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– thoughts of a TFF eyewitness in Washington Waking up yesterday to what seemed Hollywood images was unexpected, shocking, and also revealing of the vulnerability of the greatest super power in the world. I was just waking up from a weird dream about seeing a ufo in the sky and pointing it out to my father, when the phone rang and I was told the World Trade Center had been hit. I turned on the TV and there it was, no it was not a ufo, it was not a random accident, a highjacked plane was crashing against one of the towers. Minutes later tower number two gets hit by another highjacked plane. At this point it was clear this was a terrorist act. On my way to work at the CNN building I could see a big cloud of smoke as I drove through North Capitol. Then the radio...

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...

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...

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...

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...

LONDON – It should come as no surprise to the organizers of the World Conference Against Racism that many American activists want to hijack this conference that begins in Durban on Friday to force a debate about how it is that America’s “war on drugs” has turned into an apartheid-like device that imprisons black men at thirteen times the rate of white men. I wish them luck- any effort to lift the drugs debate out of the intellectual doldrums where policy makers insist on sleeping on the facts is to be welcomed. For a society that prides itself on its innovative technological life and its rigorous political debates its attitudes to drug use are nothing less that extraordinary. Solid facts are dismissed and old prejudices are fanned into flames. America is paying a terrible price for burying its head in the sand- and in the process, because of its tremendous...