| Posted: April 13 2005,12:30 |
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PROGRESS: Has your organization seen
progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence in your domain of
action and in your constituency during the first half of the Decade? |
The
establishment of TradeArt Abroad offered unexpected opportunities that
this organization is now developing. TradeArt Abroad is establishing
relationships with artists and arts organizations in different
countries. Continued volunteer participation in sustainable development
projects designed by the association and increases in its membership
will be obvious measures of progress.
Throughout the world in
mock defiance of citizens everywhere, presidents began the decade by
endorsing a global war without end. The declaration of a "war against
terrorism" in response to the events on September 11, 2001, offered a
pretext for overthrowing Saddam Hussein. Not having done so during the
first Gulf War was an openly discussed regret of the Senior Bush
administration, offering that as reason for the Senior Bush's loss to
Bill Clinton.
The war against terrorism justified using
Afghanistan as testing ground for the most destructive weaponry
conceived to date, the use of missiles against civilians in the
Palestinian Territories, deadly military force against unarmed
foreigners unconscientiously killed while attempting to impede the
violence, and incited mass murder from Chechnya to Spain to
Indonesia... With a list of countries targeted for superpower
aggression, the first five years of the International Decade seem to
have offered a preview of a future culture of violent force, coercion
and intolerance.
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OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
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The
ties between the petroleum and other natural resources industries, the
weapons industry, and governments are too intricate. Each exists to
support the others, owing their wealth to NATO Alliance countries' past
race to dominate the earth. As such, the weight of balance leans too
heavily on the side of war proponents. In the US, selling war is a
staggering multibillion-dollar industry employing tens of thousands of
workers to design and build weapons. Secrecy and manipulation of
information is so well organized, the majority of Americans are unaware
of their own complicity in the antagonism and destruction of the lives
of peoples in other countries. Still, as other nations condemn the
astronomical size of the US military budget, each one's own government
is guilty of helping to build it by buying the weapons it produces.
Some using those against their own populations. Nations constructing
weapons for their own self-protection find themselves targeted for
attack by NATO members.
In his argument before Congress for
invading Iraq, Colin Powell offered one of the most flagrant examples
of how the public can be manipulated by the government and the weapons
industry. Mr. Powell spoke emphatically of photos showing suspicious
activities captured by American spy satellites over Iraq. The most
obvious question that should have been posed before consenting to
completely destroy that country was, if such photos did exist, why did
Mr. Powell choose to offer as proof computer-generated illustrations,
most likely designed in a Washington-area office, instead of the actual
spy satellite photos?
On the far lighter side of the scale,
those working to promote respect of the basic human rights of others
are often within under-funded organizations, in competition for
donations and the occasional free time of other volunteers. As long as
the economic weight continues to weigh on the side of those whose
egocentric ambitions are wealth, power and domination, and as long as
citizens permit themselves to be manipulated by false information,
which can be easily verified, a culture of peace and non-violence will
remain unattainable.
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ACTIONS: What actions have been
undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence during the first half of the Decade?
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TradeArt
asked artists, writers and educators around the world to engage
children and youths in workshops designed to teach the arts as ways to
denounce war and to decry other social injustices. Selections from
works sent to TradeArt will culminate in a book of art, poetry and
prose to be delivered to world leaders. The book's aim is to show
lawmakers the impact of their decisions on the lives of all peoples as
seen by children and youths, the forgotten victims in the wars between
men.
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ADVICE: What advice would you like to
give to the Secretary-General and the General Assembly to promote a
culture of peace and nonviolence during the second half of the Decade? |
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PARTNERSHIPS: What partnerships and
networks does your organization participate in, thus strengthening the
global movement for a culture of peace? |
Evidenced
by the first half of the decade, peace is not within the hands of
citizens; the minority who are in command of governments controls it.
Despite overwhelming demonstrations in protest of government-ordered
violence, the first five years of the decade have only offered
encouragement to continue to threaten others.
Nonetheless,
TradeArt established a partnership with UN Volunteers and with the
Paris-based association that stopped operating. The project Save a
world for me continues to receive response from artists, teachers and
other volunteers located throughout the world. Other volunteers are
engaged in developing projects with artists and arts organizations in
Paris and in the US. TradeArt Abroad is also working to create
sustainable development projects with artists in East Europe and in
countries to which France maintains its colonial ties.
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PLANS: What new engagements are
planned by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence in the second half of the Decade (2005-2010)? |
TradeArt's
mission is promoting the works of artists. Artists are key for
promoting intercultural understanding. In the US, where the population
is isolated from the rest of world, one is more susceptible to
misinformation designed to promote the fear needed to justify war.
Through the creation of sustainable development projects designed to
increase international participation, TradeArt aims to promote
intercultural understanding by working with artists in other countries
and promoting their activities in Europe and in the US.
What
was most frustrating about the failure of TradeArt's former host
association was a stubborn unwillingness to accept common sense
guidance (even an attempt by the WIPO), which may have saved the
association from a senselessly long and costly dispute that ended in
its own ruin. The chaotic circumstances leading to its failure, and
sanctions against professors on two continents, offered an insider's
understanding of a complicated list impeding sustainable development in
some countries. The social status of the directors made the failure
even more alarming. In their roles as professors, noted authors, and
government report writers, each is well positioned to pass on
self-defeating behavior to future generations.
As teachers
engaged in violent disputes to be in charge, or the first to write
another study on already well-known issues (the water crisis in North
Africa, for example), not once were solutions to any one of a number of
crises even suggested. Meanwhile, persons living in impoverished
nations risk their lives to escape to other countries in search of
employment. Efforts need to be made to first teach the teachers, then
to teach populations how to see and create employment opportunities.
With
countless projects needed in developing nations, TradeArt is developing
a feasibility study leading to a design to teach self-reliance and to
create viable employment based on American models. With countless
Americans and Europeans searching for international experience, and
dozens of organizations like Habitat for Humanity, The Carter Center,
and universities offering assistance to developing countries, building
schools in rural villages, aiding fabricants to sell products at fair
price... are feasible tasks. TradeArt is thus working to recruit an
international group of experienced and student volunteers to assist a
local population on a model project. Efforts will serve as the subject
of a documentary, whose aim is to offer a step-by-step guide for local
community developers to create future projects.
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Postal address of organization
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Association TradeArt Abroad, Boite N°45, Maison des Associations du 20è, 1-3, rue Frédérick Lemaître, 75020 Paris
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E-mail address of organization
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info@tradeart.org
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Website address of organization
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www.tradeart.org
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Highest priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Sustainable development
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Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Highest priority country of action (or international)
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Second priority country of action (or international)
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