December 2003

PressInfo # 192, 30 oktober, 2003 – på danskEt tiår for sent: forhandlinger om Kosovo PressInfo # 192, 21 oktober, 2003 – svenskaEtt decennium för sent – Samtal om Kosovo PressInfo # 192, October 14, 2003A decade too late: Kosovo Talks Begin PressInfo # 191, October 3, 2003The Second Nuclear Age PressInfo # 190, October 3, 2003Dealing with the Hydra? Proliferation and Full Spectrum Dominance PressInfo # 186, 26 september 2003, på svenska11 saker att komma ihåg den 11 september Av Jan Öberg. PressInfo # 189, September 18, 2003Neo-Cons, Fundies, Feddies, and Con-Artists By Francis A. Boyle. PressInfo # 188, 18.september 2003, på danskDet er en udfordring at skabe fred Af Daisaku Ikeda. PressInfo # 186, 18.september 2003, på dansk11 punkter at huske om den 11.september Af Jan Øberg. PressInfo # 183, 28 mai 2003, på danskVil du vide, hvem de amerikanere er, som styrer Irak? PressInfo # 182, 21 maj 2003, på svenskaHamburgarfilosofi...

Marianne With Bindslev, Poliiken.dk, 19 december 2003EU mister folkelig gejstStrid om blandt andet Irakkrigen har blotlagt EU som en institution med mange ord og lidt handling, og det smitter af på befolkningens tillid til unionen. Poul Husted, Politiken.dk, 19 december 2003Iraks nye hær i opløsningMenneskeretsgrupper kritiserer de irakiske dommere for ikke at have den fornødne baggrund. Anders Jerichow & Adam Hannestad, Politiken.dk, 19 december 2003Dansk plan for atabisk demokratiRegeringen gør op med årtiers tilbageholdenhed over for arabiske lande. Nu skal 100 millioner kroner fremme reformer, støtte en fri presse og sikre menneskerettigheder. Henrik Kaufholz & Thomas Lauritzen, Politiken.dk,19 december 2003EU-veteran: Et lykkeligt sammenbrud for EuropaBritisk EU-ekspert mener, at unionen står i en meget alvorlig krise. Vibeke Sperling, Politiken.dk, 19 december 2003Vinde på anklagebænken i HaagMilan Babic, leder af et blodigt forsøg på at løsrive Krajina fra Kroatien, har vidnet imod Milosevic, men onsdag indledte Haag-domstolen en sag imod ham. Marc...

LONDON – The White House and Downing Street have been caught off balance- not so much by the sudden success of capturing Saddam Hussein but by something more subtle. Rather than having to gradually introduce democracy to an unwelcoming body politic in Iraq they are being paced to introduce it sooner rather than later by none other than the powerful Shi’ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani. So much for notions that Islam and especially the Shi’ite clergy (who hold sway in Iran’s theocracy) are unfertile ground for the ideas of the European and American Enlightenment. But the occupying powers are saying an election can’t administratively be held so quickly. At bottom this is probably an argument about can the voters be trusted rather than the mechanics of voter registration. Deep within the White House and Downing Street lurks a fear that the so-called “fundamentalists” might do rather well in an...

LinksTFF’s Comprehensive Link Library Collection Iraq 4Read the materials on Iraq from 2004 here Collection Iraq 3Read the materials on Iraq from 2004 here Collection Iraq 2Read the newest materials on Iraq here Articles by non-TFF Associates F e a t u r e s Walden Bello, July 27, 2003Empire, war and citizenship Special FeaturesUS Losing in Iraq & Afghanistan(July 3, 2003) Scott Peterson, CSMExpectations gap rankles Iraq Sarah Chayes, IHTInside Afghanistan: The warlords are reaping the spoils… Khaled Hosseini, IHT…while the Afghans await the promised aid Kal Raustiala, IHTU.S. may not be imperial, but it does have an empire Farhang Jahanpour, PhD, July 3, 2003Militarism is a Greater Threat than Terrorism Special FeaturesIraqi Women (July 3, 2003) Ghida al-Juburi, IWPRWomen Excluded from Post-War Reconstruction Iraqi Women’s Rights CoalitionEqual Rights Now! Special FeaturesUS losing in Iraq (June 30, 2003) Anup Shah, The Iraq CrisisAttack on Iraq Marwan Bishara, IHTThe Israelization...

LinksTFF’s Comprehensive Link Library Collection Iraq 4Read the materials on Iraq from 2004 here Collection Iraq 3Read the materials on Iraq from 2004 here Collection Iraq 1Read the newest materials on Iraq here Articles by non-TFF Associates F e a t u r e s Occupation Crisis (Dec. 5, 2003) Howard LaFranchi, CSMBound to Iraq, Kurds eye options John Gershman, Foreign Policy in FocusThe Progressive Response Oliver Burkeman & Julian Borger, the GuardianWar Critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal Susan Sachs, NY TimesIraq Picks American as Ambassador to U.S. Randall Richard, TruthoutAt Least 17 U.S. Troops Have Committed Suicide in Iraq, Army Seeks Answers Mark Matthews, TruthoutIraq War Providing a Boost to Al-Qaida Eric Boehlert, Truthout“The President Ought to be Ashamed” Andrew M. cockburn, Common DreamsTired, Terrified, Trigger-Happy Jeff Wilkinson, Common DreamsU.S. Tactics in Iraq May Backfire, Critics SayIn Tikrit, US Destroys Homes of Suspected Guerrillas Robert...

The “velvet revolution” in Georgia has shown that violent political systems based on the violation of human rights always collapse. There were several reasons for the “velvet revolution” that started against the government of Georgia. One of the main reasons behind the revolution was structural violence. Indirect violence has been used against the population of Georgia for quite some time and it had become the foundation of the internal-domestic policy. The human rights of all citizens of the country were violated. On the one hand, we saw the violation of human rights of the citizens of Georgia; on the other hand a corrupt government. These together created the fundamental dynamics of conflict escalation between the population and the government of Shevardnadze. The state had neither capacity nor an appropriate agenda to develop successful economic, political and social programs that could or would have satisfied the basic human needs of the...

“It is enough that a lie is believed for three days – it has then served its purpose.”Marie de Medici, 1573-1642, queen consort and queen regent of France # 1 March 27 – April 8. Start at bottom # 2 April 9 – April 27 # 3 April 28 till now  25. Perhaps history will repeat itself? Day 20 – April 8, 2003 – Yesterday, R. W. Apple, writing in the IHT, points out that it won’t be easy for the American and British troops to portray themselves and convince the Iraqis that they are liberators: “But they are walking old and treacherous ground. The British commander who seized Baghdad from the Ottoman Turks in March 1917, General Frederick Stanley Maude, told the local citizenry, “Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators.” The British dominated Baghdad and what became Iraq for...

Founders Christina Spännar and Jan Oberg have been awarded the Annual Award for Building Peace by the City of Castelnuova Magra. The ceremony will take place in Castelnuovo Magra on December 10. The Award is related to Dante Alighieri who – exiled in the land of Lunigiana, – in 1306 mediated a peace agreement between the powerful Malespina family and the Bishop Count’s diocese, after years of war. Thus, the Municipal Council of Castelnuovo Magra has written into the Preamble of the Statutes of the City “that Castelnuovo and its people are obliged to work for peace and “to learn how to become peace makers.” The Award which is given in co-operation with the Buddhist Institute of Soka Gakkai of Italy goes to personalities who have distinguished themselves in the promotion of a peace culture. The founders have asked to receive the Award on behalf of all who are related to and...

Background Christian Harleman and Jan Oberg conducted a fact-finding mission to Burundi between November 26 and December 6, 2003. (See websites about the country here). The first TFF mission took place in March 1999. Unfortunately, since then it has not been practically possible to implement the co-operation with Burundi’s Ministry of Education and Burundian NGOs that was planned at the time. The 2003 mission had three purposes. First, to do fact-finding in general about the situation and, in particular, the progress under the Arusha Peace Process. Second, to explore the possibilities for co-operation between the government and relevant NGOs on the one hand and TFF on the other, in order to develop and deepen the existing competence in fields such as conflict-understanding, reconciliation and peace-building. Finally, third, to find out whether it would be possible, in co-operation with the Swedish Rescue Services Agency (Statens Räddningsverk), to establish a health care unit that...

LONDON – Food security is the sine qua non of human existence. Without food nothing happens, no economic endeavor, no science or engineering, no music or literature, not even, in a year of famine, procreation. Since 1974, the year of the Henry Kissinger-sponsored World Food Conference, called at a time of catastrophic food shortages, there has been immense progress on the journey towards providing food for all, even though the world remains a long way from fulfilling the great ambition of the conference’s final declaration that “within a decade no child will go to bed hungry, no family will fear for its next day’s bread, and no human being’s future and capacities will be stunted by malnutrition.” Hundreds of millions of people who were suffering from malnutrition in the 1970s are now eating two square meals a day despite the rapid onward march of population growth. Yet rightly last week the...

This is to certify that the following has been agreed upon between TFF, The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research in Sweden and the Burundian non-governmental organizations listed below which together form the TFF Amahoro Coalition in Burundi. Background The current situation in Burundi in general and the forthcoming peace process in particular requires an immediate burden sharing attendance by the international community both in terms of political and financial commitments and resources for capacity building in the human dimensions of conflict-resolution in a broad sense. Under this concept and after having completed a nine days fact-finding and feasibility study, TFF and the below listed organizations have come to the conclusion that the conditions exist to develop a mutually beneficial collaborative research and training agenda. Purpose The purpose of the collaboration project is to create synergy and augment the understanding and effectiveness of the Burundians regarding their role in the...