Talk to Open the History Exhibition on 350 Years of Quakerism Commissariat, Brisbane, 18/05/04

In this talk the author discusses the place of Quakerism in modern society and its relevance to peace and conflict studies

The new world disorder: The prospects for peace

In this speech I will discuss the problem of terrorism one year after September 11th 2001, the significantly changed global situation in which International Alert has had to work this year. I will then consider the roles for conflict transformation organisations such as International Alert and finally introduce some questions about how we measure our impact and effectiveness

Peace building and conflict transformation

The world clearly needs some new ways of thinking about old problems and new ways of acting if we are going to survive into the 21st century. It is vital, therefore, that students of peace and conflict work out ways of harnessing the creative imagination of everyone so that all peoples can envisage a positive future and ways of realizing that future. This imagining cannot be narrow. It has to be broad, inclusive, interdisciplinary and systemic but it has to begin if we are to have a viable future. In relation to this imaging, peace and conflict theorists need to learn from evolutionary theorists if they are to play a significant part in global survival. In the first place, this means endeavoring to gather the wisdom of many peoples and traditions since without this our understanding of the way the world works will always be partial and our normative prescriptions always biased

A non-violent moment - response to "terrorism in America"

This article, like so many others, demonstrates that the "War on Terrorism", the "War in Iraq" and the United States tacit support for Israeli violation of Palestinian human rights are having exactly the opposite effects to those intended. Far from generating more security against terrorist politics and attack, these policies are delivering more insecurity for the West, (particularly the members of the Coalition of the Willing). Instead of "draining the pools within which terrorists swim", these pools have become very large lakes for the politically desperate. Far from delivering democracy, human rights and a bright economic future to a post-Saddam Iraq, the Interim Authority in Iraq has delivered higher levels of discontent, given cover to profound Western violations of Moslem human rights, and opened up some extremely deep and bitter internal fissures and divisions

Global security: confronting challenges to universal peace

The challenge of peace is complex and intractable. Much depends on the meaning of the concept and the definition of the term. And in that respect much depends on whether a diplomatic-legal or a sociopolitical approach is adopted. The diplomatic-legal approach is enshrined in the United Nations Charter of 1945. The primary goal of the United Nations is to protect future generations from the scourge of war. The charter bestows on the Security Council the primary responsibility for maintaining, or restoring, international peace and security.&nbsp

The Hard Science of Peace: An Interview with Kevin Clements

An interview with Kevin Clements, Director of the Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict at the University of Queensland. He discusses with SangSaeng the fine points of conflict resolution and the work his centre does towards that elusive end

Principled Nonviolence: An Imperative, Not an Optional Extra

This article compares principled and strategic nonviolent movements. While pragmatic, strategic nonviolence is effective for movements seeking to overthrow corrupt repressive and dictatorial regimes, it is much less successful in the progressive transformation of state and political systems. This is because principled nonviolence and movements associated with such value systems are ambivalent about political power and the role of the Weberian state. Conversely strategic nonviolent movements are willing to utilize the coercive power of the state for their own political purposes and in doing so often become fatally compromised, as happened in Egypt, Palestine and Syria. The promise of principled nonviolence is social, political, and economic institutions capable of transcending Machiavellian politics because of a radical commitment to pacifism and emancipatory political processes