Soft conflict-resolution power is what distinguished columnist JONATHAN POWER writes about in his recentcolumn which you can find every week on TFF’s website http://www.transnational.org. So much has gone wrong when governments intervene the hard way – or do nothing – in conflicts around the world. Opinion leaders increasingly know we have to find alternatives – that the last ten years have not brought peace and that the remedy is not more militarisation as the US, NATO, Russia and many others will have us believe. Fortunately there ARE philosophies, concepts, methods and institutions which point in the direction of impartial conflict analysis, soft approaches, respect for local civil society peace-makers. There are nonviolent methods and there are experts who listen to what all parties to a conflict have to tell and respect everybody’s fears and suffering. Many begin to see that World Bank loans and authoritarian ‘missions’ or ‘protectorates’ full off soldiers...
