david I was struck by an important difference between the two international summer schools mentioned in this month’s bulletin of CPNN. The summer school of young human rights activists at the University of Connecticut invited me to speak on the transition from culture of war to culture of peace. The summer school of young activists by … Read more
Through my studies of the culture of war, I came to the conclusion that the state is involved with it so profoundly that we will never achieve a culture of peace in a system of nation states. As a result, I proposed that we need a United Nations that is based not upon Member States, … Read more
As we regard the news from Egypt these days, it occurs to me that Egypt now shows us the dynamic that we will probably see on a global scale in the years to come. The Egyptian crisis, at the base, is an economic one. The Arab Spring brought hope, but instead of economic stability and … Read more
Last month’s blog posed two questions. Is the Global Movement for a Culture of Peace growing? And will it be able grow enough to replace the present culture of war when it crashes? This month’s CPNN bulletin indicates that it is growing, but is it growing fast enough to deal with the world crises that are … Read more
The bulletin this month marks a milestone in the evolution of CPNN, as its coverage begins to depend on the extensive involvement of reporters from around the world. Looking back over the 15 years of CPNN since it began at UNESCO in 1998, I recognize this as the most recent of several milestones. At first it … Read more
If we take only a short-term view of history, I think that we have only taken one step forward and one step back with the adoption last month of the Arms Trade Treaty by the United Nations. By this, I mean that we should not expect any real control of the arms trade to be possible as … Read more
In his analysis of the Arab spring on CPNN, the journalist John Mayton concludes that the Egyptian revolution “can, through a culture of peace, set a precedent not only for their own country but for the whole region.” Even further, we ask in the discussion question “Can the Arab Spring inspire democratic movements around the world?” … Read more
Regions where wars are raging are also regions where there is a strong movement for peace, as described in several cases in this month’s CPNN bulletin. This is not new. During the 19th Century, In his extensive notebooks called the “Grundrisse”, Marx made a note that “War attains complete development before peace.” One may assume that … Read more
Latin America continues to take the lead in the transition to a culture of peace. As indicated by this month’s CPNN Bulletin, the continent was the first to establish city culture of peace commissions, as well as city commissions for components such as human rights in Sao Paulo and sustainable development in Aguascalientes. Also the … Read more
There is good reason why the free flow of information is one of the eight key areas of the culture of peace, as defined by the UN Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace. On the one hand, it is essential for the consciousness-raising and networking that can make the transition possible from … Read more