Archive 1986 – 2017

The soon-to-come tragedy called Kosovo – caused more by international than local factors News media cover violence rather than underlying conflicts. That’s why you hear so little about the soon-to-be-again tragedy called Kosovo. There is growing risk that, in a few weeks, we shall witness another round of violence, repression and other human misery. And then the media will be there. Since 1991 TFF has analysed and predicted developments in former Yugoslavia. Thirteen years ago we began publishing ideas, models and plans for a peaceful solution to the Kosovo+ conflicts. If the above prediction comes true, it will neither be the fault of the Serbs nor the Albanians. It will be caused by the international so-called community (IC). It did nothing to prevent violence or negotiate peace when both were possible, i.e. in the early 1990s. See TFF’s books and reports about former Yugoslavia, including “Preventing War in Kosovo” from...

the unarmed demonstrators certainly demoralised the local Soviet soldiers and the satraps in the Czech administration. They also succeeded in bringing the economy almost to a halt but they did not undermine the hard men in Moscow who simply piled on the pressure until the resistance cracked. But we should be sanguine about the chances of the saffron protestors. They don’t have an invincible force to overcome – or at least one of the muscle of the Soviet Union or China. Differences of opinion have already appeared among the military leaders. Moreover, external pressure has been piling up for years and has succeeded in isolating Myanmar in many important ways. The recent decision of Washington to go for the leaders’ private foreign bank accounts was long overdue. Not least, the Burmese protestors have the non-violent traditions of Buddhism to draw upon. This may be scorned by the generals, indeed by...

Mr Chairperson, Foreign Ministers, Excellencies, Panelists! Gandhi was fighting the UK Empire, meaning UK invasion and occupation.  One invasion, Viceroy Richard Wellesley in 1798 against the Sultan of Mysore, was also clearly anti-Muslim. The same year Napoleon’s mission civilisatrice invaded Egypt to make himself Sultan el-kebir, Great Ruler, but were thrown out in 1801. The English came in 1807 and Egypt was a colony till 1922. Gandhi fought an evil empire as seen by how they reacted to the Sepoy mutiny 150 years ago or to the 1919 Amritsar massacre. Churchill not only referred to him as a semi-naked fakir, but sincerely hoped he would fast himself to death. But in 1947 it was all over: first went India, then the rest of the empire, mainly due to Gandhi’s nonviolence. Today they are both, India and England, blossoming, India with a brilliant linguistic federalism and phenomenal economic growth, England heading the same way but still...

My prediction, built on contemporary revolution theories, is that the regime of Burma will fall and/or accept democratisation during October. I speculate but build my thinking on John Foran (1997, Theorising Revolutions) and Jörgen Johansen (2007, forthcoming). Foran builds a theory of revolution on about 35 cases from the last 100 years and Johansen show the pattern of a “wave” of “nonviolent revolutions”built on a study of all irregular regime changes the latest 20 years. Burma seems to fit all criteria. Thus a “nonviolent revolution” is approaching! Read more.

Sydsvenska Dagbladets kultursida Amerikanska bombningar av Iran skulle sätta världen i brand, varnar fredsforskaren Jørgen Johansen. Det har spekulerats i om USA kommer att bomba Iran innan president Bush avgår nästa år. Senast häromveckan publicerade The Times en läcka från Pentagon om en plan för en intensiv tredagars bombning av 1_200 strategiska mål. Retoriken i Washington om ”Ondskans axel” har nu kryddats med ”kärnvapenutveckling”, stöd till terrorister och spridning av extremism. Det är skrämmande likt hur den katastrofala ockupationen av Irak förbereddes. Men ett angrepp på Iran skulle få konsekvenser som gör kriget i Irak till en detalj. Iran är observatör och snart medlem i den ganska lite omtalade, men desto viktigare Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Detta är en säkerhetspolitisk allians där Kina och Ryssland är dominerande medlemmar, men även Indien, Pakistan och fem centralasiatiska stater ingår. Det är länder med närmare tre miljarder invånare på ett territorium från Östersjön...

Krig, tortyr, kärnvapen och militärbaser. Bushregimen har fördjupat USA-imperiets avtryck på jorden. Men presidentens ord står inte oemotsagt. Ickevåldstränaren och aktivisten Martin Smedjeback har i sommar besökt några av kontinentens mest radikala fredsivrare. Read more.

Jag måste erkänna att innan jag åkte till USA var jag orolig för att jag snabbt skulle tröttna på dryga, arroganta och högljudda amerikanare. Jag kunde inte ha haft mer fel. Sällan har jag träffat så genomtrevliga, lyssnande, omtänksamma, självkritiska, passionerade och toleranta människor som under denna USA-resa. Read more.

TFF Associerade Martin Smedjeback har gripits på en amerikansk senators kontor i samband med en protest mot politikerns stöd till finansieringen av USA:s Irakpolitik. Read more.

Jerusalem, June 27, 2007 On the occasion of the passing of 40 years since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and Israel’s subsequent occupation of the Palestinian Territories, the causes of the on-going conflict between Israelis and Palestinians were once again being hotly debated by political analysts. The Arab world is pointing the finger of blame mainly at the “international community” and its inability, or unwillingness, to apply appropriate pressure on the Israeli government; the western wing of the “international community”, in turn, is pointing the finger of blame largely at the Palestinian Authority as evidenced by its boycott of the Hamas government; Palestinian groups are pointing the finger of blame at each other, perhaps due partly to the long years of frustration and apparent hopelessness since 1967 and before that 1948; and within Israeli society itself there is no shortage of internal frustrations and conflicts with regards the on-going Occupation. In...

We at SGI’s HQ reported to President Ikeda that you had put his peace proposal up on the TFF website and your comments about his meeting with Wen Jiabao. He was very happy to hear from you and sent the following verbal message to you in response: “Thank you so much for once again sharing the contents of my annual peace proposal through your network and website. I am honored to be an Associate of TFF and wish you every success in your vital and tireless endeavors to communicate ways of building a peaceful world. Thank you also for your kind comments on my recent meeting with Wen Jiabao. With my warmest wishes to you and Christina.”

Vicky Rossi: In which ways are the causes of mental illness in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt) the same or different to the causes of mental illness in a European country like the UK, for example, or another Arab country such as Lebanon? Rajiah Abu Swai: On the whole, the causes of mental illness are the same in every country in the world. What is different here in Palestine, and what creates a potential for higher levels of mental illness, is the particularly stressful situation people find themselves in. The Palestinian Territory under the Israeli Occupation is characterized by a lack of freedom of movement, continuous shelling, isolation and a poor economic situation, which has led to feelings of insecurity and hopelessness amongst the people. Palestinians feel that they are not in control of their own lives. These are the kinds of things which can trigger mental illness in people who are...

1:a juni, 2007 Konsult Göran Persson minskar chanserna för att Norge ska köpa Jas, skriver fredsforskaren Jørgen Johansen. I 54 år har Norge köpt amerikanska stridsflygplan. Nu ska de gamla bytas ut och kampen står mellan Jas 39 Gripen, Eurofighter och det amerikanska Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Den norska staten har redan satsat hundratals miljoner i utvecklingsarbete på var och en av de tre kandidaterna. Nu kan Göran Persson bli en viktig bricka i spelet om vem som får denna order. Hans nya arbetsgivare jobbar för amerikanska Lockheed Martin. Totalkostnaden blir långt över 25 miljarder kronor för 48 flygplan. Särskilt för den minsta av flygplansproducenterna, Jas, är detta stora pengar. Men det handlar också om så mycket annat.Många aktörer kämpar i dessa dagar för sina särintressen. Uppköp av militära flygplan är stora industriella samarbetsprojekt där många intressen vägs in. Militära, ekonomiska, politiska och teknologiska intressen är på banan för att...