Archive 1986 – 2017

Af Mikael Witte 6 augusti 2002 Hver eneste gågade i Danmark er vist forsynet med en vandkunst. Kaskader, rislende og perlende, springende og strømmende vand i tilsyneladende uendelige mængder. Lignende kan opleves i udlandet. I Kassel, hjemby for den internationale Documenta-ud-stilling, er etableret en vandkunst ned gennem hele den skrånende gågade. I Amsterdam og Venedig gør de menne-skeskabte kanaler det ud for gader. Og Stockholm ville ikke være sig selv uden Skærgårdens vandskab. Kunst-nere har længe dyrket vand. Vand er uendeligt. Vand er vedvarende. Vand er tidløst. Derfor kunne den japanske Hokusai (1790-1949) igen og igen fortrylle sit publikum med træsnit af blåhvide skumsprøjt og bølger. I dag kan den amerikanske fotograf Roni Horn udsende et storværk ‘Dictionary of Water’ – 96 næroptagelser af Themsens bølger og blanke vand. (89 euro, Edition 7 L) Man behøver ikke være tørstig for at forstå at vand både er liv og kultur. Vand...

The international community should intervene to stop the growing number of attacks on Serb civilians and their holy sites By Father SavaDecani, Kosovo August 6, 2002 After the terrorist attack in Klokot village near Vitina on July 31, in which five Serb homes were destroyed by powerful explosives, and the recent unsuccessful raid on the Holy Archangels monastery near Prizren, it is more evident than ever that Albanian terrorist groups act freely and with impunity in Kosovo today. Their targets are Serb civilians, their homes and holy sites &endash; especially cemeteries. Dozens of Orthodox churches destroyed after the war in Kosovo were demolished with explosives, despite the strong NATO-led military presence in the area. Such devastating attacks could have been executed only by well-trained people with military experience and surely not by ordinary frustrated civilians. The cause of today’s terrorism is the simple fact that the paramilitary structures of the...

LONDON – What Europe finds difficult to realize is that it is already a superpower and is able on most of the things that count to say “no” to America if it chooses. There does not have to be a “United States of Europe” for a powerful Europe to exist – the common market culminating in the final step towards the creation of the Eurocurrency on January1st has seen to that. It may not, and will not ever, have the hardware to compete in the military stakes, but its economic and political muscle already give it the power to determine what goes on in large parts of the world, even if it means flying in the face of Washington. Yet there seems a crisis of confidence that inhibits Europe from taking the next steps forward. Indeed if anything it is losing position. Two months ago George Bush went to Moscow and...

Few would deny that September 11 unleashed a fearsome sequence of reactions, and none so far worse than the anguishing fury of this latest cycle of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Surely the United States is not primarily responsible for this horrifying spectacle of bloodshed and suffering, but there is a gathering sense here and overseas that the US government has badly mishandled its crucial role for a long, long time, and especially since the World Trade Center attack. As the situation continues to deteriorate for both peoples, there is a rising chorus of criticism that paradoxically blames the United States both for doing too much on behalf of Israel and not enough to bring about a durable peace. Both lines of criticism seem justified. There is little doubt that part of the recent escalation can be traced back to President Bush’s overplaying of the antiterrorist card since Day One of the response...

TFF er meget mere end et website. Her fortæller vi om igangværende projekter og om, hvad der er planlagt. Vi beskriver TFFs daglige arbejde og hvordan vi bevarer vores intellektuelle frihed. Vi skammer os ikke over at fortælle dig, at vi har brug for cirka 40 kroner om året fra dig. Det er muligt, at du forbinder TFF med vor website. Men TFF er mere end virtual reality; vi lever også et ganske aktivt virkeligt liv. Vi har passeret årets midte og menneskeheden lever i stigende grad i vanskelige tider. Det er vigtigt for os, at du ved, hvad TFF gør for en bedre verden. Hovedpunkterne nedenfor viser, hvad der sker i hovedkvarteret i Lund, Sverige. D.v.s. hvad de to stiftere gør. Men stiftelsen har et netværk af ca 60 associerede rundt om i verden, som arbejder på lignende måde: underviser, forsker, laver fredsarbejde i krigszoner, kører civilsamfunds-organisationer, skriver afhandlinger,...

TFF is so much more than a website. Here we tell you about ongoing projects and what is planned. We offer insights into the daily operations of TFF and how we preserve our intellectual freedom. We are not ashamed to tell you that we need US$4 from you… Chances are that you associate TFF with its website. But TFF is more than virtual reality; we live quite an active real life, too. We are approaching the middle of the year, midsummer, and humanity lives in increasingly troubled times. It’s important to us that you know what TFF does for a better world. The highlights below reflect what goes on at the headquarter in Lund, Sweden. That is, what the two founders are doing. But the foundation has a network of some sixty associates around the world who do similar things: teach courses, do research, do peace work in war zones,...

These are difficult times for peace. Since the Bush administration assumed power in the United States, there has been a steady beating on the drums of war accompanied by a systematic undermining of the foundations of international law. The September 11th terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon bolstered the Bush administration’s plans to secure US global military dominance through increased military budgets, deployment of missile defenses, development of more usable nuclear weapons and the weaponization of space. Congress has largely acquiesced in supporting these plans. The United States has always held to a double standard with regard to nuclear weapons. This double standard was given legal form in the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), in which five countries were designated as nuclear weapons states (United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France and China), and the rest were designated as non-nuclear weapons states. The latter agreed in...

The opportunity to participate in the Peace through Art Program with the International Child Art Foundation (ICAF) and the Fulbright Commission in order to promote peace in Cyprus’ future sets an amazing example of the work that the non-profit sector can do in the tenacious search for peace. With tremendous energy and an open and agile way of organizing volunteer expertise, ICAF staff created a unique opportunity to combine art with a conflict prevention framework. This took place in Washington, DC and the participants were 10 Turkish Cypriots and 10 Greek Cypriots aged between 14-16. The sui generis character of Cyprus is not based on a current war; however the present territorial divide of the island poses difficult challenges to the people living there as they are not able to travel freely, and do not have the opportunity to meet or get to know one another. This setting can potentially...

By Majid TehranianProfessor, University of Hawaii at ManoaDirector, Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research, Tokyo and Honolulu  July 26, 2002 When someone asked Mahatma Gandhi what do you think of Western Civilization, he promptly replied, “It is a good idea!”   Having traveled on the ancient Silk and Spice Roads and beyond, I am dubious of distinctions between Eastern and Western Civilizations.  It is much more realistic to think of civilization in the singular rather than plural.  There are many cultures but only one global civilization.  Globalization is not a new phenomenon.  Cultural exchange has been going on for centuries. We can find few cultures in the world that have not borrowed from others.  The first globalization took place along the ancient Spice and Silk Roads.  The second globalization occurred when Columbus “discovered” the New World.  The European colonization of Africa, Asia, and Americas forcibly brought East and West...

Af Udarbejdet af Phyllis Bennis, Stephen Zunes og Martha Honey Foreign Policy In Focus  July 26, 2002 USAs nuværende politik over for Irak har slået fejl. Våbenkontrol – Artikel 14 i FNs Sikkerhedsråds resolution 687 (resolutionen om sanktioner) udpeger som mål, at der i Mellemøsten skal etableres en zone, “der er fri for masseødelæggelsesvåben og alle fremføringsmidler hertil samt et globalt forbud mod kemiske våben”. – I år 2000 blev 20% af den internationale våbenhandel på 80 mia $ importeret af de seks provestlige monarkier i området ved den persiske bugt. I stedet for at arbejde frem imod en regional våbenkontrol i området er USA stadig den største leverandør af alle slags våben til dette område, der allerede er overforsynet med våben. Alternativer – USA skal fortsætte med et ensidigt forbud mod våbeneksport til Irak. – IAEA og FN skal foretage regelmæssige inspektioner i Irak, langs Iraks grænser og -med...

LONDON – The world is still going forward, but only just. After September 11th, after Enron, after the stock market crash, after the Israeli invasion of Palestine, after the war talk about Iraq that continuously hovers in the air above us like some putrid cloud, and after the latest reports that say that AIDS is the biggest plague in the history of humanity, we can still argue the world on the whole is getting better. Economic growth is picking up in Africa and the share of the world’s people living in extreme poverty is slowly but steadily declining. Primary school enrolments have risen worldwide. Since 1990, 800 million people have gained access to improved water supplies and improved sanitation. On the political and civil liberties front there has also been enormous progress. Since 1980 some eighty countries have taken significant steps towards democratisation, and the number of people being killed by...

I det mörkaste Peru 6Reflexioner från en resa Detta är den sjätte och avslutande artikeln i serien. Är förändring möjlig? Kan just jag göra något? Under två år på 80-talet arbetade Margareta Gustafsson från Helsingborg med utvecklingsstörda barn i Lima. Hon var utsänd som volontär och satsade sitt arbete på att hjälpa en grupp av de allra mest utsatta. I Peru har det inte funnits insatser för utvecklingsstörda. Regeln har varit att föräldrarna svarade för vården av sitt eget barn och att något syskon tog över den dag föräldrarna inte orkade eller dog. För föräldralösa utvecklingsstörda barn fanns bara ett alternativ, mentalsjukhusets inspärrning. Det stora mentalsjukhuset i Lima är en sluten värld bakom kilometerlånga murar. Det var där Margareta arbetade. Hon minns hur något av barnen, som var autistiskt, bara stod tröstlöst vaggande i en korridor dag efter dag. Femton år senare är allt förändrat. När Margareta kom tillbaka till Sverige...