bien qu’il soit poussé par des facteurs économiques, l’ultime facteur déterminant peut devenir la conscience sociale des peuples eux-mêmes.

Some Advice to the New Generation

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Kumi Naidoo of Greenpeace and the indigenous elders who came to Paris for the Climate Negotiations are correct in their assessment.

As the elders say, “We have misplaced our trust in governmental leaders and the leaders of industry. They failed us by trying to maintain their profits, economies and their power over the people . . .  Those seeking profit and power have created a business of war and destruction that now threatens the lives of billions around the world . . . We can no longer wait for solutions from governmental and corporate leaders. We must all take action and responsibility to restore a healthy relationship with each other and Mother Earth.”

And as Naidoo says, “We need substantial, structural, systemic change – and this change can only be led by the youth, who are not infected by the political pollution of the past.”

With this wisdom in mind, I should like to offer some advice to the youth who are seeking “substantial, structural, systemic change.”  It concerns two needs: 1) a general raising of consciousness; and 2) the development of new institutions.

At CPNN we are very familiar with the challenge of raising consciousness.  In contrast to the dominant culture of war that uses the mass media to justify their power and their violence, we are part of a growing movement of alternative media that seeks to provide what the people are seeking: the truth.

Of course, the truth is not simple.  As Gandhi teaches us, the truth is mountain that we are climbing by many different paths, often invisible to each other.  We may not always understand each other’s truth, but we can always recognize the falsehoods of the propaganda for the culture of war by its emphasis on violence, fear and passivity.

Never before have so many people come to the truth that we need a world without war.

What is more difficult is the development of new institutions.  It often seems that the state has already pre-empted the possibilities for institution-building.  But the state, as I have shown in the History of the Culture of War, has come over the centuries to monopolize war to the point that it has become itself the embodiment of the culture of war.  Even when revolutionaries have sought to end war by taking over the state, they have simply ended up by creating new cultures of war.

However, the state is neither stable nor necessary.

Several times each century the state system collapses from the contradictions of its culture of war.  In the 20th Century we can point to four such crashes, two of them from the two world wars and two of them from the economic contradictions of the culture of war (the Great Depression and the crash of the Soviet empire).

Nor are states necessary.  Human needs, as well as care of the environment, can be handled by local and regional government and coordinated at a global level by institutions such as those of the UN system.  For what is the state necessary?  For wars and war preparation and for the guarding of frontiers.

So here is my advice: don’t worry about the state, but strengthen local, regional and global institutions that can replace the state next time the system crashes, so that we can arrive at a world without war or frontiers.

A Vision of the New Generation

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As described in this month’s CPNN bulletin, the youth participants at the Budapest training were inspired to continue their activism for a better world.  I, too, was inspired, and it has led me to imagine a roadmap for the global transition from culture of war to culture of peace.

I see a tremendous multiplier effect in the enthusiasm of the new generation.  They are rebellious and optimistic.  They believe a better world is possible, and they are willing to struggle for it.

I have a vision of them as trainers of trainers to multiply their rebellion and optimism.

The effects of their training are global since they are connected by Internet, by their travels, and by their ability to speak many languages.  I think of the young trainers I worked with in Budapest: one from the Philippines working in Spain; one from Switzerland having worked in the USA and Brazil; one from Portugal working in Italy; their conversations in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, French, German with links to Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Hindu, etc., etc.

I imagine a network of CPNN websites in different languages, fed by reporters everywhere, and translated and shared on other language sites, so that wherever in the world there is action for a culture of peace, it is immediately shared and taken up and mirrored in actions elsewhere.

What will the actions be?  They will be as varied as this new generation has imagination.  We already saw this imagination in some of the responses of youth organizations in the 2006 report from 475 youth organizations:

* Training and workshops for youth on issues such as the culture of peace, conflict resolution and mediation, values and human rights.

* Vocational training and employment programmes

* Activities in the arts, creativity, music, theatre and dance.

* Intercultural and international exchanges and meetings, where youth activists get to know others,

* Promotion of networks, publishing and documenting their work, distributing the information widely, both online and on paper and by radio in local communities.

Perhaps you are saying that this kind of activity seems weak in comparison with the great power of nation states with their militaries and multi-national corporations with their enormous resources.  But I respond that the culture of war, be it the military might of states or the wealth of corporations is not sustainable.   It rises and it crashes.  On the other hand, human culture does not crash.  It grows.   Sometimes it grows rapidly; sometimes it grows slowly.  But it does not crash.  And the work of the new generation described above, makes it grow more rapidly.

As you can see, I believe, in the company of great sociologists, that history is ultimately determined, not by military might or the wealth of empires, but by the people themselves and their social consciousness.