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

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

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

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

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

States emerging from hybrid political orders: Pacific experiences The Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies Occasional Papers Series.

This study explores current processes of state formation in the Pacific islands, focusing on Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Bougainville (as an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea), Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, and East Timor. It challenges the mainstream discourse on fragile states as a framework for analysis of the situation of any of these countries or regions, and argues that it is more appropriate to talk about states emerging from hybrid political orders as a common denominator. Hybrid political orders combine elements of the introduced Western models of governance and elements stemming from local indigenous traditions. In East Timor and the Pacific island countries customary governance, deeply rooted in locality, has significant implications for state capacity and functionality as well as legitimacy. Tonga with its constitutional monarchy is transitioning to more liberal democratic forms of governance. This gradual process is driven by civil society forces that are growing in strength. In the Melanesian cases of Vanuatu, Bougainville and Solomon Islands there is negotiation of the conditions and possibilities of a ‘marriage’ between customary governance and introduced Western forms of governance, based on relatively strong customary spheres and state institutions that struggle with problems of effectiveness and legitimacy. East Timor is engaged in a conventional state-building process (with massive external assistance) focusing on the transfer and strengthening of central government institutions. The process has taken little account of customary institutions and their potential for contributing to governance and order, and has inadvertently marginalised both local culture and rural communities more generally, with considerable negative effects for Timorese state formation. In the Southern Highlands Province of PNG a vacuum of effective and legitimate governance can be found. In all of these countries or regions there is considerable potential for state and non-state actors to play complementary roles in the provision of functions which OECD countries normally assign exclusively to the state. We also found areas of incompatibility and areas of considerable friction between state and customary institutions. These, however, are not due to insurmountable contradictions between customary and liberal democratic principles and could be overcome by processes of mutual adaptation. These findings—large areas of complementarity, at times intense, but surmountable incompatibilities—augur well for constructive interaction between state and customary institutions which might lead to the emergence of networks of resilient governance which are not introduced from the outside, but are embedded in the societal structures on the ground. Keyword(s) state formatio

Pleosporales

One hundred and five generic types of Pleosporales are described and illustrated. A brief introduction and detailed history with short notes on morphology, molecular phylogeny as well as a general conclusion of each genus are provided. For those genera where the type or a representative specimen is unavailable, a brief note is given. Altogether 174 genera of Pleosporales are treated. Phaeotrichaceae as well as Kriegeriella, Zeuctomorpha and Muroia are excluded from Pleosporales. Based on the multigene phylogenetic analysis, the suborder Massarineae is emended to accommodate five families, viz. Lentitheciaceae, Massarinaceae, Montagnulaceae, Morosphaeriaceae and Trematosphaeriaceae