Archive 1986 – 2017

LONDON – The American nation appears not only immensely distressed and angry about the bombings but surprised too. It cannot understand why anyone should be moved by such hatred against it and, inured from the rest of us by the isolationism of most of its political representatives and its media, it has little idea of the currents swirling against it. An event of this magnitude was not only unimagined, it was unimaginable. Yet long before George Bush became president with his forceful in-your-face, take-it-or-leave-it attitude to the world outside on issues as diverse as global warming and anti-missile defences, America has been turning in on itself, to the point of self-destructiveness. William Pfaff, the astute American commentator, wrote recently that “America is a dangerous nation while remaining a righteous one” and America’s pre-eminent foreign policy observer, George Kennan, ambassador to the Soviet Union during Stalin’s time, wrote quite a few...

THE CONFLICT WORKERS’ MISSION When tense international crises occur, we tend to react due to impulsive feelings and mainstream attitudes. Prejudice, enemy images and ideas of retaliation and revenge may thus form public opinions, and these may again become part of the escalation of violent hostilities. The conflict worker (2) however has the possibility of using the methods of conflict resolution in order to stay more balanced, think more deeply and come up with sober arguments and alternatives to the use of violence. As conflict resolution is part of the nonviolent mindset, our perspective is how to promote genuine and sustainable security in this crisis (3). Security is the key word. It links to the most important and global of all Human Rights of the UN charter, namely the right to life. As conflict workers we try to rise above war propaganda, rumours, animosity and shortsighted clinging to military escalation as...

Colombia – så mye mer enn kokain Jeg har siden slutten av nittitallet hatt mulighet til å besøke og jobbe i Colombia to, tre ganger per år. Mitt første besøk var å holde kurser om konfliktanalyse, ikkevoldskamp og globalisering for forskjellige freds- og menneskerettighetsnettverk i Bogota, Medellín og Cali. Navn som de fleste kun forbinder med narkotikakartell og kidnappinger. De politiske og sosiale konfliktene som preger landet fremstilles i svart-hvitt der de marxistiske geriljagruppene FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) og ELN (Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional de Colombia) blir ofte satt i samme bås som de ekstreme paramilitære gruppene som går under fellesbetegnelsen AUC (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia). Med en velstående øvre middelklasse, store naturresurser og enorm fattigdom har dette landet med sine over 40 millioner innbyggere like gigantisk store problemer som de har fantastiske muligheter. Den økende innblandning fra USA har delvis skjedd under dekke av å være et...

In the aftermath of the terrible shock of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, I extend my deepest sympathies to all those affected. From the bottom of my heart, I pray for the victims, and I pray that their families may find inner strength, healing and, eventually, renewed happiness. It is impossible not to be outraged at the senseless loss of so many lives. And yet it is not the numbers that make this tragedy so horrific. Every single person lost was irreplaceable and immensely precious – a much-loved sister, father, son, mother or friend. Each individual’s life contained infinite possibilities waiting to be realized. In the most terrible manner imaginable, we have been reminded of the immense value of human life. In all its teachings Buddhism stresses how sacred and precious life – especially human life – is. One scripture reads: “A single day of life is worth...

Tankar efter 11 september* Vad är terror? Det har gått fjorton dagar sedan någon, vi vet inte vem, flög plan in i World Trade Center och Pentagon. Det var privat- eller NGO-terror och avskyvärd som all terror. Fanatiker och martyrer kunde inte komma på mer intelligenta medel att få fram sina åsikter på. Inget politiskt mål, ingen filosofi eller religion kan förklara eller legitimera terror. Terror kan definieras som politiskt våld som saknar tillräcklig moraliskt och juridiskt rättfärdigande, oavsett om aktören är en mindre grupp privata individer eller stater. Den kännetecknas dessutom av att drabba oskyldiga, sådana som inte har med konflikten att göra, och av att den har ett inslag av oförutsägbarhet så den skapar fruktan även utan att ha genomförts. Denna artikel ska ge infallsvinklar till en självkritisk reflektion över varför terrorn drabbade just USA, den västliga världens ekonomiska och militära centra. USA:s kommande överreaktion USA:s hämnd eller...

Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, President Bush gathered together his top security advisors to consider the implications of terrorism for US nuclear policy. A few facts were clear. There were well-organized and suicidal terrorists who were committed to inflicting large-scale damage on the US. These terrorists had attempted to obtain nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. They probably had not succeeded yet in obtaining nuclear weapons, but would certainly keep trying to do so. It was highly unlikely that terrorists would be able to deliver nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction by means of missiles, but they could potentially smuggle one or more nuclear weapons into the United States and use them to attack US cities. The death and destruction would be enormous, dwarfing the damage caused on September 11th. These facts alarmed the Bush security advisors. They went to work immediately developing...

NATO will not leave Macedonia NATO people emphasise that Operation Essential Harvest in Macedonia is a very limited mission; it will only be in Macedonia for one month and only to collect 3,300 weapons. It is not monitoring, it is not peace-keeping and it is not peace-enforcement. And, as we have shown in PressInfo 125 it is not a disarmament mission. It’s a “collect-not-too-many weapons” mission. When NATO’s mission approaches its termination, there is likely to be an intensive media effort to emphasise that the KLA/NLA kept its promise and handed in 3,300 weapons. It will be heralded by NATO and the EU as a major step in the direction of peace by that side. However, following the logic of this whole affair it is a quite reasonable hypothesis that both parties will spend the time productively to acquire new weapons. Because: a) The Macedonians and the government have no...

Macedonia in NATO – NATO in Macedonia Successive Macedonian governments officially argue that the country must become a member of NATO. Macedonia is heading for NATO membership. However, since Macedonia is not yet “mature” enough to be in NATO, NATO will be in Macedonia. Macedonia has not had, or been allowed to have, an independent national security commission that could investigate various future options for the country. NATO membership is the only idea in Skopje. If there are sceptical security experts and defence intellectuals, they do not seem to speak out. The local NGOs vary in their enthusiasm; however, peace groups, women’s groups, etc who are not only sceptical but downright opposed to it have little influence. What NATO membership will cost, in money terms, in the next, say, twenty years is not analysed and there is no talk of a referendum &endash; but, of course, a lot of talk...

In the world of nuclear deterrence theory, beliefs are everything. What the leaders of a country perceive and believe is far more important than the reality. Nuclear deterrence is a seemingly simple proposition: Country A tells country B that if B does X, A will attack it with nuclear weapons. The theory is that country B will be deterred from doing X by fear of nuclear attack by country A. For deterrence to work, the leaders of country B must also believe that country A has nuclear weapons and will use them. Nuclear deterrence theory holds that even if country A might not have nuclear weapons, so long as the leaders of country B believed that it did they would be deterred. The theory goes on to hold that country A can generally rely upon nuclear deterrence with any country except one that also has nuclear weapons or one that...

Makedonien i NATO – NATO i Makedonien Den ene makedonske regering efter den anden argumenterer officielt for at Makedonien skal blive medlem af NATO. Makedonien styrer mod NATO medlemskab. Imidlertid, da Makedonien endnu ikke er “moden” for NATO medlemskab, vil NATO være i Makedonien. Makedonien har ikke haft, eller har ikke fået lov at have, en uafhængig national sikkerhedskommission som kunne undersøge landets fremtidige valgmuligheder. NATO medlemskab er den eneste ide i Skopje. Hvis der er skeptiske sikkerhedseksperter og forsvarsintellektuelle, så udtaler de sig ikke. De lokale NGOer varierer i deres entusiasme; men fredsgrupper, kvindegrupper o.s.v., som ikke alene er skeptiske men rent ud imod, har meget ringe indflydelse. Hvad NATO medlemskab vil koste i penge, i de næste f.eks. 20 år bliver ikke analyseret og der er ingen tale om en folkeafstemning – men naturligvis en masse snak om demokrati. Som de siger i nye fremvoksende “demokratier” i Østeuropa:...

I dessa dagar när media översvämmas med artiklar om händelserna i New York och Washington är det viktigt att inse den makt som ligger i ord, begrepp och definitioner. Det har i över en vecka nu varit en ovanligt vårdslös användning av begrepp som har påverkat vår uppfattning av vad det var som hände. Vi vet från tidligare situationer at Pentagon använder PR-byråer för att påverka opinionen. Dessa företag var mycket aktiva under Gulf-kriget i 1991 och kriget mot Jugoslavien 1999. Vilka som anlitats denna gång och vilka “nyheter” som dessa konsulter sprider kan vi än så länge enbart spekulera över. Kunskapen om hur det producerades falska händelser och ren propaganda vid tidigare tillfällen skrämmer. Källkritisk och reflexion är inte möjligt när man är on-line med TV, radio och Web. Även tidningars dagliga deadlines reducerar kraftig möjligheten till kritiska värderingar. Det är ytterst få saker vi egentligen vet om dessa...

This article is written to coincide with the U.S. publication this week of my book, “Like Water on Stone, The Story of Amnesty International”. Penguin and Northeastern University Press. The entry of Nato forces into Macedonia rises yet one more time the vexing issue of the value of military intervention. No one, whatever their ideological position should wish this mission ill, but one must watch with bated breath to see if this deployment led by British troops ends up becoming counterproductive. Doubters perhaps recall the Catholics of Northern Ireland welcoming the first deployment of British troops on the streets of Belfast with cups of tea, only to turn against them with a savage viciousness, once it became clear that London was in no great hurry to change the political order of the Protestant ascendancy and the IRA became adept at provoking retaliation on the Catholic populace. Thirty years later the troops...