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	IPRA's 40th Anniversary Conference in Hungary an article by Michael True Two hundred-fifty members of the International Peace Research Association gathered for the organization's fortieth anniversary gathering, July 5-9, 2004, in Sopron, Hungary, an hour east of Vienna. The opening address, by Kevin Clements, Director, Peace and Conflict Studies, Queensland University, Brisbane, Australia, focused on nonviolent alternatives in addressing terrorism and on conflict transformation to build cultures of peace. Particularly significant were the attendance and participation of younger scholars, who reported on original and significant research in panels arranged by the twenty-two IPRA commissions. Presentations included papers on nonviolence theory and cosmopolitanism by Ian Atack, Trinity College, Dublin; nonviolent campaigns in Hungary in the 19th century, by Tom Weber, LaTrobe University, Australia; and nonviolent responses to Muslim terrorists by Chaiwat Satha-Anad, Thamassat University, Bangkok. A special plenary on the Middle East included a major talk on the Palestinian/Israeli conflict by Stephen Zunes, University of San Francisco, USA., and author of "Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism" (2003). New initiatives by younger scholars and researchers included a peace education center in Vienna, new programs in conflict resolution in India; and similar peacebuilding initiatives in Uganda, Japan, the Philippines, and Latin America. At the business meeting, Luc Reychler, University of Leuven, Belgium, was elected Secretary General of the International Peace Research Association, and Ian Harris, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA continues at President, International Peace Research Association Foundation, which awards small grants in peace education and research. The 2006 IPRA conference will meet in Calgary, Canada, with Larry Fisk as coordinator. More information is available on the IPRA website.		DISCUSSION Question(s) related to this article: Does research show that nonviolence works?, * * * * * Latest reader comment: Did the writings on nonviolence by Gene Sharp help inspire the movements of the Arab Spring in Egypt and elsewhere? This is debatable.  The New York Times said "yes" and some Egyptians, for example, the blogger Karim Alrawi say "no". However, it should be recognized that the ideas of nonviolent resistance have a way of transcending borders and centuries.  Nelson Mandela was influenced by Martin Luther King who was influenced in turn by Mahatma Gandhi who was influenced in turn by Henry David Thoreau. [Note added later: The blog of Karim Alrawi is no longer available on the Internet, but see instead the blog of Hossam El-Hamalawy who says that the Palestinians "have been the major source of inspiration, not Gene Sharp, whose name I first heard in my life only in February after we toppled Mubarak already and whom the clueless NYT moronically gives credit for our uprising."
This report was posted on July 30, 2004.