PressInfo

“Many people, particularly in politics and the media,seem to believe that peace will unfold when conflictingparties stop fighting and sign a ceasefire or peaceagreement. Nothing could be more wrong. It is sad enough tosee wars raging, but for professionals inconflict-resolution it is almost as sad to see how limitedthe understanding, the philosophy and the general capacityis for overall postwar peacebuilding,” says TFF director JanOberg. “Postwar trust- and peacebuilding has at least two dimensions: 1) Former enemies seek to clarify what happened and why,to find out what it meant to themselves and the others andlearn to live with the harm and pain. In short, notforgetting or concealing but living on with memories,forgiveness and reconciliation. This is basically anindividual process. 2) To develop normal relations, partly re-constructingthe past (e.g. infrastructure and houses) but also buildingsomething new for the future; it is about securing that theold conflict will not return. In short, violence-preventionand...

“Postwar initiatives can help prevent future policies ofrevenge, violence and outbursts of repressed traumas. It ispossible to develop policies of reconciliation andtrust-building and take initiatives which encourage citizensto take steps toward forgiving. One such initiative could bethe setting up of history and school book commissions. Atruthful approach to history is a vital element in shaping afuture together and help the next generations livepeacefully in spite of what happened,” says TFF director JanOberg. In societies which have gone through civil wars, one ormore parties can choose to be triumphalistic, punishing orhumiliating, an option often chosen by winners. They canalso decide to be reconciliatory and tolerant and helpinnocent citizens irrespective of the side to which theybelong and thus set an example for the young who will befuture leaders. Reconciliation speech can replace hatespeech. This choice depends on the types of atrocities committed,on the configuration between winners and losers, if any. Itdepends on...

“Most of what you hear from Croatia and the Balkansnowadays is negative. The good news is that it is possibleto bring young Croats and Serbs together and help themdevelop an atmosphere of trust, tolerance andreconciliation. It gives us hope,” says Jan Oberg, head ofTFF’s conflict-mitigation team, returning from thefoundation’s 30th mission to what was onceYugoslavia. Last month TFF conducted a series of reconciliationseminars in Eastern Slavonia with 120 Croat and Serbgymnasium students from Vukovar, Osijek and Vinkovci. Formost of them it was the first time they left “their” townand met “the other side.” Various techniques such as fishbowl, role play, groups discussions and brainstorming wereused. The students got to know each other and exchangedviews, made friends and sang songs. They cried when anyonewho so wanted told about the hurt and pain and what he orshe had experienced during the war; they did so withstatements like “I experienced, in my family…”...

We have redesigned TFF’s site to achieve shorterdownloading time, easier navigation, increased visualclarity and better print-outs. What has changed?You will find a new basic structure, a cover pageand site map, navigation bars and more illustrations and aconsistent colour design. It’s simply more readable! What has not changed?The high quality and broad scope, the unique TFFimage, the frequent featuring of new materials to make thiswebsite one of the most dynamic in the trade. This comprehensive site has the following sub-divisions: • SITE MAP – easy overview for you: • NEW – updates and links to the leading daily world news sites. • TFF – Associates, projects, results, Newsletters, Annual Report and TFF Friends. • FORUMS with three sub-divisons: MeetingPoint with topical themes and debate; Jonathan Power’sweekly columns and the 10th TFF Anniversary Collection ofarticles on the post-Cold era. • FEATURES – covering interesting activities, appeals and documents from around the world....

“All concerned should come together and discuss theOBVIOUS alternatives to militarist policies in general andNATO expansion in particular,” appeals Dr. Oberg. “Accordingto President Clinton and Secretary of State MadeleineAlbright, the present expansion involving Poland, the CzechRepublic and Hungary is only the first in a series. Now isthe time, therefore, to prepare for a new advocacy ofalternatives to the continuation of this dangerousdevelopment. Further NATO expansion must be stopped,” saysthe TFF director. “NATO was and remains geared to the Cold War. In itsessence, the alliance has not changed. NATO must not beallowed forever to lead or monopolise world securityaffairs. Its military priorities and nuclearism inparticular make NATO a part of humanity’s problem, not aninstrument in the exploration of the new peace policies thatought to unfold in this genuinely new era. NATO expansion is sheer folly. It contradicts everyvision of a world in which we learn to clash as civilisedcreatures, solve our...

“Svi zainteresirani bi se trebali okupiti i krozrazgovor utvrditi OCIGLEDNE alternative militaristickojpolitici uopce a narocito politici sirenja NATO saveza,”apelira dr Oberg. “Prema izjavama predsednika Clintona idrzavnog tajnika, Madelaine Albright, trenutni iskorak naprosirenju koji ukljucuje Poljsku, Cesku i Madjarsku samo jeprvi u nizu. Zbog toga smatramo da je upravo sada trenutakkada trebamo pripremiti i zastupati nove alternativesuprotstavljene nastavljanju ovog opasnog procesa. Buducesirenje NATO-a treba biti zaustavljeno,” izjavljuje direktorTFF-a. “NATO je bio i ostaje prilagodjen za vodjenje hladnograta. U samoj svojoj sustini, savez se nije niti najmanjeizmjenio. Ne smije se dozvoliti da NATO zauvjek predvodi imonopolizira u pitanjima sigurnosti svjeta. Vojni prioritetikojima se on rukovodi, te osobito njegovo nuklearnonaoruzanje, cine NATO jednim od problema sa kojima secovjecanstvo danas suocava a nikako ne instrumentom kojitreba iskoristiti za iznalazenje novih miroljubivihpostupaka pomocu kojih bi trebali olaksati prelazak u novo isasvim drugacije razdoblje. Sirenje NATO-a predstavlja cistu glupost. Ono sesuprotstavlja svakoj viziji svijeta buducnosti u...

“Violence closes doors and minds. Goodconflict-resolution opens them. A principled, impartial andinnovative approach is now the only way to prevent a newtragedy in the Balkans. A limited United Nations presencecould be one element in violence prevention, says TFFdirector Jan Oberg. Below you find some examples, developedby us during our work with the Kosovo conflict since 1991.We’d be happy to have your comments and your suggestions.” “Many things can still be done – but only as long asthere is no, or limited, violence. When violence is steppedup, opportunities for genuine solutions diminish.Governments and citizen around the world can take impartialgoodwill initiatives, for instance: • A hearing in the United Nations GeneralAssembly. We need to get the facts on the table,presented by impartial experts as well as by the partiesthemselves; listen actively to them for they haveinteresting arguments and question their positions,activities and policies. • Meetings all over Europe with variousgroups of...

“The statements and threats by European Union commissioner VAN DEN BROEK and foreign secretary ROBIN COOK are imprudent: they focus on the actors, not on the problems. When BENJAMIN GILMAN, chairman of the US House International Relations Committee talks about sanctions, sending “NATO and UN troops” to the region and supports “independent Kosova,” there is even more reason for concern. They speak the language of power and violence, not of understanding and dialogue. And it is likely to harm the Kosovo-Albanians. “The tragic truth is that since 1990, neither the United States, the OSCE nor the EU and its members have developed any policies to help the Serbs and Albanians avoid the predictable showdown we now witness in Kosovo. There is much talk about conflict prevention, early warning, preventive diplomacy and non-military security. The second tragic truth is that there has been very little intellectual innovation since the so-called end...

“With the agreement signed in Baghdad, UNSecretary-General Kofi Annan has shown that there is aconstructive approach to conflict-mitigation: good planning,being principled, meeting face-to-face, listening actively,and showing respect. While we must hope that this will stop the plannedwarfare against Iraq and its people, we must also recognisethat the underlying conflict is far from resolved,” says TFFdirector Jan Oberg. “In situations like these it is essential to gather manyand varied facts and interprete the issues through otherlenses than those of the mainstream media. Internet permitsyou to combine many sources and perspectives, find the lesswell-known facts and construct your independent opinion. It’s not enough to criticise the violent approaches.Media people, experts and opinion-makers also need inputs ofconstructive alternative thinking, speaking and acting. Thisis essential for the emergence of a new paradigm of globalconflict-management, based on ever lower levels ofviolence,” Oberg continues. Thus, this service from TFF. We are happy to assist youin your...

  Our most recent publication“Learning Conflict and Teaching Peace in Former Yugoslavia” tells youhow TFF conducted the “Learning Conflict” Program in formerYugoslavia 1996 and 1997 – and what we learnt from workingwith 105 ethnically mixed participants during eight coursesin Croatia, Bosnia (both entities), Yugoslavia andMacedonia. This is a practical account of whatwe did and how we did it, rather than a treatise on thephilosophy and methodology of teaching peace in war-tornsocieties. Many organisations now offer varioustypes of courses and training to NGOs. What we usually seeand hear, if anything, is that these courses are a successand sometimes even contribute to promote the organisationthat delivers them. So too with TFF, we are no different.The level of intensity, comments and the general atmosphereindicate that these courses were a success: our participantsgave the experience as a whole 4,2 of 5 possiblepoints. However, few NGOs take the trouble totell others what we tell you...

Go to part B Dear Selected TFF PressInfo Recipient , It’s a pleasure for us to send you this PressInfo aboutthe Iraq crisis. During the build-up of the Iraq crisis, TFF initiatedan international e-mail brainstorm. We asked some 150peace researchers and conflict-resolution practitionersaround the world to respond, within four days, to thefollowing six questions: 1) WHAT IS THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS CONFLICT? 2) WHY ARE WE ONCE AGAIN WITNESSING A MASSIVE MILITARY PROJECT THAT MEETS LITTLE DEBATE? 3) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE UP TILL NOW – MID-FEBRUARY 98 – AND BY WHOM, TO PREVENT IT? 4)WHAT CAN STILL BE DONE TO PREVENT WAR AND BY WHOM? 5) WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO CREATE A DEBATE AFTER A NEW WAR THAT WILL FOCUS ON ALTERNATIVES? 6) ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS? Not all, of course, were able to respond within thisshort notice, but...

Go to part A Dear Selected TFF PressInfoRecipient, It’s a pleasure for us to send you this PressInfo aboutthe Iraq crisis. During the build-up of the Iraq crisis, TFF initiatedan international e-mail brainstorm. We asked some 150peace researchers and conflict-resolution practitionersaround the world to respond, within four days, to thefollowing six questions: 1) WHAT IS THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS CONFLICT? 2) WHY ARE WE ONCE AGAIN WITNESSING A MASSIVE MILITARY PROJECT THAT MEETS LITTLE DEBATE? 3) WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE UP TILL NOW – MID-FEBRUARY 98 – AND BY WHOM, TO PREVENT IT? 4)WHAT CAN STILL BE DONE TO PREVENT WAR AND BY WHOM? 5) WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO CREATE A DEBATE AFTER A NEW WAR THAT WILL FOCUS ON ALTERNATIVES? 6) ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS? Not all, of course, were able to respond within thisshort notice, but those who...