Pressinfo 2001

LONDON – He was one of us, I always say, a child of the sixties and seventies, an anti-war protestor, and idealist, and very clever to boot. Moreover he knew poverty and family hardship first hand. It was in his soul to try and make the world a better place, you would have thought. But he blew it, for himself, for his country and for all of us. If an artist were commissioned to paint the eight years of the presidency of Bill Clinton it would be a landscape of missed opportunities. About five years ago I had lunch with the Pulitzer Prize winning editorialist, Paul Greenberg, and my misgivings all fell into place. Greenberg won his formidable reputation as the editorial page editor of the Pine Bluff Commercial, a paper with a circulation of 20,000 out in the sticks of rural Arkansas. “In all his years as governor of...

We have four pieces of good news for you: Nonviolence Forum on our site, training with the Tibetan exile government in Dharamsala in India, an exploratory travel in Gandhi’s footsteps and the proposal of a three-year research program on reconciliation and forgiveness for which we seek funding. M. K. Gandhi’s warned us all against seven social sins: politics without principle, wealth without work, commerce without morality, education without character, pleasure without conscience, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice. Hardly without relevance today… Nonviolent thinking and politics and Gandhian thinking are themes at the heart of the foundation’s work. But we have not done as much as we think we should around this theme. Like others, TFF tends to get bogged down in day-to-day events in a world spinning faster and faster. We hardly get enough time to think of why we do what we do and what we must...

Peace is promoted by constructive proposals and dialogue Four preceding PressInfos have expressed concern over — and criticised — the ongoing, militarisation of the EU. Some will say: but there are no alternatives. We believe that there are always alternatives, that democracies are characterised by alternatives and choice, and that openly discussed alternatives will improve the quality and legitimacy of society’s decision–making. In addition, it is an intellectual and moral challenge to not only criticise but also be constructive. If we only tell people that we think they are wrong, they are not likely to listen. However, if we say: what are your views on this set of ideas and steps? — we may sometimes engage them in dialogue and sow a seed. Most people in power circles live their daily lives in in a time frame and a social space where certain ideas, viewpoints and concepts are just not...

Can imperial policies and warsbe avoided now? EU militarisation as an outburst of deep culture How is it possible to militarise the European Union with so little attention and so little knowledge in the media, in public debate and in political decision-making circles? How come that an idea such as military humanitarian intervention, bombing, war-fighting strategies and a never-ending flow of new smaller as well as mass destructive weapons are sold to the general public as instruments of peace? Let’s start out with a few heuristic theses that I believe underpin the present global militarisation trends, driven as they are by the West: 1) In spite of all the good things that can also be said about it, the West, the Occidental culture, is a deeply militarist, violence-prone civilisation. Direct and structural violence, psychological, cultural and entertainment violence is so pervasive that they look ‘natural’ to the majority.Thesis # 1:...

Take the longer view, reflect on what we may learn about conflict-management in the 1990s. TFF publications are short with long duration. For students, concerned citizens, media people and humanitarian organisations, course and seminar leaders &endash; everyone searching beyond mainstream and political correctness: May we remind you of three Balkan related publications? Learning Conflict and Teaching Peace in Former Yugoslavia. A Course Report by Peter Jarman and Jan Oberg, 1998. (Catalogue # 60); about teaching peace in conflict regions. Violence Prevention, Postwar Reconstruction and Civil Society. Theory and Yugoslavia by Jan Oberg, 1998. (Catalogue # 61); about peace-making with a human and social face. Preventing Peace. Sixty Examples of Conflict Mismanagement in Former Yugoslavia since 1991 by Jan Oberg, 1999. (Catalogue # 62); about a few things that could have been done differently, and why militarisation of the EU/NATO is not the right lesson to learn. May we also remind you of our...

Participants at a seminar in Ohrid, May 2000 Visit our website training section TFF is also a Peace Training Network. The foundation collaborates with a series of institutions, universities and other NGOs and exchange educators to serve the needs of our clients. Clients have been people in war-torn regions, journalists, NGOs, teachers, youth, former soldiers, human rights activists, UN staff and concerned citizens of all walks of life. The network of TFF trainers and those of the organisations we interact with covers some twenty themes relevant to peace, development, conflict, reconciliation and global conflict-management. Several of our trainers have 20-30 years of experience in public speaking combined with academia, journalism, conflict-resolution, psychology and other relevant themes. So – think of TFF when you think of education and practical skills training. Learn more about what we can do for and with you at our new training section at our website Tell us what...