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Peace & nonviolence & other good thoughts
The Millennium World Peace Summit at the UN Visit the official website of this historical gathering of leaders from all religions coming together to strengthen the work for peace, and the United Nations’ role in it.
Canada – a foreign policy with some hope for the future? The diamonds issue is another sparkling example of Canadian diplomatic triumph in recent years as the end of the cold war has, in the words of one analyst, “opened a diplomatic space for Canada” to operate more independently of the United States. It’s a trend that’s been particularly apparent under the current minister of foreign affairs, Lloyd Axworthy, who has been willing to pursue global consensus on initiatives such as the land-mine ban, the International Criminal Court, and nuclear disarmament without having the US “on side.” (Christian Science Monitor, Aug 7, 2000).
Armament and the new Cold War
Cluster bombs, the hidden toll Landmine campaigners accuse Nato of suppressing evidence casting doubt on weapon’s effectiveness. The number of civilians prey to unexploded cluster bombs is significantly higher than admitted by governments, including the British, which have consistently suppressed evidence about the weapon’s military effectiveness, according to a devastating report published today. (The Guardian).
Missile warning to the United States A decision by the United States to proceed with its controversial national missile defence system (NMD) could trigger a huge build-up of nuclear arms by China and Russia and increase nuclear proliferation on the Indian subcontinent, intelligence chiefs have warned President Clinton.A still-classified report reiterates that North Korea could threaten the US with a ballistic missile attack within a few years – the ostensible original reason for the development of NMD. But it paints a dramatic picture of the worldwide consequences as other nuclear and would-be nuclear powers respond to fresh US missile deployments. (The Guardian).
Globalization – imperialism
Paving the way to a new world order: let us globalize the struggle Final resolution from the Geneva 2000 Alternative Summit. “We have adopted the following declaration, which we invite all social movements, trade unions, NGOs, groups and associations who are engaged in the strufggle against neo-liberal, sexist globalization to sign. In this way we aim to globalize our struggle and together pave the way to a New World.” (Focusweb)
Special on debt Debtspeak, the dictatorship of debts, the facts and the social consequences of debt worldwide. Also, read TFF associate, Michel Chossudovsky’s short analysis of Vietnam’s fate under globalization. The New Internationalists superb special issue from May 1999. What did the rich do since then?
The United Nations signs up with big business The companies have agreed to join the U.N. Global Compact, vowing to eliminate child labor, to protect human rights and even to honor the ability of workers to unionize. Once a year on a special U.N. Web site, they must publicize how they have succeeded in applying the nine U.N. principles of good international behavior. Worried about free-market expansion trampling on human rights, especially in developing countries, Annan said he was spurred to act by the disturbances at the World Trade Organization conference in Seattle. “What we must do instead is to ensure that the global market is embedded in broadly shared values and practices that reflect global social needs,” Annan said. (CNN).
The Balkans and Kosovo/a – and Corsica….
NATO in Kosovo – in bed with a scorpionSo NATO is left with only one realistic option — it must militarily face down the KLA to stop the rearmament process and in turn shut down the drug trafficking that is not just affecting Kosovo, but all of Europe. NATO, the saviour, may be forced to become the oppressor in Kosovo – writes Sunil Ram in Globe & Mail.
“Democratic” elections in Kosovo instigate ever more violence among AlbaniansWhile media attention has focused largely on violence between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo, UN police reports show most violence is committed by Albanians against other Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the population. The attacks and intimidation threaten to mar what Western officials hope will be the next big step toward democratic self-rule in Kosovo – writes the Christian Science Monitor.
Nigeria – a mediator between Yugoslavia and the West?The government in Abuja now appears to be auditioning for another role: that of mediator. Opening ties with Milosevic can improve Nigeria’s international standing and boost leverage with international and foreign lenders. In Yugoslavia, the United States finds itself in an uncompromising position. Unable to simply withdraw from the Balkans, the United States has begun to seek an acceptable exit strategy. Meanwhile, Washington’s declared enemy, Milosevic, remains securely in power.
Montenegro, Milosevic – and the arrest of WesternersAccording to reports in the British Sunday Times and Independent newspapers members of the British Special Air Service, SAS, were operating in the republic around six months ago to “protect and evacuate British citizens in case of unrest.” An official who works for the Montenegro security services said, however, no SAS members were in the country at the moment. But he did not rule out the possibility such people had operated in the country in the past or could return in the future. (IWPR)
The New World OrderRebecca Sumner summarizes the implications of NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia (London Daily).
Milosevic mocks NATO and reveals the West’s utter confusionSerbian opposition leaders failed to convince Montenegrin officials Aug. 2 to end their boycott of the upcoming Yugoslav presidential poll. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, by calling early &endash; and democratic &endash; elections, has challenged NATO and the United Nations on several levels, without deploying a single soldier. His goals &endash; to stress the already tense relationships among NATO members while publicly illustrating the failure of the Kosovo mission &endash; are not out of reach. (Stratfor).
Where are all the bodies buried?Just before the end of the air campaign, British Foreign Office Minister Geoff Hoon said that “in more than 100 massacres” some 10,000 ethnic Albanians had been killed (averaging 100 victims per massacre). Though substantially reduced from the 100,000 to 500,000 bandied about by U.S. officials, this was still a considerable number. A day or two after the bombings stopped, the Associated Press, echoing Hoon, reported that 10,000 Albanians had been killed by the Serbs. No explanation was offered as to how this figure was arrived at… (Michael Parenti in Z Magazine).
Chomsky on KosovoTwo articles by Noam Chomsky, from April and May – worth reading while the global media are silent on the whole issue…Part 2also from Z Magasine.
New presidential candidate in YugoslaviaFifteen Serbian opposition parties yesterday chose the nationalist leader of the Democratic party of Serbia as their candidate to run in September against the Yugoslav president, Slobodan Milosevic. (The Guardian).
What was the truth then, what is it today? The media…
The NATO-Media lie machineNATO’s “humanitarian” enterprise in Kosovo was built on a structure of lies, many of them flowing from NATO headquarters and officials of the NATO powers, and uncritically passed along by the mainstream media of the NATO countries. One of the great ironies of Operation Allied Force, NATO’s brief 1999 war against Serbia, was that Yugoslavia’s broadcasting facilities were bombed by NATO on the claim that they were a “lie machine” serving the Yugoslav apparatus of war. This was contrasted with the NATO media, which in the view of NATO officials, and in that of media personnel as well, were “objective” and provided what Richard Holbrooke described as “exemplary” coverage. (Writes Edward Herman & David Peterson in Z Magazine)..
A peacemaker who was in fact a peacewrecker – what about today’s peacemakers?On the eve of his election in 1968, Richard Nixon secretly conspired with the South Vietnamese government to wreck all-party Vietnam peace talks as part of a deliberate effort to prolong a conflict in which more than 20,000 Americans were still to die, along with tens of thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodians. (The Guardian)
Iraq under siege – book recommendationIn this groundbreaking new book, leading voices in the struggle to save Iraq show how the willful blindness of lawmakers in the world’s most powerful country has led to the social and environmental devastation of an entire country (Plough).
UN Atomic Agency, IAEA, threatened by financial crisis – US not paying on timeThe U.N. agency responsible for preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons is facing a financial crisis and may soon have to cease key operations because the United States and other countries refuse to pay their bills on time, according to senior diplomats (Washington Post).
Lost nuclear bomb back to haunt Clinton on BMDThe story about the greenland bomb that has suddenly surfaced. The Guardian: “The US secretly stored about 12,000 nuclear weapons in 18 countries and nine territories at the height of the cold war, including several that forbade the practice, including Japan, Taiwan and Greenland.” (The Guardian)
Humanism, human rights and “humanitarian” intervention
Soldiers in the name of human rights Amnesty International’s S-G, Pierre Sané’s thoughtful analysis and arguments. It’s the foreword in this year’s Amnesty Report and one of the best articles written on the pros and cons of humanitarian intervention.
World future, alternative economics and sustainability
General Agreement on a New Economy (GANE) “If you know that something is wrong with how the economy is working today but you don’t hear politicians talking any sense about what should be done, we invite you to stay and browse our website. You may be asking some of the same questions we are and you may like some of our ideas. While we suggest some new directions, we believe the answers should come out of a broad public dialogue. We invite your thoughts.”
Women’s perspectives Statement by Peggy Antrobus, DAWN (Development Alternatives of Women for a New Era) about the role and perceptions of women – women everywhere – vis-a-vis globalization. (Third World Network).
Inequality in Latin America worsens – but some have a better profile According to a new study by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, 224 million people in the region are living in poverty. The study attributes increased social inequality in the region to disparate productivity and income levels between the minority large, modern companies and the informal sector which provides most of the employment. – The countries showing the greatest progress in reducing poverty are those that have managed to reconcile relatively fast growth rates over several years with reduced unemployment and high employment rates for people from poorer families. (South-North Developmetn Monitor).
– and next time you eat shrimps… Environmental groups at an international gathering here have called for global action to halt the expansion of shrimp farming, blamed for the destruction of local mangrove ecosystems in tropical coastal regions. (Third World Network).
LONDON – So far so good, at least on the wider level. While internally Iraq seems on the edge of chaos, the much heralded clash of civilizations between the Muslim and Judaeo-Christian worlds has yet to become apparent. We have anger and despair aplenty in the Arab and Muslim worlds. But very little rushing to the standard and there was no great pilgrimage of warriors to join the fight, as happened when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan twenty years ago, and then, having driven the Red Army out, were left to ferment in that mountainous redoubt. With the armaments supplied by the CIA the mujahidin were transformed into Al Qaeda that became, for a relatively brief moment as these things go, ‘the greatest threat to the homeland that America has ever known.’ Nevertheless a ‘Cold War’ between much of the Muslim world and the West is certainly in full swing. Winston...
The Challenge of Nuclear Weaponsin the Twenty-first CenturyA Path Forward The peoples and governments of the world face an urgent challenge relating to weaponry of mass destruction and particularly to nuclear weaponry. At the crossroads of technology, terrorism, geopolitical ambition, and policies of preemption are new and potent dangers for humanity. Despite ending the nuclear standoff of the Cold War era, nuclear weaponry is again menacing the peoples of the world with catastrophic possibilities. We recognize the need for any government to pursue its security interests in accordance with international law; and further, we recognize that distinctive threats to these interests now exist as a result of an active international terrorist network having declared war on the United States and its allies. Nonetheless, we reject the assessment of the current US administration that upgrading a reliance on nuclear weapons is in any sense justified as a response. We find it...
By Karin Wegestal MP, the Social Democratic Partyon behalf of the Swedish Committee for Solidarity with the Yugoslav People During the last decade, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has received more than 500,000 refugees from Croatia and Bosnia, and another 300,000 internally displaced persons, mainly from the province Kosovo and Metohia. For a country with about ten million inhabitants, such an influx of homeless people is obviously a very heavy burden – even under peaceful conditions. But in addition to that, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has been the subject to sanctions from the western powers for close to ten years and its infrastructure was badly hurt through Nato’s intense bombardment during 78 days in 1999. The result of all this is that Yugoslavia, once the most developed industrial country in Eastern Europe, is today the poorest country in Europe. In Serbia excluding Kosovo, with about ten million inhabitants and...
Tony Robinson October 4, 2026 Violence is easy to recognise when someone is being beaten, shot or killed. It becomes more difficult when nobody is holding a weapon. Poverty, discrimination, exploitation and repression can restrict a human life just as effectively, although they do so in very different ways and with very different consequences. Simply adding more categories to an ever-growing list of forms of violence does not really solve the problem. The more interesting question is what all these different situations have in common and why it makes sense to describe them using the same word. Human beings do not simply react to what happens around them. They remember the past, imagine things that do not yet exist, make plans and undertake projects. Workers organise because they imagine different working conditions; people migrate because they imagine another life somewhere else; social movements emerge because people refuse to accept the...
It’s a matter of principles, courage, vision and pulling together – while the militarist world is falling apart… Peter Langille October 3, 2026 “Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce war?”The Bertrand Russell—Albert Einstein Manifesto, July 9, 1955 ⁕ The forecast for what’s ahead is worrisome. The sharp rise in armed conflicts over the past three years is adding to what was already the highest level in over seventy years. Genocides, which should be prevented are supported. A shared climate emergency that jeopardises survival is ignored. Diverse polls now suggest that people are war-weary, worried and interested in a more effective United Nations. And, there are viable policy options for a more secure world! Yet governments are doubling-down, betting on more war and investing heavily. If current trends persist,...
Johan Galtung 1930-2024October 2015 Published here on October 3, 2026 Let us focus on Civilization for conflict analysis and remedies. Major forms of disorder use violence; war is state organized violence. The most belligerent states are the United States of America and Israel, both with civilization roots. National Evangelism, the US Protestant Christian civilization– more national than evangelical–justifies US warfare as exceptionalism of a people chosen by God, with a manifest destiny to run the world. Orthodox Judaism justifies Israeli warfare to conquer and expand from Nile to Euphrates as a religious right and duty to the Eternal One. The third most belligerent country, the UK, no longer believes it is God-chosen but chosen by the USA; not quite the same but something. But the root cause of global disorder lies in the Occident–with Islam–seeing itself as the single, universal civilization valid for all at all times, all others being...
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Tony Robinson October 4, 2026 Violence is easy to recognise when someone is being beaten, shot or killed. It becomes more difficult when nobody is holding a weapon. Poverty, discrimination, exploitation and repression can restrict a human life just as effectively, although they do so in very different ways and with very different consequences. Simply adding more categories to an ever-growing list of forms of violence does not really solve the problem. The more interesting question is what all these different situations have in common and why it makes sense to describe them using the same word. Human beings do not simply react to what happens around them. They remember the past, imagine things that do not yet exist, make plans and undertake projects. Workers organise because they imagine different working conditions; people migrate because they imagine another life somewhere else; social movements emerge because people refuse to accept the...
It’s a matter of principles, courage, vision and pulling together – while the militarist world is falling apart… Peter Langille October 3, 2026 “Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce war?”The Bertrand Russell—Albert Einstein Manifesto, July 9, 1955 ⁕ The forecast for what’s ahead is worrisome. The sharp rise in armed conflicts over the past three years is adding to what was already the highest level in over seventy years. Genocides, which should be prevented are supported. A shared climate emergency that jeopardises survival is ignored. Diverse polls now suggest that people are war-weary, worried and interested in a more effective United Nations. And, there are viable policy options for a more secure world! Yet governments are doubling-down, betting on more war and investing heavily. If current trends persist,...
Johan Galtung 1930-2024October 2015 Published here on October 3, 2026 Let us focus on Civilization for conflict analysis and remedies. Major forms of disorder use violence; war is state organized violence. The most belligerent states are the United States of America and Israel, both with civilization roots. National Evangelism, the US Protestant Christian civilization– more national than evangelical–justifies US warfare as exceptionalism of a people chosen by God, with a manifest destiny to run the world. Orthodox Judaism justifies Israeli warfare to conquer and expand from Nile to Euphrates as a religious right and duty to the Eternal One. The third most belligerent country, the UK, no longer believes it is God-chosen but chosen by the USA; not quite the same but something. But the root cause of global disorder lies in the Occident–with Islam–seeing itself as the single, universal civilization valid for all at all times, all others being...
Tony Robinson October 4, 2026 Violence is easy to recognise when someone is being beaten, shot or killed. It becomes more difficult when nobody is holding a weapon. Poverty, discrimination, exploitation and repression can restrict a human life just as effectively, although they do so in very different ways and with very different consequences. Simply adding more categories to an ever-growing list of forms of violence does not really solve the problem. The more interesting question is what all these different situations have in common and why it makes sense to describe them using the same word. Human beings do not simply react to what happens around them. They remember the past, imagine things that do not yet exist, make plans and undertake projects. Workers organise because they imagine different working conditions; people migrate because they imagine another life somewhere else; social movements emerge because people refuse to accept the...
It’s a matter of principles, courage, vision and pulling together – while the militarist world is falling apart… Peter Langille October 3, 2026 “Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce war?”The Bertrand Russell—Albert Einstein Manifesto, July 9, 1955 ⁕ The forecast for what’s ahead is worrisome. The sharp rise in armed conflicts over the past three years is adding to what was already the highest level in over seventy years. Genocides, which should be prevented are supported. A shared climate emergency that jeopardises survival is ignored. Diverse polls now suggest that people are war-weary, worried and interested in a more effective United Nations. And, there are viable policy options for a more secure world! Yet governments are doubling-down, betting on more war and investing heavily. If current trends persist,...
Johan Galtung 1930-2024October 2015 Published here on October 3, 2026 Let us focus on Civilization for conflict analysis and remedies. Major forms of disorder use violence; war is state organized violence. The most belligerent states are the United States of America and Israel, both with civilization roots. National Evangelism, the US Protestant Christian civilization– more national than evangelical–justifies US warfare as exceptionalism of a people chosen by God, with a manifest destiny to run the world. Orthodox Judaism justifies Israeli warfare to conquer and expand from Nile to Euphrates as a religious right and duty to the Eternal One. The third most belligerent country, the UK, no longer believes it is God-chosen but chosen by the USA; not quite the same but something. But the root cause of global disorder lies in the Occident–with Islam–seeing itself as the single, universal civilization valid for all at all times, all others being...
Jan ObergPhD, director, The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFFLund, Sweden October 2, 2026 This is my full original manuscript. The Chinese Academy of Social Science, CASS, makes two publications out if it. 1. China’s Five-year plan emphasized the capabilities of basic research and original innovation. It is regarded as the goal of the future social development, which, as required, should be significantly enhanced. Can you comment on the importance of original innovation in research and academic study? I believe it is easier to define “original innovation” in the natural sciences than in social sciences. The breaking points of what constitutes something new, or innovative, are not quite as sharp in the latter. But in both fields it is about opening up something that was closed, unseen, unexplored before – making manifest what was earlier latent. Innovations come in many forms and shapes – naming something that was not...
The agreement is catastrophic both because of what it says and what it doesn’t mention. It reduces further the major asset of security policies: Freedom of action. Jan Oberg TFF director September 25, 2026 A couple of hours before the agreement was signed on September 22, 2026, I published the following 13 hypotheses about what it would most likely contain on TFF Substack (in English). I was wrong on only the first point. Contrary to what Trump had written on his Truth Social platform, it does not appear to come into force immediately. In fact, it turned out to be worse than even I had anticipated. After these hypotheses now come a number of reflections in light of what the agreement actually contains, and does not contain, as well as the way in which it has generally been presented by major media outlets and by the public-service broadcaster DR. My...
Below are TFF-related media mentions, comments, videos and social media posts published elsewhere but not on this homepage. We happen to catch and list only a fraction. Regarding video comments and debates, we recommend that you go to the TFF Video Channel on Substack where many of them are reproduced. Jan Oberg is a contributor to China Daily – 52 million daily clicks – and Global Times, CGTN and CCTV (the national television), China Investment, Xinhua News Agency and several others. Articles and videos on these media very often multiply into countless Chinese (and Western media) that re-post them from these main media. Thanks to The China Academy, his analyses, interviews and comments are frequently posted on YouTube channels such as Thinkers Forum and Wave Media. These videos are often re-posted on Bilibili (China’s YouTube), the China Content Center on TikTok, and on the Chinese edition of TikTok, Douyin.com. This means reaching hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide over a year. While there are too many to catch on all these...
