TFF Blog

TFF is very proud to have published numerous articles and videos by one of the world’s most knowledgeable scholars on the Middle East in general and Iran in particular, Dr Farhang Jahanpour, Oxford, since he became an Associate in 2006 (and later Board member). It’s been such a delightful co-operation and a great contribution to TFF and our engagement with Iran since 2012. Fortunately, this incredibly prolific writer continues to publish with us here on The Transnational, but we believe that you will also like to know that he has recently set up his own homepage with many more articles – a treasure on Persian culture, history, literature and – well, much more. Since it seems to have been a Western media-political pastime to only publish negative, demonising stuff about Iran and omitting its amazing culture dating back to 7000 BC, it is so important that there is a homepage...

Fredrik Heffermehl 18. februar, 2021 TFF er stolt over at være den institution i verden, som flest Nobelpris-nominerede (7) er knyttet til: Scilla Ellworthy, Richard Falk, Johan Galtung, David Krieger, Evelin Lindner, Jan Oberg og David Swanson. Den norske Nobelkomite har mottatt nær 400 nominasjoner for 2021. Å velge den beste er selvsagt en krevende oppgave. Men den ville bli mye enklere om det kunne bli slutt på den uryddige blandingen av juss og politikk som i alle år har preget den norske forvaltningen av prisen. Som forklart i min nyeste bok Medaljens Bakside er oppgaven å drive fredspolitikk med den retning og ramme som Nobel beskrev i sitt testament.Det første og viktigste grepet – som også ville gjøre avgjørelsen mye enklere – er å tolke testamentet, stille det selvsagt nødvendige og grunnleggende spørsmålet: Hva ville Nobel med den “prisen for fredsforkjempere” som han beskrev i sitt testamente i 1895?...

The 1987 Right Livelihood Award Acceptance Speech  Peace appeals to the hearts; studies to the brain. Both are needed, indeed indispensable. But equally indispensable is a valid link between brain and heart. The history of peace studies is, of course, a collective story, and it did not start in the 1950s – it is as old as humankind, as is the history of war studies, the study of war with warlike means. Originally published at Transcend I guess the same applies to what today is called security studies, or the study of peace with warlike means, balance of power, balance of terror, deterrence through credible retaliation etc. Needless to say, that is not what peace studies are about. Peace studies are about peace with peaceful means, and I think it is generally accepted today that this has to be done in a holistic manner and with a global perspective, or...

Reflecting important global development, it is also a piece of the academic history of peace, conflict and future research Jan Oberg February 3, 2021 Here is a completely new edition of TFF Associates’ blog 2011-2017. In this blog, you’ll find almost everything posted over these 6 years by TFF Associates, our group of experts on international issues who are committed to the UN Charter’s norm, Article 1, that peace shall be established by peaceful means. There are 1360 posts here. Together with the articles posted on the old 1997-2011 homepage, you’ll find an estimated 7000 accessible articles (yes, some links are broken). During those 6 years, several very important international events took place and trends became clear. Just to mention some catchwords: Ukraine/New Cold War, Syria, the war on terror, Libya, North Korea, The Trump administration, China and the new Silk Roads, 2015 European refugee crisis, changing world order –...

Richard Falk February 3, 2021 This article is a repost from TFF’s homepage, January 20, 2015 By chance I was reading César Vallejo’s poem, “Black Stone on a White Stone,” in a translation by Geoffrey Brock, and was struck by the opening stanza: I’ll die in Paris in the pouring rain a day I have a memory of already. I’ll die in Paris – I won’t try to run – a Thursday perhaps, in Autumn, like today. Without being literal, I was reminded that I could appraise my death while alive, and not leave a final reckoning to some solemn memorial event in which speakers are challenged to find humorous anecdotes to lighten the occasion, otherwise uttering honorific platitudes quite unrelated to the experiential core of my being. I had been thinking quite a bit recently about ‘lost causes.’ Recently I gave a lecture at Columbia University on this theme,...

and onwards. The change comes as a result of certain social media trends and events that we do not want to be part of (see arguments below). We increasingly find Facebook, Twitter and Google a) politicising, b) part of a superficial culture bordering on the meaningless and c) an obstacle to genuine public education, freedom of speech and the global communication we have always cherished. Therefore, in the future:You will still see posts on Facebook and Twitter linking to our articles but only as window displays. We shall no longer participate in discussions there, only on our homepage, The Transnational, and under the articles. We reclaim the essentially important free global public debate outside – and independent of – the near-monopoly that Facebook and Twitter cynically created and claim copyright to. It’s only natural that the debates occur at the creator’s platform and remain there for people to see in the future. During 2021, we speed up...

Welcome to my worldmoires – a word I have invented for the occasion. It means writing about my life in the perspective of global affairs and trends that have influenced my work and myself since I was born in the middle of the preceding century.  And the occasion? I’m approaching the 50th anniversary of my work as a peace, conflict and future researcher.  The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFF, that my wife Christina and I have established turned 35 on January 1, 2021.  I hope you will find something of interest and follow the creation of the book – of which only the first small fraction is hereby launched. Now explore…

Albert Györgi’s sculpture, “Emptiness,” at Lake Geneva TFF Associate In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. —José Narosky War is hell, and today more than ever. Although high-tech weapons make it a videogame for some, those same weapons make it unbelievably destructive for everyone else. Whatever valor was once associated with hand-to-hand combat has long since disappeared due to gunpowder, and the massive slaughters of the twentieth century have made it increasingly difficult to romanticize the death and misery war causes. Nonetheless it continues and we have learned, if not to accept it, to take it for granted. Obviously, not everyone loathes it. The U.S. economy would collapse without the obscene amount spent on the military-industrial complex, now well over $600 billion a year according to some calculations. It’s hard to rationalize such a sum without a war once in a while. That’s why the end of the Cold War...

SummaryOn top of all the global problems we must solve as soon as possible comes the Corona. This statement argues that the priorities of the world are – well, perverse; everything the UN does amounts to 3% of the global military expenditures.TFF’s Board suggests that all countries reduce their military by 50% immediately. That would save about US$ 1000 billion. And that that huge sum should be re-allocated to solve the problems we had and the socio-economic consequences of the Corona pandemic. That would also – finally – be a step to prove that governments are willing to implement a policy for true disarmament and move towards human and common security for the common good.In a civilised world, this should be common sense. If you do not want to read the whole argument, just scroll down and sign this statement. “We’ve likely only seen the beginnings of the worldwide economic...

“It happened that a fire broke out backstage in a theater. The clown came out to inform the public. They thought it was a jest and applauded. He repeated his warning. They shouted even louder. So I think the world will come to an end amid the general applause from all the wits who believe that it is a joke.” Søren Kierkegaard’s quote is the first thought that comes to mind while thinking of the developments on the global scene and simultaneously trying to figure out the place where the Macedonian part of the puzzle fits the best. Or maybe this thought is more appropriate to describe the current dilemma the majority is facing: “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” Let’s start with the alleged fascist attempt of coup d’état and/or terrorist...

Many have considered the New York Times one of the finest pieces of journalism anywhere. In 1971, it had the courage to publish The Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg which revealed how the US, in reality, conducted its war on Vietnam – i.e. to serve in the role of being a critic of powers that be and revealing lies and things never told in public. When I was younger, the NYT and the International Herald Tribune, were treasures if you wanted to know about the world. I remember buying the Sunday edition when visiting New York. There were many sections and I could do with less, but it the main ones offered page after page of high-quality reading – the biggest ever published on a Sunday weighing over 5 kilos and counting 1600+ pages. Not a newspaper like any other – no, in a class of its own. More abut...

Or your government leader’s Coronavirus speech that was never given. Do not believe the future will be better before you hear leaders say something like this… The speech can be seen as part of TFF’s Campaign “Convert Military Expenditures to Global Problem-Solving”. See and listen to the speech by clicking on Vimeo above, or read the transcript below. Fellow Citizens, good evening Tonight, I want to share with you the main lessons my government and I have drawn from the Coronavirus crisis – a crisis which has caused so much suffering and so many deaths. And a crisis that will take very long time for our economy to recover from. That lesson – and my central message to you tonight – is that your suffering has been caused by our failed security policies. Only, secondarily, is this a crisis of our health system. Therefore, I want to extend my most...