Treasures – TFF Associates

Daily, thousands all over the world read, benefit from and use what we at TFF publishes at our “home”, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Many tell us that we contribute to a less-bad, perhaps even a better, world. Some write us to tell that they don’t know what they would have done had TFF not existed and been a constant voice of criticism of elite power, violence and injustice. Quite often our 70 Associates – indisputably some of the world’s most distinguished experts – have produced early warnings and early proposals in conflict zones and other matters, such as UN reform.  That’s good to hear – particularly since we do not know of anybody else who produces as much as we do exclusively on the basis of people’s donations, around € 20.000 or $ 26.000 per year – only possible because we are all volunteering for the cause of peace! That’s how it has always been....

To understand what is going on in Korea it is helpful to try to see the conflict from the other side, from that of North Korea. There is no peace agreement after the Korean War, which ended in 1953 with an armistice agreement. There is still a state of war between the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, DPRK, and the United States. The Armistice Demarcation Line is the 38th parallel. However, no agreement has been reached regarding where that line continues in the sea. The sovereignty of the waters where the recent shelling occurred is disputed. As I write this article, on November 30, 2010, marine forces from South Korea together with US units are conducting a military maneuvre in these disputed waters. Such operations have in the past often been opposed by the North. When shots were fired from the South as a part of that exercise, the North...

June 28, 2010 Gunnar Westberg In his famous speech in Prague in April 2009 President Barak Obama presented us with his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. He emphasized that the U.S. would lead the world towards this goal. He foresaw, however, that this goal would maybe not be reached in his lifetime. Considering that the 48 years old President statistically has a 50% chance of living for 30 more year, adding a few years if he does not relapse into smoking, this was not an optimistic prediction. Can the world survive another three decades with nuclear weapons? Even more ominous was his statement that ”as long as these weapons exist, we will maintain a safe, secure and effective arsenal to deter any adversary, and guarantee that defense to our allies”. Does that mean that the US will be the last to abolish nuclear weapons? During the year since this...

October 23, 2009 Gunnar Westberg France has a reputation of being the country where the question of nuclear disarmament is taboo. Any aspect of nuclear weapons and nuclear strategy is the prerogative of the President who does not condescend to discuss these exalted questions with the parliament or – God forbid! – journalists or common citizens. French diplomats taking part in international negotiations insist that as long as there is a bow and an arrow left in the world, France needs its nuclear weapons. The reason for the French intransigence may be that the raison d’etre of the French nuclear force is so weak. To keep Germany down and the USA in When the French Prime Minister Pierre Mendès-France in 1954 decided that France should develop nuclear weapons, his decision was based on his wartime experience: he feared German rearmament. As NATO grew stronger it became clear that the organization...

Good news: All Africa a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone! With the ratification of the Pelindapa treaty on July 15, 2009 by Burundi that treaty on an African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, NWFZ, has entered into force. In a NWFZ nuclear weapons may not be used, developed, deployed or transported. The status of a NWFZ shall be recognized by the United Nations and the Nuclear Weapon States shall ratify certain conditions in any NWFZ treaty. France, China and Great Britain have done so for the Pelindaba treaty. Russia has not ratified because the island of Diego Garcia, controlled by Britain and used by the USA as a military base, has a disputed status in the treaty. USA has not ratified. The Pelindaba Treaty covers all of Africa. There are now a NWFZ zone that covers Latin America and the Caribbean – the Tlatelolco Treaty. In the South Pacific, we have the Rarotonga treaty. In South-East...

In the will on which the Nobel Peace Prize is based, Alfred Nobel clearly states the criteria that must be fulfilled. The winner shall have done the best or the most work: • for the fraternity between nations, • for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, or • for holding or promoting peace congresses, and • he or she (or the organization) must be a “champion” of peace. To put it crudely, the Prize shall be awarded to a person or organization that has succeeded in reducing the militarism/war/violence in the world. Noteworthy, it shall reward past achievements; the Committee’s self-aggrandizing idea that its Prize will help someone intending or trying to change the world is nowhere to be found in Nobel’s will. Does Barack Obama meet any of these criteria? And could he, given that he took office 11 days before the nomination deadline? • Has he worked for the...

15 september, 2009 Håkan Wiberg Recension av Fredrik S. HeffermehlNobels viljeVidarforlagetOslo 2008 På 1890-talet var Alfred Nobel en av de rikaste svenskarna och hade skapat ett industriimperium över hela Europa baserat på flera hundra patent. Han var också en ensam, sjuk och periodvis deprimerad man. Hans överväganden om vad hans förmögenhet skulle användas till resulterade i hans testamente 1895, vilket blev offentligt känt efter hans död följande år vid 63 års ålder. Testamentet har varit omgivet av drama från första början. Heffermehl beskriver hur den unge testamentsexekutorn Ragnar Sohlman lyckades rädda förmögenheten från otaliga angrepp. Franska skattemyndigheter hoppades på väldiga arvsskatter. Ett koppel advokater med ambitioner om oändliga processer kom snabbt i gång. Oscar II försökte manipulera brorsonen Emanuel att få Nobel-familjen att sätta stopp för planerna på Nobelpriserna, vartill Alfred Nobel enligt honom förletts ”av fantaster och särskilt fruntimmer”. Allt gick dock väl, såtillvida att den därtill testamenterade delen...

Rudyard Kipling’s 19th century ‘great game’ played by British India and Imperial Russia to gain access to India and the warm waters of the Arabian Sea continues. There are  many new players and few new issues. US Involvement in the Area As far as the United States is concerned, there was little involvement in the area during the 19th century. Participation by proxy followed in the 20th century. This indirect US presence took the form of CIA links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and covert arms supply for Afghan mujaheddin to “give Russia its Vietnam” as stated by Zbigniev Brezinski, National Security Advisor in the Carter Administration. Following the events of 11 September 2001, the United States became the lead actor in shaping international policies for Afghanistan during the 21 st century. Circles of Conflict In 2009 the deepening crisis in Afghanistan and Pakistan plays out  over a wide geographical...

July 15, 2009 Gunnar Westerg Perhaps we had expected too much? There had been so many promises. In his speech in Prague in April, President Obama had said: “So today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons”. That is, Obama had chosen the Road to Zero nuclear weapons. Did he discuss this with the Russian President  Medvedev? No sign of that. Another chance: “… to cut off the building blocks needed for a bomb, the United States will seek a new treaty that verifiably ends the production of fissile materials intended for use in state nuclear weapons”. Russia and the USA are here basically in agreement. Obama and Medvedev could  have scored an easy point: We will cooperate and make this reality. President Obama  further promised in Prague: “Today, I am announcing a new international effort to secure all vulnerable...

Recent developments in North Korea have been the subject of much speculation in Western media. In the West, we do not know a great deal about what goes on within the leadership of DPRK: the information we receive is unreliable and we hear little from the North Korean side. This article is based on information received from open sources from both North and South Korea, the USA, as well as experts with some direct access to the discussions in the DPRK leadership. In summary, the article makes the following points: The nuclear weapon During the Korean War, US General MacArthur threatened to use nuclear weapons against North Korea. Korean prisoners of war who had experienced the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki came back telling of this terrifying weapon. These two factors are said by North Koreans to be the reason the Great Leader Kim II Sung decided to start a...

On Wednesday 6th May President Barack Obama met with Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai to try to find a solution to the fast deteriorating situation in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and to develop his strategy towards those two countries. After the meetings, President Obama praised the two leaders and said that the three of them would work together on a long-term basis to defeat terrorism. This is despite the fact that a few days earlier, in a speech on the occasion of his 100th day in office, President Obama had poured scorn on the Pakistani president’s “very fragile” government, which lacked “the capacity to deliver basic services” and did not enjoy “the support and the loyalty of their people”. Nearly eight years after the start of the war in Afghanistan not only has that country not been turned into a functioning democracy, Afghanistan’s much larger...

North Korea is again at the centre of the world stage. The regime has challenged the strong powers in the world and in the UN Security Council (UNSC). The strong reactions from international politicians and media serve the interest of the leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea and give him an undeserved but highly desired important role in world politics. At the same time this reaction shows that the rules of international law as applied by the UNSC are unequal. Laws that restrict and condemn smaller countries are not applied to the nuclear weapon states themselves. This decreases the respect for international law and agreements. I wish to express as strongly as I can that the nuclear weapons test and the test of long distance missiles by North Korea increases the tension in the region and decreases chances of a lasting peace. It is most unfortunate that...