Dear colleague,

The new number of Intervention (Vol 4, No.1) has now been delivered to all subscribers.
We apologise for the short delay in the production of this edition.

I hope you are already familiar with our publication, Intervention, The International Journal of Mental Health, Psychosocial work and Counselling in Areas of Armed Conflict, which brings special focus to local field reports, training, evaluation and practical implementation within this important discipline.

Volume 4: Number 1:

Special Focus: Debate
Psychosocial interventions, or integrated programming for well-being?
John Williamson and Malia Robinson argue that trying to establish psychosocial programming as a distinct sector may not be a good idea. They state that material, biological and psychosocial aspects of well-being are all integrally related. The authors also believe that it is important that all interventions aimed at people affected by armed conflict should be informed by, and incorporate a working understanding of the relevance of pyschosocial issues.

Debate: Mark van Ommeren, Jodi Morris and Shekhar Saxena: A response to Williamson and Robinson;
Integrated programme planning and psychosocial concepts in humanitarian response.

Debate: Alastair Ager, Alison Strang & Mike Wessells: A response to Williamson and Robinson;
Integrating psychosocial issues in humanitarian and development assistance.

Violence with a purpose: exploring the functions and meaning of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Roberto Beneduce, Luca Jourdan, Timothy Raeymaekers & Koen Vlassenroot continue the discussion about Reconciliation in Practice (Volume 3, Number 3), exploring the political and socio-psychological functions of violence in rural areas of Congo. Understanding the reason behind seemingly senseless violence is a condition for rebuilding a peaceful society and for successful rehabilitation programmes for ex-combatants.

Field Reports
Supporting refugeee women in a multicultural group.
In a field report under the title 'Bread and Roses' Katharina Ley describes support and reconciliation work in a multicultural, multilingual therapeutic group of African refugee women.

Responding to the psychological impact of the Tsunami in a war zone
Marianne van der Veen & Daya Somasundaram report from the war-torn Jaffna district in the north of Sri Lanka. After the tsunami of 26 December 2004 a mental health task-force was formed. The approach of this task force, a co-operative initiative between 18 humanitarian agencies.

Mental health of Afghan refugees in Pakistan
Azaad Kazsam & Anar Nanji present a qualitative field survey aimed at gaining some understanding of collective factors influencing mental health in a refugee camp in Karachi. They also look at coping mechanisms used by refugees in the camp.

What can be learned from 'crazy' psychologists? A community approach to psychological support in post-conflict Guatemala.
Peter Berliner et al. present a field report from a community-based project for victims of violence and torture in post-conflict Guatemala. Although this community approach uses health as the entry strategy, its aim is not only to improve health but to stimulate the creation of social structures within the community capable of fostering social and political transformation.

Intervention is published in close co-operation with the War Trauma Foundation and IRCT with the co-operation of Wolters Kluwers/Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins.

Online Resources.

Intervention is participating in several online projects to make information available to the widest possible readership. They include the PILOTS Index to Traumatic Stress Literature ( http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/publications/pilots/ )

Summaries and papers from previous numbers are downloadable from http://www.interventionjournal.com .

Full papers from the current issues are available from Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins at http://www.lww.com .

Call for papers: Ex-combatants

In November 2006 we hope to publish a special issue on the theme: "ex-combatants: reintegration into society". Theoretical contributions, research articles, field reports and reviews of inspiring books are all welcome. If you would like to contribute, or if you know somebody else who could, please contact us.

Perhaps you would like to suggest some other subject for inclusion, or want to take up an issue with one of our authors? Perhaps you know of a librarian who should review the publication, or a colleague who would benefit from a subscription to Intervention...if there is any way in which we can help each other, please do not hesitate to ask us.

Yours faithfully
Guus van der Veer
Editor

Intervention is downloadable!
Our new website contains downloadable versions of past articles as well as current news and events.
www.interventionjournal.com

EXPOLINGUA BERLIN 2006
19th International Fair for Languages and Cultures
November 17 - 19, 2006
Where: Russisches Haus der Wissenschaft und Kultur, Friedrichstraße 176-179,
D-10117 Berlin, Germany
Organizer: ICWE GmbH, Leibnizstr. 32, D-10625 Berlin, Germany, Tel.:
+49-30-327 6140, Fax: +49-30-324 9833, www.icwe.net, info@icwe.net
Contact: Silke Lieber, info@expolingua.com, www.expolingua.com

Short Description:
EXPOLINGUA Berlin is the most important fair for Languages and Cultures in
German speaking countries. About 130 exhibitors from more than 20 countries
worldwide will be present. The fair is targeted towards all who are
interested in learning or teaching a foreign language. Expolingua Berlin
2006 will offer an extensive seminar programme open to all visitors with
workshops, round-table discussions and presentations.Topics will include
Study and Work Experiences Abroad, Language Learning and Language Teaching.

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+++++ EXPOLINGUA Praha - November 10 - 11, 2006 - www.expolingua.cz +++++
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Dear Friend,
Please see furtherdown the message that Thomas Daffern kindly sends to us.
Evelin

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY

The Institute is unique among centres throughout the world in that it combines training and practical work in conflict resolution with studying the entire range of global philosophical and spiritual traditions with the proactive search for global responsibility and justice in our time. Founded in 1990, arising out of a feasibility study investigating the possibility of creating a Peace Studies Institute in the University of London, and subsequent years of active educational research, networking and consultancy, everyone interested in advancing peace research in London, the UK, and internationally is invited to join us. The Institute has also built on the work of Philosophers and Historians for Peace, an international networking organisation founded in 1985. IIPSGP Members are involved in a wide range of educational and research activities in both professional and voluntary capacities in all aspects of peace research, environmental education, comparative spirituality and philosophy.

With our unique library on peace research and global philosophy (catalogued partly online) the Institute acts as a support structure and information clearinghouse to empower individuals to develop their own research and action projects in the fields of peace and global ethics and works co-operatively alongside many other institutions and professional networks worldwide. We organise meetings, seminars and lectures programmes, while regular seminars have been held in the House of Lords focusing on 'Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding', 'Ethics, Politics and Economics', 'Social Development and Global Justice'. A 'PEACE AND GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY STUDY COURSE" is available, combining independent study, correspondence tuition, teacher training, service work in the community, and occasional peer group seminars & study retreats. A small Secretariat and Advisory Council service the work of the Institute, which is a voluntary educational charity, along with volunteers and interns; for internship/ student / faculty positions, membership of the Institute is a preliminary requirement.

The Institute runs the pioneering MULTIFAITH AND MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION AND MEDIATION SERVICE serving in situations of conflict or violence involving a religious or cultural dimension. The MMEMS is run as both a consultancy and voluntary effort and is available for situations needing outside intervention to resolve, and tackles disputes ranging from the small to the very large. We also proposed the COMMONWEALTH INTERFAITH NETWORK linking together educators, peace activists, environmentalists, human rights and social development specialists from Commonwealth member countries helping to transform the Commonwealth into a vibrant community of nations bearing witness to a wider world order based on peace and a love for common values and spirituality. The IIPSGP Director is a British-Canadian dual citizen. IIPSGP also aims to establish a Global Peace School for children up to 18 years of age in a rural location. THE GLOBAL GREEN UNIVERSITY, founded by IIPSGP, is an international network of educators and activists committed to building a peaceful, just, ecologically sane, cooperative and sustainable global society which accepts students for higher degree research on topics of importance to global well being. (alternative energy, new management studies, communications, transpersonal knowledge, new physics etc.) It is open to scholars in other Universities and acts as a complementary academic network.

The Institute produces several publications for its members. THE MUSES JOURNAL: LOVE, COMPASSION AND PEACE - THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PEACE RESEARCH AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY is the only academic journal in the world dedicated to education and research into the positive dynamics of building global peace and justice through love. The journal is structured according to the Nine Muses, the guardians of the Classical Academy; as an academic journal it seeks to restore the lost intellectual and spiritual vision of the interconnectedness of knowledge, spirituality, aesthetics, feeling, and moral and political responsibility that comprise the educational principles of academic life in their ideal form. An occasional IIPSGP Newsletter includes news of developments for peace and global responsibility, particularly those involving research and higher education. Other publications include: Multilingual and Multifaith Dictionary of Peace and Philosophy; Enlightenments; Against Sophiaphobia. A full list is available on the IIPSGP website at www.educationaid.net

Other programmes of the Institute include supporting the work to set up an ALL PARTY GROUP FOR PEACE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION in the UK parliament; THE ORDER OF WANDERING POETS FOR PEACE (an international network of poets and bards and Druids committed to using their poetic gifts for planetary transformation); THE TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION FOR BRITAIN AND IRELAND; EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHERS FOR PEACE; THE SCHOOL OF NONVIOLENCE; PEACE HISTORY GROUP; THE PAGAN ACADEMIC NETWORK. Another project of I.I.P.S.G.P. is to facilitate the establishment of the LONDON INSTITUTE OF PEACE STUDIES (LIPS) as a formal centre of academic excellence in the UK. The main ongoing work of the Institute is to continue playing its part in laying the intellectual, ethical and educational foundations of a sustainable, global civilisation based on peace and justice. Your contribution towards I.I.P.S.G.P.'s programmes of work is invited and your completed membership application will be warmly welcomed. Together we can do what is impossible alone in a world in increasing danger and need. Our focus is on finding together the positive solutions to our global crisis. We have contacts and branches all over the planet and seek to build a peaceful global civilisation based on the wisdom found within all faiths, all cultures, all traditions.

WORK CONTACT DETAILS:
Member = One issue of Journal, newsletters, invitations to events, research support - £ 25 p.a.
Friend = Newsletters and mailings, invitations to events - £ 15 p.a.
Research Member Registration Fee = Publications, research, library access, study support - £ 50 p.a.
(Subscriptions payable in pounds sterling to "International Institute for Peace Studies and Global Philosophy / IIPSGP" and sent to the address above please; foreign currency cheques acceptable but please add conversion charges of £8)
Below is a partial list of Institute activities underway - please indicate which you might like to get involved with, and any special skills you can offer towards them as a member:

Global Green University:
Multifaith and Multicultural Mediation Service:
"THE MUSES JOURNAL: Love, Compassion and Peace: An International Journal of Peace and Global Philosophy:
Internet and Web based projects and Educational Computer Peace Software Development:
Publications Department:
United Nations, Commonwealth and International Liaison:
Helping organise and run educational courses and trainings:
Helping with Press and Media liaison:
Fundraising Committee, Administrative Assistance, Publicity and Outreach:
International Academic liaison:
Research Programme:
Ethics, Policy and Global Responsibility Programme & Parliamentary seminars:
Educational work and teaching and learning with children:
Other:
(Please enclose a copy of your CV with this application form and post to Rhos Gallt, Llanerfyl, Powys, Wales, SY21 0ER)

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR PEACE STUDIES AND GLOBAL PHILOSOPHY
Director, Thomas Clough Daffern B.A. (Hons) D.Sc. (Hon) PGCE; Secretary General, Mary Napper B.A. (Hons.)
International Secretary: Sheena McDonagh Treasurer: Jenny Wheatcroft B.A. (Hons.) Global Ambassador: Krystyna Stevenson
Rhos Gallt, Llanerfyl, Powys, Wales, SY21 0ER, Tel 01938 820586 Mobile: 07951 600959
Website: www.educationaid.net Email: iipsgp@educationaid.net Centres in: UK, Russia, Israel, Pacific, Balkans, India, Americas

Francisco Gomes de Matos sends us this message:

Here are three alliterations inspired by RANKISM;

R R R = Relate rather than rank

R R R = Repudiate and replace rankism

H H H = Harness horizontalism for humanization

V V V = Veto verticalism in vital events

Francisco adds:

I have used Verticalism as a near-synonym for Rankism.
Similarly, Horizontalism as a near-equivalent to Dignitarianism.

Your comments will be most welcome.
Francisco

Diasporas, Migration and Identities Postgraduate Event

Dear all

Diasporas, Migration and Identities Postgraduate Event,
13 and 14 December 2006, University of Leeds

We are now sending out a call for papers for this event, and are seeking 15-20 minute contributions on the subject of your research and its relation to diasporas, migration and identities.

We are asking for abstracts of up to 200 words, sent to me by email please.

The deadline for receipt of abstracts is 31 August.

You will be notified in early September as to whether or not your paper is accepted.

Registration details and forms will also be sent to you in early September.

Best wishes, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Katie Roche
AHRC Programme Administrator
Diasporas, Migration and Identities
Address: Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds LS2 9JT
Tel: +44 113 3437838
Fax: +44 113 3433654
email: k.a.roche @ leeds.ac.uk
http://www.diasporas.ac.uk

Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
June 27, 2006

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The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) aims to promote constructive perspectives and dialogue about Muslim-Western relations.
*This service is also available in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia and French. You can subscribe by sending an email to cgnewspih@sfcg.org [cgnewspih@sfcg.orgcgnewspih@sfcg.org], specifying your choice of language.
*Unless otherwise noted, copyright permission has been obtained and articles may be reprinted by any news outlet or publication. Please acknowledge both the original source and the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).
*For an archive of CGNews articles and other information, please visit our website at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).

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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

1. The person behind the Muslim by Anar Ali
Canadian author and journalist, Anar Ali, talks about the ups and downs of growing up in Western Canada. Although at times she found peace with her identity as a “Canadian”, since 9/11 she has felt as if her Muslim identity is all that others see: “This is all you are. Muslim Magnified.” Frequently asked to give special insight on terrorism or the psychology of a suicide bomber, she suggests that it might make more sense to ask “someone who was a skinhead, a member of the Irish Republican Army, a Tamil Tiger or a Weatherman”, otherwise she is happy to speculate, like others, from the sidelines: “I have no sense of what motivates a terrorist (except maybe as a fiction writer). Terrorists and radical Islamists live in a different place from me, psychologically and culturally, even if they were also raised in Canada.”
(Source: International Herald Tribune, June 16, 2006)

2. ~Youth Views~ Iraq needs more than the death of one terrorist by Bill Glucroft
Bill Glucroft, a student of journalism at Emerson College in Boston, warns that looking at Zarqawi’s death as progress in Iraq is like thinking that “removing one tumour is progress in a patient whose body is wracked by cancer”. He outlines the changes that must occur both inside and outside for a real “corner to be turned” in the situation in Iraq: the United States “must tenaciously engage the forces of instability without isolating the forces of progress among the people.”
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), June 27, 2006)

3. Mosques with foreign flags by Muqtedar Khan
Non-Resident Brookings Institute Fellow and teacher of Islam and Global Affairs at the University of Delaware, Muqtedar Khan, is dismayed at finding a Turkish flag flying atop a mosque in Germany during a trip to Berlin to attend a conference comparing the experiences of Germany and the United States in integrating their Muslim minorities. Considering the various obstacles facing integration in each country, as well as the challenges to the host countries themselves, he concludes “there is room for Islam in America and Germany…but there is no place for Saudi flags, or Turkish or Pakistani flags in Western mosques.”
(Source: Al Ahram, June 15 – 21, 2006)

4. Education key to moderate Islam by Ridwan Max Sijabat
Jakarta Post writer, Ridwan Max Sijabat, summarises some key comments made at a recent conference in Jakarta attended by 300 Muslim scholars from 53 countries. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi opened the conference by stating that “Islam is a religion of moderation which is against extremism, fanaticism and the use of violence, and is neither inherently opposed to modernity nor antagonistic to the West.” Key activities were identified to support this principle, including creating an educational curriculum that firmly establishes the values of mutual understanding, tolerance, dialogue and multilateralism in accordance with the tenets of Islam, and promoting better understanding and awareness of the Muslim faith through interfaith and inter-religious dialogue.
(Source: Jakarta Post, June 21, 2006)

5.Saudi women unveil opinions online by Rasheed Abou-Alsamh
Rasheed Abou-Alsamh, a Saudi-American blogger and journalist, describes the “battle” between liberal and conservative bloggers in the Kingdom. Blogging has taken off in Saudi Arabia but what constitutes appropriate blog content is still up for debate. Recognising that blogging provides them with an international audience, and finding it a great way to express themselves, many keep on writing despite receiving warnings or being blocked within the country, providing a window into the day-to-day lives and thoughts of Saudi women.
(Source: Christian Science Monitor, June 19, 2006)

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ARTICLE 1
The person behind the Muslim
Anar Ali

Toronto, Canada - I went to a school in rural Alberta from sixth grade onward, and each year I had to endure the annual school rodeo. For most of the students, the rodeo was the highlight of their year. It was an opportunity for them to exhibit their award-winning cattle or show off their skills in events like barrel racing and bronco riding. In an effort to convert the few city slickers among us, the school also provided less challenging events like the greased pig race.

I wasn't interested in participating. My parents owned a motel, not a farm. I told my teacher that I was Muslim and it was against my religion to touch a pig, knowing full well that I was stretching the truth.

When Mrs. Ritchie refused to excuse me from the rodeo, I took the matter up with my father, certain he would side with me.

But I was wrong. My father insisted I join the rodeo, even bought me cowboy gear. He was keen for me (and my sisters) to participate in all things Canadian.

This battle portended the many I would have in the future - not only with my father, but also with myself on where to set the dial between assimilation and retaining my own culture.

After years of hard work (and 30 years in Canada), I finally arrived in a new geography. It was a cultural and psychological place, one that coalesced my identities into one and gave me a sense of home. I called this place Canadian.

Sept. 11 changed all that. So have subsequent acts of terrorism - or attempted acts of terrorism, like the ones authorities said were planned by the members of Islamic terrorist cells arrested here last week. These events have all, in one way or another, expelled me from my new home. It was dismantled; my Muslim identity was teased out like code from a DNA strand.

This is all you are. Muslim Magnified.

After 9/11, I soon became used to the new rules: double- checking at borders, detentions at airports, suspicious glances on subways, especially if you have a backpack.

I learned to do a lot of explaining. Something, as an immigrant or person of colour, you get used to from a very young age. (Where are you from? What does your name mean?)

Whether you want it or not, as a Muslim (secular and otherwise) you are automatically pulled into the debate on terrorism. Not that I don't want to discuss it, I do. But I want to discuss it as a citizen, not just a Muslim.

As a Muslim, people expect you to be an expert, to have special inside knowledge on the topic. They want your opinion on the issue, the history of Islam, the psychology of suicide bombers.

I have no sense of what motivates a terrorist (except maybe as a fiction writer). Terrorists and radical Islamists live in a different place from me, psychologically and culturally, even if they were also raised in Canada.

To better understand these young men and why they turn to violence, it might make more sense to ask someone who was a skinhead, a member of the Irish Republican Army, a Tamil Tiger or a Weatherman.

If you asked me, I would have to speculate, as most people do, from the sidelines.

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* Anar Ali is a Canadian author and journalist. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org.
Source: International Herald Tribune, June 16, 2006
Visit the website at www.iht.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 2
Iraq needs more than the death of one terrorist
Bill Glucroft

Boston, Massachusetts - Many questions still surround last week’s killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist mastermind with an international bounty equal to that of Osama bin Laden. How exactly did the United States locate him? How did he survive two direct hits from precision-guided bombs? And were the photographs of Zarqawi’s dead body framed because Secretary Rumsfeld wants them hung in his office?

Immediately after his death, President Bush travelled secretly to Iraq to “get a firsthand feel for how those people are thinking over there, what are they like.” He said he was looking for leadership, determination, will and the desire to succeed. His conclusion: “That's what I found in Iraq.”

Let’s hope the president’s personal assessment is more accurate than when he visited Vladimir Putin in 2001 and “was able to get a sense of his soul."

The most pertinent question now though is what happens next.

The operation mercilessly reconfirmed the military’s ability to perform its traditional task of search and destroy. Unfortunately, that is not enough to win in Iraq. The United States has no choice but to succeed in rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure, quelling sectarian violence, and convincing Iraqis their government is capable of governing. While Zarqawi’s death is a much-welcomed reprieve from three years of nearly continuous setbacks, it is meaningless if it does not serve as a springboard to revitalise reconstruction and restore security to this broken nation.

Like in Afghanistan, the Iraqi people are exhausted from all-consuming violence, and this sentiment has probably helped avert all-out civil war. The three largest groups in Iraq may retain intense political disagreements with one another, but among the members of these groups there is one area of unanimous consensus: the desire for some peace and quiet. Who succeeds in bringing this calm – the terrorists, the insurgents or American-led forces – is largely inconsequential, not because the population supports any one over the other, but because there is general dissatisfaction with all the warring parties and their inability to create order.

For America to achieve its goals in Iraq – and global security depends on this – U.S. forces must walk a fine line; they must tenaciously engage the forces of instability without isolating the forces of progress among the people.

To do that, the United States and other nations must provide more money for reconstruction and greater oversight of how reconstruction money is spent. In addition, they must see to it that the Iraqi security forces -- which according to many accounts are participating in militias and using torture -- are better managed. The United States also needs to work harder at cultural awareness and sensitivity.

Most importantly, ordinary Iraqi citizens must assist in the reconstruction. It is imperative that Iraqis develop a personal stake in a future, stable and democratic Iraq, not merely by joining the army and security forces, but also by creating small businesses and developing their local communities. If American-led forces reach out to Iraqis, it will create an open line of communication, providing a healthier and more productive channel of dialogue than roadside bombs.

Politically, the United States should make more of an effort to differentiate between foreign fighters – the Zarqawi terrorists - and local fighters – the predominately Sunni insurgents. The former will not stop killing until every “infidel” is dead. So blinded are they by a perverted interpretation of Islam, there is little chance of negotiation.

But the insurgents are different, and must be treated so. They are not fighting infidels so much as occupiers, fighting not under a false religious pretext so much as a vicious reality. Just as American soldiers often fight day-to-day to defend their fellow soldier, rather than for a lofty patriotic cause, so too are insurgents fighting first and foremost to protect their home and loved ones from perceived threats. Beyond the small coterie of Hussein loyalists, insurgent violence is the result of the Sunnis’ sudden fall from power, and their collective trepidation about their future role in governing.

The insurgents are mostly ordinary people, struggling to support their families. They feel abandoned and betrayed by the utopian doctrine of Western democracy. Convinced the Shiite majority will disenfranchise them completely, their motivation to kill derives from a desperate situation, not terrorist ideology. Remedy the situation, and this motivation will disappear.

To do so, the United States and the new Iraqi government must engage insurgent groups to address their grievances. Indeed, America’s ability to leave Iraq is inextricably linked to folding these insurgents into the new, democratic order. Violence will cease only when the insurgents see more value in investing in their country’s infrastructure than in destroying it.

The spontaneous celebration that erupted throughout Iraq in response to news of Zarqawi’s death proves that sectarian warfare is not the first choice of the Iraqi people. It is instead the result of a widespread and crushing sense of absolute helplessness and hopelessness. Only by providing help and restoring hope can we quell the violence.

Though we should not rejoice in any person’s death, Zarqawi’s has been welcomed by many. Yet it shouldn’t be mistaken for progress any more than removing one tumour is progress in a patient whose body is wracked by cancer. Americans must be wary of the “turned the corner” rhetoric; we have turned so many corners in this deeply-flawed effort we may just be turning in circles.

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* Bill Glucroft is a student of journalism at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. He maintains a website at www.allbillnobull.net. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), June 27, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 3
Mosques with foreign flags
Muqtedar Khan

Newark, Delaware - We entered the mosque through a large iron gate closely watched by a score of Turkish men. Unlike most architecturally-interesting buildings in Berlin, which are open and easily accessible, this majestic and grand mosque is surrounded by a high wall and is accessible only through iron gates. I was in Berlin for a conference organised by the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, and one of their scholars and a Berlin parliamentarian kindly volunteered to show me around the city.

As we approached the grand mosque, the Berlin parliamentarian remarked, "notice the Turkish flag on the mosque; do you see a German flag anywhere?"

The day-long conference in Berlin was about comparing the experiences of Germany and the United States in integrating their Muslim minorities. Throughout the day, scholars from both sides of the Atlantic struggled with political and philosophical issues involved in the absorption of large numbers of minorities whose political and cultural values may be at odds with those of the host nations.

While Muslim scholars argued for more openness, more religious and racial tolerance, and equal treatment of all religious communities, others called for more assimilation and insisted that immigrants must make the effort to learn local languages and adapt to the mainstream political and cultural norms.

As I looked at the mosque with its Turkish flag flying proudly, the high walls, the iron gates and the stoic faces, I suddenly realised that this was not a mosque but instead a sort of embassy, a foreign enclave, an extension of Turkish sovereignty in the heart of Germany. In the United States, one may occasionally find a U.S. flag on a mosque, but never that of a foreign country. The only mosque that has foreign flags is the Islamic Center in Washington DC which was established by diplomats from Muslim countries.

I sympathised with the Berlin parliamentarian's obvious displeasure concerning the Turkish flag. Several years ago I ran into a large contingent of Turks in the holiest of Muslim mosques in Mecca while circling the Kaaba. They were wearing tiny Turkish flags on their shirt collars. I found this display of nationalism in the House of God deeply offensive. Islam is a strictly monotheistic religion and nationalism in its extreme form begins to subvert the very idea of one God. Perhaps these Turks did not know that God is blind to nationality, ethnicity and race.

With Islamophobia on the rise in most Western countries, grand displays of Islamic religiosity combined with overt, in-your-face displays of allegiance to foreign nations can only be described as spectacularly stupid.

Both Muslims and non-Muslims are actively demanding the elimination of barriers between the Western mainstream and Muslim diaspora. While Muslims are insisting that host societies accommodate, recognise and respect all the differences that they bring, non-Muslims -- usually the dominant white Judeo-Christians -- are demanding that Muslims moderate these differences. In Germany the challenge is mainly that of Muslims learning the German language and of incorporating Islam as a German institution. In the United States the challenges are more related to the real or perceived sympathy of American Muslims for anti-Americanism in the Middle East.

Muslim immigrants bring three significant challenges to Western societies: cultural differences, religious differences and political differences. In the United States, the first two challenges are easily manageable. Most Americans believe in the United States as a multi-cultural society and deeply value religious pluralism. Unlike Europe where the elite preach secularism yet go against it in practice, America actually practices a separation of Church and State.

In the United States, the government is neither involved nor interested in how Islam is institutionalised or managed by Muslims, whereas in Germany the state not only teaches religion in school but also has religious clergy on government payroll. This becomes particularly problematic since Germany finances both Christian and Jewish institutions but does not even recognise Islam.

In the United States most people respect and even value cultural differences, jealously guard religious freedom, and consequently practice religious pluralism at all levels of society. Since most Americans are originally from a foreign country, the fact that Muslims also have foreign origins is of little issue.

American identity is open, flexible and continuously evolving. American citizenship is also easily acquired and hence becoming American in law and spirit faces less cultural and political barriers. Additionally, the "American dream" is a powerful positive that all immigrants aspire towards and often achieve. When travelling overseas, I frequently testify that coming to America for me was like joining the marines -- in America one can "be all you can be".

At present the key barrier to the mainstreaming of Islam in America is the relations between the United States and the Muslim world.

Germany has a long way to go. Even though it does not have foreign policy problems like the United States, it has several domestic policy issues. First, Germany must recognise Islam. Germany has been, for decades, a multi-ethnic society but very few Germans imagine Germany as a multi-cultural society. German intellectuals brag about being secular, but such a claim will remain false as long as Christian and Jewish institutions are on the national budget.

German identity is rooted in the past and is culturally tied to race, and ethnicity. Becoming German is very difficult, even for those who are born in Germany and speak perfect German but happen to look like me rather than Boris Becker.

German intellectuals must begin to imagine Germany as a political community that is a composite of values, rather than a nation-state based on a specific ethnicity. In the age of globalisation, narrowly defined identities are untenable. Germany, as an integral part of the emerging global society, must define itself in terms of global values that are sensitive to cultural, racial and religious differences. It must become a role model for other European nations like Ireland and Portugal that will soon face similar problems.

Muslims who live as minorities in the West or anywhere else must understand that their demand for tolerance of religious and cultural differences is a just cause. But they must align their political and economic interests with those of their neighbours, whose acceptance they seek, and not with those who live in foreign lands.

There is room for Islam in America and Germany. We can and we will build bigger and more spectacular mosques in the West, but there is no place for Saudi flags, or Turkish or Pakistani flags in Western mosques. They have their embassies and that is enough. They should not be allowed to use our mosques.

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* Muqtedar Khan teaches Islam and Global Affairs at the University of Delaware. He is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of Islamic Democratic Discourse [2006]. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Al Ahram, June 15 – 21, 2006
Visit the website at www.ahram.org.eg/weekly
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 4
Education key to moderate Islam
Ridwan Max Sijabat

Jakarta, Indonesia - Islam is a religion of moderation which is against extremism, fanaticism and the use of violence, and is neither inherently opposed to modernity nor antagonistic to the West, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi says.

Addressing the second International Conference of Islamic Scholars in Jakarta on Tuesday, Badawi said Muslim nations should develop an educational curriculum that firmly establishes the values of mutual understanding, tolerance, dialogue and multi-lateralism in accordance with the tenets of Islam.

"We Muslims must also take actions to heal the rifts within the ummah (Muslim groups) so as to demonstrate, by words and deeds, that Islam is indeed a religion of moderation, which rejects bigotry, extremism and fanaticism, especially terrorism," said Badawi, who chairs the Organization of Islamic Conference.

Some 300 Muslim scholars from 53 countries are attending the two-day forum that was opened Tuesday by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Badawi said despite the different ways of championing the faith, which have frequently been a source of discord, Muslims must "reject those who deliberately kill non-combatants and the innocent; those who oppress and exploit others; those who are corrupt and greedy and those who are chauvinist and communal".

He said true Muslims were those upholding justice, fighting tyranny, seeking liberation from oppression and those who were honest, upright, universal and inclusive.

Islam was neither opposed to modernity nor antagonistic toward the Christian or non-believing West, Badawi said.

"Muslims can indeed be modern without being Western. They can modernise and do so without 'Westernising'."

A truly modern Muslim was one able to harmonise the revelations of Islam and the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad on one hand, with human reasoning and science on the other, he said.

Sharing Malaysia's experience in practicing a moderate form of Islam, the prime minister said Islam was no obstacle to progress and modernity, including democracy.

Although Malaysia was a majority Muslim country with non-Muslims making up 33 percent of its population, it was governed democratically in a power-sharing system with various ethnic groups of different religions and beliefs, Badawi said.

"Religious harmony is maintained by the constitutional guarantee of freedom to worship, and all citizens are equal before the law."

Badawi also stressed the importance of promoting fruitful interfaith dialogue between the West and the Islamic world to build peace on earth.

"To achieve this, it is imperative for the West to acknowledge first that Islam is not merely a religion but is also a civilisation, a cultural entity and a way of life all at once. In dealing with Muslims, one must take into account their religious sensitivities," he said.

He said any dialogue would succeed if there was mutual respect, equality and reciprocity.

Speaking at the same conference organised by Nahdlatul Ulama -- Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation -- Mgr. Khaled Akasheh, a special emissary of Pope Benedict XVI, emphasised the importance of strengthening inter-religious dialogue with the Islamic world to achieve global peace.

Akasheh said the Catholic Church under the Pope would continue pursuing dialogue with other faiths, especially Islam, to enhance existing friendships.

"In the strength of their faiths, Christians and Muslims, through dialogue, can and must give witness and work together so that our societies can reopen once more to the transcendental," he said, referring to what he called "ethical relativism" and secularism in the dominant Western culture.

Quoting the Pope in a recent discussion with Muslim leaders in Cologne, Akasheh said dialogue between Christians and Muslims should not be reduced to an optional extra. "It is, in fact, a vital necessity, on which in large measure our future depends."

Prince Ghazi Bin Mohammed of Jordan, the personal envoy and special adviser to King Abdullah II, was also in attendance.

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* Ridwan Max Sijabat is a writer for the Jakarta Post. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Jakarta Post, June 21, 2006
Visit the website at www.thejakaratapost.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 5
Saudi women unveil opinions online
Rasheed Abou-Alsamh

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - In this country where women are forced to completely cover themselves in public, are barred from driving, and need permission to travel abroad, it's small wonder many are embracing the freedom of anonymity on the Internet.

"I love blogging because it helps me to express myself and I like to write in English," says Farah Aziz, a translation student at King Saud University in Riyadh who started blogging in January 2005.

The content of Ms. Aziz's blog (http://farahssowaleef.blogspot.com), which chronicles the life of a college student, would probably do little to cause alarm among government censors. But other women bloggers are drawing the attention of the state as conservative male bloggers have taken to policing the Internet for bloggers acting in ways that they perceive as inappropriate according to Islam.

Saudi Eve, who regularly writes about her love life and religion, and who declined to be identified by her real name because of the sensitivity of the issue, woke up on June 2 to find that her blog (http://eveksa.blogspot.com) had been blocked.

"Back and blocked," she wrote on her blog on June 2. "I'm temporarily back in Saudi only to find that 'Saudi Eve is officially blocked in Saudi.' "

The closure of her site signals the beginning of a cyber battle between liberal Saudi bloggers and their more conservative counterparts.

Blogging under the name Green Tea (http://www.g-tea.com/), Riyadh law student Mohammed al-Mossaed recently formed a conservative group of Saudi bloggers called the Official Community of Saudi Arabian Bloggers (OCSAB). "I am not responsible for the blocking of any website," says Mr. Mossaed. "OCSAB also has nothing to do with it. Maybe [Saudi Eve] broke [the state's] rules by sometimes talking about God and sex."

Response and sympathy from fellow bloggers was swift, with many urging the Kingdom's Internet watchdog, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), to unblock the site.

Deeply conservative, Saudi Arabia is among the most restrictive countries in regard to Internet access in the world, with most traffic going through a central hub at KACST in Riyadh. The biggest number of blocked sites are pornographic sites, followed by sites that discuss drugs, religion, and terrorism. But KACST itself admits that it sometimes blocks benign sites by mistake.

"The blacklist we use is a combination of an international commercial blacklist and a local blacklist," says Mishaal Al-Kadhi, the head of KACST's Internet Service Unit, in a phone interview from Riyadh. "Ninety-five percent of blocked sites are pornographic. But we do make mistakes sometimes and urge people to e-mail us with their unblock requests."

Saudi Eve, who is in her late 20s, single, and often travels abroad on business, says she was singled out for being female and for daring to write about her love life and God in the same post.

"My blog wasn't blocked because I wrote about romantic escapades, for as you know there are so many blogs on the Internet - both Saudi and non-Saudi - that write/blog about 'romantic escapades', among other Saudi taboos, which aren't being blocked in Saudi," she said in an e-mail exchange.

"In my opinion, my blog was singled out and blocked because I - a Saudi female - wrote about romantic escapades in Arabic, plus I committed the 'ultimate sin' by mentioning the name of God in those posts," she explained. "To a Saudi male, romance is only allowed if written in English or by a male. It definitely isn't tolerated if it's written by a Saudi female, let alone in Arabic."

Saudi Eve is not the only blogger to feel the wrath of conservative bloggers. Aziz, too, has had her run-ins with OCSAB and Green Tea, saying that they have threatened her in comments left on her site.

"First, they say that a blog cannot disrespect Islam in any way in order for it to be included in OCSAB," says Aziz. "Second, they say that they don't accept blogs that are personal diaries, which is ridiculous as most blogs are just that."

Yet Aziz admitted that OSCAB's aim to spread the culture of blogging among Saudis was working, though perhaps not to her liking.

One female blogger (http://www.classic-diva.blogspot.com/) said that she was stopped from using the Internet at home for several months after her conservative brothers grew suspicious about why she was spending so much time online.

"I've been blogging since April 2005. It's a way to vent my frustrations and to write," said Jo, who asked only that her first name be used. "My family knows that I have a site, but they don't have a concept of what blogging is."

Jo was forced to sneak out of her house to use the Internet at the house of friends or at a local Starbucks, and still has limited access to the Internet at home. She says that the blocking of Saudi Eve signals a battle that has already started between liberal and conservative bloggers in the Kingdom.

"We have this clash going on between us liberals and the conservatives in the blogosphere. I think that OCSAB is trying to scare us," says Jo.

For her part, Saudi Eve has not decided yet whether she will start a new blog to overcome being blocked in Saudi, or whether she will send KACST a request to unblock her site.

"I haven't decided yet whether to react to this block or just to ignore it. There are readers in the rest of the world, you know!" she said in an e-mail shortly before leaving the kingdom on yet another business trip abroad.

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* Rasheed Abou-Alsamh is a Saudi-American blogger and journalist based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Thisarticle is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Christian Science Monitor, June 19, 2006
Visit the website at www.csmonitor.com
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright © The Christian Science Monitor. For reprint permission, please contact lawrenced@csps.com.

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The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) provides news, op-eds, features and analysis by local and international experts on a broad range of issues affecting Muslim-Western relations. CGNews-PiH syndicates articles that are balanced and solution-oriented to news outlets worldwide. With support from the Norwegian government and the United States Institute of Peace, this news service is a non-profit initiative of Search for Common Ground, an international NGO working in the field of conflict transformation.

This news service is one outcome of a set of working meetings held in partnership with His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan in June 2003.

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THE COLLECTED CLINCAL WORKS OF ALFRED ADLER:
For the first time, Alfred Adler’s pioneering works in depth
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ESSENTIAL READING:
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Dignity - A Unifying Value for American Politics

Robert W. Fuller

Both political parties know that a unifying core value expressed in a pithy slogan translates into votes. FDR’s Democrats had "The New Deal"; LBJ’s party advanced "The Great Society." Republicans rally to "lower taxes,” “smaller government,” “strong defense,” and “family values."

What core value, what slogan, could move us beyond the toxic standoff that paralyzes American politics today? The answer lies in a single word—Dignity.

This core value takes wings on the inclusive slogan: "Dignity For All." The bumper sticker reads “Dignity4All,” and it will soon begin appearing on cars across America.

The idea of a universal right to dignity may at first seem too simple to pull together the disparate elements of this divided nation, but it's not. Dignity is what people want, on the left, on the right, and most importantly, in the vast, non-ideological middle.

Dignity is not negotiable. People will stand up for their dignity, and once they're on their feet, it’s usually not long before they’re marching for justice.

Two hundred years of bloody world history have shown that there is no direct path from Liberty to Justice. But if we interpose a steppingstone, we can build a bridge to justice. The name of that stone is not “Equality,” it’s "Dignity." By establishing the right to dignity, and then enacting legislation that protects everyone's dignity equally, we can give concrete meaning to Thomas Jefferson’s evocative claim that “All men are created equal.”

A “dignitarian society" pulls together what’s best from the three broad strands of civic culture dominating politics since the French Revolution—Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. The polarizing stranglehold these ideals exert on the contemporary imagination, when any one is prioritized over the others, is a major source of the incivility that infects our politics today.

Conservatives see themselves as Liberty’s defenders; progressives pride themselves as the champions of equality. Both parties promise Fraternity, but neither delivers it.

Dignity is more encompassing than Liberty, Equality, or Fraternity. It's the missing link that when restored will yield an electoral mandate to make good on America’s founding promise of “liberty and justice for all.”

The politics of dignity puts the “We” back in “We the People.” It spans the conservative-liberal divide. It closes the ideological fissures that separate libertarian, egalitarian, and fraternitarian ideologies and breaks the stalemate that has stalled the advance of justice since the 1960s.

A dignitarian society does not tolerate indignity—towards anyone. When this principle is translated into policy, it rules out acceptance of a permanent underclass. It disallows prejudice and discrimination toward all the groups that have rallied around the various flags of identity politics. It transforms the stalemate over abortion and gay marriage into a civil discussion of whose rights to dignity are being abridged. It proclaims everyone’s right to a sustainable environment.

Like liberty and justice, dignity is most easily defined in the negative. As a precursor to banishment or enslavement, we’re all attuned to pick up on the slightest hint of indignity.

What causes people to experience indignity? The precise and universal cause of indignity is the abuse of power. Make a list of the most distressing issues of recent years: corporate corruption, the Katrina catastrophe, sexual abuse by clergy, Abu Ghraib, domestic spying, etc. Every one of them can be traced to an abuse of power by individuals of high rank. Often the abuses had the blessing of people of even higher rank.

To effectively oppose the full range of abuses of power vested in rank, we need a word that identifies them collectively. Abuse and discrimination based on color and gender are called “racism” and “sexism,” respectively. By analogy, abuse and discrimination based on the power inherent in rank is “rankism.” This coinage provides a vitalizing link between the methods of identity politics and the moral values of democratic governance. Having a generic name for abuses of power makes them much easier to target, and targeting them is precisely what’s called for if democracy is to resume its evolution.

However principled the cause, no party can present itself as a champion of dignity so long as its members reserve the right to indulge in rankism. This includes treating political opponents with indignity. Humiliation and condescension—toward domestic opponents or foreign enemies—are inherently rankist postures, and as such they have no place in a dignitarian politics.

How would a society that makes dignity its linchpin differ from ones shaped by ideologies that accentuate liberty, equality, or fraternity? The difference is one of nuance, not opposition, for a dignitarian society combines the strengths of all three traditions.

A dignitarian society promotes individual freedom, while at the same time tempering the uninhibited free market with institutions of social responsibility that insure that economic power does not confer unwarranted educational or political advantages. For example, you shouldn’t have to be rich to attend good schools, or command a fortune to stand for office.

A dignitarian society provides genuine equality of opportunity. In a dignitarian society, loss of social mobility, let alone division into master and servant classes, is unacceptable. There's a way out of poverty in a dignitarian society. Everyone earns a living wage and has access to quality health care.

The politics of dignity sees democracy as a work in progress. Democracy's next step—one that will enlarge liberty, deliver justice, and foster fraternity—is to overcome rankism and build a dignitarian society.

Dignity is an idea whose time has come. The party that takes dignity as its core value can mobilize the energy not merely to win at the polls, but to win with a mandate to fulfill our nation's implicit promise of "Dignity For All."

NEWSLETTER FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS HOUSE NETWORK

1) Torture is completely unacceptable
Today, on UN’s International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, there will be far too many voices we won’t here, namely the voices of those who are being tortured and continue to be imprisoned. Amnesty International’s latest annual report teaches us that torture is practiced in more than 100 countries.

2) If you have access to arms, you torture others
Research establishes that all armed security personnel groups in Uganda are guilty of torture, as defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture. The investigations were carried out by one of the organisations associated with the Human Rights House project in Uganda, the African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims.

3) The secret prison in Grozny
In Chechnya in the center of Grozny human rights activists discovered a secret prison in a cellar. The Ministry of Internal Affairs’s operational group detained people and some of them were tortured and killed in the building, reported the “Memorial” human rights center on the basis of its own investigation and a proof presented by a victim. The day after the Ministry’s group left the place, the secret prison was quickly demolished.

4) Rebyia Kadeer´s son tortured in detention
A press release from the Uyghur Human Rights Project states that one of Rebiya Kadeer’s sons arrested by Chinese police, has been tortured in detention. UHR Project is not aware of the extent or nature of any injuries Mr Abdureyim may have sustained, but express concern that he may be in need of urgent medical attention, and is at risk of further abuse.

5) Norway criticized for ill-treatment by police
The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has published a report on its fourth visit to Norway. The report which has been made public at the request of the Norwegian authorities and contains, in particular, recommendations to further strengthen fundamental safeguards against the ill- treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the police

Free of charge news and background service from the Human
Rights House Network, an international forum of cooperation between
independent human rights houses. It works to strengthen cooperation and
improve the security and capacity of the 70 human rights organizations in
the Network. The Human Rights House Foundation in Oslo is the
secretariat.

To subscribe, please send an email to:
newsletter-subscribe@humanrightshouse.org

More news and background on www.humanrightshouse.org

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Nina Luhr
Editor
Human Rights House Foundation (HRH)
Address: Menneskerettighetshuset,
Tordenskioldsgate 6b, 0160 Oslo, Norway
Tel: (+47) 22 47 92 47, Direct: (+47) 22 47 92 44,
Fax: (+47) 22 47 92 01
Website: http://www.humanrightshouse.org,
http://www.menneskerettigheter.no

AMARC will cover the XVI International HIV-AIDS Conference

Le français suit
For immediate distribution

AMARC will cover the XVI International HIV-AIDS Conference
Montreal, June 22, 2006 - The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) will be ensuring special coverage of the XVI International HIV-AIDS Conference from the 13th to the 18th of August, which will be held in Toronto, Canada. Visit our website at http://www.aids.amarc.org
The world largest AIDS Conference will gather an estimate of 15 000 participants among which are scientists, community activists and leaders from more than 100 countries. As the largest and most diverse international gathering devoted to a global health issue, the Conference brings together the movement of people responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic to share their lessons and together stake out the road ahead. AIDS 2006 is a catalyst for change. For more information on the conference visit: http://aids2006.org
AMARC will broadcast the proceedings of the Conference through its networks. The AMARC delegation will be composed of journalists from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and North America. The coverage will be ensured in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. To listen and broadcast the reports please visit: http://www.aids.amarc.org
The AMARC world coverage of the international HIV-AIDS Conference is ensured in partnership with the International AIDS society, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) as well as participating community radio stations and NGOs.

AMARC is an international non-governmental organization serving community radio. Present in more than 110 countries, this association provides a worldwide network for exchange and solidarity, as well as coordinating and promoting the development of community radio.
For more information visit: www.aids.amarc.org or contact: Sophie Toupin, sophie@amarc.org, (514) 982-0351.

Pour distribution immédiate

AMARC couvrira le 16ieme Congrès International sur le VIH-SIDA
Montréal, juin 22, 2006 - L'Association mondiale des radiodiffuseurs communautaires (AMARC) assurera la couverture du 16ieme Congrès international sur le VIH-SIDA qui se tiendra à Toronto, Canada, du 13 au 18 août prochain. Visitez notre site web au http://www.aids.amarc.org
La plus grande conférence mondiale sur le SIDA va réunir 15 000 participants parmi lesquels on retrouvera des scientifiques, des activistes et des leaders de plus de 100 pays. Ce Congrès représente une occasion d'analyser les expériences communes de l'épidémie du VIH-SIDA et de définir l'ordre du jour des actions à venir. Pour plus d'information sur le Congrès visitez: http://aids2006.org

AMARC diffusera les événements du congrès à travers ses réseaux. La délégation de l'AMARC se composera de journalistes de l'Afrique, l'Amérique latine et les Caraïbes, l'Asie-Pacifique, l'Europe et l'Amérique du Nord. La couverture sera assurée en anglais, français, espagnol et portugais. Pour écouter et diffuser les reportages visitez : http://www.aids.amarc.org
La couverture mondiale réalisée par l'AMARC lors du Congrès international du HIV-AIDS se fait en partenariat avec la société internationale de SIDA, le Centre de recherches pour le développement international (CRDI) aussi bien que les stations de radio communautaires participantes et les ONGs.

AMARC est une organisation internationale non-gouvernemental servant le mouvement de la radio communautaire dans plus de 110 pays, et préconisant le droit à communiquer aux niveaux international, national, régional et local. AMARC a un secrétariat international à Montréal. Il a également des sections régionales en Afrique, en Amérique latine et en Asie Pacifique et des bureaux à Johannesburg, Buenos Aires et Katmandou.
Pour plus d'information visitez: www.aids.amarc.org ou contactez: Sophie Toupin, sophie@amarc.org, (514) 982-0351.

The WMD's DemocracyNews
Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org
June 2006

POSTING NEWS:
We welcome items to include in DemocracyNews. Please send an email message to world@ned.org with the item you would like to post in the body of the message.

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DEMOCRACY ALERTS/APPEALS

1. Rebiya Kadeer's Children Detained in North Western China
2. New Venezuelan Law to Control NGOs
3. Repressive Measures in Tunisia Prevent Conference of the Tunisian Human Rights League

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS
4. July Conference in Moscow
5. New Governance and Social Development Resource Centre Web Site Launched
6. Inter-Parliamentary Union Launches New Guide on Parliament and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century
7. Pakistani Organization Launches Web site
8. Call for Applications: Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowships

CIVIL MILITARY RELATIONS
9. Visit RESDAL Web Site for Information on Civil Military Relations

CIVIL SOCIETY STRENGTHENING
10. Training Sessions on Democracy and Islam in Jordan
11. Sixth CIVICUS World Assembly to be Held in Scotland

CONFLICT RESOLUTION
12. Regional Conference on Transitional Justice in the Western Balkans
13. TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU) Offers Online Courses on Conflict Transformation and Human Rights
14. Announcement of Online Course in Gender and Conflict Transformation
15. Seventh Annual Meeting of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies in Costa Rica
16. 2006 Workshop on Humiliation and Violent Conflict

ECONOMIC REFORM AND THE BUSINESS SECTOR
17. CIPE Releases 2005 Annual Report
18. Presentation: "Democratic and Economic Transition in Serbia: Capturing Lessons Learned"
19. Israel Democracy Institute Holds Annual Economic Forum

HUMAN RIGHTS
20. Statement to the African Commission on Human Rights Situation in Sudan
21. Call for Applications Extended for Distance Learning Course

INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE AND SOLIDARITY
22. Backlash Against Democracy Assistance: NED Releases Report in Testimony Before Senate Foreign Relations Committee
23. Report Identifies Key Issues Relating to Implementation of New Iraq Constitution

24. WORLD MOVEMENT PARTICIPATING NETWORKS, ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED IN THIS ISSUE

DEMOCRACY ALERTS/APPEALS

1. Rebiya Kadeer's Children Detained in North Western China
On June 7, 2006, Amnesty International initiated a campaign for the release of the children of 2004 Rafto Prize Laureate Rebiya Kadeer. Rebiya Kadeer's three children were detained in Urumchi, the capital of the Xinjiang province in north western China, also known as East Turkestan. Speculations were that they were detained prior to the arrival of a delegation from the US Congress on May 30. Ms. Kadeer, an advocate for Uygur minority rights, served a six-year prison term for "leaking state secrets" by sending newspaper clippings to her husband in the United States. Immediately after she was released in March 2005, Ms. Kadeer immigrated to the United States.
To protest the arrests, go to: http://www.amnesty.no/web.nsf/pages/806a5A58C7BD30C23C1257185002F3F65

2. New Venezuelan Law to Control NGOs
Consorcio Justicia of Venezuela is calling for support and solidarity from the international community in response to a proposed law that would establish invasive restrictions for civil society organizations - domestic and foreign - operating in the country. The International Cooperation Law would provide the Venezuelan Government with the legal authority to monitor civil society actors, regulate their activities, audit their financial records, and block funding and support from international partners. The Venezuelan National Assembly has already ratified the proposed law in the first of two plenary debates. The law is expected to receive final approval in the coming weeks. Consorcio Justicia encourages democracy activists around the world to raise awareness about this new law.
For more information go to http://www.justiceconsortium.org/ or email Consorcio Justicia Director Carlos Ponce at director@justiceconsortium.org

3. Repressive Measures in Tunisia Prevent Conference of the Tunisian Human Rights League
On May 30, 2006, the Cairo Institute of Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) issues an alert in response to the recent events in Tunisia, in which Tunisian security forces had laid siege to the Tunisian Human Rights League's headquarters to prevent its members from holding the organization's sixth national conference. According to CIHRS, foreign activists and guests were also maltreated, insulted and subjected to physical assault. At the same time, roads leading to the Tunisian capital of Tunis were blocked and martial law measures instated. Members of the League were subsequently unable to pass through the established checkpoints and their drivers' licenses were taken from them. The CIHRS denounced the continued assaults carried out be the Tunisian security forces against human rights activists. The CIHRS called upon Tunisian authorities to stop its use of oppressive methods and put an immediate end to violations of the rights of activists. It also called for the lifting of the siege laid to the League's headquarters and demanded that those responsible for the series of assaults be held accountable. Furthermore, the CIHRS demanded that victims be compensated for the moral and material damages they have suffered, and that the League be enabled to hold its national conference.
For more information, go to: www.cihrs.org/Press_details_en.aspx?per_id=100&pr_year=2006

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

4. July Conference in Moscow
The All-Russia Civic Congress, a movement of Russian civil society organizations, is organizing a conference, entitled "The Other Russia," which will be held in Moscow on July 11-12, prior to the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg. The Moscow Helsinki Group, the United Civil Front of Russia, and the INDEM Foundation will co-chair the conference. The focus of the discussions will be on growing threats to democratic liberties and human rights in Russia, and the effort to develop a sustained international coalition to support Russian civil society and democracy in the face of those threats. Sessions will be held on the topics of independent media; new legislation regulating NGOs; abuses by law enforcement and security agencies; political prisoners; corruption; the crisis in the North Caucasus; and ethnic and religious conflict.
Go to: http://www.theotherrussia.ru/eng/list/

5. New Governance and Social Development Resource Centre Web Site Launched
Launched in early June, the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) Web site provides access to research and training in governance, conflict, and social development. The GSDRC aims to help reduce poverty by better informing policymaking and enhancing professional knowledge and competencies. A range of services are available to the public, including free access to the latest publications via the online library, user-friendly topic guides to the key issues, and directories of the latest conferences, training and organizations. Advice on demand is also available, including rapid response research and help finding consultants.
Go to: http://www.gsdrc.org

6. Inter-Parliamentary Union Launches New Guide on Parliament and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century
A recent publication from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), entitled "Parliament and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century: A Guide to Good Practice," provides a comprehensive and systematic account of the central role that parliament plays in a democracy. It identifies five key objectives for a parliament: to be representative, transparent, accessible, accountable and effective. It then proceeds to give examples of how parliaments are seeking to fulfill those objectives. Drawing on submissions from more than 75 national parliaments, the Guide provides evidence that democratic change is possible, and offers some practical illustrations of how it might be brought about.
The guide is available in English and French at: http://www.ipu.org/dem-e/guide.htm

7. Pakistani Organization Launches Web site
The Centre for Civic Education-Pakistan (CCE) has launched a new Web site. Besides highlighting the work of organization, the Web site offers resources by which to understand Pakistani democracy. CCE is an independent research, civic education, training, and advocacy group that strives to cultivate and nurture civic culture, civic courage and values of freedom, tolerance, peace, rule of law, and democracy to strengthen civil society.
Go to: http://www.civiceducation.org/

8. Call for Applications: Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowships
The Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program at the Washington, DC-based National Endowment for Democracy welcomes applications from candidates throughout the world for fellowships in 2007-2008. Established in 2001, the program enables democracy activists, practitioners, scholars, and journalists from around the world to deepen their understanding of democracy and enhance their ability to promote democratic change. The program is intended primarily to support activists, practitioners, and scholars from new and aspiring democracies; distinguished scholars from the United States and other established democracies are also eligible to apply. Projects may focus on the political, social, economic, legal, and cultural aspects of democratic development and may include a range of methodologies and approaches. A working knowledge of English is an important prerequisite for participation in the program. The application deadline for fellowships in 2007-2008 is Wednesday, November 1, 2006.
For further information about the program, available in English, Arabic, Russian, and Spanish, go to: www.ned.org/forum/fellows.html

CIVIL MILITARY RELATIONS

9. Visit RESDAL Web Site for Information on Civil Military Relations
The Security and Defense Network of Latin America (RESDAL) was created in 2001 to promote the institutionalization of the state's security and defense functions within a framework of democracy, by strengthening civilian capacities. Today, RESDAL is made up of over 250 members from the entire region. The RESDAL Web Site serves as a resource for information exchange and networking. It provides tools for policymaking and offers research materials to support the creation of civil society institutions. News, events, documents, publications, and papers can be freely accessed through the database, which contains approximately 1200 documents. Regular sections include the Newsletter, Comparative Atlas of Security and Defense in Latin America, Peacekeeping Operation in Haiti, Defense Budgets, and Parliament and Defense.
Go to: www.resdal.org

CIVIL SOCIETY STRENGTHENING

10. Training Sessions on Democracy and Islam in Jordan
The Arab World Center for Democratic Development and Human Rights (UniHrD) recently provided nine training sessions to young lawyers, students, teachers, and women association members from the regions. The training program, funded by Street Law, Inc., educated participants about the basic principles of a democracy and how these principles relate to a number of pillars of political Islam. The training, which brought together 200 participants, was based on the book ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY- TOWARD EFFECTIVE CITIZENSHIP. A report produced by UniHrD summarizes specific recommendations generated by the workshop participants to stimulate democratic development in their regions.
To read the report on the training sessions, go to:
www.wmd.org/documents/june_06 Recommendations_Training Session in Jordan0606.doc

11. Sixth CIVICUS World Assembly to be Held in Scotland
CIVICUS will hold its World Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland, from June 21-25. The theme of the 2006 Assembly will be "Acting Together for a Just World" and will engage international NGOs, community-based groups, think-tanks and academics from around the world in a dialogue to foster knowledge, relationships, and tangible action. Countless leaders of international prominence will contribute to the program, which includes topics such as "Building and Managing a Strong and Legitimate Nonprofit," and "Civil Society Making International Governmental Organizations Accountable."
To register or for more information, go to: www.civicusassembly.org

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

12. Regional Conference on Transitional Justice in the Western Balkans
On May 5-6, 2006, the Humanitarian Law Center (Serbia), the Research Documentation Center (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Documenta (Croatia) held a conference, entitled "Establishing the Truth in the Aftermath of Conflict: Current Initiatives and Perspectives in the West Balkans." Various human rights organizations, victims' associations from countries of the former Yugoslavia, representatives of the Hague Tribunal, international and local experts in transitional justice, members of the Parliamentary Political Parties' Workgroup, and representation of the president and judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina took part in the conference. Participants expressed their support for the trials before the Hague Tribunal as a way of establishing individual liability of the war crimes. They also expressed the need for broad dialogue and consultations on the means and initiatives for establishing truth. Participants also supported the idea of working towards establishing transitional justice programs in their respective countries. They emphasized the need for cooperation in the war crimes trials and agreed on continuing the process of consultations regarding truth and reconciliation in the region.
Go to; www.hlc.org.yu/english/Conferences/War_Crimes_Trials/index.php?file=1429.html

13. TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU) Offers Online Courses on Conflict Transformation and Human Rights
Beginning in the October 2006 semester, TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU) will offer 18 online courses in the area of peaceful conflict transformation, gender, peacebuilding, nonviolence, peace and business, human rights, peace journalism and many others. The courses are designed for government and NGO practitioners, policy makers, and students at any level working in the fields of peace, conflict transformation, development, post-war reconstruction, rehabilitation, and reconciliation and global issues.
Deadline for Applications: September 25th, 2006
Go to: http://www.transcend.org/tpu

14. Announcement of Online Course in Gender and Conflict Transformation
Registration is still open for a four-week online course in Gender and Conflict Transformation, offered by the Network University (TNU) from June 26 - July 23, 2006. The course brings together worldwide expertise on the relationship between gender and conflict transformation, and emphasizes empowering women to become key agents in conflict transformation. In addition, the course aims to share experiences, connect the local and international levels, and create a network of gender and conflict experts. The cost of the course is 450 Euros, with a limited number of partial scholarships available.
Go to: www.netuni.nl/demos/genderconflict

15. Seventh Annual Meeting of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies in Costa Rica
The International Peace Studies Program at the United Nations-mandated University for Peace in San Jose, Costa Rica, will organize the 7th Annual Meeting of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies on September 6-9, 2006. A closed meeting will take place September 6-8, with a public conference on September 9. Presentations will include "Humiliation in a Globalizing World: Does Humiliation Become the Most Disruptive Force?" and "The Humiliation Dynamic: Looking Back ...Looking Forward".
Go to: www.humiliationstudies.org/whoweare/annualmeeting07.php

16. 2006 Workshop on Humiliation and Violent Conflict
On December 14 and 15, the Center for International Conflict Resolution (SIPA) will convene the 2006 Workshop on Humiliation and Violent Conflict, on behalf of the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS) project of the Columbia University Conflict Resolution Network (CU-CRN). The workshop will be held at the Columbia University Teacher's College in New York, as a continuation of workshops held in 2004 and 2005. Given the current context of the field of international conflict, the impact of emotions on conflict has become an important question worldwide. Humiliation will be seen as a point of entry into broader analysis, and scholars from diverse fields of inquiry are encouraged to contribute to the discussion. Those who wish to participate in the closed portion of the workshop are invited to contact the organizers of the event.
Go to: http://www.humiliationstudies.org/whoweare/annualmeeting08.php

ECONOMIC REFORM AND THE BUSINESS SECTOR

17. CIPE Releases 2005 Annual Report
The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) recently released its latest Annual Report. The report highlights programs in Iraq and Afghanistan, which are presented in two-page spreads. Other activities highlighted in the report include: CIPE's project in Cairo, where it supported the "Egypt Code of Corporate Governance," the first code to be written originally in Arabic and developed locally; a weekly TV show produced by CIPE partners in Ecuador, Tribuna Liberal, which discusses the main economic and political issues affecting Ecuadorian society; and activities of CIPE partners in Russia, whose recommendations to the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Union of Businessmen OPORA were incorporated into amendments to five federal laws. The report also details the opening of CIPE's newest field office in Karachi, Pakistan.
To read CIPE's complete 2005 Annual Report online, go to: http://www.cipe.org/about/report/index.htm

18. Presentation: "Democratic and Economic Transition in Serbia: Capturing Lessons Learned"
On June 7, Boris Begovic presented at a roundtable discussion at the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) entitled "Democratic and Economic Transition in Serbia: Capturing Lessons Learned." Drawing on the theory of Hungarian economist Janos Kornai, Dr. Begovic identified the key attributes of the successful transitions in Central and Eastern Europe. Using those factors, Dr. Begovic then evaluated Serbia's transition and showed the disparities between the two. The presentation also touched on the recent referendum on independence for Montenegro and ended with a discussion of the next steps in Serbia's journey to democracy. A streaming video of Dr. Begovic's presentation is now available on the CIPE Web site.
To view the video, go to: mms://208.4.46.186/Begovic_CIPE.wmv

19. Israel Democracy Institute Holds Annual Economic Forum
The Israel Democracy Institute's (IDI) Annual Economic Forum will take place on June 20-22 in Jerusalem. As in previous years, Israel's Minister of Finance will direct the conference, and the most central and pressing issues in the Israeli market are to be discussed. Topics will include Ways of Reducing Poverty in Israel, Formulating Policy for the Low-Tech Fields, and Macroeconomic Policy. Among the conference's participants are prime ministers, past and present, Cabinet Ministers, Knesset members, leading figures in the business world, academics, and public officials. A live English-language simulcast of key speeches is available on the IDI's English Web site, www.idi.org.il/english.
To learn more, go to: http://www.idi.org.il/english/article.asp?id=25052006150549&did=100

HUMAN RIGHTS

20. Statement to the African Commission on Human Rights Situation in Sudan
The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), and the Sudanese Organization Against Torture (SOAT) made a statement during the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Commission calling on the Commission to hold the government of Sudan accountable for its violation of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights. This would be done by obliging the Sudanese government to identify, investigate, and prosecute all persons responsible for gross human rights violations, including those in its security organs and its aligned government militias in Darfur and across the Sudan, and to fully comply with its obligations as required by UN security resolutions and the international law to which Sudan is bound, among other requirements.
To view the full statement, go to: http://www.cihrs.org/Press_details_en.aspx?per_id=97&pr_year=2006

21. Call for Applications Extended for Distance Learning Course
Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) announces that the deadline to apply for its distance learning course "Introduction to the European System of Human Rights Protection and Promotion" has been extended until July 15. The course will be held on September 11 - December 3 and is primarily intended for advanced graduate and undergraduate students of international law or social and political sciences; civic education and history teachers; and NGO staff members from Council of Europe member states.
Go to: http://www.hrea.org/courses/9E.html

INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE AND SOLIDARITY

22. Backlash Against Democracy Assistance: NED Releases Report in Testimony Before Senate Foreign Relations Committee
On June 8, 2006, Carl Gershman, the President of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), presented a 52-page report before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the Backlash Against Democracy Assistance. The new report asserts that foreign governments' efforts to constrain democracy assistance have recently intensified and now seriously impede democracy assistance in a number of states. Representatives of democracy assistance NGOs have been harassed, offices closed, staff expelled, and local grantees put in danger, especially in the former Soviet states of Eurasia, as well as in China, Venezuela, Egypt and Zimbabwe. Despite these developments, the report documents that the demand for democratic assistance is greater than ever, and it emphasizes that there is a long history of successful democracy assistance, even in challenging circumstances. In its conclusion, the report outlines a number of concrete recommendations for Congressional actions to counter the new backlash.
For the full report, go to: http://www.ned.org/publications/reports/backlash06.pdf

23. Report Identifies Key Issues Relating to Implementation of New Iraq Constitution
A report summarizing the roundtable series "Next Steps for the Iraq Constitution" was released by the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG), which hosted the roundtable discussions and conducted a negotiation simulation to address the key issues relating to the constitutional implementation process in Iraq. Over 50 Iraqi and international experts participated. The report, "Next Steps for the Iraq Constitution Roundtable Series", complements other PILPG resources designed to assist Iraq's legislators, including the results of the constitutional negotiation simulation and legislative memoranda.
To view the full report in English or Arabic, go to: http://www.publicinternationallaw.org/news/Iraq.23May_06.html
For other PILPG resources on Iraq go to: www.pilpg.org/areas/peacebuilding/simulations/iraq

24. WORLD MOVEMENT PARTICIPATING NETWORKS, ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS MENTIONED IN THIS ISSUE

* Cairo Institute of Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) - www.cihrs.org
* Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) - www.cipe.org
* CIVICUS - www.civicus.org
* Consorcio Justicia - www.justiceconsortium.org
* Humanitarian Law Center - www.hlc.org.yu/english
* International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation
* Israel Democracy Institute - www.idi.org.il
* Moscow Helsinki Group - www.mhg.ru
* Security and Defense Network of Latin America (RESDAL) - www.resdal.org

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To subscribe send an email to subscribe-democracynews@lyris.ned.org.

If you do not have access to the Web and would like to access the materials mentioned above, please contact us by e-mail(world@ned.org)or fax (202-293-0755).

DemocracyNews is an electronic mailing list moderated by the National Endowment for Democracy as the Secretariat of the World Movement for Democracy.
The material presented in DemocracyNews is intended for information purposes only.
The WMD's DemocracyNews
Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org

Julie Titone kindly writes to us:

At some point, you might consider applying for a visiting fellowship at the Kroc Institute....

http://kroc.nd.edu/visiting_fellows/index.shtml:

The Kroc Institute has two visiting fellowship programs. Kroc Institute Fellows conduct research in peace studies, broadly defined. Rockefeller Fellows examine the complex role of religion in contemporary conflicts. Guidelines for applying to each of these programs are below.

Search for Common Ground Newsletter Summer 2006

Search for Common Ground
1601 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel.: (1-202) 265-4300
Fax: (1-202) 232-6718
E-mail: search@scfg.org
Web: www.sfcg.org

Search for Common Ground
Rue Belliard 205 bte 13
B-1040 Brussels, Belgium
Tel.: (32-2) 736-7262
Fax: (32-2) 732-3033
E-mail: brussels@sfcg.be
Web: www.sfcg.org

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Summer 2006

Dear Friend of Search for Common Ground,

SPORT & SOAP. The World Cup is the most watched sporting event on the planet, everywhere but in North America. Football - or soccer, as Americans call it - regularly trumps politics. In the Ivory Coast, where fighting has raged for several years, the strife literally stops whenever the national team plays. For a few short hours, people think of themselves as Ivorians and take pride in their country - transcending tribe and region. We have long known that sport can be a powerful tool for peacemaking. Thus, in 1998, we sponsored wrestling diplomacy between the US and Iran. Another tool in our toolbox is TV and radio soap opera, which we produce in a dozen countries. In this year of the World Cup, football and soap opera seem like an unbeatable combination.

O Jogo (The Game). Thus, in Angola, we are now producing a 26-part, radio soap, which premièred in May. It tells the story of Anacleto and Roberto, footballers from very different backgrounds. Anacleto was born in Huambo, a UNITA stronghold during Angola's long civil war. He dreams of overcoming poverty and playing football for his country. Roberto, in contrast, has led a privileged life in Luanda. But he, too, is inspired by football and the World Cup. The series relates how the players meet and learn on the football pitch how to put Angola's divided, war-torn past behind them.

We chose football because it represents Angola coming together as a nation. It's a natural issue of solidarity and reconciliation. - Heather Kulp, SFCG Country Director in Angola, quoted in The International Herald Tribune
L'Équipe (The Team). Similarly, in the Ivory Coast, we launched a soap that portrays the adventures of two footballers, Zoukou and Konan, from different regions and ethnic groups. Like many African stars, they play in Europe - for the UK's Arsenal - and they compete for their native country. Here is how the BBC described the series:

BBC: Broadcast on 14 community radio stations [and RTI, the national radio network], the series aims to bring together populations divided by the Ivorian crisis….
Spés Manirakiza [SFCG Director in the Ivory Coast]: Radio soap opera is used by Search for Common Ground all over the world because it helps people to identify with one another and to address controversial issues…. Through radio soaps, they can deal with questions that require reflection and lead to changes in behavior….

Jean Noël Bah [Ivoirian scriptwriter]: We committed ourselves to remaining true to reality, so that ordinary people can identify with the program. When we wrote the series, we considered how people think and why they think as they do. Is it appropriate? Are there clichés and stereotypes? ….

BBC: The soap opera aims to be true to the daily life of the population. It is entertaining and humorous, while communicating a message of reconciliation.

IVORY COAST. While radio programs are our most public face in the Ivory Coast, we also work extensively on the ground, empowering Ivorians to intervene in local conflicts. Alexis Zro Gomé from Trogui took part in one of our workshops where he learned about mediating, improving listening skills, reframing anger, and differentiating positions and interests. Here is the result, according to staff member Rebecca Besant:

Energized by what he had experienced, Alexis returned to Trogui determined to bring the two divided communities together. Working with the ongoing support of our Coordinator, Alexis helped develop a peace committee - comprised of Yacouba and Burkinabé [ethnic groups], women, and youth. The committee took a leading role in mediating and reconciling the two communities and in helping Burkinabés regain looted property. It spearheaded the construction of a "maison de solidarité," jointly built by the two communities as a meeting space and guesthouse for visitors of all ethnicities.
NEPAL In February, we opened our 17th office - in Kathmandu. We felt we had something to offer: namely, tools to promote conflict resolution and reconciliation. Then, as we were starting up our first projects, a radio soap opera series and a community-organizing effort, the People's Revolution erupted. Naturally, we were concerned about our staff, Serena Rix Tripathee and Michael Shipler - and Francis Rolt of our Brussels office who had come out to lead a training and brought along his wife and two children. Thankfully, none of our people were hurt, and there was minimal violence. Indeed, things turned out almost as if we had scripted them. Here is Serena's report.

The extraordinary turn of events has created an opening for Nepal to enter into a negotiation process and bring an end to the conflict that has crippled the country for the past decade. After almost three weeks of a sustained national strike and protests, King Gyanendra announced the reinstatement of parliament. Almost immediately, the crowds, which had been in a confrontational mode, began demanding something else - dialogue. Civil society, the political parties, and even the Maoists have all called for a constituent assembly aimed at bringing together the political stakeholders to revisit the constitution of 1990. There is a level of unity in Nepal that even a year ago would have been unthinkable. Nepal's problems have by no means been solved overnight. However, there is the opportunity to shift from an adversarial and often violent approach to finding common ground. We are working to sustain the momentum for win-win, cooperative solutions. More than ever, there is a huge need in Nepal for the kind of work we do.
CGNEWS. Since 2001, we have published the Common Ground News Service, which features solution-oriented articles to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to bridge the gap between the West and the Muslim world. Every week, we distribute articles - in Arabic, Hebrew, English, French, and Bahasa - to leading newspapers, magazines, and websites, along with 17,000 individual subscribers. More than 2,300 of our articles have been reprinted, including 132 in Al Hayat, arguably the world's leading Arabic-language newspaper; 124 in the Daily Star (Beirut); 54 in the Jordan Times (Amman); 42 in Al Quds (Jerusalem); 28 in Arab News (Jeddah); and 25 in Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv). Because we are an international news service, we often are able to place articles by Israeli writers in Arabic papers - and vice versa.

We recently published a series on ijtihad, the ongoing re-interpretation of Islamic law, in accordance with principles of Islamic jurisprudence. This series resulted in 40 reprints in such places as UPI, Al Arab, the Washington Times, and the website of the Muslim Brotherhood. Indeed, the Grand Mufti of Egypt was so taken with the series that he wrote six additional articles, which answered questions put to him by our Washington Editor, Leena El-Ali, and which highlighted a moderate approach. These articles were published in partnership with Al Ahram, Egypt's largest newspaper. Click here for a free CG News subscription.

The articles of the Common Ground News Service give hope that there are people out there who work on solutions inspired by the need to co-exist in tolerance and by the hope for a better future. - Christopher Patten, ex-External Relations Commissioner, the European Union
I cannot help but notice, after an article is published, that its idea, methodology or rhetoric creeps into and is expressed in the works of other Arab writers. - Hazem Saghiyeh, editor and columnist, Al-Hayat

It's nice to realize there are some reasonable voices out there in the sea of madness and hatred. - Yoel Esteron, ex-Managing Editor, Ha'aretz

I certainly hope [CGNews] grows into a "Muslim-Western" Associated Press. - Ibrahim Abusharif, Chief Editor, Starlatch Press, Chicago

MEDIA OUTREACH TRAINING. In partnership with Prince Hassan of Jordan, we sponsor the Partners in Humanity program, which encourages constructive Muslim-Western contacts. As part of this partnership, which also includes CGNews, we held training workshops this spring in Beirut and Jakarta to aid 40 interfaith and intercultural dialogue practitioners to reach out to local and international media. The goal was to help them utilize the media as a tool for bridge-building and dialogue.

The workshop shed light onto how to use the media to my NGO's benefit, an untapped resource that we need to use. - Lebanese participant
We need to find creative ways to overcome the obstacles and to get our news out, to stop making excuses, and to use the opportunities we have. - Palestinian participant

CHILD SOLDIERS INITIATIVE. We have forged an alliance with General Roméo Dallaire, the retired Canadian general who saved so many lives in Rwanda and who is now a Canadian Senator. The aim is to put the issue of child soldiers squarely on the global agenda and to encourage communication and cooperation in dealing with the problem. We want the international community - military, diplomatic, and non-governmental - to take on child soldiers as a high-priority, shared problem. With our partners, USAID, UNICEF Canada, and the University of Winnipeg, we are developing new tools for reducing the number of child soldiers. With funding from the Canadian government, we are working in three phases: 1) a workshop in Winnipeg in August to encourage cooperation among the players and develop new approaches; 2) a follow-on war game and simulation; and 3) actual engagement on the ground, probably in Africa, using policy options and tools developed in the first two phases.

COMMON GROUND FILM FESTIVAL. Since 2001, we have been holding film festivals in Washington and other cities around the world to showcase common ground-type films. This summer, for the second time, we will co-sponsor a festival with various UN agencies at United Nations headquarters in New York.

COMMON GROUND AWARDS. Also at the UN Building, we will hold the 2006 Common Ground Awards ceremony on November 1. This year, the host will be actress Kathleen Turner, and awardees will include Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Sesame Workshop, former Deputy Secretary of State John Whitehead, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch, Israeli singer David Broza, and Palestinian singer Wisam Murad. Those of you who were present last year, when we gave awards to Muhammad Ali and to gang leaders who had negotiated peace, can testify to what a extraordinary evening this is likely to be. Indeed, for the first time, the awards ceremony will be a fund-raiser - an opportunity for people like you to support the work of Search for Common Ground. Tickets are $500 each. Please contact Susie Dillon (sdillon@sfcg.org) if you are interested in attending.

THANK YOU. Since we began in 1982, thousands of people have contributed to our work, and we are grateful. It is clear that we could not have done so much without your partnership. We ask you to keep supporting us, both financially and otherwise.

With best wishes,

John Marks
President

Business as an Agent of World Benefit: Management Knowledge Leading Positive Change - A Global Forum

called by:

The Academy of Management
The United Nations Global Compact
Case Weatherhead School of Management

October 23-25, 2006
In-Person and Online

"Let us choose to unite the power of the market with the authority of the universal ideals."

A forum will be held October 23-25th at Case Western Reserve University uniting top business leaders and educators to focus on ways of doing business that are both profitable and succeed in addressing the world’s most pressing social needs.

The three-day forum, Business as an Agent of World Benefit: Management Knowledge Leading Positive Change, will unite the efforts of the UN Global Compact, the Academy of Management, and Case’s Weatherhead School of Management. Over 400 leading business executives and management scholars from around the world will explore ways in which business can be a leading force in eradicating poverty, enhancing the environment, and advancing peace—while still prospering financially. An additional 3,000 people worldwide are expected to participate through satellite and Internet links.

“The people who gather at Case for this forum will be leaders among those who believe that new business models are starting to emerge that combine citizenship and profitability without sacrificing – but rather enhancing -- returns to shareholders,” said Myron Roomkin, Albert J. Weatherhead, III Professor of Management and Dean of the Weatherhead School of Management.

Forum participants will share in presentations, discussions, and breakout sessions exploring the latest research on the business case for addressing social issues, sustainable development, and envisioning ways in which business can change society. Forum activities will be co-coordinated by Weatherhead and its Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit and facilitated through Appreciative Inquiry, a technique pioneered by The Center’s faculty advisor and founder, Professor David Cooperrider.

“On behalf of Sectretary-General Kofi Annan and the more than 2,400 participants of the UN Global Compact, we are very excited to partner with the Academy of Management and Case,” said Georg Kell, executive director of the UN Global Compact. “This worldwide forum may well prove a tipping point in the development of global corporate citizenship, helping to create a more sustainable and inclusive global economy.” “There is no question that the world needs peace to prosper, and prosperity to have peace; that the quality of ecological and social environments have become inextricably dependent on the visions and strategies of business leaders,” said Nancy J. Adler, management professor at McGill University, fellow with the Academy of Management and forum co-chair. “Management schools worldwide are helping students to succeed, not just financially, but also as influential citizens.

Registration for participation in the BAWB Global Forum is open! Reserve your seat for the On-Site Forum at Case Weatherhead School of Management or sign up for the Virtual Forum and participate online from your computer. Join us!

AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe Freunde,

um neben dem Sport den Geist weiterhin fit zu halten, möchten wir Sie in diesem Schreiben gleich auf drei verschiedene Veranstaltungen aufmerksam machen.

Im Rahmen der Veranstaltungsreihe 'african reflections' lädt AfricAvenir ein zum Dialogforum "Afrikaner und Afro-Deutsche in Deutschland" mit Katharina Oguntoye am Mittwoch, den 28. Juni 2006 um 19.00 Uhr ins Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte (Greifswalder Str. 4, Berlin, Eintritt frei). Frau Oguntoye, Historikerin, wird über die Lebensbedingungen von Afrikanern und Afro-Deutschen in Deutschland während des Kaiserreiches, der Weimarer Republik und unter dem NS-Regime vortragen. Das Dialogforum findet in Kooperation mit dem BER (Berliner Entwicklungspolitischer Ratschlag) statt und wird gefördert aus Mitteln des BMZ sowie mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Stiftung Umverteilen und der LEZ (Landeszentrale für Entwicklungszusammenarbeit bei der Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Frauen). http://africavenir.com/news/2006/06/404

Am Donnerstag, den 29. Juni 2006 um 19.00 Uhr laden wir gemeinsam mit dem Theaterensemble abok ein zu einer weiteren szenischen Lesung unserer Veranstaltungsreihe 'african reflections'. Vorgetragen wird aus dem Werk "Brixton Stories - Brixtons magischer Realismus' des in London lebenden nigerianischen Autors Biyi Bandele. Es erwartet Sie ein buntes, surreales Bild des zeitgenössischen Brixton. Unterstützt wird die Veranstaltung von der Landeszentrale für Entwicklungszusammenarbeit bei der Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Frauen und der Afrikanischen Studentenunion (ASU). Die Lesung findet in deutscher und englischer Sprache statt. http://africavenir.com/news/2006/06/382

Außerdem ein Hinweis für alle, die nicht an unserer Ausstrahlung von "Zulu Love Letter" im April teilnehmen konnten. Ab Donnerstag, den 22. Juni läuft für zwei Wochen im Berliner Filmtheater Hackesche Höfe der südafrikanische Film "Zulu Love Letter" (jeweils 16.30 Uhr und 21.45 Uhr in der ersten Woche). Der Film erzählt die Geschichte von Thandeka Khumalo, die von tiefen Schuldgefühlen gequält wird. Während der Apartheid wurde die schwangere Journalistin nach der Veröffentlichung eines Artikels über einen Polizeimord an einer schwarzen Aktivistin inhaftiert und gefoltert. Ihre Tochter, die mittlerweile 13-jährige gehörlose Mangi, leidet noch immer unter dem Trauma der Mutter. Über die traditionelle Herstellung eines Amuletts, dem Zulu Love Letter, erhofft sie sich, wieder Zugang zu ihrer Mutter zu finden. http://africavenir.com/news/2006/06/460

www.AfricAvenir.org
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Kontaktieren Sie Ann Kathrin Helfrich, Fon: 030-80906789, a.helfrich@africavenir.org

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AfricAvenir International e.V. ist nicht für die Inhalte externer Webseiten verantwortlich.

Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
June 20, 2006

**********

The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) aims to promote constructive perspectives and dialogue about Muslim-Western relations.
*This service is also available in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia and French.
*Unless otherwise noted, copyright permission has been obtained and articles may be reprinted by any news outlet or publication. Please acknowledge both the original source and the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).
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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

1. Can Australians and Indonesian ever be mates? by Duncan Graham
Indonesian-based journalist, Duncan Graham, considers the obstacles facing Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as they meet this month to consider how they can bring their two countries closer. In light of the political, social and cultural differences between these two countries, he argues that “their job would be made easier if the electorates on both sides of the divide had a sympathetic knowledge of each other's cultures.” Duncan suggests that this is best done through face-to-face visits by ordinary citizens: “If the two leaders agree to relax visa restrictions then maybe we can get together on first name terms, share a nasi goreng or a meat pie washed down by an es susu soda or a cold beer. It might make the task of Howard and Yudhoyono that much easier the next time they sip tea.”
(Source: Jakarta Post, June 14, 2006)

2. Smart integration is a must for Canada's Muslims by Mohamed Elmasry
Mohamed Elmasry, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Waterloo and national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, suggests a “smart integration model” to counter the challenges that immigrants face in feeling part of their news societies, “highly self-conscious social units whose sense of belonging to a group is collared by the feeling of being distinct from society's dominant majority.” In addition to encouraging Muslims to vote, his organization hosted “an intensive two-day short course for Muslims - imams, teachers, leaders, men and women, youth and seniors - covering such subjects as Canadian history, law, political system, the media, family counselling, and Islamic Law.” Events like this, he suggests, are integral parts of an integration program that seeks to ensure full participant of immigrants in their new country.
(Source: Middle East Times, June 12, 2006)

3. More than a game by Neil Stormer
Neil Stormer, who works in conflict resolution and foreign policy in Washington, D.C, suggests that “football is not just a game, but is also an economic force, a model of globalisation and, more importantly, a vehicle for conflict resolution.” Giving examples how sport has been as significant factors in ending or reducing conflict, at least temporarily, he explains why “organisations that promote understanding through sports see in them an unrivalled ability to overcome cultural, political and religious differences while promoting unity and understanding”: “those who play together find it difficult to remain foes.”
(Source: Jordan Times, June 14, 2006)

4. The global communication revolution by Mary Nashed and Maria Magner
Mary Nashed, a student at the American University in Cairo, and Maria Magner, whoattends the University of Iowa, consider how the internet served as the vehicle to bring them together across geographical and cultural barriers: “It is ironic that the Internet, a purely mechanical, electronic form of communication, is what has allowed us to get closer and to connect as human beings. It can take us to new places, which few of us will have the opportunity to visit, and fill them with real people. And while one person may not be able to make a difference, when we connect with others who believe the same thing, change is possible.”
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), June 20, 2006)

5. Two Arab movies push the bounds of cultural candour by Sarah Gauch and Ursula Lindsey
Christian Science Monitor correspondent, Sarah Gauch and Ursula Lindsey, talk about home-grown Middle Eastern movies that bravely address the issues of Islamic extremism and secularism, and push the boundaries of free speech. These movies have provoked both criticism and acclaim in their native countries of Morocco and Egypt, but this controversy itself has brought the films subjects into the public forum for debate.
(Source: The Christian Science Monitor, June 14, 2006)

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ARTICLE 1
Can Australians and Indonesian ever be mates?
Duncan Graham

Surabaya, Indonesia - "Dr Yudhoyono...has now become more aware of the 'internal dynamics' of Australian politics. The president has said to me: 'Presidents and prime ministers go, but at the end of the day these two cultures must work together.'" Report in the Australian media attributed to Indonesian Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono.

"The relationship...is a complex one because we are very different societies, very, very different -- you could hardly find two societies more different," said Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Australian radio.

Howard and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are due to meet on Batam Island this month. Their job: To weld a patch over the buckled relationship, keep it afloat and set course for a new treaty that can withstand the inevitable storms ahead.

Success will depend much on both men's real understanding of each other's homeland politics and cultures.

Although they're supposed to have a warm personal relationship -- "mates" in the Aussie vernacular -- the two come from radically different backgrounds.

The sixth Indonesian president is a former general who's been in politics only seven years. He leads a minor political party and has to rely on coalitions to implement policy as Indonesia toys with democracy. He's a Javanese Muslim whose father was in the military, as are relatives on his wife's side. His eldest son is the army.

John Winston (as in Churchill) Howard (67 next month and ten years the senior) is steeped in the Western democratic tradition. His antecedents are British and he's a Methodist (Protestant). His Dad ran a garage.

Howard's a former solicitor who's been in parliament for 32 years -- the last ten as the nation's 25th PM. He's considered one of the nation's most successful and canny politicians with a reputation for taking tough decisions. His Liberal Party holds power in the House of Representatives and the Senate and is widely considered responsible for the nation's non-stop economic boom.

Despite the geographic closeness, few Australians know much about their neighbour. What they do know is mostly negative, particularly since the Bali bombs.

Ordinary Australians reacted with great compassion to the Aceh tsunami and the Yogya quake, giving generously. But they've been angered by stories of aid going astray, extortion and hostility to foreigners trying to help.

Judged by the raw comments on commercial talkback radio and letters to the editor, many seem to consider Indonesia a land of losers, an ungrateful, corrupt and poorly administered nation driven by primitive superstitions, doomed to be a mendicant forever.

In brief, Indonesia is currently on the outs with Australian voters. Any policy decisions taken by Howard at the Batam meeting which are seen to appease Indonesia will get a savage battering when he gets back home.

We Aussies, crow the smug voters, are winners. We've got our economy and lifestyle right. Not too rich, not too poor. We’re taxed heavily and inescapably but have all the services and security: Free education and health care from womb to tomb. Care for the downtrodden and distressed.

Locating itself in the world has long been an Aussie problem. Keating tried to position Australia as an Asian nation; the rhetoric now is that the country's interests lie in the Pacific. Many Indonesians think their neighbour is a U.S. state, not to be trusted, its people spoilt and rude.

Yudhoyono who has studied in America certainly knows the West better than Howard knows the East. But does Yudhoyono understand and appreciate that Australian foreign policy is powered by fear of the "yellow peril" and the "threat from the north" -- crude racist emotions equal to Indonesians' horror of separatism?

In the 19th century it was Chinese coolies coming to undermine Australian workers. In the 20th it was the Japanese army, then communism. Now it's refugees.

And every imagined invasion of the great rich and empty continent comes through -- or from -- the poor and overpopulated archipelago to the north.

Equally important is the question: Does Howard really know that the residues of Soeharto's New Order regime still have muscle? Is he conscious that two generations have had their minds, prejudices and understanding of history and the world warped by an authoritarian government? These facts are probably in his briefing papers, but they're not immediately obvious.

However well advised, the Australian PM is unlikely to fully comprehend the grip on the Indonesian psyche of the principal of the Unitary State -- or the power and importance of religion in everything. Few Australians can adequately wrap their minds around these facts.

Australia made a seamless negotiated transition from colony to independent state 105 years ago. Indonesia had to fight a long and brutal war to win nationhood -- a fact that has shaped the nation's politics.

In Australia, the army is a defence force. In Indonesia its prime role is keeping the hard-won country together. Yudhoyono's background is embedded in this policy that has the authority of sacred writ.

Although some claim Howard's term has seen the rise of the religious right, in common with most voters his tradition is the clear separation of faith and state and total belief in the rightness of that philosophy.

When the two men sit down it's easy to see the similarities. They wear Western suits and speak English. Yudhoyono has travelled widely, sent his youngest son to Australia to study and comes across as an urbane man.

On the surface they have lots in common. Culturally and historically they -- and we -- have nothing in common except that we live next door.

Wearing away the prejudices and misinformation is going to be a long journey with the meeting of the two leaders a necessary step. Their job would be made easier if the electorates on both sides of the divide had a sympathetic knowledge of each other's cultures.

That's best obtained through the personal visits of ordinary people. If the two leaders agree to relax visa restrictions then maybe we can get together on first name terms, share a nasi goreng or a meat pie washed down by an es susu soda or a cold beer. It might make the task of Howard and Yudhoyono that much easier the next time they sip tea.

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* Duncan Graham is an East Java-based journalist.This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Jakarta Post, June 14, 2006
Visit the website at www.thejakartapost.com (http://www.thejakartapost.com/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 2
Smart integration is a must for Canada's Muslims
Mohamed Elmasry

Waterloo, Ontario - The Muslim men arrested in Toronto on the weekend are innocent until proven guilty. But if and when any of them is proven guilty in a court of law, I hope and pray that Canada's Muslims will not be also found guilty by association.

Then the question will become: Why were a few Canadian Muslim youth trying to make a political statement using violence instead of the peaceful means available in a liberal democracy like Canada?

To my knowledge, there is no academic research being done in Canada or any other Western country to address the social aspects of this problem.

In 2003 the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) urged the federal government to allocate research funds to academia to do the needed research in partnership with the community, but we were turned down. Today, the government continues to spend lavishly on the policing side of the problem, but gives zero dollars to support well-documented university research.

Two years ago, after waiting in vain for the government to fund such research, the CIC launched its "smart integration" project despite having limited recourses to do so.

Minorities are often excluded (consciously or unconsciously) from full participation in the life of the host country. As a result they become highly self-conscious social units whose sense of belonging to a group is collared by the feeling of being distinct from society's dominant majority.

Although the smart integration model could well prove beneficial for all of Canada's ethnic and religious communities, it is a must for Canadian Muslims, who now stand at some 750,000 making them the nation's largest non-Christian religious community.

Here is an example of smart integration in action. When the CIC carried out research for its 2004 Election Report, it included a position paper on 20 issues -10 national and 10 international categories.

National issues included some being addressed for the first time by this community, such as healthcare, taxation, and defence spending, while international issues also included non-traditional ones for Canadian Muslims, such as reforming the United Nations.

The report specifically tried to promote "informed, committed, multi-issue voting," urging Canadian Muslims to vote by reminding them that it is both one's civic and religious duty to do so. Muslims are taught that bearing witness for (i.e. supporting) the best candidate will be divinely rewarded.

As result, for the first time in more than 50 years, the percentage of eligible Canadian Muslims who voted in the 2004 federal election was higher than the national average of 61 percent. This was a practical and successful exercise in smart integration.

By becoming informed, committed, multi-issue voters, Canadian Muslims proved on Election Day 2004 that they could be simultaneously good Muslims and good Canadians.

But post 9/11 Canada nevertheless has created an extremely challenging environment for Muslims and increased the urgency of accelerating the smart integration movement.

Imported extremist religious and political ideologies from their (or their parents') countries of origin are still dominant in some Canadian communities and are hindering smart integration; the result in some cases has been division, fragmentation, increased isolation, and in a few instances, destructive fanaticism.

In response to these challenges, many post-9/11 Canadian Muslims are trying to break away from such ideologies, because they are simply not an appropriate or constructive fit for the time and place in which we live. Because the civil liberties of Canadian Muslims are eroding, they feel that they cannot afford to follow the road of either assimilation or isolation.

The CIC) has worked to link associated current events with smart integration, such as when it called for the community to embrace "smart integration beyond condemnation" in response to recent terrorist acts in the US, Spain, and London.

Over the 2005 Labour Day weekend, the CIC hosted an intensive two-day short course for Muslims - imams, teachers, leaders, men and women, youth and seniors - covering such subjects as Canadian history, law, political system, the media, family counselling, and Islamic Law.

The course - a first in Canada - was well received, with women comprising fully one-third of the participants.

As a guest imam, I annually present sermons and talks on our smart integration model at some 50 mosques across the country; these are attended by about 50,000 Canadian Muslims and positive feedback is by far the majority response.

The smart integration model allows a minority to be considered an asset, thereby leading to positive feedback that benefits society at large. In the case of Canadian Muslims, smartly integrated individuals and communities are a must.

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* Mohamed Elmasry is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Waterloo and national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Middle East Times, June 12, 2006
Visit the website at www.metimes.com (http://www.metimes.com/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 3
More than a game
Neil Stormer

Washington, D.C. – “Some people believe that football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude, it is much, much more important than that!”

With those words, former Liverpool football coach Bill Shankly inadvertently alluded to a new reality: football is not just a game, but is also an economic force, a model of globalisation and, more importantly, a vehicle for conflict resolution.

Two days ago, in the pages of this paper, Pascal Boniface discussed the relationship between football and geopolitics. In the context of his article, Boniface jokingly stated that football fans believe that FIFA should be given a Nobel Peace Prize. While concerted, pro-active efforts need to be made before the noblest of Nobel Prizes is conferred upon football’s governing body, it is true that football and sports in general can play and have played a role in limiting the reaches of war and de-escalating violent situations.

There are numerous examples from the 20th and 21st centuries showing just how large a role football and sports have played in mitigating conflict. Consider the Christmas Truce during World War I; caked in mud and nearly frozen, Germans and Brits climbed out of their respective trenches along the front, set aside their guns and mutual animosities and celebrated Christmas by playing football. The truce didn’t last, the war continued, but soldiers on both sides found themselves unable to fire out of their trenches — to fire across their erstwhile football pitch — at their enemies. A large amount of wasted ammunition was recorded on the following days as guns were trained at the stars above and not at the enemy.

In 1967, Pele travelled to Lagos, Nigeria, then in the midst of a brutal civil war, to play an exhibition match. In order to allow both sides of the conflict to see the greatest ever play the game, a 48-hour ceasefire was called and honoured. A single footballer stopped a war.

World Cup qualification can do it too. Cote d’Ivoire is in the middle of a civil war. After the country’s qualification for the World Cup, President Laurent Gbagbo acquiesced to the pleas of the Ivorian football federation and restarted peace talks. The country now enjoys a tense ceasefire, thanks solely to the team’s trip to Germany. The peace may not survive much longer than the World Cup, but any cessation in fighting is a reason to celebrate.

Football can be a force for violence however. There is a tendency towards nationalism and racism, and the 1980s witnessed the rise of football-related gangs notorious for criminal behaviour and drunken brawling. The game has also “started” a war: a riot erupted at a series of games between Honduras and El Salvador, and the ensuing diplomatic collapse resulted in the 100-day Soccer War.

But the violence is the exception, not the norm. Sports have long served as a means of bridging gaps through peaceful exchanges and act as a diplomatic tool. While rivalries are occasionally inflamed through athletic contests, sports exchanges are seen as a safe icebreaker.

The real sports-related conflict resolution success to be had though is not through the temporary unity achieved during international tournaments or the diplomatic thaw following a friendly football match. While a successful national team’s efforts can bring warring sides together for the duration of the World Cup, the way to leverage football and all sports in the name of conflict resolution is through consistent, grassroots efforts to enlist the masses in peaceful interaction.

An increasing number of organisations take advantage of this form of peace building. Football 4 Peace is one such organisation. Since 2001, F4P has been bringing Muslim and Jewish youth together to foster understanding and to overcome differences through sport. The Peres Centre for Peace has used football in a variety of ways to foster peace between Israel and Palestine, from a mixed Israeli-Palestinian exhibition team to camps and tournaments for children from both side of the divide.

Acknowledging the role sports can play in building peace, among other things, the UN General Assembly, passed Resolution 58/5, proclaiming 2005 to be the International Year for Sport and Physical Education. The goal was to use sports “as a means to promote education, health, development and peace”.

Organisations that promote understanding through sports see in them an unrivalled ability to overcome cultural, political and religious differences while promoting unity and understanding.

While the temporary ceasefire in Nigeria during Pele’s visit and Ivory Coast’s World Cup-inspired peace are not to be overlooked, these examples are only part of the bigger picture. The path to peace should be paved not just with the one-off event and top-down, tournament-inspired ceasefires, but also with long-term efforts of those who try to build from the ground up.

The premise behind the practice is simple: just as the World War I-era British and Germans who entered into a wartime Christmas football match would not readily fire upon each other, those who play together find it difficult to remain foes.

No one seriously contends that football is more important than life or death, but if applied to more serious pursuits, it can mean the difference between war and peace.

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* Neil Stormer works in conflict resolution and foreign policy in Washington, D.C. This article was distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Jordan Times, June 14, 2006
Visit the website at www.jordantimes.com (http://www.jordantimes.com/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 4
The global communication revolution
Mary Nashed and Maria Magner

Iowa City, Iowa and Cairo, Egypt - In the past few years the entire landscape of global communication has experienced major change. While once the globe was a giant disconnected place, today the World Wide Web has managed to link a substantial portion of the world population together, allowed information to travel faster than ever, and empowered groups and individuals who had no voice to be heard loud and clear around the world.

The internet does not distinguish between races or religions, and in most cases communications between cultures are less constrained by biases and stereotypes, though language barriers remain. One such instance of the new power of the internet to bring people together involves the authors of this article. Mary Nashed is a student at the American University in Cairo and Maria Magner attends the University of Iowa. If it weren’t for the internet, chances are we would have never met. We were brought together by the Soliya program, which brings American and Middle Eastern students together online to increase cultural understanding. Using webcams and microphones, we were able to have a conversation as if we were in the same room together.

Prior to the internet, our information about other cultures was controlled and restricted by the organizational structure of the media - individual editors and producers acted as the sole gatekeepers to knowledge about other parts of the world. Individual and cultural biases are an inherent part of all media, including so-called “hard news.” It is virtually impossible for humans to be completely objective. Beyond bias, the unidirectional format of communication through mass media makes truly establishing context and background difficult. Questions can’t be asked. Alternative perspectives can not be explored with any degree of depth. Descriptions of earth-shattering events are restricted to a newspaper page or two, and television news only compounds the problem because its visual aspect makes us believe we are seeing things as they are, despite the fact that those images are chosen by reporters who are operating under incredible time constraints and who have a duty to their corporations to make the news as exciting and entertaining as possible, for fear that they lose their advertisers.

The internet, thankfully, has eliminated all these obstacles. It has no restrictions in terms of time or space. It is infinite. It is omni-directional. All views on all topics are available, and information can be exchanged in real-time, without interference. The only true barriers are those of language, but machine-translation and the wide-spread use of English are helping more people around the world communicate in more ways than ever before.

The best way to learn about another culture is to immerse oneself in it, and the Soliya program allowed us to do that. The Arab participants learnt, for example, that Arab media often portrayed American culture as being superficial and without much lasting value and gave the impression all Americans share the same opinions. Another common belief among Muslims in the Arab world is that since the attacks of September 11, Arabs are discriminated against in the United States, but we learnt that this was not the norm.

The American participants, in turn, learnt that Arabs were not the faceless terrorists of nightly news broadcasts and that many Arabs respect and admire aspects of American life such as their commitment to democracy, entrepreneurialism, and optimism. We all learnt that the media on both sides had greatly exaggerated the degree of animosity between Americans and Arabs. None of us felt that the attitudes that American and Arab media attributed to us were widely shared by our friends and family.

It is ironic that the internet, a purely mechanical, electronic form of communication, is what has allowed us to get closer and to connect as human beings. It can take us new places, which few of us will have the opportunity to visit, and fill them with real people. And while one person may not be able to make a difference, when we connect with others who believe the same thing, change is possible. The internet can make all this possible – and it is easier than ever to take the first steps toward greater mutual understanding across cultures.

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* Mary Nashed is a student at the American University in Cairo and Maria Magner attends the University of Iowa. They co-wrote this article as part of the Soliya Arab-American dialogue program (www.soliya.net (http://www.soliya.net/).). This article was distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), June 20, 2006)
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 5
Two Arab movies push the bounds of cultural candour
Sarah Gauch and Ursula Lindsey

Cairo and Rabat – The teenage girl in a tank top and tiny shorts stands over her brother while he prays. "Are you sick?" she asks. "Did you fall on your head? You've become a [fundamentalist] now?"

The brother, only recently a devout Muslim, ignores her. She walks to the door of his bedroom. "Mom, dad, I just wanted to let you know your son's gone crazy!" she yells.

It's one of several scenes in "MaRock" that viewers in Morocco have found either needlessly offensive or refreshingly honest.

In Egypt, a big-budget movie with a star-studded cast is already causing a stir and it's not even in theatres yet. "The Yacoubian Building," due out later this month, exposes many uncomfortable truths facing Egypt today: Islamic extremism, official corruption, police brutality, and class and gender inequalities.

With internal and external pressure on the Arab world to liberalise, movies are becoming a key outlet of free expression and a format for examining evolving mores. Like activists, journalists, and bloggers who have been testing the boundaries, movie directors are also pushing the limits of openness and influence.

"Things are moving in the Arab world and people are becoming more and more aware of the importance and vitality of having freedom of expression, so cinema would definitely reflect this," says Cherif el-Shoubashi, the head of Cairo's International Film Festival.

Based on a best-selling book of the same name, "The Yacoubian Building" weaves together the narratives of several characters, including an Islamic militant, a corrupt businessman, and a gay journalist. It tells the story of contemporary Egypt and all its problems through the tenants of the Yacoubian Building, an actual structure in downtown Cairo. An elegant residence built in 1937 to house Cairo's bourgeois elite, the building has fallen into decay by the 1990s, when the film is set.

"It's far more frank and controversial than movies we have seen until now," says Egyptian critic Mary Ghadban. This was the movie's goal, the film's creators say. "This is not a simple love story, where you have your popcorn and coke and go home. This is a shocking movie. The film is saying 'wake up, there's something wrong,'” says Producer Emad el-Din Adeeb.

"When Egyptians see this film, they will have to reconsider their lives and how not to make the same mistakes again," says actress Youssra, who stars in the film and is so well known that she has dispensed with a last name. "We need to be shocked to realise how badly things are going backwards and how quickly things are going backwards."

While the film covers many taboo subjects, what's perhaps most surprising, film critics say, is that it passed Egypt's censorship unscathed. But Egypt's President of Censorship Ali Abou Shadi says he really liked the movie. "It's an important film," says Mr. Shadi. "It's critical of the government, extremism, and homosexuality. We don't want to cover our eyes about this."

Nevertheless, in its uncensored state, Shadi and the film's creators agree, "The Yacoubian Building" may well offend and anger Egypt's government and public alike. Religious fundamentalists might complain about its portrayal of Islam, they say. Others might argue that it shows a bad image of Egypt. Some may be scandalised by the film's homosexuality.

Like "The Yacoubian Building," "MaRock" was given the green light by state censors. According to Karim Boukhary, a writer for a French-language weekly news magazine, this decision is part of Morocco's liberalisation under the young King Mohammed VI and reflects "an official policy of the Moroccan government to tolerate a real margin of liberty in creative fields."

Abdelilah Benkirane, a member of parliament for the Islamist opposition Justice and Development Party, sees it differently. For him, the decision was taken by people who think that "to fight Islamism, young people have to be drenched in an atmosphere of debauchery."

"MaRock" director Leila Marrakchi, who now lives in France, says the film is based on her adolescence. "These are things that I lived or anecdotes that friends told me. The film isn't autobiographical, but it's personal. It's something I know."

The film chronicles the lives of rich Casablanca teenagers who drink alcohol, smoke hashish, and make out in cars. It breaks a whole list of cinemagraphic taboos. The heroine Rita refuses to fast during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, and has a relationship with a Jewish boy.

Well before the film came out in cinemas, it was already part of the ongoing debate between Morocco's secular and liberal forces and its Islamist groups. The film's supporters have championed it as evidence of growing freedom of speech.

"In Morocco in 2006 a lot of things happen that aren't talked about and that aren't shown, that may be contrary to Islamic laws and social conventions," says Mr. Boukhary. "We don't talk about these things because they're taboo, because we're afraid. This movie contributes to provoking a debate. And it's a justified and salutary debate."

But the film's detractors have criticised it for wounding and ridiculing Moroccan's religious feelings. "This film shocked the entire population," says Mr. Benkirane. "It doesn't deserve to be seen and shouldn't be authorised in a Muslim country."

The Justice and Development Party has asked the government to ban the film. "There's a law in this country," says another member of parliament for the Islamist party, Abdel-Kater Amara. "There's a very clear law. We can't authorise films that attack the religion of Moroccans. They have to apply the law."

Ms. Marrakchi says the controversy over her film has taken on proportions she never expected. "My point wasn't to provoke or shock," she insists. "I wanted first of all to tell a story, knowing well that there were sensitive subjects." And, she says, "People should watch it before boycotting it. They should talk about the movie, not everything surrounding it."

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* Sarah Gauch and Ursula Lindsey are both correspondents for the Christian Science Monitor. This article was distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Christian Science Monitor, date
Visit the website at www.csmonitor.com (http://www.csmonitor.com/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright © The Christian Science Monitor. For reprint permission, please contact lawrenced@csps.com.

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The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) provides news, op-eds, features and analysis by local and international experts on a broad range of issues affecting Muslim-Western relations. CGNews-PiH syndicates articles that are balanced and solution-oriented to news outlets worldwide. With support from the Norwegian government and the United States Institute of Peace, this news service is a non-profit initiative of Search for Common Ground, an international NGO working in the field of conflict transformation.

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John McConnell's recent essays

At age 91, John McConnell continues to write and esplouse his concepts for "peace, justice and the care of Earth." Nearly every day, he works via telephone and Internet to promote his philosophies. The following are a collection of his recent essays.

Star of Hope
By John McConnell: 91 year old founder of Earth Day
June 13, 2006

Faced with a growing global danger of total catastrophe, we need a way to unite humanity in commitment to peace, justice and the care of Earth and enable us to continue the human adventure.

STAR OF HOPE POINTS THE WAY
To peaceful progress on Planet Earth

In October 1957 I obtained global attention for an editorial in my weekly North Carolina "Toe Valley View" newspaper. It urged that we launch a Satellite that would have a bright flashing light that would appear every night and be seen globally as a bright Star of Hope for all humanity.

Sputnik, the first Satellite, had just been launched on October 4th. None of the media seemed to note that this was the "Feast Day of St. Francis." (The "Godless Russian" who chose the date must have been a secret Christian.)

My own study and prayer life led to the conviction that we needed a common purpose that would appeal to people of all creeds and cultures - and a way to get attention for it. We needed something that would end history's terrible record of war and injustice.

When we set out to explore Space, we discovered Earth. Now we know we are one human family and have only one Earth.

But our addiction to war and our greed have almost ruined planet Earth and the future of its people. At the same time there is a growing recognition that we must change.

SAINT FRANCIS PRAYER FOR PEACE

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury...pardon,
Where there is doubt... faith,
Where there is despair... hope,
Where there is darkness... light,
And where there is sadness... joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying
that we are born to eternal life.

The Prayer of St. Francis appeals to people of every creed and culture and aids the Earth Day goal of Peace, Justice and the Care of Earth.

The Space Program should plan now to launch a Star of Hope Satellite on October 4, 2007. This will be the 50th anniversary of our human venture into Space. This can obtain global attention for the wonderful way to global peace that St. Francis provided -- and aid all sincere efforts for peace.

MAGNIFICENT MYSTERY
By John McConnell
June 8, 2006

We all would like to know:

What is our soul?

Is there a continuance of our consciousness when we die?

Is there life after death?

While religions of every kind claim to answer these questions, there is no evidence to support them that scientists can agree on. We are confronted with total mystery.

BUT, the mystery is a MAGNIFICENT MYSTERY -- for now our love of God and neighbor is without proof of reward in a future life.

Love can now be a magnificent unselfish obsession.

We don't do good to get a reward -- but respond to the love and light that Jesus brought. The record of his words and actions inspire the best efforts in this life and the best hope for a future life. They also help us find in our worst enemies the common ground where we agree. We then are able to work together for what we mutually approve and leave room for our differences.

While there is no proof of a future life, neither is there proof it does not exist. Jesus, by his life and words, inspires a wonderful hope that our future life will be magnificent.

Oh the faith that works -- not by proof, but by love.

GLOBAL ACTION TO SAVE PEOPLE AND PLANET
By founder of Earth Day, John McConnell
May 31, 2006

President Bush fails to grasp the nature and extent of our global crisis, and on the other hand the opportunity for change -- an historical change from Earth Kill to Earth Care. He has ignored the importance of the original Earth Day and its Earth Trustee Agenda - which fosters peace, jusitce and care of Earth.

America enjoys its greatest prosperity, but at the expense of a major part of the world. Its system of money and power robs the suffering poor – that are in the majority in many countries.

While America pioneered democracy and laws to further freedom and justice, most of its resulting wealth has been spent on vast military programs and weapons to kill people. The terrible record of war and injustice during the past millennium is still with us. You cannot pick up a newspaper without some story about violence, injustice and conflict.

Action must be taken that will provide a future, something to live for. The idea needed is the simple truth, good and bad, about human history. Our appalling past must be recognized as we seek to realize the positive potential of Earth's people.

People are the problem. With a new vision they can be the solution. Wake up world. A great future is possible now!

The core concept needed by Earthkind for a better tomorrow is the need to be Trustees of Planet Earth, to take charge and take care of our planet with fair benefits for all. To accomplish this, five major items need to be addressed: Ecology, Money, Property, Government and Inner Life.

Let us begin with Ecology. A first priority is protection and care of the environment – Earth’s raw materials and natural resources, including creatures large and small. Everyone should be encouraged to think and act as an Earth Trustee - and have or support an Earth Care project.

At this moment Global Warming is a major problem. Everyone should seek a solution.

The whole world can further this purpose by joining in the observance of one great global holiday – Earth Day on the March Equinox.

When the Peace Bell at the United Nations rings at the moment Spring begins, people of every creed and culture can strengthen our global sense of community by their silent prayers and positive thoughts, by their heartfelt commitment to think and act as trustees of planet Earth. A real understanding of Earth Day and its purpose – peace, justice and the care of Earth, will bring commitment and Earth Trustee actions.

Second, is Money. We must provide an honest, fair, medium of exchange and equitable access to credit. A money system is needed that will facilitate barter or exchange with advantage to workers and producers instead of to money manipulators. Money should be a means for exchange with minimum cost to the user. Where there is adequate security for a loan there should be no interest charged, only a charge for the cost of the transaction. A simple change in the Federal Reserve would make this work. Money should be available in exchange for a legal loan on adequate tangible assets; available in a fixed percentage of assets that will meet the need for money flow – without inflation. A fair money system will bring benefits to everyone.

The third item is Property. Planet Earth is humanity’s inheritance. We must recognize the rightful claim of every person to inherit an equitable portion of Earth’s natural bounty. Land, or a portion of money from the sale of land, can and should provide every family on Earth with a habitable homestead – a farm, a house or apartment. Fair property rights will bring security to everyone. Taxes should be based on the value of land – not improvements.

Fourth is Government. To achieve a balance of freedom and order – and check the power plays of national governments – local communities must be given a larger responsibility for peace and the care of Earth. Let towns and cities link with each other – locally and across national boundaries – in major vigorous independent programs to foster understanding and cooperation in solving social and environmental problems.

A Council or Councils, of World Towns and Cities is needed for these purposes. This can bring the measure of unity we need in our diversity and help foster the trust needed by nations to achieve lasting peace for all peoples.

Fifth, is Inner Life. One of the greatest causes of conflict in history has been the conflicting views of different religions. (Including ethical atheism). And at the same time, it is religion that has most effectively fostered humanitarian actions. The question is, can the obvious benefits in different religions be approved and supported without approving that part of their creeds with which we differ?

Allegiance to a creed dealing with the mysteries of life … Why are we here? Is there a future life? Is there a God? ... often provides meaning and incentives for a virtuous life. But each person must temper their belief by recognizing any virtue they see in people with a different hypothesis about the mysteries of life.

Most seekers of truth share the conviction that love is the greatest wisdom. The Creator must have infinite wisdom. Therefore the Creator must be a God of Love. By emphasizing our common search for love and light and basic points of agreement – the importance of the Golden Rule, creative altruism, integrity, repentance, forgiveness and recognizing our differences -- we can with a touch of humility, focus on where we agree -- and reinforce the values we share. Inner experience can then fuel mutual efforts for a better life, a better world.

Heralding a program for Trusteeship of Earth with these redemptive policies would quickly bring new attitudes of trust and hope – a change of heart worldwide. Efforts for completion of a safe disarmament will then succeed. The money saved can provide a great education in the power of real love and nonviolence for the next generation.

Is it possible to turn things around, turn things right side up? Yes. The means of great change are at our fingertips. With the aid of the telephone, radio, TV, computers and web sites, we can inspire a new global climate for opinion that will enable us to harvest Earth’s bounty instead of suffer from fear-induced scarcity and greed.

In scattered places all over the world, a few people are demonstrating solutions to major problems. Mostly unknown to each other, they are showing the way. Let us launch a global campaign for the redemption and renewal of Planet Earth. Let us headline the creative actions and the ideas, new and old, that are healing and nurturing people and planet.

Let each of us spread the word: Wake up World. A great Future is Possible Now

John McConnell -- May 31, 2006

The INDIGO Children (a documentary film)

Who are The INDIGO Children? Have they come to save the world?
Or are they the product of wishful imaginations?

Whatever you call them, (Indigo's or something else) our children are coming into the world with their eyes wide open, ready to play their role in creating a world of compassion and peace. Are we witnessing a major leap in human evolution, what Jean Houston calls "Jump Time?" Many people believe that we are on the brink of a global awakening, and that the Indigo Children are here to show us our highest potential.

In the documentary "The INDIGO Evolution," you hear from leading experts from around the world that this is much more than an imaginary fancy. The Children are real, and they are changing the world. Director James Twyman takes us on a journey into one of the most important questions of our day: "Has the human race finally evolved to a higher reality?"

The November 2006 issue of the AI Practitioner is titled “Lifelong Learning and Education: On the Road to Find Out”. The issue will highlight the many possibilities for individual and educational community transformative positive change through lifelong learning and lifelong education.

Compelling multidisciplinary work is taking place through multigenerational conversations, collective dialogues, faculty development, diversity work, curriculum design, learning communities, reflective practices, integrative learning, and experiential education through service learning (combining academic classroom curriculum with community service) and recreational activities, and more.

This is a unique opportunity to share your work with a worldwide audience.

The attached Call for Articles and Cases provides background on the topic, requirements and instructions for submitting a proposal.

After reading this e-mail, we would appreciate if you would circulate widely and forward it to others that you feel may be interested in responding to the Call.

The deadline for draft proposals of your article in outline or summary form is Friday, June 23, 2006. Send materials to guest editors, Steve Pyser at steve@thedialogue.net and Marge Schiller at margeschiller@yahoo.com. A PDF version of this Call is available by contacting Steve Pyser.

ABOUT THE TOPIC OF LIFELONG LEARNING AND EDUCATION

Lifelong learning is an approach to education that encourages continuous learning and an attitude of openness to acquiring knowledge and new ideas and skills. Lifelong education is defined as “… all educational or training processes undertaken by adults, whether general or vocational, whether located in the workplace, in an educational institution, by distance education or in a community setting, and whether formal or informal. This term also implies that education is not completed at any stage of the life span and can be part or full time in presentation. Lifelong education is education for life." See, The Adult Learner at Work: The Challenges of Lifelong Education in the New Millennium. Book by Robert Burns; Allen & Unwin, 2002.

We look forward to reading your submissions!

Steve Pyser and Marge Schiller

Summary: Call For Articles and Cases (800-2000 words) on LIFELONG LEARNING AND EDUCATION: ON THE ROAD TO FIND OUT

Selected articles and cases to appear in the November 2006 Issue of the AI Practitioner

Guest Editors: Steven N. Pyser, JD and Marjorie Schiller, PhD

Draft proposals of article in outline or summary form with your contact information (email and telephone contact). Pictures and diagrams are encouraged. Due June 23, 2006.
Article selection made by July 7, 2006.
Draft articles 800-2000 words in length, double-spaced due August 18, 2006.
Edits completed by September 1, 2006.
100-word article abstract, 50-word bio, photos, diagrams (if any) to be sent separately in jpg format by September 1, 2006.

Send to Steve Pyser at steve@thedialogue.net and Marge Schiller at margeschiller@yahoo.com
Potential contributors are asked to submit to the editors an outline or summary of the article of approximately 500 words in Word format setting out briefly:
brief bio, interest (and/or passion) about the topic you selected
the focus of the article (type of client such as school, community, corporate or other setting)
- any working title
- brief description of the work
- key message of the article to a wider audience
- anticipated length of final article

Guest Editors: Steven N. Pyser and Marjorie Schiller

Truth is an eternal conversation about things that matter, conducted with passion and discipline.” -- Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach

Ten years ago, the Delors Report identified four 'pillars' of education for the future: learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together, and learning to be. (http://www.unesco.org/delors/fourpil.htm) Traditional routes of gaining knowledge and skills are evolving to allow students opportunities for new understanding and foundations for growth in their personal and civic lives. It is well settled that learning is a social and integrated process. Education had in early life cannot sustain a whole career in today’s competitive business climate. In this new millennium, educators and administrators need effective and innovative tools to teach and facilitate learning with our students. Best practices and strategies for learning and building community in education need to be freely shared with those that teach and everyone that wishes to learn.

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a collaborative strength based approach to change that engages the “whole system”. One end goal is co-constructing a positive future by bringing out the best in people leading to breakthrough educational strategies. As the late Professor Donald Schön artfully stated, “We must … become adept at learning. We must become able not only to transform our institutions, in response to changing situations and requirements; we must invent and develop institutions which are ‘learning systems’, that is to say, systems capable of bringing about their own continuing transformation.”. (http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-schon.htm)

Lifelong learning and lifelong education have emerged as tools of learning and knowledge to foster transformation of individuals and educational communities. These two philosophies of learning are the focus of this Call for Articles and Cases. Each lends itself to AI and other approaches to positive change.

Lifelong learning is an approach to education that encourages continuous learning and an attitude of openness to acquiring knowledge and new ideas and skills.

Lifelong education is defined as “… all educational or training processes undertaken by adults, whether general or vocational, whether located in the workplace, in an educational institution, by distance education or in a community setting, and whether formal or informal. This term also implies that education is not completed at any stage of the life span and can be part or full time in presentation. Lifelong education is education for life." See, The Adult Learner at Work: The Challenges of Lifelong Education in the New Millennium. Book by Robert Burns; Allen & Unwin, 2002.

Learning empowers individuals to reach their potential. All social and economic segments of the global population can embrace it. You need not be an educator or have an advanced college degree to practice lifelong learning or engage in lifelong education. Indeed, this lifelong approach “umbrellas" childhood and youth to old age. Roger Von Holzen wrote in The Futurist, Volume 39, January-February 2005 that, “In today's knowledge marketplace, education is required for survival in the fast-changing workplace. So a market is being created for both corporate training and lifelong learning. While more than 25% of Americans currently seek to continue their education after college, it is expected that this percentage will increase to well over 50% in the next 20 years.” What role can AI and other positive change methodologies play under these circumstances to create educational transformation? AI practitioners are uniquely focused and positioned to respond to the needs of this expanding marketplace with methods for implementing and supporting lifelong learning and lifelong education programs.

AI encourages learning from strengths – extending and elevating that which is good and true in our lives. How can we inspire interest and action around education? How do we build learning, access to knowledge, social connections and resources in schools, universities and other places for learning? What connections exist for linking the life of people with the world in which they live? A powerful way of addressing these questions and learning lessons for growing the “good” is narrative story learning.

Multigenerational multicultural learning happens when whole communities are involved in maximum mix conversations. Social networking technologies and software are showing previously unrevealed connections among people. How do we hold these communities together? Social capital is, “The degree to which a community or society collaborates and cooperates (through such mechanisms as networks, shared trust, norms and values) to achieve mutual benefits.” (www.icfdn.org/publications/blurredborders/40definitions.htm) John Field, Professor of Lifelong Learning at the University of Stirling has written of a connection between social capital and lifelong learning. (http://www.infed.org/lifelonglearning/social_capital_and_lifelong_learning.htm)
The November 2006 issue of the AI Practitioner will highlight the many possibilities for individual and educational community transformative positive change through lifelong learning and lifelong education. It is titled “Lifelong Learning and Education: On the Road to Find Out”. This Call and title are inspired by one of Editor Steve Pyser’s favorite songs by Cat Stevens – appropriately titled “On the Road to Find Out”. One interpretation of the lyrics might be lifelong learning and education with themes of AI, storytelling, discovery and looking to the future. (http://www.mp3lyrics.org/c/cat-stevens/on-the-road-to-find-out/) Compelling multidisciplinary work is taking place through multigenerational conversations, collective dialogues, faculty development, diversity work, curriculum design, learning communities, reflective practices, integrative learning, and experiential education through service learning (combining academic classroom curriculum with community service) and recreational activities, and more.

AI and other strength based positive whole systems development practices are applied to lifelong learning and lifelong education. Students, teachers, administrators, consultants, researchers, and others are invited to submit articles about their experiences, results and findings. The editors anticipate content from the November 2006 issue will add valuable information and field experiences to a body of emerging practitioner knowledge.
Among the questions we will address in this issue of the AI Practitioner are:

What are we learning about leading AI projects in lifelong learning and lifelong education? What are the unique positive qualities of these two philosophies? Where is there opportunity for greater impact for practicing and researching AI based on what’s being done in lifelong learning and lifelong education?
Of particular interest are lessons learned in introducing AI to school systems, academies of higher education and other corporate delivery sites. What projects are being done and what positive, measurable benefits are occurring?
What role, if any, does social capital play in lifelong learning and lifelong education?

Each of us is unique. How can diversity initiatives and celebrating differences between people (e.g. race, religion, sexuality, cultural traditions, and others) facilitate an understanding and knowing of community and the world? Can this approach promote lifelong learning and lifelong education?
What does it take to navigate institutional, bureaucratic and/or hierarchical environments to introduce, fund and deliver these projects? How do you scale up and sustain the effort once a project is delivered?
Articles on a project, topic, or client experience should cover the following:

a) Description of the client organization - educational sector where the work done; size of total organization and/or size of group worked with – i.e., school district, intermediate unit, college campus, community program or corporate training group, etc. For purposes of this Call, “client organization” refers to school, community, corporate or other setting of delivery of lifelong learning and/or lifelong education program.

b) Client objectives - What were the goals or concerns of the client? What was the context? What business and professional issues was client concerned?

c) Description of the Process - What was the focus? Duration of the project/process? How many people were involved? Were there other key activities that relate to the primary focus you are describing? What were the distinguishing features of this work?
d) What were the theoretical underpinnings of this work? For example, was it the AI methodology or principles that most strongly influenced what you did or how you did it? Were there other approaches that played a key part in this work?

e) Changes and Outcomes – Please state the outcomes at the following levels:

- What changed in the organization’s strategy, structure, processes, policies or other systems and/or what changed in relationships among key groups or individuals?

- What results were reached for the organization’s stakeholders? i.e. Please specify results achieved for members of the organization, for students, for the community, or for other stakeholders?

f) Innovations/Learnings/Insights and Wishes – what worked especially well? What insights or guidance would you like to share with our readers? What wishes do you have for the next time?
g) Give the perspective from within the organization – opinion statements, quotes. Have the client viewpoint come through.

h) Implications of this experience for your own life and work.

Information about the AI Practitioner ­ ISSN 1741-8224

The AI Practitioner, formerly known as the AI Newsletter, began in May 1998. The publication is for people interested in making the world a better place using Appreciative Inquiry theory and methodology.

The publication carries articles, case studies and examples highlighting where and how Appreciative Inquiry has been used to bring about positive change. The articles highlight various aspects of the thinking and methodology of Appreciative Inquiry such as the life giving forces in a system, compelling images of the future, designs for living that future and ways to sustain the relationships and systems necessary to make the future real.

Subscribers receive four issues a year in February, May, August and November. The AI Practitioner is available as a PDF file at the secure website www.aipractitioner.com. Subscribers and purchasers of single issues have a choice of downloading a high-resolution copy for printing or a lower solution copy for screen reading.

Any questions about AI Practitioner can be directed to Anne Radford editor@aipractitioner.com

Information about the Guest Editors of November 2006 edition of AI Practitioner

Steven N. Pyser, JD, is an educator, speaker, author and consultant supporting organizations and communities through strength-based approaches, dialogue, conflict management, and synergy services. Recently named by The Philadelphia Inquirer as a dialogue expert, Mr. Pyser brings his experiences as a facilitator, dialogue practitioner and trial attorney to advance learning and citizen engagement through Appreciative Inquiry initiatives and specialized public policy dialogues. He has participated in Listening to the City - Online Dialogue (rebuilding World Trade Center site/Lower Manhattan post 9/11), Penn’s Landing Public Forum (revitalizing Philadelphia waterfront), Fly into the Future (San Diego airport site selection) and Let’s Talk America (bringing Americans from the political spectrum together). He holds appointments as Managing Editor of The Journal of Public Deliberation and Associate Editor for Group Facilitation: Research and Applications Journal, serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Cognitive Affective Learning, Conflict Resolution Quarterly and Journal of Legal Studies Education. Mr. Pyser is a faculty member and faculty mentor at the University of Phoenix, Greater Philadelphia Campuses.

Marjorie Schiller, PhD, is an organizational consultant, teacher, speaker and writer. She is a fifteen-year practitioner of Appreciative Inquiry, has written several articles and book chapters about Appreciative Inquiry, and has presented numerous seminars and workshops. Her latest book is "Appreciative Leaders: In the Eye of the Beholder". She is an associate of the Taos institute and a founding partner of Appreciative Inquiry Consulting. She is founder of the Positive Change Corps (http://www3.ltu.edu/~lowry/positivechangecorps/index.htm)

Dignity NewsBulletin

Dear friends,
this is the new issue of Newsbulletin.

DIGNITY INTERNATIONAL

MONTHLY NEWSBULLETIN - June 2006

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Dignity News
* The New Dignity Website!
* Get Up - Stand Up - The Bob Marley Song Enjoys Renewed Popularity!
* East Africa - Call for Applications
Other News
* Fighting Rent Increases - A Grassroot Success Story
* Mumbai Evictions - Update
* Abuja Evictions
* 5th European meeting of people experiencing poverty - How do we cope with everyday life?
* Labour Rights Violations in Mexico - UN Committee on ESCR Expresses its Concern
* Global Labour Rights - Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights Violations
* AIDS: Wealth Before Health - UN meeting on AIDS a failure say CSOs
* Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Publications
* 3D Annual Report 2005
* The Gender and Media Handbook: Promoting Equality, Diversity & Empowerment

Announcements
* Seeking a Social Scientist Researcher
* Crime and Justice News Letter

Forthcoming Events - Highlights
* CIVICUS World Assembly

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DIGNITY NEWS

*** The New Dignity International Website - We are pleased to announce that our new website is now done!! We hope you will find the new website friendly and useful in your work. Please check out www.dignityinternational.org and see our special features:

* Excluded Wisdom: Voices of Reality - a space dedicated to the voices and faces of the invisible in our society;
* Calendar of Events for NGO activists outlining the key events at local and global levels;
* Photo Gallery to view online the photos of the Dignity International family;
* Resource Centre on human rights in development containing a range of documents, audio/visual materials, donors;
* Membership to join the Dignity International Family.

Special thanks to the web team Aleksandar, Luis and Simone for their hard work over the past months for this new website.

We will continue to build this website to provide you with a good service in our venture to achieve lasting social change.

*** Get Up - Stand Up - Stand Up for Your Human Rights - The Bob Marley song - Get Up Stand Up is enjoying a new lease of popularity in Nairobi as community leaders from the different people's settlements use the song title for their community human rights project.

From 20-27 May, 27 community leaders from the most deprived areas of Nairobi gathered at the Kolping Vocational Centre for a 7-day learning programme "Get Up - Stand up - Stand up for You Human Rights". The programme used simple and creative tools to link the daily struggles of the community (water, sanitation, housing, education, healthcare) to human rights. The programme further helped to equip the community leaders with a range of skills to claim their human rights.

Towards the end of the programme participants formed a joint plan of action that included: reporting back of the Programme to the Communities; further networking & information sharing with those present; joint action related to devolved Funds (CDF and LATF) and input into the new Housing Bill, which is currently under discussion in Kenya.

Participants also requested a Training of Trainers as a next natural step in the Get Up Stand Up project to multiply knowledge and skills to other members of the community. Participants also marked 10 December Human Rights Day as a major day in the community calendar and pledged to build the "Torch of Struggle" process that was started last year by the community in partnership with a range of national NGOs including Hakijamii and with the support and collaboration of Dignity International. The "Torch of Struggle" which is linked with the December Human Rights Day Celebrations will be an important building block to mobilise the communities for the World Social Forum which will take place in Nairobi one month later.

All credit to the participants and, as they declared during the programme: One World - One People.

Full Report of the Get Up - Stand Up Learning Programme on Human Rights at 2006_GetUp_Report .pdf

*** East Africa - Call for Applications - Building on the success of the recent Global Learning Programme on Human Rights in Development, Dignity International and its partners Tanzania Council on Social Development (TACOSODE) and Hakijamii (Centre for Economic and Social Rights) are pleased to announce a new programme: Regional Learning Programme on Human Rights in Development for East Africa, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, 4-14 September 2006. Applicants should be from one of the following countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Applicant profile: Development actors from grassroots, national, regional and international development NGOs that are beginning to integrate human rights in development work including NGOs beginning work on Rights Based Approaches. Applicants should be in key positions within their organisations and with solid experience and responsibility in a range of areas, including programming, advocacy and campaigning.

Summary of the programme: The programme will be based on the rich development experience of the participants themselves who, in a non-formal and participatory learning framework, will explore together the meaning of human rights in development work and how integration of human rights into development work translates into concrete strategies and development programming at the grassroots and international levels. For the Information Document, please see 2006_HRD_eastafrica.pdf

For the Application form, please see:
2006_HRD_eastafrica_form.pdf (pdf file) or 2006_HRD_eastafrica_form.doc (word doc)

If you have difficulties accessing the documents from the website and would like the documents to be sent via e-mail, please send a mail to: applications@dignityinternational.org

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 7 JULY 2006

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OTHER NEWS

*** Fighting Rent Increases - A Grassroot Success Story - In early April, all the tenants of plot No. 730 in Kariobangi South in Nairobi were issued with a notice to increase rent with effect from 1 June 2006. All the tenants of plot no. 730 gathered together to prepare a 3 page comprehensive letter objecting to the rent increase and stating the reasons, signed by all the tenants with copies to Chairman of the Rent Restriction Tribunal and to Odindo Opiata, Advocate of the High Court. A few days later the tenants received a notice cancelling rent increase. The letter states: "...to inform you that due to the current renovations taking place at the Plot, the Landlord feels that it is not necessary to increase rent at the moment and therefore the said notice of earlier is hereby withdrawn"! This is a clear example of power in numbers and power in collective action! For the copy of the letter from the see Kariobangi_Response.pdf

*** Mumbai Evictions - Update - 300 children from demolished communities along with other vulnerable children got together at Azad Maidan, Mumbai, India on 24 May to assert the right of the child to a safe and a secure home. The event was organized by various child rights groups in Mumbai, in solidarity with the struggle against slum demolitions, to highlight the problems of children who are being denied a house.
The day witnessed children's testimonies of 'what a house means to a child' and what 'demolition' means to a child from their own perspective. The children's Mayor of Mumbai also addressed the gathering. The other programs included songs, games, drawing on huge cloth/ paper etc. A dream house was inaugurated in solidarity with all the children who have been denied a home and in celebration of the child's need for safe housing. Source: Eviction Watch.

*** Abuja Evictions - Nigeria, have received disturbing news about mass evictions in the city of Abuja. Your urgent action is required in Nigeria. Abuja is a part, with the appointment of FCT Federal Minister Mallam El-Rufai in 2003. Since then, evictions have taken place in nine communities, of a total 49 settlement areas earmarked for demolition. The communities affected by these demolitions thus far include: Wuse, (2004), Mpape (2004), Dantata (November 2004), Old Karimo (November 2004), Jabi/Kado (April 2004), Chika (November 2005), Idu Karimo (2005-2006), Kubwa (June 2005-April 2006), and Dei-dei (April 2006). Source and for further information, please contact: Angie Balata

*** Fifth European meeting of people experiencing poverty
- 'How do we cope with everyday life?' -
This Austrian Presidency event, organised with the assistance of the European Anti Poverty Network took place in Brussels on 12-13 May 2006, in the premises of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Committee of the Regions (CoR). It brought together more than 120 delegates from 27 European Countries to dialogue with over 40 representatives of policy makers from EU and Member State institutions. The aim was to improve the mutual knowledge about the daily lived realities of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion in the different Member States. For further information see www.eapn.org/event/; concluding press release at www.eapn.org/news/

*** Labour Rights Violations in Mexico - UN Committee on ESC Rights Expresses its Concern - Severe restrictions on trade union rights denounced - On the 22nd of May 2006, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights published its concluding observations on the periodic report of Mexico, which was examined in its 36th session (1-19 May 2006). In these observations, the Committee expressed its concern about violations of economic, social and cultural rights, and particularly, about violations of labour rights in Mexico, meeting thereby a number of concerns expressed by FIDH in a report of April 2006 on the effects of the NAFTA on labour rights in Mexico. See FIDH website: www.fidh.org

*** Global Labour Rights - Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights Violations - 115 trade unionists were murdered for defending workers' rights in 2005, while more than 1,600 were subjected to violent assaults and some 9,000 arrested, according to the ICFTU's Annual Survey of Trade Union Rights violations. Nearly 10,000 workers were sacked for their trade union involvement, and almost 1,700 detained. Source Choike at www.choike.org

*** AIDS: Wealth Before Health - UN meeting on AIDS a failure say CSOs - Civil society groups from around the world denounced the final UN Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, released after marathon negotiations during the UN High Level meeting on AIDS that took place 31 May to 2 June at UN Headquarters. Civil society groups have been working to strengthen the document's language and commitments on critical aspects of sexual and reproductive health and rights. For full article see www.choike.org ( Source: Choike)

*** Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues - the fifth session of this forum met from 16th - 17th May in New York and the forum recommends the adoption of Declaration on Indigenous Rights by the 61st General Assembly. The text Address Indigenous Participation in Achieving, Anti-Poverty Goals, Africa's Indigenous, Second International Decade, among Others. For full details see: www.un.org/News/Press

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PUBLICATIONS

*** 3D Annual Report 2005 - 3D´s 2005 Annual Report is out. The report highlights 3Ds activities in 2005 including the use of human rights tools to question unfair intellectual property rules, publications on issues ranging from agriculture to migration, coherence issues in Thailand, and a new Practical Guide to the WTO in Spanish. You can also read it on our website at www.3dthree.org

*** The Gender and Media Handbook: Promoting Equality, Diversity & Empowerment - 2005 - The Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies has prepared this online manual (pdf version) which aims to promote gender equality and diversity in and through the media. It is a valuable resource and practical manual containing critical background on the current challenges and opportunities around gender and media issues. Document available at www.medinstgenderstudies.org/Downloads/Handbook_final.pdf

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

*** Seeking a Social Scientist Researcher - The Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) is in the process of developing an innovative methodology to monitor economic and social rights by integrating a socio-economic analysis conducted by development economists and other social scientists to the legal analysis of international human rights standards. To help us develop this methodology on a solid basis - CESR is seeking to hire a social scientist researcher for a full-time consultancy of six months (or part-time term consultancy of one year). The consultant will help adapt quantitative social-science methods to monitor multiple dimensions of economic and social rights and undertaking a series of case studies that will test the use of these methodological tools in different contexts. If anyone is interested please contact Alexander Gordon; You can also find it on-line at http://cesr.org/node/750

*** Crime and Justice News Letter - A New Publication from the Inter Press Service - already available the two firts issues:
www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/deathpenalty/issue_1.pdf
www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/deathpenalty/issue_2.pdf

For further information on the IPS project funded by the European Commission: Death Penalty Abolition (DPA) project. You may like to visit: www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/deathpenalty/index.asp

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS - HIGHLIGHTS

*** CIVICUS World Assembly - Power to the people and peace for all: The 6th CIVICUS World Assembly will be held in Glasgow, Scotland from 21- 25 June 2006. CIVICUS World Assembly is a forum for international civil society representatives to get together, exchange ideas, experiences and build strategies for a just world. Acting Together For A Just World. For further information, see: www.civicus.org

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This is a monthly electronic news bulletin of 'Dignity International: All Human Rights for All'. Dignity International does not accredit, validate or substantiate any information posted by members to this news bulletin. The validity and accuracy of any information is the responsibility of the originator.
If you are working in the area of human rights with a special attention to different aspects of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, we would love to hear from you. To contribute, email us at info@dignityinternational.org

Educating for Global Peace
spiritual & ethical perspectives on peace & justice

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a peace education center & biosophical institute sponsored lecture series
june - december 2006

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Please join us for this timely and provocative lecture series exploring spiritual and ethical perspectives on peace and justice towards educating for global peace. The SECOND talk in the series, "Islamic Values and Transformative Non-violence: Are they Compatible?" will be July 12, featuring Ibrahim Malik Abdil-Mu'id Ramey, Coordinator of the Peace and Disarmament Program at the Fellowship of Reconciliation and Board Member of the Temple of Understanding and of the Muslim Peace Fellowship.

ISLAMIC VALUES & TRANSFORMATIVE NONVIOLENCE:
ARE THEY COMPATIBLE?

IBRAHIM MALIK ABDIL-MU'ID RAMEY
Coordinator of Peace and Disarmament Program, Fellowship of Reconciliation; Board Member, Temple of Understanding and Muslim Peace Fellowship

Wednesday, July 12. 7-9pm.
Location: Teachers College, Columbia University (Milbank Chapel - 125 Main)
click here for directions to Teachers College

This presentation will examine, using both Islamic textual and exegetical sources and arguments, the concepts of Rahman (compassion) and Rahim (mercy) as central tenets of the religion of Al-Islam and the evolution of Islamic history and culture, and especially in the dimensions of the historic interaction of Islamic civilizations and social movements with the religious other.

I will also present examples of the subordination of the concepts of Rahman and Rahim in Islamic political conflict, particularly in the use of regular or irregular warfare, and offer suggestions for how the concepts might become part of the development of an authentic Islamic variant of transformative nonviolence.

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IBRAHIM MALIK ABDIL-MU'ID RAMEY

Ibrahim Abdil-Mu’id Ramey, a native of Norfolk, Virginia, is the coordinator of the Peace and Disarmament program of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyack, New York.

He serves as a board member of the Muslim Peace Fellowship and the Temple of Understanding ( an interfaith organization promoting dialogue and cooperation among diverse religious traditions), the Muslim Women’s Institute for Research and Development, and several national peace and justice organizations. He also serves on the steering committees of the Religious NGO community and the United Nations and the Climate Crisis Coalition.

Ibrahim has also received several awards from local and national organizations for his international advocacy work for peace and nonviolent social justice, including, in 2000, the first Better World activist award from the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation and a Distinguished International Service Award from the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs in 2004.

His current projects include the organizing of an international symposium on Gandhian theory and practice in October, 2006, and initiating a national network for Islamic Environmental Action.

~ free and open to the public ~ RSVP requested ~
Please note that lectures will take place at different venues.
Please contact the Peace Education Center for additional detail and to RSVP.
email: peace-ed@tc.edu / phone: (212) 678-8116

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE “EDUCATING FOR GLOBAL PEACE” LECTURE SERIES PLEASE VISIT US ON THE WEB AT WWW.TC.EDU/PeaceEd.

(CLICK ON SPEAKER'S NAME or DATE for LECTURE DETAILS AND BIO)

Wednesday, July 12. 7-9pm
ISLAMIC VALUES & TRANSFORMATIVE NONVIOLENCE:
ARE THEY COMPATIBLE?
IBRAHIM MALIK ABDIL-MU'ID RAMEY
Coordinator of Peace and Disarmament Program, Fellowship of Reconciliation; Board Member, Temple of Understanding and Muslim Peace Fellowship
Location: Teachers College, Columbia University (Milbank Chapel - 125 Main Hall)

Tuesday, September 12. 7-9pm
ONE WORLD, MANY RELIGIONS: GETTING BEYOND DIALOGUE...
JOYCE S. DUBENSKY
Executive Vice President, Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding
Location: Teachers College, Columbia University

Thursday, October 19. 7-9pm
COSMOPOLITAN ETHICS & BEING PEACE: EXPLORING THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPIRITUALITY, JUSTICE, & PEACE
DALE SNAUWAERT
Associate Professor of Educational Theory and Social Foundations of Education; Chair of the Department of Foundations of Education, University of Toledo
Location: Fordham University Lincoln Center Campus (Room TBA)

Saturday, November 4. 1-3pm
EDUCATING FOR PEACE AT THE LEVEL OF OUR DEEP HUMANITY
PATRICIA MISCHE
Lloyd Professor of Peace Studies and World Law, Antioch College; Visiting Professor, School of International Service, American University; Co-founder and current President , Global Education Associates
Location: The Riverside Church

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Co-Sponsors
The Peace Education Center seeks to provide learning opportunities to inform wider public and academic audiences about critical and timely peace related issues. Peace related concerns are the concerns of all members of the human community. The Peace Education Center is pleased to work with several co-sponsors, from various disciplines and vocations, in the planning of this lecture series. Please take the time to introduce yourself to the work of our co-sponsors by clicking the links below.

Barnard Education Program; Biosophical Institute; The Center for the Contemplative Mind in Society; Fellowship of Reconciliation; Fordham University's Graduate School of Education; Global Education Associates; International Center for Tolerance Education; Peace Boat USA; Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding; Teachers College - Forum on the Role of Religion and Spirituality in Education, Office of Diversity and Community, and Office of the Vice President and Dean of the College; Temple of Understanding; The Riverside Church Mission and Social Justice Department

List of Japan-related Programs in the World Peace Forum (not exhaustive)

With Special Thanks to the Media Sponsors of the World Peace Forum, Vancouver Shinpo and Fraser.

A. Arts and Culture Programs at Roundhouse Community Centre (Free Admission)

Date: Sunday June 25th
Place: Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown, on Pacific & Davie
www.rounhouse.ca

June 25th 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Vancouver Save Article 9 (B.C.):
JAPAN'S PEACE CONSTITUTION (Japan)
A documentary film presented in conjunction with Vancouver Save Article 9
The Japanese government is now moving forward with plans to revise the nation¹s constitution, potentially eliminating Article 9, the famous 'no war' clause. This timely, award-winning documentary explores the origins of the Constitution and the significance of the peace clauses in today's international context, examining how the US-Japan alliance has shaped Japan¹s role in the world, and what revision will mean to Japan¹s neighbours Korea and China. The documentary features interviews with many noted
specialists including John Dower, Hidaka Rokuro, Chalmers Johnson, Shin Heisoo and Noam Chomsky. 2005: 78 minutes, English / Directed by John Junkerman / Produced by Yamagami Tetsujiro / Camera by Otsu Ksohiro; Music by Soul Flower Union

June 25th 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Vancouver Save Article 9 (B.C.):
THE FACE OF JIZO - A PLAY READING, with SPECIAL GUESTS
The story takes place in Hiroshima, three years after the devastating World War II bombing attack. Twenty-three year old Mitsue, who has survived the attack, is visited by the spirit of her dead father, Takezo, who expresses support for her recent romance. Mistue, overwhelmed by the guilt of having survived the bomb, tries to suppress her feelings, but Takezo tries to convince Mitsue that she deserves a happy life. This play, filled with tears and laughter, has been successfully produced for many years in Japan and several other countries, including Hong Kong, Russia and France, by Komatsu-za, Inoue's theatre group. The English script, translated by Roger Pulvers, will be read by Vancouver’s own Manami Hara and Hiro Kanagawa. The reading will be followed by the moving testimony of a survivor of Hiroshima’s A-bomb.

- There will be a display of panel presentation "The A-Bomb and Humanity" by Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H- Bomb Sufferers' Organizations at Roundhouse throughout June 25th.

June 25th 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM
TATSUMAKI IN CONCERT (Japan):
Four members of this well-known folk/rock ensemble, based in Nagasaki, Japan, are coming to Vancouver for the first time to share their music with audiences at the World Peace Forum. Tatsumaki was formed in 1999, and are best known in Japan for their song, The Ribbon, about the nuclear-bombing of Nagasaki in WWII. They have performed at many peace rallies in Japan, from those commemorating the use of atomic weapons at Nagasaki and Hiroshima, to mobilizations against the sending of Japanese troops to Iraq.

B. Asia Regional Conference (Registration Required)

Date and Time: June 25th, 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM
Place: UBC Henry Angus Building
Description: This one-day conference aims to examine key issues in the Asia region (including northeast, southeast and south Asia as well as the Pacific Islands). Among the topics to be explored are regional security issues including US bases, Korean reunification, a nuclear-free Asia, the "war on terror", ballistic missile defence, redress and reconciliation issues.

* Registration with World Peace Forum will be required to attend the conference. You can register at www.worldpeaceforum.ca or at the conference site. Discount rates are available for students, seniors, and those with low-income.

Some highlights of the Asia Regional Conference are:

June 25th 9-11:00 am
Plenary Session: When Sorry is not Enough – From Redress to Reconciliation
Venue: Henry Angus 110
Description: Colonialism, World War II and the Cold War devastated Asia. This session will address the progress and stumbling blocks to achieving reconciliation, including outstanding issues related to World War II, and to Cold War conflicts. The lack of reconciliation has direct impact on the regional peace and stability as evident by the recent tensions among Japan, China and Korea. The experience of redress for Japanese Canadians will be highlighted as a positive example for redress and reconciliation process.
Moderator: Roy Miki. Poet, scholar, and author (Redress. Inside the Japanese Canadian Call for Justice) Panel: Kang Jian, Attorney-at-law and advocate for victims of war crimes Akihiko Kimijima, Specialist in Japanese Constitution, Ritsumeikan University

June 25th 4-5:15 PM
Closing Plenary: Preventing Superpower Conflict in Asia
Venue: Henry Angus 110
Description: This plenary session of eminent scholars examines strategies to prevent superpower conflicts in the region and to achieve a Nuclear-free Asia.
Moderator: Mr. Hiromichi Umebayashi, President of Peace Depot
Keynote: Hari Sharma. Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University
Lois Wilson, Retired Canadian senator, former moderator of the World Church
Suh Sung, Professor, Law Faculty, Ritsumeikan University

June 25th 1-2:15 PM
Workshop I: Miracle in Fushun
Venue: Henry Angus 421
Description: Process of recovery of humanity and transformation experienced by Japanese war criminals interned in China in the 1950s, is examined towards application to reconciliation in more recent war-related crimes.
Sponsor: Uketsugu Kai (Association for the Heritage Enhancement of Miracle in Fushun), Tokyo
Moderator: Tatsuo Kage. Historian and author (Nikkei Canada-jin no Tsuiho/Expulsion of Japanese Canadians); Member of Vancouver’s Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association Human Rights Committee
Panel: Motomu Ishikawa. Uketsugu Kai, Tokyo Metropolitan University Shinichi Arai. Professor Emeritus, Surugadai University
Documentary Film: A repentant war criminal - Mr. Tsuchiya, former Kenpei, and China

June 25th 1 – 4:00 PM
Workshop B: Reconciliation and Peace in North-Eastern Asia
Venue: Henry Angus 308
Description: Challenges in North-Eastern Asia are introduced through a recitation play, and then by speaker/citizens addressing themes of history, U.S military bases in Japan, and the Yasukuni Shrine, discussion following.
Sponsor: Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan Organized by professors and peace activists, Kansai district, including Kyoto, Osaka, etc.
Participants: Suh Sung. Ritsumeikan Centre for Korean Studies / Ikuro Anzai. Director, Kyoto Museum for World Peace / Li Xiaolin. Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries / Eiichi Kido. Osaka University, Atsushi Fujioka. Ritsumeikan University / Kyoko Okumoto. Osaka Jogakuin College

June 25th 1 – 4:00 PM
Workshop F: Tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Venue: Henry Angus 226
Description: “Does history justify the use of nuclear weapons?” “Or could it be interpreted as a crime against humanity?” Scholars and speakers discuss these questions with survivors.
Sponsors: Gensuikyo (Japan Council against A and H Bomb, National Association of Japanese Canadians
Moderator:Hiroshi Taka. Secretary General, Gensuikyo
Participants: Mikiso Iwasa. Assistant Secretary General, Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hidankyo). “Survival of hell in this world”
Joseph Gerson. Representative, American Friends Services Committee, New England Regional Program. “Can history justify the dropping of the A-bomb
Kwi-Hoon Kwak. Hibakusha, Korean A-Bomb Survivors’ Association. “Invasion of Asia, Dropping of A-Bombs and Anti-War Peace Movements—An Overseas Survivor’s Perspective” / Kenichi Okubo. Executive Director, Japanese Law Society. “Legal Aspects of the Dropping of A-Bombs” / Presenter to be announced. “The Criminality of Nuclear Weapons” Joy Kogawa. Japanese Canadian Author. “Gently to Nagasaki”

C. Panel Discussion on the Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution

June 26th 1 – 4 PM
Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution: Common Treasure of the Humankind for Peace
Venue: SUB 207/209 - UBC
Sponsor: Peace Boat (Japan), Japan Council Against A-and H- Bombs (Gensuikyo),
Japan Confederation of A- and H- Bomb Suffers Organizations (Hidankyo), Vancouver Save Article 9, and others.
Description: Article 9 of Japanese Constitution is a unique peace provision that renounces war as a mean for settling international disputes and also prohibits the maintenance of armed forces for this purpose. This workshop will focus on the significance of Japan’s Article 9 as a global common value in promoting disarmament,
demilitarization, human security and a culture of peace in the world, as well as a foundation of regional peace, through examining Japan’s achievements and failures. It will also strategize a worldwide campaign to uphold Japan’s Article 9 and spread such peace provisions in the world, exploring concrete policies and mechanisms that global citizenscould pursue, based on this concept.
Panelists: Kimijima Akihiko, Ritsumeikan University / Roberto Zamora / Joseph Gerson, American Friends Service Committee, USA / Satoko Norimatsu, Vancouver Save Article 9, Canada / Ikuya Nishikawa, National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren), Japan
D. Peace Boat

June 28th 7:00 am Peace Boat arrives at Vancouver
Description: Peace Boat’s 53rd Global Voyage arrives at Canada Place

June 28th 12:15 – 1:30 pm Travelling the World, Changing the World, - People to People Diplomacy onboard Peace Boat -
Venue: The Peace Boat, docking at Canada Place
Sponsor: Peace Boat, Peace Boat US, Hague Appeal for Peace
Description: Founded in 1983, Peace Boat has carried over 25000 people to more than 100 ports around the world through people to people exchange and a variety of Peace Education projects. Participants to the WPF are welcome to join the ship for a day with an introduction to Peace Boat and a tour of the ship.
Panelists: Cora Weiss (President Hague Appeal for Peace) Tatsuya Yoshioka (Director of Peace Boat) Ryo Ijichi (Coordinator of Peace Boat U.S. office)
• *[IMPORTANT] Pre-registration is required for this event. If you are interested in attending, please send an email before June 24th to ichiro@peaceboat.gr.jp with 1. Full Name, and 2. Date of Birth (Required for port access).
• *People attending preceding “Making the Earth Whole” panel will be automatically registered for this event as well and are able to attend it.
• *After the program, we are planning to provide Lunch to the participants on board for an additional fee.
• *ID will be required to board the Peace Boat

June 28th 9– 11:00 pm Peace Boat Bon Voyage
Venue: Canada Place
Description: Lantern Festival Walk with Peace Boat participants to Canada Place for bon voyage. Peace Boat’s vessel departs at 11:00pm. Details to be confirmed.
(D) Two Other Events (Free)

Dates: June 9 – June 30
Hiroshima and Nagasaki Exhibit
Venue: Storyeum 142 Water St.
Description:
The World Peace Forum in partnership with Storyeum, is honoured to present Hiroshima; an intimate exhibit documenting photographs and A-bomb artifacts from 1945, when the first atomic bombs were used in warfare on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. All visitors to the exhibit are invited to fold paper cranes in commemoration.

Dates and Times: June 2-July 1 Tuesday ­ Saturday, 11am-6pm
INTERNATIONAL CENTRE for CONTEMPORARY ASIAN ART
YOKO ONO- TWO INSTALLATIONS
Venue: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art
2 West Hastings
www.centrea.org
Description: Yoko Ono is better known for her marriage to John Lennon than her work as an artist. To redress that, the Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art will feature two installations by Ms. Ono on the theme of peace. The first is Wish Tree, where visitors are invited to write down their wishes and attach them to the tree. The second, Mend Piece, asks visitors to help mend pieces of broken dishes in the spirit of collaboration. Both works involve high levels of artist participation, which will be encouraged through a facilitator trained by gallery staff.

A Public Reading of Hisashi Inoue's Play
井上ひさし作　ロジャー・パルバース訳　「父と暮せば」
The Face of Jizo
Translated by Roger Pulvers

Reading followed by the Testimony of an Atomic Bomb Survivor

Presented by Vancouver Save Article 9 / Sponsored by Komatsu-za, and Hidankyo in conjunction with the World Peace Forum (June 23 – 28 worldpeaceforum.ca)

7:30 PM - 9:00 PM, Sunday June 25th, 2006
At Roundhouse Community Centre
@ Pacific & Davie in Yaletown
Admission is free. Donations to recoup the costs of this event will be appreciated.

The story takes place in Hiroshima, three years after the devastating World War II bombing attack. Twenty-three year old Mitsue, who has survived the attack, is visited by the spirit of her dead father, Takezo, who expresses support for her recent romance. Mistue, overwhelmed by the guilt of having survived the bomb, tries to suppress her feelings, but Takezo tries to convince Mitsue that she deserves a happy life. This play, filled with tears and laughter, has been successfully produced for many years in Japan and several other countries, including Hong Kong, Russia and France, by Komatsu-za, Inoue's theatre group. The English script, translated by Roger Pulvers, will be read by Vancouver’s own Manami Hara and Hiro Kanagawa. The reading will be followed by the moving testimony of a survivor of Hiroshima’s A-bomb.

For more information, contact:
Vancouver Save Article 9 604-619-5627 or satoko.norimatsu@uwc.net

To Friends of the Dignity Movement from Bob Fuller:

I am sending this broadcast email to friends, colleagues, acquaintances,
and no doubt a few from whom I'm removed by a degree or two of separation.
There's no other way to simultaneously reach the vast number of people
who, if they knew, might want to be in on the formal launch of the dignity
movement.

As many of you know, I've been working on a sequel to "Somebodies and
Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank." The new book is called "ALL RISE:
Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity," and it's being
published this week by Berrett-Koehler. This book consists of practical
strategies for confronting rankism in the personal and public spheres and
for building a dignity movement.

A professional New York PR firm (Monteiro & Co) is booking interviews that
will keep me busy for the rest of this year and beyond. (For starters,
I'll be discussing "All Rise" on C-Span's "Washington Journal" on Monday,
June 26th at 9:30 AM EST.)

Publicity pros say that a project's success depends on the launch. On
their advice, I'm writing in the hope that you will consider ordering the
book this week, preferably today. If enough people buy a book in the first
week, it stands a real chance of making bestseller lists. The number
needed is less than one might think: "only" 1000-1500, but reaching that
number is important because getting on best-seller lists creates the buzz
that will give the movement traction.

The actual goal is not to sell a book, but to spread the idea that dignity
is a non-negotiable, inviolate, universal right. With this in mind, I hope
you will consider forwarding this message to people you know who might
want to participate--people who are facing rankism in the workplace,
schools, and healthcare; people who are concerned about the erosion of
civic liberties, or America's role in the world; or people who would be
moved by the personal stories in "ALL RISE" of those who have overcome
rankism. You and your friends can help the movement onto its feet, and
once people stand up for dignity, it's usually not long until they're
marching for justice.

The following links will take you directly to the page for "ALL RISE" at:
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/kgc28
Barnes and Noble: http://tinyurl.com/hmkx6
Powell's: http://tinyurl.com/qnsb6

Table of contents: http://www.breakingranks.net/weblog/all-rise/toc/
Web site for the Dignity Movement: http://www.breakingranks.net/

"ALL RISE" concludes with a list of specific actions people can take to
advance human dignity. To amplify this call to action, please consider
ordering the book on Wednesday, June 14, or as soon as possible
thereafter.

Dignity4All! (That's the bumper sticker. Let us know if you'd like one.)

Robert Fuller

Weltordnung durch Weltmacht oder Weltorganisation? USA, Deutschland und die Vereinten Nationen, 1945 – 2005, von Volker Rittberger (Hrsg.) unter Mitarbeit von Heiko Baumgärtner

Theodor Eschenburg-Vorlesung 2005 von Bernd Mützelburg und mit Beiträgen von Friederike Bauer, Ernst-Otto Czempiel, Volker Rittberger
2006, 91 S., brosch., 17,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1792-6 (Einzeltitel)

Mit der Theodor Eschenburg-Vorlesung und der sie begleitenden Vortragsreihe erinnert dieser Band an die Leistungen und Verdienste eines der Gründerväter der deutschen Politikwissenschaft. Die hier versammelten Beiträge sind aus Vorträgen hervorgegangen, die am 1. Juli 2005 anlässlich des Theodor-Eschenburg-Symposiums »Weltordnung durch Weltmacht oder Weltorganisation? USA, Deutschland und die Vereinten Nationen, 1945 – 2005« im Rahmen des Studium Generale an der Universität Tübingen gehalten wurden.

Together with the lecture on Theodor Eschenburg and the accompaning lecture-series, this voulme reminds us of the achievements and merits of the founders of German political science. The collected contributions emerged from lectures which were held on the 1. July 2005 on the occasion of the Theodor-Eschenburg symposium »World order through world power or world organisation? USA, Germany and the United Nations, 1945-2005« in the course of the studium generale at the University of Tübingen.

Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH)
June 13, 2006

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The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) aims to promote constructive perspectives and dialogue about Muslim-Western relations.

*This service is also available in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia and French. You can subscribe by sending an email to cgnewspih@sfcg.org specifying your choice of language.

*Unless otherwise noted, copyright permission has been obtained and articles may be reprinted by any news outlet or publication. Please acknowledge both the original source and the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

*For an archive of CGNews articles and other information, please visit our website at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).

*Due to changes in CGNews' administration during the week of 19th June, there may be some temporary difficulties in dissemination. If you experience any, please contact the administrator: kzehr@sfcg.org.

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ARTICLES IN THIS EDITION:

1. Clear scores, level playing fields and global appeal: why the UN envies the World Cup by Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, compares international politics to the most talked about event around the world – the World Cup. He highlights the series’ transparent qualities - the game, the players and the results are there for the world to see; its ability to generate free discussion on both the best and the worst aspects of the game; its promotion of talent and teamwork above personal power or wealth; its seamless integration of foreign talent into local teams; and its ability to propel even the world’s most crisis-ridden countries to stardom. For the next few weeks at least, as we sit in front of television screens around the world, we will all share in our common humanity.
(Source: Daily Star, June 7, 2006)

2. ~YOUTH VIEWS~ A wave of democracy? by Bassem El Sharouney and Stephanie Rowe
Bassem El Sharouney and Stephanie Rowe, participants in the Soliya Arab-American dialogue program, evaluate the Bush Administration’s drive for democracy in the Middle East. Looking as an example at the elections in Egypt, they acknowledge that it did not become the success story that had been anticipated, however it did result in widespread outrage in both international and local press, providing a level of transparency to the mangled process. They laud U.S. efforts to learn from their mistakes and to continue to push for a free Middle East, yet warn that “impatience and intimidation will not hasten the process or ensure just and sustainable reform”.
(Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), June 13, 2006)

3. The international terrorist conspiracy by Gwynne Dyer
Gwynne Dyer, a London-based journalist, dispels the myth of an international coalition of organised terrorists with one sole target: the West. Considering the recent arrest of 17 Canadians who were allegedly planning a terrorist attack within their country, as well as the “home grown” terrorists in London and Madrid, he argues that “the contrast between the received wisdom — that the world, or at least the West, is engaged in a titanic, unending struggle against a terrorist organisation of global reach — and the not very impressive reality is so great that most people in the West believe the official narrative rather than the evidence of their own eyes.”
(Source: Jordan Times, June 6, 2006)

4. Women Journalists Share Experiences Around Med by Samar Fatany
Samar Fatany, a Saudi journalist, writes about her participation in the recent conference “Women, Media and the Mediterranean,” an event which “provided an opportunity for dialogue and an exchange of experience between journalists from print media, television and radio” across the region. Looking at the obstacles and opportunities for European and Arab women in the media, participants advocated working together to find peaceful solutions to the cultural and political misunderstandings of their readers. She concludes that “by learning from the experiences of journalists in other nations, we should be able to find better ways to do things, speed up the process of reform and help women take up their rightful role in our society.”
(Source: Arab News, June 13, 2006)

5. Moderate Western Muslims, speak up! by Rondi Adamson
Canadian journalist, Rondi Adamson, is baffled by Toronto mayor, David Miller’s response to the arrests of 17 Canadians on charges of plotting a terrorist attach. “We need strategies to try to prevent that from happening again," he said. Considering the high level of integration of Muslims in Canadian society, compared with European countries, she questions whether it is possible for the Canadian government to do more on its own, and asks Western Muslims to help by wholeheartedly condemning “Islamofascism” without any conditions.
(Source: Christian Science Monitor, June 6, 2006)

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ARTICLE 1
Clear scores, level playing fields and global appeal: why the UN envies the World Cup
Kofi Annan

New York - You may wonder what a secretary general of the United Nations is doing writing about soccer. But in fact, the World Cup makes us in the UN green with envy. As the pinnacle of the only truly global game, played in every country by every race and religion, it is one of the few phenomena as universal as the United Nations. You could even say it's more universal. FIFA has 207 members; we have only 191.

But there are far better reasons to be envious.

First, the World Cup is an event in which everybody knows where their team stands, and what it did to get there. They know who scored and how and in what minute of the game; they know who missed the open goal; they know who saved the penalty. I wish we had more of that sort of competition in the family of nations. Countries openly vying for the best standing in the table of respect for human rights, and trying to outdo one another in child survival rates or enrolment in secondary education. States parading their performance for all the world to see. Governments being held accountable for what actions led them to that result.

Second, the World Cup is an event that everybody on the planet loves talking about. Dissecting what their team did right, and what it could have done differently - not to mention the other side's team. People sitting in cafes anywhere from Buenos Aires to Beijing, debating the finer points of games endlessly, revealing an intimate knowledge not only of their own national teams but of many of the others too, and expressing themselves on the subject with as much clarity as passion. Normally tongue-tied teenagers suddenly becoming eloquent, confident, and dazzlingly analytical experts. I wish we had more of that sort of conversation in the world at large. Citizens consumed by the topic of how their country could do better on the Human Development Index, or in reducing the number of carbon emissions or new HIV infections.

Third, the World Cup is an event that takes place on a level playing field, where every country has a chance to participate on equal terms. Only two commodities matter in this game: talent and teamwork. I wish we had more levellers like that in the global arena. Free and fair exchanges without the interference of subsidies, barriers or tariffs.

Fourth, the World Cup is an event that illustrates the benefits of cross-pollination between peoples and countries. More and more national teams now welcome coaches from other countries, who bring new ways of thinking and playing. The same goes for the increasing number of players who between World Cups represent clubs away from home. They inject new qualities into their new team, grow from the experience, and are able to contribute even more to their home side when they return. In the process, they often become heroes in their adopted countries - helping to open hearts and broaden minds. I wish it were equally plain for all to see that human migration in general can create triple wins - for migrants, for their countries of origin, and for the societies that receive them. That migrants not only build better lives for themselves and their families, but are also agents of development.

For any country, playing in the World Cup is a matter of profound national pride. For countries qualifying for the first time, such as my native Ghana, it is a badge of honour. For those who are doing so after years of adversity, such as Angola, it provides a sense of national renewal. And for those who are currently driven by conflict, like Cote d'Ivoire, but whose World Cup team is a unique and powerful symbol of national unity, it inspires nothing less than the hope of national rebirth.

Which brings me to what is perhaps most enviable of all for us in the United Nations: the World Cup is an event in which we actually see goals being reached. I'm not talking only about the goals a country scores; I also mean the most important goal of all - being there, part of the family of nations and peoples, celebrating our common humanity. I'll try to remember that when Ghana plays Italy in Hanover on June 12. Of course, I can't promise

I'll succeed.

###
* Kofi Annan in the first person. Kofi Annan is secretary general of the United Nations. This article is distributed by The Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Daily Star, June 7, 2006
Visit the website at www.dailystar.com.lb (http://www.dailystar.com.lb/)
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 2
~YOUTH VIEWS~
A wave of democracy?
Bassem El Sharouney and Stephanie Rowe

Cairo & Danville, Kentucky - Spreading democracy is the cornerstone of the Bush administration’s foreign policy. Encouraging free elections across the Middle East has been touted as a way to turn the tide in the political climate of the region. The promoters of this policy hope that authoritarian regimes with no regard for human rights or free enterprise will end the abuse of their populations and interference with American interests: that soon the Middle East will be dotted with American-style democracy, with the few hold-outs crumbling beneath domestic and international pressure. They hold that recent elections across the region are an example of this movement. But how much effect have recent elections had? Do elections really equate to democracy? An examination of Egypt’s first multi-party elections does not validate the administration’s claims.

In the years following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, President Bush’s Middle East policy and national security strategy have focused on encouraging the spread of democracy around the world. In a landmark speech in November 2003, President Bush stated:

“Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe – because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty. As long as the Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain a place of stagnation, resentment, and violence ready for export…. Therefore, the United States has adopted a new policy, a forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East.”

This policy has taken several forms, including both friendly and not so friendly diplomatic pressure and even war. Neo-conservatives, like their hard-core anti-Communist predecessors, believe in the domino effect, but today, it is democracy that is supposed to spread like a virus. Iraq was to be the poster child for a peaceful, post-authoritarian democracy. Despite the continued mayhem in Iraq, the administration argues progress has been made in the region.

President Bush is particularly proud of the democratic progress made in Egypt. A combination of diplomatic and internal pressure encouraged Egyptian President Mubarak to allow the country’s first multi-party elections in 2005. The Bush administration lauded the process as a breakthrough. In his 2006 State of the Union address, even after the many flaws in the Egyptian election process had been revealed, Bush praised the efforts, saying, “We're writing a new chapter in the story of self-government – with…men and women from Lebanon to Egypt debating the rights of individuals and the necessity of freedom.”

Although the administration’s optimism was also echoed by both the Egyptian and the American press, once the process had begun it became clear that Mubarak had not relinquished as much control as expected. The voting process was revealed to have been dubious, and vote-buying was readily apparent. The Egyptian media, to their credit, did not shirk from reporting on the corruption. Pictures of campaign members distributing valuable gifts and money to voters at polls were all over the media. The Egyptian media also showed that out-and-out cheating was occurring. Although anti-cheating measures, such as glass polling boxes, were taken, tampering still occurred. Overt campaigning by Muslim fundamentalists, who seem not to have entirely accepted the key democratic concept of equal rights, particularly as it pertains to Coptic Christians in Egypt, also cast a shadow over the process.

The revelation of tampering in the presidential elections led the Bush administration to tone down its praise for Mubarak and pressure the regime for freer and more legitimate parliamentary elections, which soon followed. Unfortunately, corruption and governmental interference continued and even intensified as Mubarak grew apprehensive about political change.

If there is one glimmer of hope in Egypt, it is that the media was able to fairly and honestly report on events, revealing to Egyptians how mangled the process was.

The Bush administration has acknowledged that elections do not make a democracy, but it continues to emphasise voting, even at the expense of other issues, or when only a small segment of the population actually votes, as was the case in Egypt. Bush has even acknowledged that the American democracy model is not the model for all nations and that the development of a true and functioning democracy surely takes time. However, the rhetoric of a coming flood of political change and a policy of military intervention if the leadership of Middle Eastern countries is not to the United States’ liking contradicts these statements. Democracy may someday come to Egypt and its neighbours, but impatience and intimidation will not hasten the process or ensure just and sustainable reform.

###
* Bassem El Sharouney and Stephanie Rowe co-wrote this article as part of the Soliya Arab-American dialogue program (www.soliya.net.) This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), June 13, 2006
Visit the website at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/)
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 3
The international terrorist conspiracy
Gwynne Dyer

London - They arrested 17 alleged Islamist terrorists in and around Toronto on Saturday, most of them young and Canadian-born. They had bought three tonnes of ammonium nitrate and are accused of planning to bomb targets in southern Ontario.

Shock! Horror! How could this happen here?

Canada refused to take part in the US invasion of Iraq, so most people assumed that it was therefore an unlikely target for terrorist attacks. Relatively speaking, it probably still is — but it does have several thousand troops in Afghanistan, and the new government in Ottawa is actively seeking closer ties to the Bush administration. Enough, perhaps, to motivate a bunch of radicalised young Muslim-Canadians who couldn’t reach non-Canadian targets anyway.

Any terrorist attack on Canada is bound to be home grown, because there is no shadowy but powerful network of international Islamist terrorists waging a war against the West; there are isolated small groups of extremists who blow things up once in a while, and there are websites and other media through which they can exchange ideas and techniques, but there are no headquarters, no chain of command, no organisation that can be defeated, dismantled and destroyed.

There have been Islamist terrorist groups in the Arab world for decades, but there never was much of an international Islamist “terrorist network”. Even in Al Qaeda’s heyday, before the US invasion of Afghanistan effectively beheaded it in 2001, there were only a few hundred core members.

According to US intelligence estimates, between 30,000 and 70,000 volunteers passed through Al Qaeda’s training camps in Afghanistan in 1996-2001, but their long-term impact on the world has been very small. For most people who went to those camps, it was more a rite of passage than the start of a lifelong career as a terrorist. The average annual number of Islamist terrorist attacks in Arab and other Muslim countries has been no greater in the past five years than in the previous ten or twenty.

The West has been even less affected. The Sept. 11 attacks on the United States were a spectacularly successful fluke, killing almost 3,000 people, but there have been no further Islamist attacks in the US. The two subsequent attacks that did occur in the West, in Madrid in 2004 and in London last year, cost the lives of 245 people. And those attacks were both carried out by local people with no links to any “international terrorist network”.

The contrast between the received wisdom — that the world, or at least the West, is engaged in a titanic, unending struggle against a terrorist organisation of global reach — and the not very impressive reality is so great that most people in the West believe the official narrative rather than the evidence of their own eyes. There must be a major terrorist threat; otherwise, the government is wrong or lying, the intelligence agencies are wrong or self-serving, the media are fools or cowards, and the invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with fighting terrorism.

There isn’t a major terrorist threat; just a little one. The massive over-reaction called “the war on terror” is due to the fact that Sept. 11 hit a very big and powerful country that had the military resources to strike anywhere in the world, and strategic interests that might be advanced by a war or two fought under the cover of a crusade against terrorism. If Sept. 11 had happened in Canada, it would all have been very different.

A kind of Sept. 11 did happen in Canada. The largest casualty toll of any terrorist attack in the West before 2001 was the 329 people who were killed in the terrorist bombing of Air India Flight 182, en route from Toronto to London, in 1985. Two hundred and eighty of the dead were Canadian citizens. Since Canada has only one-tenth the population of the United States, it was almost exactly the same proportionate loss that the United States suffered in Sept. 11.

It was immediately clear that the terrorists were Sikhs seeking independence from India, but here’s what Canada didn’t do: It didn’t send troops into India to “stamp out the roots of the terrorism” and it didn’t declared a “global war on terror”. Partly because it lacked the resources for that sort of adventure, of course, but also because it would have been stupid. Instead, it tightened up security at airports, and launched a police investigation of the attack.

The investigation was not very successful, and 21 years later most of the culprits have still not been punished. But Sikh terrorism eventually died down even though nobody invaded Punjab, and nobody else got hurt in Canada. Sometimes not doing much is the right thing to do.

Not doing too much would have been the right response in 2001, too. It was legal for Washington to invade Afghanistan after Sept. 11, and public outrage in the US made it almost unavoidable politically, but it was bound to end in tears. If the Afghan regime could have been forced to shut Al Qaeda camps down without an invasion it would have been the wiser course of action. The right goal was not to fall into Osama Bin Laden’s trap, and not to act in ways that spread suspicion and hostility in Muslim communities at home and abroad.

But it would probably still have been all right if they hadn’t invaded Iraq.

###
* Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Jordan Times, June 6, 2006
Visit the website at www.jordantimes.com (http://www.jordantimes.com/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

**********

ARTICLE 4
Women Journalists Share Experiences Around Med
Samar Fatany

Jeddah - Historically, the great ideas of civilisations have travelled back and forth across the waters of the Mediterranean, and that tradition continued recently when women journalists from the Mediterranean countries met in Beirut to discuss the way forward.

The conference, “Women, Media and the Mediterranean,” was held in May and was organised by ANSAMed and the Arab Italian Women Association (AIWA) in a bid to strengthen the role of women in the world of information, to share experience and build a common vision for media organisations. The event provided an opportunity for dialogue and an exchange of experience between journalists from print media, television and radio from several Mediterranean countries and was attended by many of the region’s most prominent journalists.

“The media is the voice of the people,” Silvia di Savoia, Duchess of Aosta and AIWA’s honorary president, told participants. “We all base our knowledge of others on what the information we get tells us. In a world where information has a growing responsibility, women have a major role, because they are less aggressive and more prone to seek dialogue.”

She outlined the aims of AIWA, which are to promote cultural, informational exchange to overcome prejudices and preconceptions that became stronger after Sept. 11, 2001.

“Mediterranean women have a unique opportunity to find a peaceful solution to many problems of cultural, religious and political nature that are often resolved with violence,” said Roberto Cantore, the Italian business attaché to Lebanon.

Although many of the participants noted progress throughout the region, some noted obstacles still remain.

“The journalist’s role in the Mediterranean states has radically changed in the last few years,” said Barbara Serra, of Al-Jazeera’s English service. “They have more space but still remain bound to do the same job. It is difficult for them to request a role in management in television, radio or newspapers.”

Serra stressed that women’s role in the media is fundamental because they represent half the population and can — and must — speak to the people about the people. If the media is the mirror of the population, she said, it is right for women to take positions of more responsibility, which, she noted, is unfortunately not the case in many media organisations.

From the observations of many of the participants, it appeared the problem is widespread.

There are very few women journalists in decision-making positions, though there are many highly qualified and capable columnists, presenters, reporters and talk-show hosts both in political and non-political programs.

Many women journalists have risked their lives to cover wars and conflicts; some have become targets of terrorists. Allow me to share with you some of the statistics and information about the situations of Mediterranean women in media: In Jordan and Algeria, women have claimed positions of editor in chief, while in France even more women are joining the ranks of journalists, taking 43 percent of all media jobs; however, they still take a disproportionate number of the top positions. Moreover, women are paid less compared to man in the same job.

The media in Spain continues to be dominated by men. According to a recent report, women have 43 percent of all jobs in the media — 63 percent of them have university degrees; male university graduates working in Spanish media account for only 39 percent of the number of men so employed. When it comes to careers, men hold most of the management or directorial positions, while women mostly work as editors.

In Egypt, women are underrepresented in the management of state-owned newspapers but hold high-responsibility jobs in television. More importantly wages for men and women are equal. In Morocco, women journalists hold the highest positions and collaborate very well with men. The estimates of the Italian Media Federation show that there are many Italian women working in the media, but they take lower positions in the hierarchy, including part-time contracts.

The situation is similar in Lebanon, where the women working in the sector are an integral part of the greater Arab media world. Lebanese women have played a central role in local and Arab media over the past decades as columnists, presenters, reporters and hosts of political and non-political programs. They paved the way for a new generation of journalists who are integral part of Arab media.

Among the participants were leading newspaper, radio and television journalists from Italy, Spain, Turkey, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Dubai, including Lebanese Gisela Khovry of TV Arabiya, Turkish columnist Ferai Tinc, Irene Lozano from Spanish ABC, Egyptian Rola Kharsa, Barbara Serra from London Al-Jazeera, Italian journalist Giovanna Botteri and Tiziana Ferrario. We shared our experiences and exchanged views and ideas about making the voices of women better heard on both global issues and those related to women. I was proud to share the achievements of Saudi women in media, both in projecting the new emerging role of women in Saudi society and discussing the challenges they face to become builders of society and promoters of peace.

Among the recommendations of the two-day conference were the establishment of an information network among Mediterranean women in media and a program to provide training for Mediterranean journalists to give a stronger voice to women and improve their conditions in the region. I hope that Saudi women in media will benefit from initiatives and work hard to upgrade the level of professionalism in our nation’s media.

There is an urgent need to create a more responsible media that can confront the many challenges ahead and serve in the development of our society. We need to develop a media that is professional in its approach and able to deal with issues in a specialised and scientific manner. Training and learning from experience both can contribute to upgrading the quality of our journalists.

It is important for our media to promote the culture of dialogue and to encourage citizens to exchange views openly. There are many concerns that need to be addressed and of which the community should be made aware. The media has a responsibility to play a more active role in projecting our true Islamic values of justice, equality, tolerance and respect for knowledge.

By learning from the experiences of journalists in other nations, we should be able to find better ways to do things, speed up the process of reform and help women take up their rightful role in our society. The sooner, the better. We need all the help we can get.

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* Samar Fatany is a radio journalist based in Jeddah. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Arab News, June 13, 2006
Visit the website at www.arabnews.com (http://www.arabnews.com/)
Distributed by the Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH).
Copyright permission has been obtained for publication.

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ARTICLE 5
Moderate Western Muslims, speak up!
Rondi Adamson

Toronto – In the months following 9/11, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman said that rather than constantly ask ourselves, "Why do they hate us?", we should instead ask, "Why don't they see us for who we really are?"

I thought about that following the arrests of 17 Canadian terror suspects last weekend. Most were citizens of Canada, born and bred, or residents. The police who announced the dragnet were careful to say that the young males did not represent any specific ethno cultural group - though all are Muslim.

Toronto's mayor, David Miller, after commending the excellent work of Canada's security forces, wondered aloud why young people might get involved in terrorist activities. We need "strategies to try to prevent that from happening again," he said. His earnestness awed me. Can he truly believe there is some "thing" Canadians can do (hold a "Hands Across Canada" event?) to prevent this kind of occurrence?

Canada is not France. Canada's Muslim population is not marginalised out of fear and contempt, not left alone to manage its own affairs. Even though a Toronto mosque had its windows smashed following the arrests, that sort of thuggery and stupidity is not systemic or common. Canada's Muslims are not prevented from attending good schools or holding high-powered jobs. Nor are they, for the most part, unwilling or unable to fit in peacefully and productively. So the mayor's concern was misplaced. His comment should have been something along the lines of, "I wonder what Canada's Muslim leaders/moderate Muslim citizens can do to prevent this kind of thing in future?"

In countries like Canada, or England, or Spain, where citizens have been shocked by the news of home-grown cells, I believe more needs to be asked of Muslim religious and community leaders. Western Muslims are a powerful potential ally in the broader "war on terror." It is true that most Muslims are not terrorists. But we need Muslims themselves to admit that most of the terrorists who threaten us are Muslim.

Aly Hindy, a high-profile imam in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, called the arrests "an attack on the Muslim community." He went on to say that, "We are abusing our boys for the sake of pleasing George Bush." Rather than speaking out against extremism, or entertaining the notion that perhaps his country's security forces know what they're doing, Hindy called the charges against the men "home-grown baloney."

Even moderate Canadian Muslim groups, willing to show faith in Canada's justice system, are mitigating their statements. The Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) praised the work of Canada's spy agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. But then they scolded the Canadian government for not funding "academic research to diagnose this serious social problem and provide scientific solutions to it." A scientific solution to Islamofascism? Bring it on.

The group also chastised Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper for portraying events "as a battle between 'us' and 'them.' “Following the arrests, Mr. Harper stated that "we are a target because of who we are. And how we live." One wonders - do the members of the CIC not consider themselves part of the "we" Harper referred to, when he spoke of Canadians? If so, that is indeed revealing.

The Muslim Canadian Congress fared only a tad bit better. They praised the police, and expressed dismay that members of their community might be guilty as charged. And then they managed to blame President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and even Harper for the fact that any such terror cells might exist. So far, only the Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada (CAIR-CAN) has managed to issue a condemnation of terror, and praise of the police, without tacking on a "but," a "Bush," or a "Canadian troops in Afghanistan."

I was happily surprised at CAIR-CAN's press release. I shouldn't have been. We must expect that Western Muslims will wholeheartedly condemn Islamofascism, without any conditions placed on that condemnation. Without that, we may reach a point of divisions too deep to mend.

###
* Rondi Adamson is an award-winning Canadian journalist. This article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews) and can be accessed at www.commongroundnews.org (http://www.commongroundnews.org/).
Source: Christian Science Monitor, June 6, 2006
Visit the website at www.csmonitor.com (http://www.csmonitor.com/)
Copyright © The Christian Science Monitor. For reprint permission please contact lawrenced@csps.com

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The Common Ground News Service – Partners in Humanity (CGNews-PiH) provides news, op-eds, features and analysis by local and international experts on a broad range of issues affecting Muslim-Western relations. CGNews-PiH syndicates articles that are balanced and solution-oriented to news outlets worldwide. With support from the Norwegian government and the United States Institute of Peace, this news service is a non-profit initiative of Search for Common Ground, an international NGO working in the field of conflict transformation.

This news service is one outcome of a set of working meetings held in partnership with His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan in June 2003.

~YOUTH VIEWS~

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*The views expressed in these articles are those of the authors, not of CGNews-PiH or its affiliates.

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Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen
Newsletter 1/2006

German and English Version

*****************************************************************

Inhalt:

1. Neues von der ZIB
2. Inhalt ZIB 1/2006
3. Aktuelles von der DVPW-Sektion „Internationale Politik“
4. Verschiedenes: Neu bei NOMOS

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1. Neues von der ZIB

Wir freuen uns, Sie heute auf die Sommerausgabe der Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen hinweisen zu können, die am 20. Juni erscheinen wird. Die Artikel befassen sich mit der Eskalationsträchtigkeit von Umwelt- und Verbraucherschutzkonflikten, der Output-orientierten Legitimität internationaler Umweltregime und dem Einfluss parteipolitischer Orientierung auf die Europäische Sozialpolitik.

Darüber hinaus möchten wir Sie zu einem Symposium einladen, das die ZIB im Rahmen des DVPW-Kongresses in Münster organisiert. Am 29. September 2006 findet eine Podiumsdiskussion zum Thema "Die Grenzen des Kosmopolitismus" statt (9:00 bis 12:30 Uhr). Teilnehmer sind Edgar Grande (LMU München), Michael Zürn (WZB/Hertie School), Harald Müller (HSFK/Universität Frankfurt), Julian Nida-Rümelin (LMU München), Axel Honneth (Universität Frankfurt, angefragt) und Timothy Brennan (University of Minnesota, angefragt). Wir vesprechen uns eine interessante und kontroverse Diskussion und würden uns über eine rege Beteiligung freuen.

Anregungen, Kommentare, Kritik und vor allem Artikel sind nach wie vor jederzeit willkommen – wenden Sie sich einfach unter folgender Adresse an uns:

Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen
Geschwister-Scholl-Institut für Politische Wissenschaft
Lehrstuhl für Internationale Politik
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Oettingenstrasse 67
D-80538 München
Tel.: +49 (0)89 2180-9050/56
Fax : +49 (0)89 2180-9052
E-Mail: zib@lrz.uni-muenchen.de

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2. Inhalt der ZIB 1/2006

*** Aufsätze ***

Thomas Bernauer/Thomas Sattler
Sind WTO-Konflikte im Bereich des Umwelt- und Verbraucherschutzes eskalationsträchtiger als andere WTO-Konflikte?

Dieser Beitrag befasst sich mit der Hypothese, dass WTO-Konflikte im Umwelt- und Verbraucherschutzbereich (UVS) schwieriger zu lösen sind und damit häufiger eskalieren, weil die Beschaffenheit der umstrittenen policies graduelle Konzessionen des Beklagten an den Kläger sowie Kompensationen an verlierende Interessengruppen innerhalb des beklagten Staates erschwert. Wir testen diese Hypothese mit Daten zu 506 WTO-Konfliktdyaden im Zeitraum 1995-2003 mit Hilfe von Selektions-Modellen. Die Resultate zeigen, dass ceteris paribus und im Widerspruch zu unserer Hypothese sowie gängigen Annahmen in der Fallstudien-basierten Literatur UVS-Konflikte weniger häufig von der Konsultations- auf die Panel- oder Appellate Body-Stufe eskalieren als Nicht-UVS-Konflikte. Sie zeigen aber auch, dass UVS-Konflikte, wenn sie einmal den Eskalationsschritt zum Panel durchlaufen haben, häufiger in compliance-Dispute münden. Mittels neuer Daten, eines verbesserten methodischen Instrumentariums sowie eines inkrementell weiterentwickelten theoretischen Arguments demonstrieren wir somit den Bedarf nach einem stärker ausdifferenzierten theoretischen Modell, das die Varianz in der Konfliktträchtigkeit zwischen den einzelnen WTO-Eskalationsstufen erklärt.

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Helmut Breitmeier
Die Output-orientierte Legitimität des globalen Regierens
Empirische Befunde aus der quantitativen Erforschung internationaler Umweltregime

In dem hier entwickelten Konzept Output-orientierter Legitimität werden spezifische Leistungserwartungen an internationale Institutionen gerichtet. Demnach ergibt sich Folgebereitschaft für die Politiken internationaler Regime unter anderem dann, wenn durch diese das Konsens-Wissen im Problemfeld erweitert wird, die Einhaltung von Normen und Regeln befördert wird, ein Beitrag zur Problemlösung erfolgt und die Kosten-Nutzen-Verteilung angemessen ist. Für die empirische Messung des Beitrags von Regimen zur Verwirklichung dieser Anforderungen werden Befunde aus der Regimedatenbank herangezogen, in der Daten über 23 internationale Umweltregime enthalten sind. Sie eröffnet die Möglichkeit, die von verschiedenen Erklärungsansätzen entwickelten Hypothesen zur Entstehung und Wirkung von internationalen Regimen zu überprüfen. Die historisch-vergleichende Erforschung der Wirkungen, die in den 23 Problemfeldern eingetreten sind, und die kausale Analyse des Einflusses von Regimefaktoren veranschaulichen, dass internationale Institutionen tatsächlich einen eigenständigen Beitrag zur effektiven Bearbeitung komplexer Probleme in der Weltpolitik leisten können.

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Philip Manow/Armin Schäfer/Hendrik Zorn
Europäische Sozialpolitik und Europas parteipolitisches Gravitationszentrum in den Jahren 1957-2003

Regierungen vertreten in internationalen Verhandlungen nationale Interessen. Welchen Einfluss übt die ideologische Färbung einer Regierung auf ihre Verhandlungspositionen aus? Gelingt eine Einigung leichter, wenn es eine hohe parteipolitische Übereinstimmung in der Zusammensetzung der Regierungen gibt? In diesem Aufsatz zeigen wir, weshalb die Analyse der Parteipolitik auch in der internationalen Politik mehr Beachtung finden sollte. Wir betrachten das parteipolitische Gravitationszentrum der Europäischen Union und liefern eine erste systematische Darstellung der Regierungszusammensetzung aller Mitgliedsstaaten von 1957 bis 2003. Darüber hinaus wird untersucht, wie integrationsfreundlich, links oder rechts orientiert sowie ideologisch homogen bzw. heterogen die Mitgliedsstaaten – und damit intergouvernementale EU-Gremien – im Zeitverlauf waren. Hierbei greifen wir auf Expertensurveys, Daten zur parteipolitischen Regierungszusammensetzung und Daten des Manifesto-Projekts zurück. Eine Fallstudie zur Entwicklung der EU-Sozialpolitik seit den Römischen Verträgen ergänzt die quantitative Darstellung. Sie unterstreicht, dass die Analyse internationaler Verhandlungen ein angemessenes Verständnis der parteipolitischen Dimension des Einigungsprozesses voraussetzt.

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*** Tagungsberichte ***

Annette Jünemann/Michèle Knodt
Externe Demokratieförderung durch die Europäische Union
Ein Tagungsbericht

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Klaus Dingwerth/Sabine Campe
Organizing the World
Ein Tagungsbericht

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3. Aktuelles von der DVPW-Sektion „Internationale Politik“

*** DVPW-Kongress 2006 in Münster, 25.-29. September 2006 ***
Im Rahmen des DVPW-Kongresses 2006 zum Thema „Staat und Gesellschaft – fähig zur Reform?“ organisiert die Sektion Internationale Politik zwei Panels:

- Globalisierung und Reform (mit der Sektion Politik und Ökonomie), 26. September 2006, 14-17 Uhr

- Reform der Außenpolitik, 27. September 2006, 14-16 Uhr

Weitere Informationen zum Programm finden Sie unter http://www.dvpw.de/dummy/fileadmin/docs/2006Pro.pdf

Zur Onlineregistrierung: http://www.dvpw.de/dummy/index.php?id=298

*** Mitgliederversammlung der Sektion Internationale Politik ***
Die Mitgliederversammlung findet am 27. September 2006 von 16:30 bis 17:30 Uhr im Anschluss an das Panel „Reform der Außenpolitik“ statt. Die vorläufige Tagesordnung besteht aus folgenden drei Punkten: 1. Bericht des Sprechergremiums; 2. Neuwahl des Sprechergremiums; 3. Sonstiges.

*** Wahlaufruf ***

Beim DVPW-Kongress im September 2006 in Münster müssen die drei Sprecherinnen und Sprecher der Sektion Internationale Beziehungen neu gewählt werden. Keiner der jetzigen Sprecher wird wieder kandidieren. Wir würden es sehr begrüßen, wenn sich zahlreiche Kolleginnen und Kollegen zu einer Kandidatur bereit erklären würden. Interessenbekundungen und Kandidatenvorschläge können per E-Mail an jedes der derzeitigen Vorstandsmitglieder geschickt werden.

Prof. Dr. Gunther Hellmann
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a. M.
Institut für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft und internationale Beziehungen
Robert-Mayer-Straße 5, Fach 102
60054 Frankfurt a. M.
Tel.: 069/798-25191 oder -22667
E-Mail: g.hellmann@soz.uni-frankfurt.de
http://www.soz.uni-frankfurt.de/hellmann/start.htm

Prof. Dr. Frank Schimmelfennig
ETH Zentrum SEI
Center for Comparative and International Studies
Seilergraben 49 (SEI G 12)
CH-8092 Zürich
Tel.: 00 41 44/63 280 62
E-Mail: frank.schimmelfennig@ep.gess.ethz.ch
http://www.cis.ethz.ch/

PD Dr. Peter Rudolf (Geschäftsführung 1.10.2005 – 30.9.2006)
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik
Ludwigkirchplatz 3-4
10719 Berlin
Tel.: 0 30/8 80 07-2 42
E-Mail: peter.rudolf@swp-berlin.org
http://www.swp-berlin.org/

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4. Verschiedenes

*** Neuigkeiten aus dem Nomos-Verlag Baden-Baden ***

Das Lektorat Politikwissenschaft empfiehlt folgende Neuerscheinungen im Bereich Internationale Beziehungen und Außenpolitik:

Weltordnung durch Weltmacht oder Weltorganisation? USA, Deutschland und die Vereinten Nationen, 1945 – 2005, von Volker Rittberger (Hrsg.) unter Mitarbeit von Heiko Baumgärtner
Theodor Eschenburg-Vorlesung 2005 von Bernd Mützelburg und mit Beiträgen von Friederike Bauer, Ernst-Otto Czempiel, Volker Rittberger
2006, 91 S., brosch., 17,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1792-6 (Einzeltitel)

Mit der Theodor Eschenburg-Vorlesung und der sie begleitenden Vortragsreihe erinnert dieser Band an die Leistungen und Verdienste eines der Gründerväter der deutschen Politikwissenschaft. Die hier versammelten Beiträge sind aus Vorträgen hervorgegangen, die am 1. Juli 2005 anlässlich des Theodor-Eschenburg-Symposiums »Weltordnung durch Weltmacht oder Weltorganisation? USA, Deutschland und die Vereinten Nationen, 1945 – 2005« im Rahmen des Studium Generale an der Universität Tübingen gehalten wurden.

Rüstungsdynamik und Rüstungskontrolle. Eine exemplarische Einführung in die Internationalen Beziehungen, von Harald Müller und Niklas Schörnig unter Mitarbeit von Hans-Joachim Schmidt und Simone Wisotzki
2006, 263 S., brosch., 27,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1914-7 (Außenpolitik und Internationale Ordnung, Bd. 4)

Fünfzehn Jahre nach dem Ende des Ost-West-Konfliktes rüsten westliche Demokratien im High-Tech Bereich, Rüstungsexporte in Entwicklungs- und Schwellenländer boomen, die Weiterverbreitung von Massenvernichtungswaffen schafft neue Risiken. Dieses Buch zeigt Ursachen für Rüstungsdynamiken, erläutert Chancen und Grenzen von Rüstungskontrolle und gibt einen historischen Überblick vom Kalten Krieg bis heute. Es eignet sich als Einführung für politikwissenschaftliche »Einsteiger« ebenso wie als Informationsquelle über ein brisantes Politikgebiet.

Development Cooperation in Muslim Countries: The Experience of German Technical Cooperation, von Elvira Ganter und Ruth Bigalke (Eds.)
2006, 114 S., brosch., 15,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-2012-9 (Einzeltitel)

Der Band analysiert die Grenzen und Potentiale einer Entwicklungszusammenarbeit mit muslimischen Ländern und leistet damit zugleich einen Beitrag zu einem dringend notwendigen Dialog mit den Partnerländern. Es wird dabei zudem deutlich, dass Entwicklungszusammenarbeit eine wichtige Komponente dieses Dialoges sein kann.

Macht, Gerechtigkeit und internationale Kooperation. Eine regimeanalytische Untersuchung zur internationalen Rohstoffpolitik, von Peter Mayer
2006, 304 S., brosch., 29,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1838-8 (Weltpolitik im 21. Jahrhundert, Bd. 13)

In vielen Politikfeldern schaffen Staaten internationale Institutionen, um gemeinsame Probleme zu lösen und Konflikte zu regulieren. Die Studie untersucht anhand der Rohstoffpolitik die Frage, ob Institutionen, die mit einer gerechten Verteilung der Gewinne und Lasten der Kooperation einhergehen, sich in kritischen Situationen als robuster erweisen.

Deutschland und Frankreich – Motor einer Europäischen Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik?, von Simone Weske
2006, 119 S., brosch., 22,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1480-3 (Münchner Beiträge zur europäischen Einigung, Bd. 13)

Die Europäische Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik hat in den letzten Jahren erheblich an Dynamik gewonnen. Welche Rolle der »deutsch-französische Motor« dabei spielt, ist Gegenstand dieser Untersuchung. Die Verfasserin ist weit davon entfernt, sich der üblichen Stereotype zu bedienen. Sie unternimmt im Gegenteil den längst überfälligen Versuch, gängige Meinungen zur Wirkungsweise der deutsch-französischen Zusammenarbeit einer kritischen Prüfung zu unterziehen. Anhand eines regimetheoretischen Analyserasters und hochrangiger Experteninterviews entwickelt sie aussagekräftige Hypothesen und leitet daraus schlüssige Prognosen für die weitere Entwicklung des »deutsch-französischen Motors« ab.

Weitere Neuerscheinungen bei Nomos:

Transatlantische Beziehungen im Wandel. Sicherheitspolitische Aspeke der Beziehungen zwischen der Europäischen Union und Lateinamerika, von Franz Kernic und Walter Feichtinger (Hrsg.)
2006, 261 S., brosch., 49,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-2015-3 (Einzeltitel)

Aspekte der Asymmetrie. Reflexionen über ein gesellschafts- und sicherheitspolitisches Phänomen, von Josef Schröfl, Thomas Pankratz, und Edwin Micewski (Hrsg.)
2006, 210 S., brosch., 24,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1762-4 (Einzeltitel)

Democratic Governance in International Territorial Administration: Institutional Prerequisites for Democratic Governance in the Constitutional Documents of Territories Administered by International Organisations, von Michaela Salamun
2006, 224 S., brosch., 42,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1622-9 (Schriftenreihe der Europäischen Akademie Bozen, Bereich »Minderheiten und Autonomien«, Bd. 8)

Die Europäische Union im Kampf gegen den Terrorismus: Sicherheit vs. Freiheit?, von Erwin Müller/Patricia Schneider (Hrsg.)

2006 (in Vorbereitung), 384 S., brosch., ca. 69,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-2073-0 (Demokratie, Sicherheit, Frieden, Bd. 180)

Weitere Informationen finden Sie unter www.nomos.de.

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Wir hoffen, dass Sie auch diesen Newsletter wieder hilfreich für Ihre Arbeit finden. Sollten Sie den Newsletter künftig nicht mehr erhalten wollen, senden Sie bitte einfach eine E-Mail mit dem Betreff „unsubscribe“ an zib@lrz.uni-muenchen.de. Ihre Adresse wird dann umgehend aus unserem Verteiler entfernt.

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German Journal for International Relations (ZIB)
Newsletter 1/2006
English Version

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Content:

1. News from ZIB
2. Content ZIB 1/2006
3. News from the section “International Politics”
4. Miscellaneous

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1. News from ZIB

We are happy to inform you about the forthcoming issue of the German Journal for International Relations (ZIB), which will appear in print on 6/20/2006. The articles deal with WTO-disputes over environment, health and safety regulations and their proneness to escalation, the output-oriented legitimacy of international environmental regimes, and the impact of the party-political orientation on European social policy.

Furthermore, we are glad to announce that the German Journal for International Relations will organise a symposium on „The Limits of Cosmopolitism“, which will take place at this year’s DVPW Convention in Münster (see below) on 9/29/2006, 9.00-12.30. Speakers include Edgar Grande (LMU München), Michael Zürn (WZB/Hertie School), Harald Müller (HSFK/Universität Frankfurt), Julian Nida-Rümelin (LMU München), Axel Honneth (Universität Frankfurt, tbc) und Timothy Brennan (University of Minnesota, tbc). We are looking forward to an interesting and controversial discussion and would welcome your active participation.

We encourage our readers to submit articles and welcome any critique, suggestions, or comments. Please do not hesitate to contact us under the address below:

Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen
Geschwister-Scholl-Institut für Politische Wissenschaft
Lehrstuhl für Internationale Politik
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Oettingenstrasse 67
D-80538 München
Tel : +49-(0)89-2180-9050/56
Fax : +49-(0)89-2180-9052
E-mail : zib@lrz.uni-muenchen.de

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2. Content of ZIB 1/2006

*** Main Articles ***

Thomas Bernauer/Thomas Sattler
Are WTO Disputes over Environment, Health and Safety Regulation More Prone to Escalation than other WTO Disputes?

This article analyzes the claim that trade disputes over inter-jurisdictional differences in environment, health and safety (EHS) regulation are more prone to escalation than disputes over other issues. The argument holds that, relative to non-EHS disputes, gradual concessions among plaintiff and defendant as well as side-payments to domestic constituencies in the defendant country are more difficult. We test this hypothesis with data on 506 dyadic WTO trade disputes in 1995-2003 using selection models. The results show that, contrary to our hypothesis and widely shared assumptions in the qualitative literature, EHS disputes are less prone to escalation than other WTO disputes from the consultation to the panel/appellate body level. However, we also find that EHS disputes are more prone to escalation into compliance disputes once they have reached the panel/appellate body level. Based on new data, an improved methodology and an upgraded theoretical argument we thus demonstrate the need for a theoretical model that accounts for variation in the likelihood of escalation across the three levels.

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Helmut Breitmeier
The Output-Oriented Legitimacy of International Regimes
Empirical Findings from the Quantitative Study of International Environmental Regimes

The article focuses on the output-oriented legitimacy of global governance and develops specific performance expectations which are addressed to international institutions. The willingness to obey the politics of international regimes depends on whether these institutions can improve consensual knowledge, promote compliance with norms and rules, contribute to problem-solving, and produce an adequate distribution of costs and benefits. The contribution of regimes to the fulfillment of these requirements is measured with data from the international regimes database. This database includes data on 23 international environmental regimes. The international regimes database represents a tool which can be used for testing hypotheses about the creation and consequences of international regimes. The historical-comparative investigation of the effects which have occurred in the 23 issue areas and causal analysis of the impact of regime factors illustrate that international institutions can actually make an independent contribution to the effective management of complex issues in world politics.

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Philip Manow/Armin Schäfer/Hendrik Zorn
European Social Policy and Europe’s Party Political “Center of Gravity” between 1957 and 2003

In international negotiations governments defend national interests. What impact does a government’s ideological position have on its negotiation position? Are international agreements more likely if negotiations are conducted by governments of similar ideological orientation? In this paper we argue that the analysis of a government’s ideological composition ought to receive more attention in International Relations. We look at the party-political »center of gravity« of the Council of the European Union and report the partisan composition of all EU-member states between 1957 and 2003. Furthermore, we examine how sympathetic left- and rightwing parties were towards integration and how homo- or heterogeneous the member states – and therefore the intergovernmental EU bodies – were during this time period. For this we use data from both expert surveys and the Comparative Manifesto Project. A detailed case study of the evolution of EU social policy since the Treaty of Rome complements and emphasizes our quantitative analysis.

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*** Conference Reports ***

Annette Jünemann/Michèle Knodt
External Democratization by the European Union
Ein Tagungsbericht

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Klaus Dingwerth/Sabine Campe
Organizing the World
Ein Tagungsbericht

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3. News from the German section “International Politics”

*** DVPW Convention 2006 in Münster ***

The section “International Politics” will organise the following two panels within the DVPW Congress 2006 on the topic of “State and Society – Able to Reform?”:

- Globalisation and Reform (together with the section “Politics and Economy”), 9/26/2006, 14.00-17.00.

- Reform of Foreign Policy, 09/27/2006, 14.00-16.00.

For further information on the program see http://www.dvpw.de/dummy/fileadmin/docs/2006Pro.pdf
Onlineregistration: http://www.dvpw.de/dummy/index.php?id=298

*** General meeting of the section “International Politics” ***

At the DVPW Congress 2006 in Münster we invite all members to the general meeting of the DVPW section “International Politics”. It will take place on 09/27/2006 from 16:30 to 17:30, after the panel “Reform of Foreign Policy”.

*** Elections ***

On the occasion of the DVPW Congress 2006 three new speakers will have to be elected for the section “International Politics”, as the former speakers have decided not to run again. It would be much appreciated if as many colleagues as possible volunteered for candidate. Please email your application as well as proposal to any of the speakers below:

Prof. Dr. Gunther Hellmann
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a. M.
Institut für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft und internationale Beziehungen
Robert-Mayer-Straße 5, Fach 102
60054 Frankfurt a. M.
Tel.: 069/798-25191 oder -22667
E-Mail: g.hellmann@soz.uni-frankfurt.de
http://www.soz.uni-frankfurt.de/hellmann/start.htm

Prof. Dr. Frank Schimmelfennig
ETH Zentrum SEI
Center for Comparative and International Studies
Seilergraben 49 (SEI G 12)
CH-8092 Zürich
Tel.: 00 41 44/63 280 62
E-Mail: frank.schimmelfennig@ep.gess.ethz.ch
http://www.cis.ethz.ch/

PD Dr. Peter Rudolf (Geschäftsführung 1.10.2005 – 30.9.2006)
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik
Ludwigkirchplatz 3-4
10719 Berlin
Tel.: 0 30/8 80 07-2 42
E-Mail: peter.rudolf@swp-berlin.org
http://www.swp-berlin.org/

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4. Miscellaneous

*** New Publications from NOMOS ***

NOMOS would like to highlight some new publications from its catalogue:

Weltordnung durch Weltmacht oder Weltorganisation? USA, Deutschland und die Vereinten Nationen, 1945 – 2005, von Volker Rittberger (Hrsg.) unter Mitarbeit von Heiko Baumgärtner
Theodor Eschenburg-Vorlesung 2005 von Bernd Mützelburg und mit Beiträgen von Friederike Bauer, Ernst-Otto Czempiel, Volker Rittberger
2006, 91 S., brosch., 17,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1792-6 (Einzeltitel)

Together with the lecture on Theodor Eschenburg and the accompaning lecture-series, this voulme reminds us of the achievements and merits of the founders of German political science. The collected contributions emerged from lectures which were held on the 1. July 2005 on the occasion of the Theodor-Eschenburg symposium »World order through world power or world organisation? USA, Germany and the United Nations, 1945-2005« in the course of the studium generale at the University of Tübingen.

Rüstungsdynamik und Rüstungskontrolle. Eine exemplarische Einführung in die Internationalen Beziehungen, von Harald Müller und Niklas Schörnig unter Mitarbeit von Hans-Joachim Schmidt und Simone Wisotzki
2006, 263 S., brosch., 27,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1914-7 (Außenpolitik und Internationale Ordnung, Bd. 4)

Fifteen years after the end of the Cold War Western democracies procure high-tech weapons, export armament to developing countries, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction creates new risks. This book shows the causes of armament dynamics, analyses the chances and limits of efforts to control these dynamics, and provides a historical overview of the Cold War. It is suited equally well as an introduction to students and as a source of information to an explosive subject of international politics.

Development Cooperation in Muslim Countries: The Experience of German Technical Cooperation, von Elvira Ganter und Ruth Bigalke (Eds.)
2006, 114 S., brosch., 15,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-2012-9 (Einzeltitel)

Culture and development cooperation are inextricably linked. For development cooperation to be both succesful and sustainable, cultural concepts need to be taken into account. Against the background of an increasingly politicised discourse about Islam, GTZ has stressed positive potential elements in Muslim societies. Covering a broad range of topics from Good Governance and Conflict Resolution to Gender and Girls Education as well as the Conservation of Natural Resources, this book analyses the limits and potentials of DC in Muslim countries. Many examples from the field help to underline the theoretical analysis. Over and above that, it is a reflection on the external influence on political, social and institutional change that development cooperation always entails. Thereby this book also makes a contribution to a much needed dialogue with partner countries - and it shows that development cooperation can be an important actor in furthering this dialogue.

Macht, Gerechtigkeit und internationale Kooperation. Eine regimeanalytische Untersuchung zur internationalen Rohstoffpolitik, von Peter Mayer
2006, 304 S., brosch., 29,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1838-8 (Weltpolitik im 21. Jahrhundert, Bd. 13)

States create international institutions in order to solve common problems and regulate conflicts. This study examines the field of resource politics, addressing the question if institutions that are characterized by a just distribution of the costs and benefits of cooperation are more stable in critical situations.

Deutschland und Frankreich – Motor einer Europäischen Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik?, von Simone Weske
2006, 119 S., brosch., 22,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1480-3 (Münchner Beiträge zur europäischen Einigung, Bd. 13)

European security and defense policy won in dynamics over the last couple of years. Which role does the “German-French motor” play in this regard? The author refuses to work with common stereotypes. Rather, she undertakes the overdue attempt to scrutinize commonplace opinions concerning the workings and effects of the German-French cooperation. Using a regimetheoretical framework and expert interviews she develops hypotheses and infers prognoses for the future of the German-French motor.

Additional recommendations:

Transatlantische Beziehungen im Wandel. Sicherheitspolitische Aspeke der Beziehungen zwischen der Europäischen Union und Lateinamerika, von Franz Kernic und Walter Feichtinger (Hrsg.)
2006, 261 S., brosch., 49,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-2015-3 (Einzeltitel)

Aspekte der Asymmetrie. Reflexionen über ein gesellschafts- und sicherheitspolitisches Phänomen, von Josef Schröfl, Thomas Pankratz, und Edwin Micewski (Hrsg.)
2006, 210 S., brosch., 24,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1762-4 (Einzeltitel)

Democratic Governance in International Territorial Administration: Institutional Prerequisites for Democratic Governance in the Constitutional Documents of Territories Administered by International Organisations, von Michaela Salamun
2006, 224 S., brosch., 42,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-1622-9 (Schriftenreihe der Europäischen Akademie Bozen, Bereich »Minderheiten und Autonomien«, Bd. 8)

Die Europäische Union im Kampf gegen den Terrorismus: Sicherheit vs. Freiheit?, von Erwin Müller/Patricia Schneider (Hrsg.)

2006 (forthcoming), 384 S., brosch., ca. 69,– EURO, ISBN 3-8329-2073-0 (Demokratie, Sicherheit, Frieden, Bd. 180)

For more information please visit www.nomos.de.

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If you have any suggestions or comments regarding either ZIB or this Newsletter please feel free to contact us at +49-(0)89-2180-9050/56 or email us at zib@lrz.uni-muenchen.de.

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Alexander Heppt
Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen
Geschwister-Scholl-Institut für Politische Wissenschaft
Lehrstuhl für Internationale Politik
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Oettingenstrasse 67
80538 München
Tel. : 089 2180-9050/56
Fax : 089 2180-9052

VDAY Benefit Exhibition Artist Talk & Lecture - Thursday, June 15 at 6:30

Special event evening June 15th at 6:30 in which there will be an artist talk by Erika Harrsch, followed by Danielle Knafo, a psychoanalyst who will give a lecture: "Revelations and Rage - Violence against women in the work of Women Artists".
This lecture is an overview of women's art that has dealt with the subject of violence against women.

Woman: Self Portrait

Artist talk & Lecture
June 15th, 6:30- 8:30pm

"Woman: Self Portrait" is a group exhibition composed of seventeen local and international women artists; offering a multi-cultural view of the contemporary female experience.

Kashya Hildebrand Gallery is honored to be part of V- Day's Until The Violence Stops: NYC. A two-week festival bringing the issue of violence against women center stage, from June 12-27.

Along with many other organizations throughout New York City, we will be hosting "Woman: Self Portrait" - a benefit exhibition to raise awareness and funds for V- Day. In addition, as part of the festival we are hosting an artist talk by Erika Harrsch who will discuss her latest project – Imagos. Then, Dr. Danielle Knafo, a psychoanalyst will give a lecture entitled: "Revelations and Rage - Violence against women in the work of female artists."

"Imagos" is a series of imaginary hybrids constructed of enlarged photographs of various species of real butterflies, in whose abdomens are placed images of female genitals (which are of the same geographic origin as the represented butterflies). The artist juxtaposes women and butterflies as being objects of desire, raising questions regarding the representation of the female body, sexuality and identity. Ms. Harrsch believes that a woman's search for her own desire as well as being desired is essential to the construction of her identity and the development of personality and psyche. In ancient Greek, "Psyche" meant butterfly as well as soul and mind - this body of work, no doubt, captures all three.

In many cases, the photographed women have suffered from sexual abuse, violence and humiliation - resulting in experiencing their vagina as a constant source of physical and mental pain. Consequently, the women's genitals created their own wounded identity. In this project, the artist has successfully reconstructed their identity and provided these women a new "self-portrait" - one that is a source of healing, pride and a positive, beautiful perception of themselves.

"Revelations and Rage - Violence against women in the work of female artists" by Dr. Danielle Knafo is an overview of women's art that has dealt with the subject of violence against women. This art is divided into three categories: external violence (e.g murder, rape), home (e.g domestic violence, incest, and marriage as a violent institution), and violence against the self (e.g masochism, eating disorders etc). Each category is discussed from a psychological and artistic perspective. Multiple examples illustrate the ways women artists have employed their art to express their feelings, to educate the public, and to heal and empower themselves in an attempt to cope with and overcome traumatic experiences related to violence committed against them.

V- Day Presents Summer Festival UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS: NYC
From June 12-27, V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls, will present UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS: NYC, a festival of theater, spoken word, performance and community events created to bring the issue of violence against women and girls front and center in the culture and the community. The festival will include four marquee events featuring performances by celebrated actors such as Kathy Bates, Jane Fonda, Salma Hayek, Kerry Washington, Rosario Dawson, Suheir Hammad, Rosie O'Donnell, Phylicia Rashad, Isabella Rossellini, and more as well as authors contributing original works written exclusively for the festival including Edward Albee, Tariq Ali, Anna Deavere Smith, Ariel Dorfman, Nicholas Kristof, Alice Walker, Nobel prize winner Jody Williams, Howard Zinn, and more. In addition community events will take place throughout the five boroughs. UNTIL THE VIOLENCE STOPS: NYC will issue a call to action to all New Yorkers, and to the world: Demand an end to violence against women and girls and become an active participant in ending it. Start-up support for the festival provided by the Rockefeller Foundation. Lead corporate support provided by Verizon. Visit http://www.vday.org for tickets and event information

Kashya Hildebrand Gallery

531 West 25th Street New York, NY 10001
Website: http://www.kashyahildebrand.org

Email: infony@kashyahildebrand.org
Phone: 212 366 5757

AMARC Africa Round Table Community Radio

AMARC Africa Round Table Community Radio & its Social Impact: Removing barriers, Increasing Effectiveness

The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) is organizing the Round Table Community Radio Social Impact: Removing barriers, Increasing Effectiveness, the third in a series of regional roundtables. The Roundtable will be hosted by the Institute for Media and Society (IMS), an held in Abuja, Nigeria, on the 5th of July 2006 and will bring together community radio practitioners, advocates, NGO and Donors in order to assess the social impact of community radio in Africa.

The key topics to be discussed by the participants to the Roundtable are:

* Community Radio in Africa Review.

The review will place community radio in the context of poverty reduction, fighting exclusion, developing accountability, the emergence of new ICTs, and its contribution to international development goals. It will focus, in particular, on learning that can improve the effectiveness of community radio in achieving development goals.

* Community radio Impact Assessment.

Assess community radio impact in poverty reduction and to develop tools for community radio impact assessment in Africa. This will include also the generation of new and the review of existing impact assessment material at community, country, international and thematic level that can contribute to the development of the knowledge base and advocacy materials on the impact and effectiveness of community radio;

* AMARC Effectiveness Evaluation.

Engage community radio leaders and stakeholders in a participatory and interactive process contributing to an evaluation of AMARC s effectiveness in relation to its mission and goals and informing its future priorities and strategies. The review will seek to better define expectations of community radio and communications for development stakeholders towards AMARC as a global network and sector lead body.

The AMARC Africa Roundtable is part of the worldwide ongoing evaluation of the CR movement being implemented by AMARC in all its regions that will culminate in the AMARC 9 World Conference to be held in Amman, Jordan from 11-17 November. The first Roundtable was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 5. The second Roundtable for AMARC ALC was held in Lima, Peru, 24-25. All stakeholders are invited to participate in this process adding value to the discussion and facilitating knowledge sharing. The discussion will also provide AMARC an opportunity to learn about your work and to find ways of supporting each other.

AMARC is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1983, serving the community radio movement in over 110 countries, and advocating for the right to communicate at the international, national, local and neighbourhood levels.

Grace Githaiga
AMARC Africa Vice-President

For further information visit http://www.amarc.org or contact:
Michelle Ntab, Regional Director AMARC Africa: regionald@amarcafrica.org
Marcelo Solervicens, Secretary General AMARC:
Email. marcelo.solervicens@amarc.org

SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
9 June 2006

SURVIVAL AND TEN OTHER LEADING CHARITIES LAUNCH CODE OF CONDUCT

Survival International and ten other leading charities have launched a
ground-breaking code of conduct for NGOs (non-governmental
organisations).

Survival, Oxfam, Amnesty, Greenpeace, Civicus and six other charities have
joined forces to launch the Accountability Charter, which sets new
standards of openness and ethical behaviour in reporting, fundraising and
campaigning.

The eleven founding NGOs are now inviting other international NGOs to sign
up to the Charter.

Survival's Director Stephen Corry said today, 'This is a really important
initiative. NGOs today can be very powerful in influencing public opinion
and shaping government policy, and it is important to recognise that this
power brings with it a heavy responsibility in terms of openness and
ethical behaviour. This Charter sets the benchmark which we hope other
charities will follow.'

Besides Survival, the other founding members of the Charter are ActionAid
International, Amnesty International, CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen
Participation, Consumers International, Greenpeace International, Oxfam
International, International Save the Children Alliance, International
Federation Terre des Hommes, Transparency International and World YWCA.

To read this press release online or download a copy of the Charter go to:
http://www.survival-international.org/news.php?id=1677

For more information call Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email
mr@survival-international.org

The WMD's DemocracyNews
Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org

Special Issue - June 7

*****************************************************************

Please see below an important statement from the World Movement Steering Committee
http://www.wmd.org/documents/jun06annc-Statement_on_Proposed_CD_Resolution.doc

STATEMENT OF THE WORLD MOVEMENT STEERING COMMTTEE IN SUPPORT OF PROPOSED RESOLUTION OF COMMUNITY OF DEMOCRACIES ON RESTRICTIVE NGO LAWS

The Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy, a global network of democracy activists, practitioners, scholars, and others engaged in the advancement of democracy worldwide, urges the ministerial representatives of the member countries of the Community of Democracies (also known as the UN Democracy Caucus) meeting in New York in September 2006 to adopt the following Resolution as proposed by the Nongovernmental International Steering Committee of the Community of Democracies:

BEGIN RESOLUTION-- Recognizing that the Community of Democracies in its founding Warsaw Declaration affirmed its "determination to work together to promote and strengthen democracy," thereby acknowledging democracy promotion as an international norm:

We express our concern over the growing number of countries that have enacted or introduced legislation designed to restrict the democracy promotion efforts of nongovernmental organizations, and toward that end we call on all participants in the Community of Democracies to uphold the right of governments and nongovernmental organizations to provide material and technical assistance to support NGO efforts to promote and consolidate democracy. We express concern over efforts to suppress democracy promotion activities.

We request that such efforts to repress democracy promotion activity should cease and that any existing legal restrictions toward that end be repealed.

We further call on the members of the Community of Democracies to affirm in the strongest possible terms the rights of nongovernmental organizations to promote democracy in support of the rights defined in the Warsaw Declaration. Countries engaged in activities in violation of these rights and these internationally accepted norms should be excluded from participation in the Community of Democracies. --END RESOLUTION

The Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy joins the Nongovernmental International Steering Committee of the Community of Democracies in expressing its hope that the Convening Group of the Community of Democracies will recommend the adoption of this Resolution by the UN Democracy Caucus, and that the UN Democracy Caucus will fully accept the recommendation to do so.

June 7, 2006

*****************************************************************

To subscribe send an email to subscribe-democracynews@lyris.ned.org.

If you do not have access to the Web and would like to access the materials mentioned above, please contact us by e-mail(world@ned.org)or fax (202-293-0755).

DemocracyNews is an electronic mailing list moderated by the National Endowment for Democracy as the Secretariat of the World Movement for Democracy.
The material presented in DemocracyNews is intended for information purposes only.
The WMD's DemocracyNews
Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org

The WMD's DemocracyNews
Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org

CALL FOR ITEMS

POSTING NEWS:
We welcome items to include in DemocracyNews. Please send an email message to
world@ned.org with the item you would like to post in the body of the message.

*****************************************************************
Dear World Movement Participants:

The next issue of DemocracyNews will go out on June 16, 2006. In order to make DemocracyNews as useful as possible, we ask you to send us any items related to democracy work that you think would be of interest to others.

The next deadline for submitting items is ** June 12** Please send items to: world@ned.org.

You are encouraged to submit items under any area of democracy work. We welcome items announcing publications, upcoming events, reports on research, new Web sites, and other information, and we are most interested in posting requests for partnerships between organizations on collaborative projects, brief descriptions of collaborative projects already underway or completed, and ideas for new initiatives in which others may be interested. We hope DemocracyNews will be a source not only for information about participants' activities, but also for new ideas about strategies to advance democracy.

Please share this message with your colleagues.

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To subscribe send an email to subscribe-democracynews@lyris.ned.org.

If you do not have access to the Web and would like to access the materials mentioned above, please contact us by e-mail (world@ned.org) or fax (202-293-0755).

DemocracyNews is an electronic mailing list moderated by the National Endowment for Democracy as the Secretariat of the World Movement for Democracy. The material presented in DemocracyNews is intended for information purposes only.

An international conference on Rebuilding Sustainable Communities in Iraq:
Policies, Programs and Projects
July 23–26, 2007

Conference Objectives

In 2004, the World Bank and the United Nations established the
International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq to help “donor
nations channel their resources and coordinate their support for
reconstruction and development in Iraq.” Similarly, the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) has
expressed its commitment to support Iraqis in rebuilding their
country by carrying out “programs in education, health care, food
security, infrastructure reconstruction, airport and seaport management,
economic growth, community development, local governance,
and transition initiatives.”
The central objective of this conference is to provide an intellectual
forum for scholars and practitioners to explore how these tasks
could be carried out in a manner that promotes social justice, economic
and political sustainability, and full participation of all stakeholders.
The outcomes of the conference deliberations should help
policy makers to formulate and implement the most appropriate
policies, as well as embark upon innovative sustainable projects.

For further information, please visit
http://www.cpcs.umb.edu/rsci/index.html

***************

Social and Human Sciences Sector (SHS) e-news No.3 – May 2006 – UNESCO at the 3rd World Urban Forum

***************

We thought you might be interested in receiving regular information on the activities of UNESCO’s Sector for Social and Human Sciences (SHS). Here is the third issue of our electronic news bulletin, which will be sent out monthly.

From 19 to 23 June, more than 6,000 participants from 150 nations will gather in Vancouver, Canada for the 3rd session of the World Urban Forum. This biennial UN-HABITAT event on urban sustainability examines and identifies solutions to the critical problems facing cities around the globe. The theme of the 3rd session will be: “Our Future: Sustainable Cities – Turning Ideas into Action”.

This event will be the opportunity to present the various projects of UNESCO which sustain the development of cities with a human face:

19 June, in collaboration with UNESCO-SHS and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, the UNESCO Chair on Growing Up In Cities at Cornell University, U.S.A., will host a networking event on creative planning with young people. The event will provide examples of how children and youth can be integrated into participatory planning processes, drawing on project experiences in diverse countries and cultures.

22 June, the “International Coalition of Cities Against Racism” will host a networking event “Towards an Inclusive Urban Society”. The Coalition is an initiative launched by UNESCO in 2004 to establish a network of cities interested in sharing experiences in order to improve their policies and strategies to counter racism, xenophobia, discrimination and exclusion.

On the same day, a session jointly organized by UN-HABITAT and UNESCO will discuss “Urban Policies and the Right to the City: Towards Good Governance and Local Democracy”. The aim of the session is to unpack the notion of the Right to the City and share perspectives of various city stakeholders – local government, civil society, grassroots groups, etc., on what is embedded in the concept “The Right to the City”.

UNESCO will be present at the World Urban Forum with a large intersectoral stand. The stand will also house two exhibitions: “Sketches Around the World: Messages of progress for the future of our planet” and “Historical District Renewal Area”.

For more information on the World Urban Forum, please visit www.unhabitat.org/wuf and http://www.wuf3-fum3.ca/

Other events planned for the month of June

1 and 2 June: UNESCO and the “National Library” of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro are organizing a public seminar: “Pathways of Thought on the Science-Humanities Border”. Over twenty researchers, thinkers and civil society leaders from fourteen countries will participate in the seminar, such as historian Maurice Aymard, sociologist Barbara Freitag, astrophysicist Trinh X.Thuan, biophysicist Henri Atlan, philosophers José Arthur Giannotti and Sérgio Paulo Rouanet, and authors Eduardo Portella and Muniz Sodre.

8 and 9 June: a regional Bioethics seminar in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, will bring together participants from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados and the Dominican Republic. The seminar is dedicated to promoting Bioethics research and reflection in the English speaking region of the Caribbean.

12 June: a symposium on “The Birth of the Modern World: to the origins of the European power,” co-organized with Le Monde diplomatique and the French Association of Professors of History and Geography, will concentrate on the publication of the French edition of Christopher Alan Bayly’s book : The Birth of the Modern World (1780-1914).

12 and 13 June: the UNESCO Beijing Office will organize a workshop in Tsinghua University, Beijing, in order to officially launch a project on “HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care for Migrants and Ethnic Minority Communities in China and Mongolia". The workshop will train local counterparts and local officials in the five pilot sites on how to deliver HIV/AIDS prevention education to migrants and ethnic minorities, and on how to implement the existing legislation and regulation on HIV/AIDS in China.

From 12 to 18 June: the UNESCO Beijing Office, China, is organizing “Together With Migrants Festival 2006”, which aims to draw public attention to the situation of migrants in the city, to stimulate critical and constructive debate about the necessity to integrate migrants into the urban fabric, and to provide a forum for interaction and exchange between migrants, local communities, researchers, NGOs and artists.

15 and 16 June: Madrid, Spain, will host the 2006 annual meeting of the European Coalition of Cities against Racism, which already includes 40 cities.

21 and 22 June: a two-day conference: “Human Security in China: a North-East Asian Perspective”, will bring together international organizations, government officials, Chinese, Japanese and Korean experts, and civil organizations to discuss the relevance of the concept of Human Security for China in particular and for North-East Asia in general. The Conference will take place in China, at Nankai University, in Tianjian.

From 21 to 23 June: a regional experts’ meeting for the elaboration of a Ten-Point Plan of Action for the Coalition of Latin American and Caribbean Cities against Racism, is organized in Montevideo, Uruguay.

27 and 28 June: an extraordinary session of the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) will be held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The agenda of the session includes: the rotating conference "Ethics around the world"; the Global Ethics Observatory Database (GEObs); the project on "ethical and legal framework for space exploration"; the election of the Jury for the 2006 Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science, and the next ordinary session of COMEST, to be held in Africa in 2007. Apart from the Policy Document on the Ethics of Nanotechnology, which will be presented by a Group of Experts, COMEST members will also look at the results of regional consultation meetings on a Code of Conduct for scientists, as well as the status of Codes of Conduct for the scientists around the world.

Agenda of UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector: www.unesco.org/shs/agenda

UNESCO Social and Human Sciences Sector Website: www.unesco.org/shs/

SHS Newsletter Website: www.unesco.org/shs/newsletter

----- To subsribe to “SHS e-news” -----
mailto:sympa@lists.unesco.org?subject=sub%20news-shs
----- Contacts -----
John Crowley, Chief of Section, SHS/EO/CIP: j.crowley@unesco.org
Cathy Bruno-Capvert, Editor, SHS Newsletter: c.bruno-capvert@unesco.org
Irakli Khodeli, Press Assistant: i.khodeli@unesco.org

AfricAvenir News are kindly sent out by Eric Van Grasdorff:

Liebe Freunde,

mit diesem Schreiben möchten wir Sie am Donnerstag, den 15. Juni 2006 um 19.00 Uhr in die Werkstatt der Kulturen (Achtung - geänderter Veranstaltungsort!) einladen zum Dialogforum mit Rosa Amelia Plumelle-Uribe.

Die Vernichtungspolitik des deutschen Nationalsozialismus, so Plumelle-Uribe, reiht sich in eine lange Tradition der Entmenschlichung nicht-europäischer Gesellschaften ein. Diese Tradition, die 1492 in der Eroberung des amerikanischen Kontinents ihren Anfang nahm, hat sich in unterschiedlichen Formen und Kontexten bis in die zweite Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts fortgesetzt. Daher kann heute eine ernsthafte Auseinandersetzung mit dem Nationalsozialismus den historischen Entstehungskontext nicht mehr aussparen, der dessen politischen Erfolg und ideologische Entfaltung überhaupt erst möglich gemacht hat.

Rosa Amelia Plumelle-Uribe, geboren und aufgewachsen in Kolumbien, ist Publizistin und lebt in Frankreich. In ihrem Buch "Weiße Barbarei" analysiert sie den Holocaust vor dem Hintergrund einer eigentlichen europäischen "Kultur der Vernichtung" und zeigt einleuchtend, wo die Rassenpolitik der Nazis in der Tradition des Kolonialrassismus steht und wo sie aus ihr ausbricht. Dabei gerät sie nie in die Falle einer Relativierung der Naziverbrechen.
Mehr Infos: http://africavenir.com/news/2005/06/129

"Das Buch macht bewusst, dass das Verbot eines Vergleiches mit dem Holocaust (...) auf einen uneingestandenen Weißen Rassismus zurückzuführen ist." (Alfred Grosser)

Donnerstag, 15. Juni 2006, 19.00 Uhr
Werkstatt der Kulturen
Wissmannstr. 32, 12049 Berlin
Eintritt frei

In Kooperation mit dem BER (Berliner Entwicklungspolitischer Ratschlag), gefördert aus Mitteln des BMZ und mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Stiftung Umverteilen und der LEZ (Landeszentrale für Entwicklungszusammenarbeit bei der Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft, Arbeit und Frauen).

Online-Forum
Außerdem möchten wir auf das neu eingerichtete Online-Forum hinweisen, das die Möglichkeit zur kontinuierlichen Diskussion über die von uns behandelten Themen bietet. Über Reaktionen und Beiträge freuen wir uns. http://africavenir.com/africavenir/berlin/africanreflections/forum.php

www.AfricAvenir.org
Wollen Sie Fördermitglied von AfricAvenir International e.V. werden?
Kontaktieren Sie Ann Kathrin Helfrich, Fon: 030-80906789, a.helfrich@africavenir.org

Redaktion des Newsletters: Eric Van Grasdorff, e.vangrasdorff@africavenir.org
AfricAvenir International e.V. ist nicht für die Inhalte externer Webseiten verantwortlich.

OPEN HOUSE INTERNATIONAL (OHI)
(Academic Refereed Journal)

Issue on:
Design Studio Teaching Practices: Between Traditional, Revolutionary, and Virtual Models

Volume 31, No.3, September 2006

Guest Editor, Ashraf Salama, Ph.D.
Professor of Architecture

Contact
"Carol Nicholson"
Carol.Nicholson@ribaenterprises.com

The process of educating future architects and designers around the world varies dramatically. However, there is one striking similarity – the dominance of the design studio as the main forum for knowledge acquisition and assimilation, and for creative exploration and interaction. Such a setting encompasses intensive cognitive and physical activities, which ultimately result in conceptualizing meaningful environments proposed to accommodate related human activities. The design studio is the primary space where students explore their creative skills that are so prized by the profession; it is the kiln where future architects are molded. It has occupied a central position since architectural education was formalized two centuries ago in France and later in Germany, the rest of Europe, North America, and the rest of the world.

My personal experience of the design studio comes principally from being academic, studio educator, and researcher on architectural education and studio teaching practices for over fifteen years. Continuous endeavors have resulted in a number of publications that analyzed traditional studio while probing into the motivations of my colleague educators and allowing for critical examination of studio pedagogy (Salama, 1995; 1996; 1998; 1999; 2002; 2005; 2006). My passion for a continued exploration and investigation of the studio underlying rituals, teaching styles and learning outcomes, design processes and studio projects motivated me to entertain the idea of guest editing this issue and to venture a call for contributions for soliciting visions and experiences on the theme. This initiation was further encouraged and supported by the Editor in Chief – Nicholas Wilkinson.

This issue of Open House International-OHI is concerned with the studio pedagogy’s increasing importance within the context of contemporary architectural and design education, a crucial subject that poses itself confidently on the map of current academic research. Twelve papers are included; of them, nine were selected from over 30 submission responses to the call for contributions. These are of ASHRAF SALAMA; NISHA FERNANDO; KEVIN MITCHELL, MALIKA BOSE, ELIZA PENNYPACKER, and TOM YAHNER; TASOULLA HADJIYANNI; CARLOS BALSAS; RABEE REFFAT; JEFFREY HOU and MIN-JAY KANG; JAMAL AL QAWASMI; and JEFFREY HAASE. Three papers were selected as they won the first three awards of the International Architectural Education Competition entitled "Alternative Educational Ways for Teaching and Learning Architectural Design," which was organized in 2005 by Open House International and the Faculty of Architecture, Eastern Mediterranean University, Northern Cyprus. Results were announced in April 2006 and the three winners were JOONGSUB KIM (1st Prize); NOAM AUSTERLITZ & AVIGAIL SACHS (2nd Prize); and GUITA FARIVARSADRI & USTUN ALSAC (3rd Prize).

Efforts of these concerned and committed educators are integrated to openly debate the delivery system of education in the studio. Actually, they are advancing the discussions on how this subject has become a recognized area of research in recent years, how studio teaching invigorates the attitudes of future architects and designers, and how it may contribute to the creation of better environments. The papers in this edition of OHI capture the body of knowledge about design studio teaching. However, they can be regarded as different studio typologies that delineate a paradigm shift. Such a shift is from the traditional approach that follows principles and practices developed in the past, and not equipped to deal with the practical realities of contemporary societies, to a more responsive approach that effectively challenges recent advances in social and behavioral sciences, and telecommunication technologies. Such an approach is characterized by committing itself to a student-centered learning process by shaping and identifying studio objectives and thereby recognizing the impacts they may have on the life-long learning skills of future architects.

Advanced Master Program in Peace and Conflict Studies

· We offer an interdisciplinary, intercultural and research based four semester study program in Peace and Conflict Studies

· The program is focused on international political, economic, ecological and cultural conflicts and conflict resolution by peaceful means

· The study program offers lectures, workshops & seminars in English presented by highly qualified lecturers from more than 20 different countries on all continents

· Meet students from all over the world

· Requirements: bachelor or international equivalent degree, good command of English, peace related background

· Information & Admission: www.epu.ac.at European University Center for
Peace Studies (EPU)

Stadtschlaining/Austria
phone:+43-3355-2498-515, fax: +43-3355-2381
mail: epu@epu.ac.at, web: www.epu.ac.at

The EPU Curriculum in Peace and Conflict Studies:
Master of Arts and Advanced Certificate Programs

The European University Center for Peace Studies (EPU) is located in Stadtschlaining, Austria, a beautiful, small and quiet medieval town in the foothills of the Alps between Vienna and Graz. It has a 700 year old castle hosting the EPU Offices and a peace museum, and a famous peace library with 25,000 books, periodicals and films, mostly in English. It was founded in 1988 by its current President, Dr. Gerald Mader. It has so far educated about 700 students from more than 90 different countries in peace studies and conflict transformation. In 1995 it received the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education.

The EPU program is designed to provide students with the intellectual skills to analyze conflicts and their underlying causes, and with practical skills in conflict transformation and peace-building. It seeks to enable and motivate students to help build a more peaceful, equitable and just global society, in harmony with nature.

Those who successfully complete one trimester obtain an Advanced Certificate in Peace and Conflict Studies. Those who complete three trimesters and write a thesis obtain a Master of Arts in Peace and Conflict Studies, approved by the Austrian Ministry of Education. MA students can begin with any trimester (fall, spring or summer).

All the courses are taught in English, by leading specialists in their field from around the world, including Johan Galtung, one of the founders of the academic discipline of peace research and frequent mediator in international conflicts. Studying with the founder of an academic discipline is a rare opportunity, like studying psychiatry with Sigmund Freud or relativity theory with Albert Einstein. EPU offers students a well rounded program covering Peace with Security, Development, Freedom, Nature and Culture.

Different from most other universities, which have their fixed faculty, EPU has the flexibility to invite the best teachers from around the world from a wide variety of disciplines. As a practical demonstration of cultural peace, EPU seeks to achieve a geographical and gender balance in its teaching faculty. The courses equally emphasize theory, concrete case studies and practical exercises. EPU seeks to train peace practitioners, not only theoreticians.

In addition to courses, workshops and academic excursions, a valuable aspect of studying at EPU is the immersion in the culture of a society at peace, and the opportunity to learn also from dialogues with fellow students from around the world. Many alumni have said that the time they spent at EPU was one of the best experiences in their lives. This has an effect beyond mere book learning. It is remarkable, for example, that Alexander Yakovlev, Gorbachev's closest adviser and the key architect of perestroika, was a member of the first delegation of thirty Soviet students who studied a year in the United States with a Fulbright fellowship in 1956-57.

Peace Studies are a highly interdisciplinary and growing academic field. Students who have successfully completed our program are well grounded in both theory and practice to face the challenges of global conflict transformation. We are happy and proud that many of our former students now have thriving careers with international organizations, NGOs or work with their respective governments.

Peace includes the absence of war, but it is much more. Galtung distinguishes between three forms of violence: direct violence (hurting and killing people with weapons), structural violence (the slow death from hunger, preventable diseases and other suffering caused by unjust structures of society and lack of freedom and democracy), and cultural violence (the justification of direct and structural violence through nationalism, racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination and prejudice). Negative peace consists of the absence of those three forms of violence, and positive peace is the presence of activities to bring relief for past or present violence and to prevent future violence. The EPU curriculum focuses on direct peace in the fall trimester, structural peace in the spring trimester, and cultural peace in the summer trimester.

EPU's curriculum is intended for students from any discipline interested in peace and conflict resolution, young diplomats, government officials, NGO members, teachers, journalists, lawyers, social workers, psychologists, officers, and anyone interested in solving conflicts by peaceful means. A first university degree is required, and preferably some professional experience. EPU does not discriminate on the basis of (among others) gender, race, class, religion or national origin.

Costs are Euro 2500 for tuition + Euro 1400 room rent per trimester, plus a one-time Euro 700 examination fee for the Master of Arts program. A small number of full and partial scholarships are available for participants from focal countries of Austria's development cooperation, but they are highly competitive and are for one trimester only.

Administration
Gerald Mader, President
Dietrich Fischer, Academic Director & Student Advisor
Ronald H.Tuschl, Secretary General & Research Director
Anita Flasch, Administrative Assistant
Ursula Medlitsch, Administrative Assistant

Contact
EPU SECRETARIAT
A-7461 Stadtschlaining/Burg, Austria
Tel+43-3355-2498-515
Fax+43-3355-2381
e-mail: epu@epu.ac.at
website: http://www.epu.ac.at

Migration report marks ''sea change'' in attitudes

[This item comes via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge]

NEW YORK, 8 June (IRIN) - Marking the release of a new United Nations report on the impact of migration patterns on development, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday called for a standing forum to encourage governments to take an integrated approach to the migration issue.

Annan told the General Assembly that migrants could be highly beneficial for their countries of origin and of destination. He said the report clearly showed that the world was "in the midst of a new migration era, and that international migration today [was] indeed a global phenomenon."

The report, which followed an independent Global Commission on International Migration in 2005, was produced to help inform the debate ahead of a high-level dialogue on migration at the General Assembly in September.

Hani Zlotnik, director of the UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said the report reflected a major shift in how migrants were perceived by many governments.

"Governments have started to focus on the beneficial aspects of migration. There has been a sea change in how they approach migration, as compared to 10 or 20 years ago. Previously, migration was seen as a negative thing, but in the last 15 years countries have realised that migrants are an asset, and they have taken steps to facilitate migration," said Zlotnik.

"The message by these governments is 'we value you and want to remain linked to you'," she said. The rise in overseas consulates and measures allowing for proxy voting and dual nationality are evidence that governments are now trying to facilitate the migration process.

The report found that migration had become a major feature of international life, with more than 191 million people living outside their home countries in 2005, remitting an estimated US $232 billion back home, more than double the estimate a decade earlier.

A UN official involved with the report told journalists on Tuesday that over the course of history there had always been concerns about migration. Addressing specific movements "such as the recent influx of migrants into Spain from Northern Africa, or into the United States from Mexico" was a sovereign issue, he said. "But with this report, we can contribute a clear understanding of what the positive benefits of migration are, to help inform the debate."

For example, a 'brain drain' of skilled migrants from a developing country had been often perceived as negative, because it took qualified people out, he said. In fact, recent research shows that this very process can stimulate education, as, for example, younger generations see older counterparts going overseas for work, remitting funds back and in some instances returning to the country with assets and resources. So what was perceived as a net loss to the country, can often be a longterm net gain, he said.

There was a downside to migration, however. Annan cited the "all too familiar abuses" to which many migrants were subjected, such as falling prey to traffickers, exploitation and xenophobic reactions by a resident population.
Zlotnik said a key question was whether migration was actually leading to big benefits in terms of development. "The report has identified some positive aspects, and some negative, too. We don't pretend that the current world of migration is perfect - it's not. But this shift in perception that migration is not all bad is an important one," she said.
[ENDS]

Please see further down a message from Ron Kraybill, PhD, professor in the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University, and author of Style Matters: The Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory. For more information, go to www.riverhouseepress.com:

I am offering conflict resolution trainers and organizational development consultants a free review copy of a conflict style inventory I've recently published that is culturally sensitive. Style Matters: The Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory is similar in its basic logic to the widely-used Thomas Kilmann instrument, but has additional features. One is that users self-identify whether they are from individualistic or collectivist cultural background and get somewhat differing instructions accordingly. To request a free electronic copy in PDF, send a note to StyleMattersOffer@RiverhouseEPress.com . You will receive by automated return email a link to my website for downloading.

On 05/06/2006, Nini Manoach kindly wrote:

Dear Evelin.

I'm glad to tell you that my book Words That Kill (whose sub title is : When a Daily Dialogue Turns into Deadly Weapon) has come out this month and is arousing a great deal of interest in the mass media – radio, television, internet sites, daily press, women's magazines etc. The book is selling well and the publishing house has been investing a lot in its public relations, believing it's worth the effort. Also the many readers' reactions are highly favorable.

I am receiving very good reactions from women telling me: "Thanks for having written the book", "…such a book should have been published six years ago, twenty years ago, and even… forty four years ago…" A young woman called me and said that after having read about the book in the paper, even before reading the book itself, she understood that she was "there" and asked her father to put off the wedding's date which had been set for July and which a place had already been reserved for… she has decided to look into the matter seriously.

You, Evelin have received an honorable place in my list of cknowledgements.
If you wish, I'm willing to send you the book, or would you rather wait for your visit in Israel, or wait for the translation…?

I would like to remind you that although the book deals with the relationship of couples, I have emphasized it repeatedly all along the book that mental and verbal violence/abuse might be present in all kinds of relationships: women – women, men – men, parents – children, adolescents – parents, employers – employees etc.

Enclosed to the letter, I am sending you the translation of the passage in my book that deals with your study - Humiliation Caused by Peoples – and the brief in English for my book's possible translation.

I have integrated the passage that deals with your study in the chapter in which I am explaining the existence of social and cultural filters which disguise violent messages, thus stressing the important role violence plays within the family.

I find it important to mention that my book doesn't study the influence of Israel's political situation on the family, however, I believe it's impossible to be an Israeli writer dealing with violence within the family without touching on wider circles. The fact that Israel has been occupying the Palestinians for nearly 40 years is significant to the lives of the two peoples, including their personal lives.

I would like to thank you for your proposal to write about the book in "your" internet site – Humiliation, which I am very much familiar with, and which is included in my book's bibliography. The site is mentioned twice in my book: the attempt to giving a measurable weight to the notion of humiliation and dividing it into separable behaviors according to their severity (Linda Hartling).Through it I also reached Thomas Sheff's and Susan Hartling's work dealing with the role of violence in inter-personal disputes.

I believe that the book is important for many reasons because of its many innovations such as the verbal patterns that reveal concealed violence (which I referred to as "silencers"), in particular. In addition, the book deals with the significant role language and words play in peoples' lives and how they can be used to define the external and internal reality in which we live, the way language and words are interpreted and the way these construct our insights and conduct. Consequently, changes in language lead to changes in life.

I am also sending you the passage where I deal with the Israeli reality since I think it's important that people read it and acknowledge the Other Voice of many Israelis (perhaps most of them), mainly of whom are educated, but there are also others. I would be happy to know what you think about them. The passage belongs to the chapter dealing with the question why society in general and the Israeli society in particular relate to mental violence/abuse forgivingly. I referred to several filters such as those prevalent in education at school, the media and commercials, and I dealt very seriously with those that are relevant to the issue of the occupation.

You may have noticed that I did not refer to the question: "What does the occupation do to the Palestinians?". I did it deliberately. 1. There's consensus as to the effect of occupation on the occupied people. Unfortunately, not everybody is concerned about it in the same, but this exactly is the issue here. 2. This is not the subject of the book, and it will lead me into the Israeli political debate that is constantly going on here –
Whether the occupation is essential for Israel or not – and this is not my aim here. 3. And this is the most important thing – I wanted to stress it that it is our interest, Israel's interest, to stop being the occupant, because it is us that are affected so badly, it is bad for our Israeli society.

I will be glad to know if you are familiar with a good publishing house in the U.S.A that might be interested in the subject and that has good public relations for promoting the book later on. As you know, a foreign writer is a serious drawback… If you know somebody, I could send him/her a brief in English.

Love, Nini

POWER AS A CORRUPTIVE ELEMENT

In her new book, ‘Words That Kill,’ Nini Manoach analyzes certain forces of aggression and humiliation that can arise in families. The following discussion previews one part of her analyis; it focusses on the link between behaviors established when one society oppresses another and social abuse patterns that later appear within the oppressing society.

In every one of us, it seems, a dark side is hidden. As far back as the times of the Biblical storytellers, it was known that “sin croucheth at the door; and unto thee is its desire, but thou mayest rule over it (Genesis 4:7).” Yet apart from this potential for aggression that characterizes humanity in general, there appear to be circumstances in which control over such dark urges is made more difficult for certain groups in particular—even for people who have no special inclination towards violence. This typically occurs when man accumulates sufficient power to deprive his fellow man of freedom. Such situations lay the foundation for violence and abuse within a society.

In the summer of 1971, a team of researchers from Stanford University investigated the characteristics of human nature under conditions of heightened vulnerability to abuse. One Sunday morning, a Palo Alto police car rounded up student volunteers from their homes. As part of a study undertaken by Stanford’s psychology department, the students were brought handcuffed to a cellar that had been set up as a mock jail. The purpose of the study was to examine two questions:

• What happens when good people are placed in an evil environment?
• In such a situation, which will prevail, evil or humanity?

The experiment was based on a simulation in which the students were arbitrarily assigned to one of two groups, “prisoners” or “jailers.” The plan called for both groups to remain in the jail for three weeks, a duration the researchers considered to be long enough to bring demonstrable changes in the behavior of the participants.

As it turned out, the experiment brought out a surprisingly sadistic side in the students of the jailer group. Members of the prisoner group, on the other hand, began to evince extreme depression, stress, and rage. At night, when the students thought the cameras and microphones of the researchers weren’t operating, outbursts of crying were heard from the cells of the prisoner group. In a dramatic outcome, the experiment was terminated after only six days. This study, authored by Professor G. Zimbardo of Stanford, returned to the news after four decades following the intense controversy in America over the treatment of Iraqi detainees following the deposition of Saddam Hussein .

The treatment of Palestinians by soldiers in Israel’s Occupied Territories has also generated controversy. While a full discussion of the Israeli occupation itself would be beyond the scope of this research, we consider it germaine to examine the influence that the events experienced during a tour of duty in the Occupied Territories has upon the individual Israeli soldier who serves there. Imposition and humiliation are fundamental to every scenario of conquest, and (whether we like it or not) this harsh reality leaves its mark on soldiers returning home from occupation duty.

It is a law of nature that hatred and violence thrive in circumstances of imposition and humiliation. Conquest requires violence, and violence in turn requires the elimination of humanitarian sensitivities rooted in the soul. Conquest brings with it that unhappy emotional crossroad where the fear of the conqueror and that of the conquered meet and intertwine. The conqueror must naturally fear the numbers of the conquered, their endurance, their determination, their potential for revolt, their burning hatred, their pain and infinite despair. The conquered, for their part, are full of fear of the conquering soldiers, their weapons, and their overall military superiority. Fear and danger form the only common ground between the two camps.

It is precisely at the intersection between the fears of the respective sides that hatred germinates. As a soldier serves a tour of duty in such an environment, he or she is necessarily changed forever. The Stanford experiments described above, together with our every day life experience, prove that there is something intoxicating, addicting, and blinding in the exercise of power. Exposed to these phenomena at an impressionable age, and in adversarial circumstances, the soldier becomes callous.

Violence does not materialize from a vacuum. It propagates (in its many forms) throughout all the circles of society—national, military, cultural, social, personal, spiritual—forming an unbroken ring around us. Ideally, a soldier serving the Occupied Territories might perhaps confront violent situations while on duty, but then later leave all the resulting negativity behind when it is time for him to rejoin civilian society. In reality, however, such emotional compartmentalization is never so tidy. The violence witnessed, suffered, or perpetrated by the soldier during his tour stays with him, and its effects continue to ramify long after enlistment is over.

In Israel these effects are easily observable. They can be seen on the road, in schools, in the streets, in clubs, and in soccer stadiums. Their influence can be sensed in the way that many citizens regard new immigrants, in the way that the government treats the weak, and in personal relations within families. Within this context, the emotional aspect of violence is to be emphasized over the physical. The common thread through all these areas of life is the violent mindset itself, the all-too-prevalent mental disposition that allows one human being to humiliate another.

We thus extend the concept of “violence” to include all manner of abuse suffered within a family household. The topic of domestic abuse in general, of course, has received able treatment at the hands of researchers worldwide. Yet certain specific aspects of it have not—in this author’s view—gotten proper attention to date. It is the purpose of Words That Kill, my new book, to explore one of these.

Words That Kill focuses on subtle forms of verbal abuse, devoid of profanity or overt aggression, that cumulatively result in severe humiliation. They are forms of abuse most often suffered by female members of the household. The words chosen in the context of such abuse can appear innocent, say, if one were to read them on a transcript; but their actual delivery and undertones can take a devastating emotional toll on the victim over time.

Of course, compulsory military service in the context of territorial annexation is not a prerequisite for a society to develop cases of this kind of abuse; indeed, examples of it abound all over the world. But it is the contention of this author that, in each case of violence, a common element is discernable as a root cause: the fostering of a covert culture of humiliation.

Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen,

absofort werden folgende Titel ausgeliefert:

jour fixe initiative berlin (Hg.)
Klassen und Kämpfe
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Daniel Bensaïd
Eine Welt zu verändern
Bewegungen und Strategien
aus dem Französischen von Elfriede Müller
Neue Reihe der jour fixe initiative berlin
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Susanne Spindler
Corpus delicti
Männlichkeit, Rassismus und Kriminalisierung im Alltag jugendlicher
Migranten
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Joannah Caborn
Schleichende Wende
Diskurse von Nation und Erinnerung bei der Konstituierung der Berliner
Republik
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Die freie Gesellschaft
Klassiker der Sozialrevolte Bd. 13
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Critical Art Ensemble
Die molekulare Invasion
Strategien gegen die Biotechnologie im globalisierten Kapitalismus
übersetzt von Oliver Leistert
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Tanja Marita Brinkmann
Die Zukunft der Mädchenarbeit
Innovationspotenziale durch neuere Geschlechtertheorien
und Ungleichheitsforschung
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Vorschau auf die Neuerscheinungen im Herbst 2006:
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Dear All,
please see the attached announcement for the course in Chinese Politics being arranged at the Nordic Centre, Fudan University between 29 October and 15 December 2006.

We would very much appreciate that the course is announced among all interested parties within your institutions. There are 22 places earmarked Norwegian students, who will get the tuition fee fully covered through Lånekassen. The deadline for applications is 15 June. Please refer to www.nordiccentre.org for further information.

Thank you very much for your kind cooperation,

Best regards,

Gry-Irene Skorstad
Programme Coordinator
Nordic Centre
Fudan University

220, Handan Road
200433, Shanghai, P.R.C

Tel: +86-21-6564 2267
Fax: +86-21-6564 8633
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CALL FOR PAPERS: International Society for Theoretical Psychology
THEORETICAL PSYCHOLOGY BEYOND BORDERS: TRANSDISCIPLINARITY AND
INTERNATIONALIZATION

Date: June 18-22, 2007, York University
Conference site: http://www.yorku.ca/istp2007

Dr. Thomas Teo, Associate Professor, History & Theory of Psychology
York University, Department of Psychology
4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, CANADA, M3J 1P3
E-mail: tteo@yorku.ca
www.yorku.ca/tteo
Phone: 416-736 5115
Fax: 416-736 5814

The Moral Imagination
The Art and Soul of Building Peace
by John Paul Lederach
http://www.us.oup.com/

Chapter Description
John Paul Lederach's work in the field of conciliation and mediation is internationally recognized. He has provided consultation, training and direct mediation in a range of situations from the Miskito/Sandinista conflict in Nicaragua to Somalia, Northern Ireland, Tajikistan, and the Philippines. His influential 1997 book Building Peace has become a classic in the discipline. In this book, Lederach poses the question, "How do we transcend the cycles of violence that bewitch our human community while still living in them?" Peacebuilding, in his view, is both a learned skill and an art. Finding this art, he says, requires a worldview shift. Conflict professionals must envision their work as a creative act-an exercise of what Lederach terms the "moral imagination." This imagination must, however, emerge from and speak to the hard realities of human affairs. The peacebuilder must have one foot in what is and one foot beyond what exists. The book is organized around four guiding stories that point to the moral imagination but are incomplete. Lederach seeks to understand what happened in these individual cases and how they are relevant to large-scale change. His purpose is not to propose a grand new theory. Instead he wishes to stay close to the "messiness" of real processes and change, and to recognize the serendipitous nature of the discoveries and insights that emerge along the way. overwhelmed the equally important creative process. Like most professional peacemakers, Lederach sees his work as a religious vocation. Lederach meditates on his own calling and on the spirituality that moves ordinary people to reject violence and seek reconciliation. Drawing on his twenty-five years of experience in the field he explores the evolution of his understanding of peacebuilding and points the way toward the future of the art.

Features
- He is one of the best known members of the global peacemaking community, and his influential 1997 book Building Peace has become a classic in the field.
- Lederach seeks to understand what happened in four central cases and how they are relevant to large-scale progress. His purpose is not to propose a grand new theory, but to carefully examine the "messiness" of real processes and change, and to recognize the serendipitous nature of the discoveries and insights that emerge.

Reviews
"Today the telecommunications and transport revolution has made the world a smaller place offering both an opportunity and challenge to the major leading countries to come together to shape the world, overcome violence and create a peaceful global community. John Paul Lederach presents a powerful case for the use of the moral imagination in rising to this challenge, thus creating authentic new possibilities. This book provides a valuable contribution to peacebuilding literature and I welcome it wholeheartedly." --John Hume, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace

"This is a wonderful book it resonated, provoked and exhilarated me, challenging me to think very carefully and deeply about why peace builders do what they do. It also offers some profound compass points for direction which may help to keep many of us sane and focused in the midst of the chaos and violence that so often makes up our world." --Mari Fitzduff, Brandeis University

"The Moral Imagination is an eloquent and personal meditation on the challenge of peacebuilding by one of the fields most insightful theorists and practitioners. Professor Lederach correctly observes that the years following the tragedy of September 11, 2001, represent a precious opportunity to address underlying cycles of violence and insecurity, locally and globally. It will take courage and creativity, but it is an opportunity we must not let pass us by."--Jimmy Carter, Chairman, The Carter Center

"Much exists in the conflict resolution literature about method and technique, little about art and soul. John Paul Lederach, a theorist of great insight who also happens to be a practitioner of high skill, brings us deep into his own process of learning--and the results are marvelous. He offers us a rich fare of insights, stories and metaphors that captivate the moral imagination this world so badly needs. Consider this book a precious treat!" --William Ury, co-author of Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without Giving In and author of The Third Side: Why We Fight and How We Can Stop

"In its depth of wisdom regarding the dynamics of soul, spirit and society that lead good people to become effective practitioners of conflict transformation in war zones, The Moral Imagination could serve as the magnificent capstone to a life's work. The thrilling fact, however, is that Lederach stands not at the end but at the midpoint of a remarkable journey of conciliation, peacebuilding and ethical reflection. This book is a milestone in that journey; there is nothing quite like it in the literature of social change, peace and conflict studies, theology, ethics, and spirituality--for it weaves those disciplines together into a seamless, riveting whole."--R. Scott Appleby, Professor of History and John M. Regan, Jr. Director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame

"In The Moral Imagination , John Paul Lederach has written an inspiring and uplifting book that goes straight to the heart of what is required to bring a change in a destructive cycle of violence, to alter an oppressive social relationship, or to understand the foundation of an intractable conflict. Lederach uses the tools of natural science, poetry, folk lore, and physics, as well the wisdom of people who have exhibited courage in the face of violence, to consider the essence of effective peacemaking. This is a book that will help deepen the thinking and the peacemaking practice of all who read it."--Bernard Mayer, author of Beyond Neutrality: Confronting the Crisis in Conflict Resolution

"Peacemaking is about imagining what seems impossible in the midst of conflict. It is about discerning and stretching the moment of opportunity. This is a superb book, offering theory born in practice and best practices grounded in critical theory. It raises problems and suggests solutions. The work of activists, scholars and practitioners in conflict transformation and peacemaking who read this book will be profoundly influenced by it."--Charles Villa-Vicencio, Executive Director, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Cape Town, South Africa

Product Details
216 pages; 6 line illus.; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4;
ISBN13: 978-0-19-517454-0
ISBN10: 0-19-517454-2

About the Author
John Paul Lederach is one of the world's foremost experts on peacebuilding and reconciliation. He is Professor of International Peacebuilding at the Joan B. Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and Distinguished Scholar at Eastern Mennonite University's Conflict Transformation Program. Among his many books are The Journey Toward Reconciliation (1999) and Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies (1997).

NEW IN 2007:

Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education: An International Journal (DIME)—a quarterly peer-reviewed journal focused on critical discourse and research in diaspora, indigenous, and minority education—is dedicated to researching cultural sustainability in a world increasingly consolidating under national, transnational, and global organizations. It aims to draw attention to, and learn from, the many initiatives being conducted around the globe in support of diaspora, indigenous, and minority education, which might otherwise go unnoticed.

DIME invites research from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives. The journal welcomes articles that ground theoretical reflections in specific empirical research and case studies of diverse locations and peoples.

Full contribution instructions are available online at www.LEAonline.com To access the information click on the Journals menu, and locate Diaspora, Indigenous,and Minority Education or contact the editors Zvi Bekerman mszviman@mscc.huji.ac.il or Seonaigh MacPherson macpher2@ms.umanitoba.c

New in 2006.
Learning in Places: The Informal Education Reader (Counterpoints: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education) (Paperback)
by Zvi Bekerman (Editor), Nicholas C. Burbules (Editor), Diana Silberman Keller (Editor). Purchase at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0820467863/ref=pd_cmp_rvi_1_i/104-6084439-8879152?n=283155