It seems that the people of Catalunya will vote in December whether to declare independence from Spain, i.e. to form a separate state. If someone were to ask my advice about this election, I would say that it risks becoming a decision to move Catalunya towards the culture of war. Here’s why I say this. … Read more
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 . . . … Read more
As we have emphasized previously, education for peace, to be effective, must be informed by an incisive understanding of the culture of war. And who knows better the culture of war than refugees? In the rich countries we consider war as a distant event that we see only on the television screens. Even our warriors … Read more
This is the question posed by this month’s CPNN bulletin with regard to the global meeting on climate change to take place at the end of the year in Paris. It is generally agreed, at least by the citizens of the world, that we need to reverse the global warming that comes from the exhausts of power … Read more
In CPNN this month, we ask the question “What is the relation between peasant movements for food sovereignty and the global movement for a culture of peace?” Here is my own response to the question. It is based on the many articles in CPNN this month about the global movement of peasants for food sovereignty. Yes, they … Read more
This month’s CPNN bulletin carries remarks by indigenous peoples who are guarding their environment against the destruction brought by our modern civilization: From Brazil: “We indigenous peoples have shown that we will never allow our lands to be recolonized, invaded or destroyed, even if that means sacrificing our own lives.” From Canada: “We have one Earth, … Read more
First, Truth Commissions are important because they break the secrecy of the state which is one of the key defenses of the culture of war. This month, as described in the CPNN bulletin, there are several examples of this. The US government, and in particular its CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) has kept secret the details of … Read more
Johan Galtung, the guru of peace research, predicts that as we get closer to the crash of the American empire, the United States will increasingly realize that wars and preparation for wars are destroying its economy and it will be forced to limit its military adventures. Already last year the top military official in the US wrote … Read more
This month’s CPNN bulletin raises the question, “What is good leadership for a culture of peace?” An initial answer is provided by the Elder, Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway and international leader for health and sustainable development: “To be bold; to have the courage of your convictions; and to think long-term, not short-term or … 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