PressInfo 2003

PressInfo # 192, 30 oktober, 2003 – på danskEt tiår for sent: forhandlinger om Kosovo PressInfo # 192, 21 oktober, 2003 – svenskaEtt decennium för sent – Samtal om Kosovo PressInfo # 192, October 14, 2003A decade too late: Kosovo Talks Begin PressInfo # 191, October 3, 2003The Second Nuclear Age PressInfo # 190, October 3, 2003Dealing with the Hydra? Proliferation and Full Spectrum Dominance PressInfo # 186, 26 september 2003, på svenska11 saker att komma ihåg den 11 september Av Jan Öberg. PressInfo # 189, September 18, 2003Neo-Cons, Fundies, Feddies, and Con-Artists By Francis A. Boyle. PressInfo # 188, 18.september 2003, på danskDet er en udfordring at skabe fred Af Daisaku Ikeda. PressInfo # 186, 18.september 2003, på dansk11 punkter at huske om den 11.september Af Jan Øberg. PressInfo # 183, 28 mai 2003, på danskVil du vide, hvem de amerikanere er, som styrer Irak? PressInfo # 182, 21 maj 2003, på svenskaHamburgarfilosofi...

Högt uppsatta Kosovo-albaner och Serber från Belgrad möttes ansikte till ansikte 14. oktober 2003 i Wien. Det var ett historiskt möte i mer än en betydelse. För alla som är engagerade i konflikthantering och fredsbyggande innebär det en möjlighet att reflektera över mötets filosofi, metoder och politik. Gjorde det såkallade internationella samhället rätt? Har institutionerna lärt sig det man borde? Finns det paralleller mellan Kosovo, Afghanistan och Irak som vi bör diskustera självkritiskt, snarare än att helt enkelt lägga skulden på parterna? Dialog är bra, men bombningarna 1999 har förhärdat alla. Det är första gången sedan NATO:s krig mot Jugoslavien i 1999 att serber och albaner möts på detta sätt. Visserligen är detta, med några få undantag, det första försöket till regelrätta förhandlingar sedan allt började i slutet av 1980-talet. Som i Irak, hindrades de viktigaste parter från att träffas. Med tiden har hökarna tagit över scenen och nu finns...

Den 14. oktober mødtes kosovo-albanere og serbere fra Beograd på højt niveau i Wien. Det var et historisk møde i mere end en forstand. Det åbner mulighed for at reflektere over filosofien, metoderne og politikken for tidens konflikthåndtering. Gjorde det såkaldte internationale samfund det rette ? Har man lært tilstrækkeligt på institutions- og organisationsniveau ? Er der paralleller mellem Kosovo, Afghanistan og Irak som vi skulle diskutere selvkritisk i stedet for simpelthen at skyde skylden på parterne ? Det er godt med dialog, men bombningen i 1999 har gjort alles synspunkter og holdninger mere kompromisløse og uforsonlige end de var før. Det er første gang siden NATO’s krig mod Jugoslavien i 1999 at serbere og albanere har mødtes på denne måde. Faktisk er det med få undtagelser det første forsøg på reelle forhandlinger siden det hele begyndte i de sene 1980ere. På næsten samme måde som vi har set det...

On October 14, 2003, in Vienna, high-level Kosovo-Albanians and Serbs from Belgrade met face-to-face. It was a historical meeting in more than one sense. It provides an opportunity for anyone concerned about conflict-management and peace-building to reflect on its philosophy, methods and politics. Did the international so-called community do the right thing? Is there adequate institutional learning? Are there parallels between Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq that we should discuss self-critically rather than simply blame the parties? Dialogue is fine but the 1999 bombing hardened everybody It is the first time since NATO’s war on Yugoslavia in 1999 that Serbs and Albanians meet this way. Indeed, with a few exceptions, it’s the first attempt at real negotiations since it all began in the late 1980s. Like in Iraq, the main parties were prevented from meeting. As time has passed hard-liners have taken over the scene and now they won’t really talk....

The recognition of the work of women and human rights activists in Islam The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Ms Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian judge, lawyer and political activist, was as inspired as it was unexpected. The granting of that prestigious prize to the first Muslim woman, especially from a country where women have had to put up with the medieval status forced on them by the mullahs, sends a number of powerful messages to a whole variety of different audiences. The first message of this award is clearly to Iranian reformers and political activists, especially those who work for equal rights for women. Short background The 1962 “Family Protection Law” passed by the Iranian parliament under the shah was one of the most enlightened documents on the rights of women in the entire Middle East and the Islamic world as a whole. That law granted women votes,...

 “The world has entered a new nuclear age, a second nuclear age. The danger is rising that nuclear weapons will be used against the United States. Just as bad, the danger is rising that the United States will use nuclear weapons against others.” With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union, many Americans gave a deep sigh of relief and pronounced the nuclear threat at an end. It was a heady time. I can remember being asked, “What will the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation do now that the nuclear threat is gone?” My response was that the nuclear threat was still with us despite these momentous changes in the geopolitical landscape. It was far too soon to pronounce the Nuclear Age dead. In retrospect, from a vantage point of more than 12 years after these tectonic shifts in geopolitics, we can see that the...

Sätt klackarna i backen. Propagandaångvälten för minnet av den 11 september är tillbaka igen för att kväsa oppositionen mot USA:s krigs- och imperiepolitik. Här några punkter som hjälper dig att fortsatt hålla kursen stadig. Vi lägger fram dem i djup respekt för de oskyldiga som dog den 11 september och de lika oskyldiga som dog i anfallen mot Afghanistan och Irak under kriget mot terrorismen. Utnyttja dessa punkter – särskilt om du är lärare, journalist eller annars en medborgare som bryr dig. Lär och minns 11-07-20 Innan dessa punkter radas upp, är det några saker som bör nämnas. Under hundratales föredrag, tal och intervjuer har jag frågat åhörare i många länder om de vet vad den 11 september är för något. Naturligtvis gör de det och några kanske också nämner den av USA understödda omstörtningen av den folkvalda regeringen Salvador Allende i Chile 1973 för 30 år sedan. Som av...

Or learn the number 11-07-20 Dig in your heels, the September 11 memorial propaganda steamroller is back again – to quell opposition to US wars and imperial policies. The following points are meant to help you stay focussed. We raise them in deep respect for the innocent people who died on September 11 and the equally innocent who died in the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq in the war on terrorism.Use these points – particularly if you are a teacher, journalist or an otherwise concerned citizen. Learn and remember 11-07-20 Before listing these points, a few things should be mentioned. During hundreds of lectures, speeches and interviews, I have asked audiences in many countries whether they know what September 11 is. Of course they do, and a few may add the US-backed overthrow of the popularly elected government of Salavador Allende in Chile in 1973, 30 years ago. Incidentally, more than 3,000...

The Iraq debacle is providing a historic opportunity to implement long sought, widely supported reforms needed for the UN – to assure its independence and its vital role in this new century. The breakdown in the Security Council over the US war on Iraq illustrated its obsolete aspects. An anachronism of the post-World War II era, its permanent five members: the USA, Britain, France, China and Russia with their veto power, finally demonstrated all its dysfunctional aspects. Most reformers agree on the indispensability of the Security Council – and the shape and direction of needed reforms. The Council needs to dispense finally with the veto – a relic nod to the winners of World War II. Then the permanent seats can be rearranged to accommodate important new world players, including India, Brasil, Japan, South Africa and newly democratic Indonesia with the world’s largest Muslim population. To keep the Council’s size...

På toårsdagen for terrorangrebet i USA, den 11. september 2003, bragte Japan Times en artikel af SGIs præsident Daisaku Ikeda. Japan Times er et stort og indflydelsesrigt, internationalt dagblad, og det vakte derfor opsigt og stor glæde blandt de japanske Soka Gakkai medlemmer at Ikeda Sensei kunne få sine meninger bragt ud til en stor offentlighed. The Japan Times: 11. september 2003Eksklusivt for Japan Times “På toppen af den pyramide som vi kalder civilisation, befinder krigens virkelighed sig stadig. Vi kan ikke kalde os fuldt civiliserede mennesker sålænge muligheden for krig eksisterer og oveni købet tages for givet.” Disse stærke ord stammer fra John Kenneth Galbraith som var vidne til det 20. århundredes krige og vold. Professor Galbraith og jeg har en dialog kørende hvori vi bl.a. åbenhjertigt udveksler synspunkter angående den 11. september 2001. Vi er alle direkte eller indirekte blevet påvirket af denne rædselsvækkende forbrydelse og dens eftervirkninger....

Japan Times11 September 2003 “At the top of the pyramid which we call civilization there is still the terrible fact of war. We cannot call ourselves a fully civilized people as long as that possibility exists and is, indeed, taken for granted.” These are the heartfelt words of John Kenneth Galbraith, a man who witnessed firsthand the war and violence of the 20th century. Professor Galbraith and I are engaged in an ongoing dialogue that has included a frank exchange of views on the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Directly or indirectly, we have all been affected by this horrific crime and its aftermath. One of the victims was a gifted graduate of Soka University whom I knew personally. However deep our sense of outrage, we must not allow the flames of hatred and anger to drive our world toward further division and destruction. It is crucial to maintain...

Den irakiske fiasko åbner for en historisk chanse for at gennemføre en længe savnet, bredt støttet reform, som FN behøver for at kunne sikre sin uafhængighed og sin vitale rolle i dette nye århundrede. Sammenbruddet i Sikkerhedsrådet på grund af USA’s krig mod Irak, giver et godt billede af de forældede rutiner. En overleveret arv fra efterkrigstiden (de fem stående medlemmer: USA, Stor Britanien, Frankrig, Kina og Rusland med hver deres vetoret) viser til syvende og sidst alle de ubrugelige aspekter i en nøddeskal. De fleste reformivrere er enige om Sikkerhedsrådets uundværlighed – og også om hvilken form og retning forbedringerne skal have. Rådet må definitivt gøre en ende på vetoretten – et relikie der i sin tid blev givet til vinderne af Den 2.Verdenskrig. Så der skal møbleres om på de permanente stole så der kan blive plads til vigtige nye medsiddere ved det globale bord, deriblandt Indien, Brasilien,...