December 2001

ARTIKELSAMLINGSveriges förändrade säkerhetspolitik och debatten om den Benjamin Ferencz, 2001Interview on terrorism as a crime against humanity Arun Gandhi, October 2, 2001Terrorism and nonviolence Rabbi Michael Lerner, September 17, 2001Where the violence comes from Scott Taylor, Esprit de Corps, CanadaMacedonian Backgrounder – and the Americans in Aracinovo (From Esprit de Corps, August 9, 2001). Kjell Magnusson, Uppsala Universitet, September 12, 2001Makedonien: Så knäcktes ett föredöme Om dumhet, undfallenhet och Makedoniens väg mot katastrofen… Marianne Eriksson, Herman Schmid och Jonas Sjöstedt, Aftonbladet 29 dec 2000EU vill gå i krig för svenska pengar Miroslav Hadzic, Ph.d., BelgradeCritical points for the security of Serbia/FR Yugoslavia Ny film om Gandhi i Sydafrika“Där våldet slutar börjar kärleken John Pilger, AftonbladetMedierna som maktens tjänstehjon(September 15, 2000) Karin Wegestahl, TFF vän, i ArbetetInsatser itan FN godkännande? Sveriges allt mer oklara säkerhetspolitiskahållning måste diskuteras? (August 20, 2000) New book by Riane Eisler, TFF friend and author of “The Chalice...

LONDON – The age of Euro-pessimism is dead. From January 1st on every child in the countries of European Union, bar those in Britain, Sweden, and Denmark, will hold in their hands the first coins of their future – a Europe without borders, barriers and, most important, wars. Of course, it can all be undone, but not in a moment. The common currency binds in a most extraordinary way the destiny of the peoples of this peninsular protruding from the landmass of Asia. If culturally it is a potage of languages, peoples and traditions (and long may it be so!), politically it is no longer a moveable feast of sovereign states whose borders are battered and changed by continuous argument and warfare. I’ve spent my Christmas in a small out of the way Spanish village where I once briefly lived whilst writing a book. Over coffee the headmaster of the...

Sveriges förändrade utrikes- ochsäkerhetspolitik – och debatten om den The change in Sweden’s foreign andsecurity policy – and the debate about it På TFF:s site – On TFF’s site PressInfo # 134, 17 oktober, 2001Sverige og 11. septemberEn konkretisering af PressInfo 133 – om Sveriges støtte til bombningerne i stedet for at understrege FNs Charter om fred med fredelige midler. Og om hvorledes kritiken vokser. PressInfo # 134, October 17, 2001Sverige och 11 septemberKonkretisering av PressInfo 133 – om Sveriges stöd till bombningar istället för att understryka FN:s stadgans normer om fred med fredliga medel . Och om hur kritiken växer. PressInfo # 134, October 9, 2001Sweden and September 11Concrete examples of how the Swedish government chooses to acquiesce in the policies of the U.S. and the European Union (EU) rather than defending the interests of small states and the UN norm of peace by peaceful means. PressInfo # 133, 12 oktober,...

By TFF associates Chaiwat Satha-Anand9/11, 9/20 and Gandhi’s Puzzle: Fighting Postmodern Terror/ Modern Warfare with Peaceful AlternativesThis paper is an attempt to understand the conditions of the world as different peoples and states turn more to the prospects of violence as evident in Afghanistan, Palestine, Philippines, Nepal or India/Pakistan, among others, and a way out of this tyranny of violence. Jonathan Power, TFF associate, Jan. 10, 2002Poverty could breed more bin LadensIt’s an undisputable, well-researched, fact that poverty, particularly when it exists in a society of gross inequalities, breeds violence, crime and the urge to deal out deadly punishment on conventional society. Jonathan Power, TFF associate, Dec. 18, 2001Will the lost children of the street be the next bin Ladens?Despite fifty or more years of the Third World foreign aid industry the rich countries have still not got their priorities right. Problems of this magnitude left unattended will come back...

This time of the year provides us all with an opportunity to reflect. Reconciliation and forgiveness, peace of mind and compassion come to our minds. We send season’s greetings to each other and express hopes for a better new year. The latest PressInfos and this one circle about these issues in a concrete manner, applied to a concrete case. That is important in itself. But by focusing on the Balkans we also want to make the point that there are other problems than the September 11 terror that merit attention. That is, if we embrace all of humanity in our compassionate thoughts and deeds and not just the few. It has gone unnoticed that non-violence proved stronger than police repression and authoritarian rule in Serbia and stronger than extremist violence by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA/UCK) in Kosovo. Milosevic went the militant, repressive way. He finally lost when citizens and...

LONDON – “Without more aid there is a greater danger of terrorism, I am convinced of that”, said Romano Prodi, the president of the European Commission the other day. “It may not be a casual effect at the moment, and I cannot tell you whether the outburst from the South will be next year or in two years’ time, but I know we are building a tragedy for tomorrow.” Top marks for a useful bit of alarmism. But the truth is that aid over the years has encouraged the very factors of development that produce the abrupt dislocations in societies that lead to malevolent behaviour, often violent, and make a percentage of young people a particularly easy prey to demagogues who wish to turn that violence outwards. Despite fifty or more years of the Third World foreign aid industry the rich countries have still not got their priorities right. Despite...

Ten years ago it was not impossible to see… Ten years ago, TFF’s conflict-mitigation team started working with Dr. Ibrahim Rugova and LDK people in the belief that a) they were the best dialogue partners Belgrade could hope to get, and b) they were the only political leadership in ex-Yugoslavia that advocated non-violence, albeit pragmatic. I have no evidence that they have ever read a line by, say, Gandhi. We participated in formulating characteristics of the independent Kosova they aimed at: it should be a region with no military, open border to all sides and politically neutral. We helped devise negotiation strategies and facilitated the only written dialogue between them and governments in Belgrade between 1992 and 1996. The foundation produced a concrete plan for a negotiated solution. See Preventing war in Kosovo (1992) and UNTANS (1996). Our team quickly learned to respect the complexity and difficulties of the Kosovo conflict. We were...

LONDON – Perhaps one can see an end to the war in Afghanistan, even to Osama bin Laden himself, but can anyone see an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? America has shown that with its awesome armoury that defeat is swift for anyone who publicly dare step into the ring for a round or two, which the Taliban, by giving refuge to bin Laden, decided to do. (Of course, it is another matter if Qaida now bunkers down in secret cells all over the place.) But who is going to deliver the decisive blow with Palestine/Israel? This is a war of attrition that could knock on and drag on until not much is left standing. On the Palestinian side the outcome certainly could be a degree of material destruction that could make much of the country rubble; on the Israeli side it is more likely to make it simply unliveable....

An unconventional, deeply personal account of how the author came to study humiliation, write a second doctoral thesis and live as a global citizen. To reach the maturity that permits us to give up the idea of revenge and work to reconciliate and forgive is about the most important thing we can study. And do. This is innovative and free research in the essential spirit of TFF. We congratulate our dear colleague as doctor of psychology! The horrific events on the 11th September 2001 in the United States shook the world. News programmes around the world have incessantly covered the events and their aftermath ever since. The name Osama bin Laden has dominated the news, ways of retaliation or reactions are being discussed. This paper is not a classical empirical paper. It is a paper that attempts to convey conclusions drawn from four years of social psychological research, combined with...

THE CONFLICT WORKERS’ MISSION When tense international crises occur, we tend to react due to impulsive feelings and mainstream attitudes. Prejudice, enemy images and ideas of retaliation and revenge may thus form public opinions, and these may again become part of the escalation of violent hostilities. The conflict worker (2) however has the possibility of using the methods of conflict resolution in order to stay more balanced, think more deeply and come up with sober arguments and alternatives to the use of violence. As conflict resolution is part of the nonviolent mindset, our perspective is how to promote genuine and sustainable security in this crisis (3). Security is the key word. It links to the most important and global of all Human Rights of the UN charter, namely the right to life. As conflict workers we try to rise above war propaganda, rumours, animosity and shortsighted clinging to military escalation as...

At least three recent pieces of good news from the Balkans have passed virtually unnoticed: – Yugoslavia has established a Commission for Truth and Reconciliation. – Dr. Ibrahim Rugova’s and LDK’s election victory opens new prospects for reconciliation in Kosovo/a. – Non-violence has proved to be stronger than police repression and authoritarian rule in Serbia and stronger than extremist violence by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA/UCK) in Kosovo. Contrary to violence and war, non-violence and opportunities for reconciliation don’t make it to the headlines. As a matter of fact, they don’t make it to the media at all. Destructive news furthers pessimism and the feeling of powerlessness. Constructive or good news furthers the opposite and signals that peace may, in spite of all, be possible. In short, those in power, as well as power-loyal media, naturally prefer the former rather than the latter. These three news items contain important evidence...

En god nyhet: Jugoslaviens Sannings- och försoningskommission Åtminstone tre goda nyheter har kommit från Balkan utan att egentligen någon märkt det: – Jugoslavien har upprättat en Kommission för sanning och försoning. – Dr. Ibrahim Rugovas och LDK:s valseger öppnar nya utsikter för försoning i Kosovo/a. – Icke-våld har visat sig vara starkare än polisrepression och auktoritärt styre i Serbien och starkare än extremistiskt våld från Kosovos Befrielsearmé (KLA/UCK) i Kosovo. I motsats till våld och krig ger icke-våld och tillfällen till försoning inga rubriker. I själva verket blir det inte över huvud taget något för medierna. Destruktiva nyheter främjar pessimism och en känsla av maktlöshet. Konstruktiva eller bra nyheter främjar det motsatta och ger signalen att fred, trots allt, kan vara möjlig. Kort sagt, makthavare såväl som maktlojala medier föredrar naturligt nog det förra framför det senare. Dessa tre nyheter innebär viktiga tecken som borde leda till en debatt om...