Peace Ph.D. in Thailand!

I just came across the Ph.D. Program in Peacebuilding, at the Institute of Religion, Culture and Peace, Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.    The University is church affiliated, according to this page :

“Payap University, located in Chiang Mai, was founded by the Church of Christ in Thailand, the largest and strongest Protestant church in Thailand and the primary companion of the ELCA in Thailand. Within the university structure is McGilvary School of Theology, the theological training center for the CCT.”

The same page describes the Center offering the Ph.D in these terms:  “The university’s Institute of Religion, Culture and Peace has become a resource for people of different faiths and backgrounds to meet and discuss ideologies and examine proposals for living in peace”

The program itself has, as you might expect given its institutional context, a religious dimension, reflected in courses such as “Meaning and History of “Religiousness” and “Religiousness and Peace”.  Overall, there is an emphasis (which regular readers of this blog know I like) on combining the theoretical with peace “praxis”:

“The program will consist of a rigorous study of the theoretical side of Peace Studies combined with experiential fieldwork in the area of conflict transformation and resolution.  The objective of this program is to develop ways in which theory and practice can be combined in ways that provide a better and more cohesive grounding for both theoretical peace studies and actual peacebuilding.

Rather than being “study for study’s sake”, it will be “study for practice’s sake”.  Thus, it is analogous to advanced academic programs provided by schools of medicine, social work, music, and architecture.  Reflective study resulting in a thorough knowledge of theories of peacebuilding is the starting point of the program; this is then followed by and combined with critical evaluation and the development of new improved theories.  “

Hmmm…it really does seem like Peace Studies, if not yet peace itself, is breaking out all over!

“Blessed are the peacemakers…”

The Peace Lily

I did not know that this plant existed, but apparently it is well known in horticultural circles.  Its scientific name is “Spathiphyllum”.

Though the origins of the name “peace lily” are a bit obscure, I did find the following at this site:

“The common name, Peace Lily, is from the universally acknowledged white flag of truce during battles. The cream or yellow colored spadix of each flower that is enclosed by the white spathe represents the pole or stick, whereas, the white spathe represents the flag.”

Apparently it requires little light (is reputed to be able to flower in a closet), and helps to improve air quality.  On the down side, it is toxic and should not be consumed by people or animals.

As one avid gardener put it: ” I love the fact that the plant is called “peace lily,” also. In this time of economic stress and war, we need “peace” wherever we can find it!”

Cactus for Peace?

I came across a nice site called “May Peace Prevail on Earth News“, which talks about some things I’ve mentioned from time to time such as peace poles, and many others.  Well, there is a story on the site at the time of writing about a lady from Argentina and her cactus.  It is not long so I will include it in full:

“This cactus has been growing in a pot, in my small terrace since 2000.
In 2008 after the Annual Gathering of the Peace Project in Uruguay, I decided that my cactus looked like a Peace Pole.  It was now 2.25 meters high.
On January 7th, 2009, I gently engraved the Peace Message Que La Paz Prevalezca En La Tierra just onto the surface of its outer layer.  Amazingly, I was not stung by its thorns.
12 Hours later, 12 buds had appeared.  The next morning 3 flowers had opened up. Then 3 more buds appeared both on top and bottom. Over a short period of time, 15 flowers bloomed in all!!
For this wonder, I thank my guardian deities and the cactus’ guardian deities.

Elena Becu

Yolanda Alarcon
Provincia de Buenos Aires
Argentina”

You can see what the cactus looks like here.

I am neither endorsing nor refuting the truth of this report.  I will say though that, as per my own experience, stranger things have happened.   Couldn’t hurt to leave a few peace messages around living things. 

May peace prevail on earth!

Berghof Center, Berlin

I try to cover a lot of “bases” in this blog, and one of them is to point from time to time to quality sources of information about peace and conflict resolution.  The Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management is defnitely one of these quality sources.   As  this page explains:

“The Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management was set up in 1993 by the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies in order to explore constructive procedures and models for dealing with ethnopolitical conflicts.

The Center aims to occupy the middle-ground between theory and practice in the study of ethnopolitical conflict. Thus we produce research that can generate ideas, tools and resources for the practice of conflict transformation, and we draw on practical experience to generate innovative research and conceptual approaches. Our goal is to contribute not only to an increased understanding of peacemaking and peacebuilding processes, but also actively to support such work.”

Some serious thought has, IMHO, gone into this; because it is exactly the “middle ground” which has to be “occupied” with the study of peace is going to really make an impact on the creation and consolidation of peace.

As the profile page explains further:

“The Center’s key concerns are

* to promote peace constituencies in ethnopolitical or identity-related conflicts, fostering and enhancing horizontal and vertical networks of agents and institutions with the potential for peacebuilding and conflict transformation

* to generate strategies for changing structures which sustain violence, and for improving processes which build peace

* to contribute to the understanding of long-term peacebuilding after violence

* to increase knowledge and promote joint learning processes in the field of peace work, development, human rights and humanitarian assistance.”

One of the great things about this place for us teachers is that they have some wonderful publications free for download.  Check out, for instance, The Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation ” :

“The Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation is a comprehensive and cumulative website resource that provides continually updated cutting-edge knowledge, experience and lessons learned for those working in the field of transforming violent ethnopolitical conflict. The Handbook is published by the Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management based in Berlin, Germany. The website content comes from two central resources: 1) commissioned Articles by leading experts from current practice and scholarship; and 2) a Dialogue Series on key issues, in which practitioners and scholars critically engage with and debate one another in light of their varying experiences.

The Berghof Handbook highlights established practices and strategies, key concepts, and difficult issues and challenges. Rather than presenting a collection of ready-made recipes or tools, its goal is to put examples of good practice into a useful conceptual framework in order to understand more clearly their functions, strengths and weaknesses.”

If you know anything about Teutonic (ie German) scholarship you will have an idea of the quality and thoroughness of this material.

IGBarb says:  check it out!

(thanks to Craig Zelizer at the Peace and Collaborative Development Network , for recently reminding me about this place!)

A great song!

Probably everybody knows the song “Get Together” (one of my two favorite “Hippie Anthems”–I’ll reveal the other one later, but I bet you can guess–hair, flowers, a prominent West Coast American city?).  However, I think the lyrics bear some serious reflection:

Love is but a song we sing
Fear’s the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry

Though the bird is on the wing
And you may not know why

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now

Some may come and some may go
He will surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moment’s sunlight
Fading in the grass

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now

If you hear the song I sing
You will understand…listen
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It’s there at your command

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now

I said…..

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another right now
Right now
Right now

OK..now forget all the sing alongs and videos of Jesse Colin Young, you might have seen.  We really are “…but a moment’s sunlight fading in the grass” and we really do “…hold the key to love and fear”  in our “trembling hand” and it really is “..there at our command.”  To me this is truth…make of it what you will.

Personal note:  I actually saw the Youngbloods perform this live (twice!); and all sorts of other people have sung it here and there as well (such as Joannie Mitchel, the Jefferson Airplane and The Quick Silver Messenger Service–who I think had the song’s writer (Dino Valente, real name:  Chet Powers, as their lead singer).  However, apparently it was first recorded as “Let’s Get Together” by the folk group the Kingston Trio in 1964!  You can learn more than you ever wanted to know about this song here .

…and you can watch a live performance (with Jackson Brown joining on the chorus) here , and the original studio version with some nice peace images here.

IGBarbs says:  don’t make the angels cry!

Is war good for the economy?

It ocurred to me today that I had neglected one of the big issues in regard to war and peace:  is war good for the economy?  This is not as straightforward a question as some might think.  Certainly, astronomical fortunes have been made in the arms industry.   As one of my favorite ’60s bands, Country Joe and Fish, put it:

“Come on Wall Street, don’t be slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go
There’s plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of its trade,
But just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.

(the whole lyrics here )

Also, the sudden spike in demand for military related products at the start of World War II is probably what put an end to the Great Depression.  Finally, in this regard, we know that when a country tries to close down arms industries and military bases, as in various countries with the end of the Cold War, this can have a significant negative impact on both the local economies and on the entire national economy–making such closures politically very unpopular.

However, if you step back from the question and try to consider the basics, the picture seems rather different.  One key aspect of investment is its “spin off” (or what the British call “knock on” effects).  You invest in something, such as say solar energy, which reduces costs here, frees resources there, and goes on to stimulate production and innovation in other areas.  To make a long story short, if you make the same investment in military and non-military (ie “normal”) economic sectors, you should get more spinoffs from the non-military sectors.   Why, because much military investment does not produce spinoffs–once you get your tank you don’t produce anything else with it.  This is not a “problem” strictly speaking since we don’t invest in military areas for profit and growth; we invest in them for security.   So, if we don’t need as much security, we should be able to invest more elsehere and get much more overall growth.

But you say, what about all the technical innovation that has come from military related research and development (the Internet ,for example!).  However, you need to go back to the original premise, which is that the same amount of investment is made in both sectors.  It stands to reason that if huge amounts of money are invested in military related research, something will be discovered.  It also stands to reason that if the same amount were invested in the “regular” economy many more productive discoveries would be made.   Right now, in the U.S. the government provides heavy subsidies to military research–in the name of security–but far less to other areas (some think this would smack of socialism).

So, to sum up:  sure you can generate growth through military spending.  However, you could, at least theoretically, generate much more growth through investing in non-military research, development and production.

“Imagine” that!

I just learned about the “Imagine Peace Tower” in Iceland.  Some of you might have guessed already that this has something to do with John Lennon and his song “Imagine”, and you’d be right:

“IMAGINE PEACE TOWER is an outdoor work of art conceived by Yoko Ono in memory of John Lennon.  It is situated on Viðey Island in Reykjavík, Iceland [map], powered entirely by Geothermal Energy.

The artwork was dedicated to John by Yoko at its unveiling on 9 Oct 2007, Lennon’s 67th birthday. IMAGINE PEACE TOWER symbolizes Lennon’s and Ono’s continuing campaign for World Peace, which began in the 1960s, was sealed by their marriage in 1969 and will continue forever.”

The project, while very “Ono”, has a number of interesting aspects.  First of all the tower:  “…is composed of a tall shimmering tower of light that  will appear every year and be visible from October 9th (John’s birthday) until December 8th (the anniversary of his death).  In addition, the Tower will illuminate from Winter Solstice (December 21st – 28th), on New Year’s Eve (December 31st) and the first week of spring (March 21st -28th). It is lit from 2 hours after sunset until midnight, and until dawn on New Year’s Day.”

Aesthetically it is impressive as well:

“One of the mesmerising features of the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER is that the strength, intensity and brilliance of its light continually changes with the prevailing weather and atmospheric conditions unique to Iceland - creating a clear pillar of light on a cloudless night, beams irridescing with rainbow refractions in rain or snowfall, and brilliantly reflecting off and through any moving layers of cloud.”

Finally, as the site explains, its light comes entirely from geothermal power, which is one reason it was located in Iceland.

There is a webcam on the site, and I “imagine” the images at night must be very impressive.  Anyhow, as John put it:

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

The Global Peace Partnership

I’ve written abou the Dayton International Peace Museum before.  Well, I just went back to their site and found The Global Peace Partnership page.   Here’s the idea:

“Throughout the world there are people involved in peacemaking. In fact the peacemakers of the world far outnumber the violent people, but we hear more about the violent because they make more noise.
Peace museums give people of peace a place to be heard and a space for peace to grow. The Global Peace Partnership is a way for people around the world to connect, have a voice and see that they are not alone in their desire to live in a more peaceful world. Currently, the Dayton International Peace Museum is linked with people from 35 different countries throughout the world and growing everyday.”

You can see a list of Partners and an overview of thier activities here.   I certainly found this list interesting.  Did you know there was a Peace Museum in Teheran?  I certainly didn’t :

“The Tehran Peace Museum is an interactive peace experience including peace education programs, workshops and conferences on peace. The Museum focuses on culture, international humanitarian law, disarmament, and peace advocacy. Individual stories of victims of war are displayed in the museum as well as a virtual museum connecting other museums throughout the world. A peace library is found in the museum covering a variety of peace topics. International and Iranian art and other exhibits promoting peace are displayed throughout the museum.”

Peace really is everybody’s concern and everybody’s job.

Einstein, Oppenheimer and Nukes

Albert Einstein had a lot of interesting things to say about war and peace.   Here is one of my favorites (that you might know).  He was apparently asked what he thought the weapons of the Third World War would be.  I suppose whoever asked the question wanted to hear Einstein’s views about the usability of the newly created (at the time) atomic weapons.  However, the great man made a more profound point:

“I don’t know what kind of weapons will be used in the third world war, assuming there will be a third world war. But I can tell you what the fourth world war will be fought with—stone clubs.”

I always thought this was pretty clear.  However, as I was looking around the Net, I found a Yahoo answers page where somebody actually asked:  “What was Einstein’s reasoning behind his quote “World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones?”.    This question, btw, elicited several quite good responses, such as:

“The weapons that would be used to fight a third world war are so destructive there wouldn’t be anything left in the form of weaponry or humans (as we know them today) to fight a 4th world war. Because humans would have been wiped out, we would have regressed – having to start the evolution process of humans all over again. Early mans’ first tools and weapons were sticks and stones.”  This contributor goes on to add:

“Einstein was a great pacifist: he also said…
‘The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking… the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.’

I think we can sympathize with Einstein’s feelings here, and apparently Robert Oppenheimer who worked on the Manhattan project had similar thoughts about what had been done with these discoveries.

“After witnessing the first test at Trinity, Oppenheimer wrote that some laughed, some cried, and through his mind floated a line from the Bhagavadgita: “I am become death: the destroyer of worlds.” His ambivalance towards the use of science for military ends led to his opposition to the development of a hydrogen bomb after the war.” (from the article linked above).

Destroyer of the worlds, indeed.  Of course, as Martin Amis has written (and I have cited previously), you can always take the “bullets” out of the gun (sounds like a good idea to me!).

More on Peace Symbols

Writing a blog is full of surprises.  For instance, one of the most popular search terms that brings people to my blog is “peace symbols”.  So, I thought why not give the public more of what they seem to want .  I poked around a bit more on the Net and found a few very nice pages.

Let’s start here .   There are many nice images in this collection.  The swimming pool is  a great idea, and I really like this little guy:

And then there is this site, that has many pages of peace signs, in varying forms and colors.   I like the peace frogs image:

It really is worth clicking through, because some of the nicest images are on page 16 ….including a great shot of Meg Ryan (too wide to insert here…sorry).

Lastly (for now) here is a nice little peace sign video produced for an event in Zurich just over a year ago

Look at the symbols, think about peace for a few minutes…beats thinking about war, right?