The CPNN bulletin this month is in great contrast to the headlines of the commercial mass media. CPNN tells us of progress in participatory democracy in the cities of Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Portugal and the United States. Ordinary citizens are deciding directly what should be the priorities for the budget in their neighborhoods. And the results … Read more
It is not by accident that the progress in democratic participation is being made at the level of the city and not at the level of the nation state. At the level of the nation state, there is no progress. Instead, we are going backwards. More and more the American model is being imposed at … Read more
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
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
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
My ten years working in the United Nations system left me with a sweet and sour taste. The sweet side was the universality of the UN, both its staff and mandate, and its great significance for raising the consciousness of the peoples of the world. The sour side was the jealousy of the Member States … Read more
When I went to work in Mozambique on behalf of UNESCO to help develop a national culture of peace program in the early 90’s, my African friends criticized the European notion of building a culture of peace. “No, they told me, you don’t build a culture of peace. You cultivate it.” The culture of war, on the … Read more
The events surrounding Rio+20 last month, the huge meeting of governments that was called together by the United Nations, can be seen as a window into history as it is occurring. The nation-states are failing and new institutional frameworks are growing up to take their place. Most commentators agree that the meeting was a failure … Read more