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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 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...

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...

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...

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,...

Proliferation and Full Spectrum Dominance “The horror scenarios of the Cold War have disappeared, but the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons has not.  Like the monstrous Hydra of Greek mythology, modern weapons of mass destruction are sprouting new heads faster than anybody can cut them off.” So wrote Anna Lindh and Erkki Tuomioja, the Foreign Ministers of Sweden and Finland respectively, in an article in The International Herald Tribune, whose title gives their answer to the threat:  “Slaying the Hydra – together”.  As they conclude: “Even Hercules could not kill the many headed monster alone.  Only by acting together will we safeguard the security of all.” In spite of strenuous combined efforts, the hydra of proliferation remains very much with us, and it has certainly not been caged by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).  The most recent NPT preparatory conference, held in Geneva, between April 28th and May 9th 2003,...

1. Fulfill Existing Obligations. The nuclear weapons states have made solemn promises to the international community to negotiate in good faith to achieve nuclear disarmament. The United States, Russia, Britain, France and China accepted this obligation when they signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and extended their promises at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference and again at the 2000 NPT Review Conference. India and Pakistan, which are not signatories of the NPT, have committed themselves to abolish their nuclear arsenals if the other nuclear weapons states agree to do so. The only nuclear weapons state that has not made this promise is Israel, and surely it could be convinced to do so if the other nuclear weapons states agreed to the elimination of their nuclear arsenals. The International Court of Justice, the world’s highest court, unanimously highlighted the obligation to nuclear disarmament in its 1996 Opinion: “There exists an obligation...

Oprindeligt publiceret 26. juni 2003 1. For at opfylde allerede eksisterende forpligtelser. Kernevåbenstaterne har afgivet højtidelige løfter til det internationale samfund om af forhandle redeligt for at opnå kernevåbenafrustning. De forenede Stater, Rusland, England, Frankrig og Kina accepterede denne forpligtelse, da de underskrev Ikke-Sprednings-Aftalen (NPT) og de udvidede deres løfter på NPT revisions- og udvidelseskonferencen i 1995 og igen på NPT revisionskonferencen i 2000.Indien og Pakistan, som ikke har underskrevet Ikke-Sprednings-Aftalen, har forpligtet sig til at afskaffe deres kernevåben, hvis de andre kernevåbenstater afskaffer deres. Den eneste kernevåbenstat, som ikke har afgivet et sådant løfte er Israel og de må kunne overbevises til at gøre det samme, hvis alle andre kernevåbenstater bliver enige om at afskaffe deres kernevåbenarsenaler.Den internationale Domstol i Haag (International Court of Justice), verdens højeste retsinstans afgav en udtalelse i 1996, som understregede forpligtelsen til kernevåbenafrustning: “Der eksisterer en forpligtelse til at forhandle redeligt og til at...

Måske er det ikke FNs mest kendte fredsmission, men vi kan være sikre på snart at høre mere om den, idet den befinder sig på grænsen mellem Irak og Kuwait. Navnet er UNIKOM (UN Irak-Kuwait Observation Mission), http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unikom/index.html. Den blev etableret ved FNs Sikkerhedsråds-resolution 687, i 1991. Da TFF var på analyserejse i Irak i januar i år, besøgte vi denne FN-mission på pladsen. Rapporter fra de seneste dage fortæller at bevæbnede USA-marinesoldater er gået ind i denne demilitariserede zone, DMZ, mellem Irak og Kuwait. På Kuwait-siden er indhegningen blevet skåret op og 7 porte sat ind, tilsyneladende for at forberede en invasion og besætelse af Irak. Vi, forfatterne, er ikke eksperter i folkeret og kan ikke bedømme om dette er et brud på en Sikkerhedsrådsbestemmelse og/eller andre internationale love, eller om der et eller andet sted med småt står noget, der kan legitimere dette under visse betingelser. Men vi betvivler...