September 1997

GENEVA Switzerland–The U.S. president, Bill Clinton and British prime minister, Tony Blair are a source of danger for similar reasons. They are riding high. They look good. They smile a lot and they owe much of their success to the remarkably prolonged era of economic expansion and renewed sense of prosperity they preside over. And, since they dominate the ubiquitous anglo-saxon press, they are spreading their globalizationmessage with enormous effect. But they mislead us into a state-of-unaware-being. A new United Nations report, published by its Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), makes plain the real situation. The world economy is growing slowly. World output growth has averaged only 2% this decade of liberalization, compared to the near 3% of the turbulent years of the 1980s. If the razzmatazz about globalization is put to one side and the underlying trends more soberly analyzed we will observe that there is also another...

Prinsesse Dianas forskrækkelige død ændrede på forunderlig måde vor verden. Mediernes onde magt blev stillet til skue og skam, omend der blandt de sørgende over netop denne dramatiske død må have været konsumenter af den fornedrende sladderpresse. Samtidig knyttede mediernes gode magt mennesker rundt om på Jorden sammen sammen i et unægteligt egenartet fællesskab. Det gentog sig da Moder Theresa døde, omend i mere normalt format. De var u-konstituerede ledere, hverken prdukter af demokratiske valg, diktatur eller økonomisk magt. De var ledere i det civile samfund, ikke af regeringer eller internationale organisationer. De havde magt, men ikke den sædvanlige, der yderst bygger på tvang og vold. De talte til hjertet først men så sandelig også till fornuften, mens mange valgte magthavere hverken taler fra det ene eller til det andet. De var kvinder, der valgte ikke at følge den slagne karriere men gjorde noget konstruktivt ud af sit “udenforliv.” Af...

Prinsessan Dianas förfärliga död ändrade på många sätt vår värld. Medias onda makt exponerades även om det bland de sörjande måste ha varit ganska många konsumenter av de förnedrande veckotidningarna. Samtidigt knöt medias goda makt människor överallt i världen samman i en onekligen egendomlig gemenskap. Den upprepades, även om i mer normal skala, när Moder Theresa dog. De var båda o-konstituerade ledare, det vill säga vare sig produkter av demokratiska val, av diktatur eller ekonomisk makt. De var ledare i eller av det civila samhället, inte av regeringar eller internationella organisationer. De hade makt, men inte av den vanliga typen som ytterst bygger på tvång och våld. Båda talade till hjärtat, men sannerligen också till förnuftet, medan de flesta valda makthavare vare sig talar ifrån det ena eller till det andra. De var kvinnor som valde att inte följa den utstakade karriären utan gjorde något konstruktivt av sitt utanförskap. Av...

  New Report “Conflicts and humanitarianemergencies can be handled more effectively, if five partiesintensify their co-operation – governments, humanitarianorganizations, civil society organizations, area experts andconflict-resolution experts. The types of conflicts we facenow and in the foreseeable future require of us that wethink, act and organise ourselves in new ways,” say MortenKjarum, director of the Danish Centre for Human Rights inCopenhagen and TFF director Jan Oberg inthis report. Early analysis, early listening andearly action reduce human suffering and save resources.Comprehensive information about a conflict area, theconflict itself and the actors are essential for thesuccesful handling of complex conflicts and humanitarianemergencies. Humanitarian workers represent a greatreservoir of knowledge and experience that must be utilisedbetter. Furthermore, basic knowledge ofconflict-understanding, conflict-resolution and negotiationas well as human rights ought to be central components ineducation and training of new staff. While diplomats and intelligenceservices may collect some types of information, civilsociety organizations, or NGOs, in a...

GENEVA, Switzerland–In Shakespeare’s time–and even later–the blood feud now proclaimed by Princess Diana’s brother, Charles, would have been settled on the battlefield, a resounding re-match of Plantagenet versus York. It was Erasmus, writing in the early sixteenth century, who said that wars occurred because they were a way of life among a militarized, aristocratic, ruling class. Humanity has moved on since then and today the alleged dishonoring of the house of Spencer by the house of Windsor will be fought in the newspapers and on television, above all in the court of mass public opinion. The British, one of the most warlike of nations, as Margaret Thatcher showed not so long ago with her war against Argentina over the inconsequential Falklands Islands–two bald men fighting over a comb, as one wag at the time put it–are now undergoing a discernable sea-change in their attitudes. Martial virtues are being sublimated. Even...

  “Symbolic or shallow democracy will be the onlyoutcome when foreigners impose elections under extremelyadverse circumstances as is the case in Dayton-Bosnia. Theycould even be dangerous in their consequences because somelocal results are likely to be implemented by force. Oneincreasingly wonders whether the international community isin Bosnia for the sake of the people living there or touphold an illusory image of itself as effective post-ColdWar conflict-“managers” – says TFF’s director, Jan Oberg whohas followed the situation since February 1992 as head ofthe foundation’s conflict-mitigation team to all parts offormer Yugoslavia. – “The leading Croatian party, the Bosnian branch ofPresident Tudjman’s HDZ in Zagreb, has suggested to itsmembers and voters to boycott the elections. It argues thatthe conditions for fair and free elections are not in placeand complain that international election officials favourMuslims over Croats in disputes about voter registration.And it accuses OSCE of “gerrymandering” in Mostar. – This emphasises what...

LONDON– Stripping off all the layers–the drunkenness of the driver, the tortured ambiguity towards the press of the victim–the death of Diana still deeply challenges those in the media courageous enough to face up to the moral and philosophical dilemma with the same scrupulousness and sanity that Einstein applied to the invitation to participate in the Manhattan project. You can say “no.” The human conscience is the most supreme and sublime element in creation. It embraces and embodies the impulses of both the animal and the divine. This is the switching mechanism that determines whether the individual will advance towards civilization or regress towards barbarism. It is the spring, the tension, that everyone lives with every day, in small things and in big. Ideology that allows the individual conscience to be subsumed into a greater collective cause simplifies the individual’s choices, hence its attractiveness, particularly in a time of turmoil, ultra...