TFF PressInfo

“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...

“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...

PressInfos 1998 No 53 (December 23, 1998)Civil Society in War and Peace – New Report No 52 (December 19, 1998)Be Better Informed About the Iraq Conflict No 51 (November 23, 1998)Support Free Media and Education in Serbia Now No 50 (November 12, 1998)Negotiate a Sanctions Lifting Plan No 49 (October 22, 1998)TFF invited to the 1998 State of the World Forum No 48 (October 11, 1998)Peace Proposal: Forums for Human Rights and Peace Education in Eastern Slavonia – and elsewhere No 47 (October 1, 1998)Questions Before Bombing Serbia No 46 (September 4, 1998)Time To Try True Nonviolence In Kosovo/a No 45 (August 25, 1998)Human Rights In Kosovo/a – Not So Simple No 44 (August 25, 1998)Kosovo/a – Half Truths About How It Began No 43 (August 24, 1998)Kosovo/a – Half Truths About Demography and Ethnic Cleansing No 42 (August 17, 1998)The Kosovo War: No Failure, All Had an Interest In...

“The future of the Brcko area was the only one not settled in Dayton. Thus, it was either the most difficult of all, or the United States and the parties agreed that it would be better to have their decision concerning that hot spot appear as binding arbitration. The arbitration decision is expected by mid-February. But any solution will antagonise at least one of the groups in the Brcko area, the entities or neighbouring republics,” says Jan Øberg, director of the TFF who recently returned from the TFF’s 24th mission to ex-Yugoslavia, including a fact-finding visit to Brcko. “The Dayton Agreement created a conflict by not defining the area under arbitration, and it will create more now,” he adds. “The three options usually mentioned — give it to the Federation, give it to Republika Srpska, or make it an area under international military control — are zero-sum games and care...

“It’s easy to militarise societies andstart wars. Powerful people know how to do it. The world hasaccumulated all the needed intellectual and materialresources. Preventing, handling and stopping conflicts and warsis more difficult. We know less about what it requires, andonly tiny resources are allocated by governments. The UN –humanity’s leading conflict-management organisation – hasbeen sidetracked, exhausted and denied the minimum funds forpeacekeeping. The OSCE has a “conflict prevention centre” sosmall that it stands no chance to adequately meet thechallenges ahead,” says TFF director Jan Oberg. “In the fields of post-war reconstruction,reconciliation, peacebuilding where human beings andsocieties move from violence to sustainable peace anddevelopment, the global society is virtually without a clue.It lacks adequate research, organisation, professionals,funds, philosophy and strategy. Only a handful of smallresearch centres work with these tremendously complexprocesses – such as the War-Torn Society Project in Genevaand UNESCO’s Peace Culture programme. The global system is deplorably immature: it...

  Over the last few months, JONATHAN POWER has devoted his thought-provoking weekly columns toissues such as American policies towards Israel, Hong Kong’s fate, Mexico’s elections, and the chances of economictake-off in the Congo. He has argued that it is time to take Turkey into Europe and highlighted the fact that the world’s income distribution is worsening, thanks to globalisation and liberalization. He syndicates his articles with more than 50 newspapers around the world. For 30 years a journalist, of which 17 as columnist for the International Herald Tribune 1974-1991. The value of these critically constructive analyses extend way beyond your transient daily newspaper. Catch up and read them on TFF’s website at http://www.transnational.org. They are also frequently featured on the leading alternative news service, OneWorld http://www.oneworld.org/news/. Here are some excerpts reflecting his grip of world affairs: ON GLOBALISATION“The U.S. President, Bill Clinton and British prime minister, Tony Blair are...

Summary A United Nations mission consisting ofCivil Affairs and Civil Police should remain in EasternSlavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium in the Republic ofCroatia, after its mandate expires on January 15. UNTAES,the present mission, has achieved impressive results withinits very short period of work. However, vital work remains to be doneto provide psychological security, reconciliation and theprovision of socio-economic development and equal rights andopportunities for all citizens. The OSCE, UN as well as internationaland local NGOs should now give priority to the psycho-socialaspects of re-integration. Otherwise many Serbs may leaveand Croats not return. If so, the UN and the Croatiangovernment will have failed and we shall witness yet anotherrefugee catastrophe in the Balkans. UNTAES had asked TFF to analyse andhelp mitigate conflicts in the school sector of the region. We conclude that there are stillserious problems concerning minority rights, democracy andparticipation, language and biased textbooks, teachers’security and overall psychological well-being. More...