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About CPNN Coordinator

Dr David Adams is the coordinator of the Culture of Peace News Network. He retired in 2001 from UNESCO where he was the Director of the Unit for the International Year for the Culture of Peace, proclaimed for the Year 2000 by the United Nations General Assembly. View all posts by CPNN Coordinator →

Australia Teachers for Peace

. EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article from The Educator on line

American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’

As societies grapple with escalating global tensions and the increasingly visible effects of militarisation, one small group of thoughtful, committed citizens is aiming to do just that.

Set up in 2022 following a philanthropic grant, Teachers for Peace has been working tirelessly to steer the narrative towards peace and disarmament in the one place where many of children’s core ideas are formed – the classroom.

A particular focus of the group is to counteract the normalisation of war, challenging the influence of the weapons industry on school STEM curricula, and advocating for policies that promote peace.

Teachers for Peace director Elise West is also the Executive Officer of the Medical Association for Prevention of War, Australia – a national network of health professionals which works from a basis of medical ethics to advocate and educate for peace and disarmament.

“We are building on the long history of teacher advocacy for peace and disarmament, and – in our specific goal of eliminating weapons company influence in education – on the work of organisations Medical Association for Prevention of War and Wage Peace,” West told The Educator.
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We are currently pursuing our strategy for change, building connections, and growing our membership – current and former teachers, education workers, and students are all encouraged to join us.”

Militarism is growing worldwide, but it doesn’t have to here

West’s call for action comes at a critical time in Australian – and indeed world – history.

Increasingly worried about China’s burgeoning military and the superpower’s deepening ties with Russia, Australia’s key ally, the United States has been rallying support for a more assertive force posture in East Asia that includes new military pacts.

The AUKUS security pact, announced in September 2021 between the United States, Britain and Australia, includes a $368bn deal to build nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy.

While the Federal Government emphasises that aim of the alliance is to upgrade Australia’s ageing submarine fleet, there are growing concerns it could worsen diplomatic relations with our largest trading partner, China, which perceives the AUKUS alliance as a counterproductive influence in an already tense and volatile region.

Another concern is that the STEM arm of the AUKUS project is beginning to reach deep into the nation’s schools, foreshadowing a quiet recruitment drive by the Defence Force.

“Some of the world’s biggest weapons companies influence STEM education through sponsorships, partnerships, events, competitions, and more,” West said. “These companies profit from war and insecurity; some of them are associated with weapons of mass destruction, alleged crimes of war, human rights breaches, and corporate misconduct. They should not advertise to children.”

In a 19 June press release, the Royal Australian Navy unveiled a nationwide “Nuclear-Powered Submarine Propulsion Challenge” in high schools, which it touted as “an opportunity for students to gain a greater appreciation of the STEM principles behind the [AUKUS] project”, and a gateway for careers as “submariners, engineers and technicians.”

“The classroom curriculum provided through this program seeks to inspire students to be more engaged with STEM subjects and see how they are practically applied in the real world,” Rear Admiral Jonathon Earley, Deputy Chief of Navy, said.

“The winners [of the Challenge] will experience a visit to HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, tour a Collins-class submarine, dine with submariners and virtually drive a submarine through Sydney Harbour in the submarine bridge training simulator.”

Education equity till 2040 – for the cost of a single submarine

The NSW Teachers Federation recently issued a statement opposing the AUKUS project stating, “there have been too many times in history when warmongering and armaments build-up have led to international conflict, death and destruction.”

“The agreement compromises the pursuit of an independent foreign policy and has the potential to drag Australia once again into foreign conflict and war,” NSWTF president, Angelo Gavrielatos said.

Gavrielatos said recent “alarmist, war mongering commentary, deployed in an attempt to bolster unsubstantiated predictions of an inevitable war with China” is of deep concern to the Federation.

“For less than the price of one nuclear submarine, the Federal Government could fund the SRS shortfall for the 13 years of school of two cohorts of kids [26 years] till 2040, which coincides with the reported arrival of the first submarine,” he said.

“By that time, the submarines we’re due to receive may well be outdated technology.”

West agrees, saying there is far too little discussion about the real consequences of war and militarism for young Australians, and for young people everywhere.

“The consequences of war for people and the planet are devastating; they devastate for generations. But even before actual conflict occurs, great harm can be caused by things like over-investment in the military, racist and xenophobic framings of others – and by pessimism,” she said.

“Right now, we’re being told to ‘prepare’ for Australia to [willingly] involve itself in a U.S-China war in the next 3-20 years: that’s a profoundly pessimistic vision of the future for our young people. We can and should be doing more to ensure peace.”

Indeed, the stakes of such a war between the U.S and China are higher than most realise, as Max Boot, a columnist, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in a recent op-ed in the Washington Post:

“The risk of nuclear escalation is all the greater because, as a senior U.S. admiral explained to me, it would be difficult for the United States to win a war over Taiwan by attacking only Chinese ships at sea and Chinese aircraft in the skies. The United States could find itself compelled, as a matter of military necessity, to attack bases in China. China, in turn, could strike U.S. bases in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Guam, even Hawaii and the West Coast.”

Suffice to say, how such a war between two nuclear-armed superpowers evolves from there is the stuff of nightmares.

What does peace education look like?

On 26 October 1984, the Australian Teachers Federation held the Symposium on Peace and Disarmament in Melbourne, where the Minister for Education & Youth Affairs at the time, Senator Susan Ryan, declared her support for peace education in the curriculum.

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Question related to this article:

What is the best way to teach peace to children?

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Addressing the symposium, Senator Ryan said the transition of peace studies into educationally acceptable programs was “just beginning”, and outlined some of the things she wished to see included in peace studies programs in Australian schools:

These included:

* A consideration of what might be termed ‘human rights and welfare’, which could include an examination of poverty and social problems associated with the unequal distribution of power;

* Development issues, which would involve an examination of the developed world’s response to third world issues;

* An investigation of ‘conflict and war’, which would deal with the history of militarism, warfare, the arms race, weapons technology and the issue of disarmament;

* Major global issues such as the historical development of nationalism and its effects on world events, particularly war;

* Some consideration of personal development and the importance of conflict resolution.

“Much still has to be done before peace education can become an accepted and approved reality in Australian education,” Senator Ryan said.

Peace education is not a matter for one government or one organisation. A concerted effort among Commonwealth and State Governments, non-government education authorities, teachers, and the general community is needed.”

Encouraging signs of change

West said there are positive signs of change in Victoria and Queensland, whose governments have updated their learning materials and sponsorship policies to recognise that companies that make weapons are inappropriate partners for schools.

“This is a great step forward, and we’re happy to be engaging with the NSWTF to seek similar changes in NSW,” West said.

A spokesperson for the NSW Department of Education said the government has today updated its Commercial Arrangement, Sponsorship and Donations policy to exclude weapons manufacturers.

“Schools are not permitted to engage with organisations that make harmful products including unhealthy food, tobacco, alcohol products, gambling products, weapons manufacturing, or anything illegal,” the spokesperson told The Educator, adding the changes to the policy are now live on the Department’s website.

A spokesperson for the Queensland Department of Education told The Educator the Department’s Education’s Sponsorship procedure specifies “unacceptable” sponsorship organisations, which include those that are involved in the manufacturing or selling of weapons, including guns.

“The Sponsorship procedure ensures the department – including our schools, programs and initiatives – is not affiliated with organisations that manufacture, distribute or are associated with the use of weapons.”

No, war is not inevitable

In 1931, an article that appeared in the British newspaper The Times quoted Mahatma Gandhi as saying, “If we are to reach real peace in this world, we shall have to begin with the children”.

There are others however, from Sigmund Freud to Leo Tolstoy, who have argued that war is an inevitable event; an ingrained feature of human nature.

In 1932 Albert Einstein asked Freud, ‘Is there any way of delivering mankind from the menace of war?’ Freud answered that war is inevitable because humans have an instinct to self-destroy, a death instinct which we must externalise to survive.

Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ asserts that war, fuelled by inherent human aggression and ego, inevitably imbues life and death with meaning, and is therefore here to stay.

Likewise, Hungarian-American psychoanalyst Franz Alexander, peacetime is nothing more than “a period of preparation for future wars that are inevitable”.

Another example of war’s supposed inevitability that is sometimes brought up is that if a large, powerful nation wants something it cannot get by non-violent means from a smaller, weaker nation, it will invade that country to seize it – whether that be mineral resources, or land that is of religious or cultural significance – by force.

So, is war really inevitable? And are ongoing efforts aimed at getting kids to un-learn this seemingly inbuilt feature of humanity nothing more than a fanciful endeavour?

The answer to that question is, fortunately, no.

More than four decades of study into the drivers of aggression reveal that peace does, in fact, have a real chance.

Henri Parens, groundbreaking psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, author, and inspirational Holocaust survivor, published a book in 2014, titled: ‘War is Not Inevitable: On the Psychology of War and Aggression’, in which he argues that our historical tendency towards destructiveness stems from excessive psychic pain rather than an inherent aggressive drive.

“Humans have the capacity to choose peace over violence,” Parens wrote. “We need to educate ourselves about the causes of war and develop strategies for preventing it. We also need to create a culture of peace, where people are taught to resolve conflict peacefully.”

In this context, schools have perhaps the most important place of any institution when it comes to making meaningful changes. After all, today’s young people will become tomorrow’s leaders.

On June 12, two-term Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker gave a commencement speech at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in which he distinguished an unevolved society from an evolved society by explaining it in terms of empathy and compassion.

“When we see someone who doesn’t look like us, or sound like us, or act like us, or love like us, or live like us — the first thought that crosses almost everyone’s brain is rooted in either fear or judgment or both. That’s evolution. We survived as a species by being suspicious of things we aren’t familiar with,” he said.

“In order to be kind, we have to shut down that animal instinct and force our brain to travel a different pathway. Empathy and compassion are evolved states of being. They require the mental capacity to step past our most primal urges.”

Pritzker continues: “I’m here to tell you that when someone’s path through this world is marked with acts of cruelty, they have failed the first test of an advanced society.”

Schools are where peace can begin, and war can end

Pointing to today’s precarious geopolitical climate, West said there is perhaps no better time than now for schools to ramp up peace education than now.

“There is a long tradition of Australian educators teaching the importance of peace across the curriculum. Schools’ focus on things like tolerance for difference, or restorative approaches to conflict, are also great examples of how education contributes to a more peaceful society,” she said.

“In our current geopolitical climate – with the prospect of war looming – we think there’s also a need to loudly and explicitly challenge the normalisation of war, examine the underlying causes of conflict, and to ask who suffers – and who benefits – when war happens.”

West said rejecting the influence in education of corporations that profit from war is “a concrete action” schools can take to foster future leaders who can take up this challenge.

“School principals play an absolutely definitive role in eliminating harmful influence in education, and we’re here to help them do just that,” she said.

“Principals can choose not to participate in programs branded by weapons companies, adopt internal policies on the matter, ask education departments to improve policies, and ask their favourite STEM programs to reconsider their association with companies that do harm.”

July 2, 2023East Asia, EDUCATION FOR PEACEEast AsiaCPNN Coordinator

Comments on the Project for a National Program on Culture of Peace in Colombia

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION . .

Comments by Catalina Ceballos* in Cambio Colombia (translation by CPNN)

Last week there was a meeting at the University of the Arts (Public University) in Guayaquil on culture and economy. for several days it was discussed how culture serves to understand violence and conflict, particularly now, when it is necessary to confront the violence that arises from drug trafficking. The issue caught my attention because I have always said that culture should be seated on the Ecopetrol board of directors and at the dialogue tables with the ELN. It is not a question of thinking about culture as defined by García Márquez, as the social use of knowledge, I prefer to think of the definition of Néstor García Canclini: “The set of interventions carried out by the State, civil institutions, and community groups organized through order to guide symbolic development, satisfy cultural needs, and obtain consensus for a type of order or social transformation. And what social transformation is more important than the peace we seek!

In fact, since 1998 at the UNESCO Yamoussoukro Congress, the culture of peace has been promoted to promote values, actions and projects to avoid violence and find peaceful solutions to conflicts. From there arose the Declaration and Program of Action on a Culture of Peace that has been incorporated into the constitutions of Ecuador and Bolivia.

Add to this the time dedicated by the Truth Commission in its art and culture component, the work that Commissioner Lucía González did with the legacy, a rational and emotional device with tools to understand conflict and to move towards coexistence. and reconciliation. It is worth remembering the words of Father Francisco de Roux: “Through culture, conditions are created so that human dignity can be fully lived.”

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(Click here for the Spanish version of this article.)

Questions related to this article:

What is happening in Colombia, Is peace possible?

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Peace through culture includes understanding conflict from the loss of indigenous reservations, understanding the economic transitions when one goes from cultivating potatoes to coca, understanding the ancestral dimension of a river through which in addition to the navigation of boats, have been rivers of blood. Understanding the role of the Maroon Guard in the historical processes of resistance. It is about seeing Guadalupe from the Fifties of the Teatro La Candelaria over and over again. Listening to the Girl singing La Sentada “they stuffed the war to the bottom of our trachea” reading aloud Los Ejércitos by Evelio Rosero, or simply dancing cumbia until dawn to forget the pain that seeps into our bones from this interminable and absurd war.

Well, precisely, in Medellín, a few days ago, the vice-minister in charge of heritage and regional development, of the Ministry of Culture, Adriana Molano, presented the draft program on culture of peace in which, as a principle, it is assumed that local knowledge, the various expressions arts, cultural heritage and citizen participation are essential elements in the construction of peace and territorial development. Those who work in this sector know that cultural public policies result from a co-creation effort between civil society, institutions and the cultural movement. This is the origin of transversal, sectoral and territorial policies. Working in deliberative participation roundtables on issues related to peace is just enough, regarding the year that marks the delivery of the Final Report of the Truth Commission.

The program will strengthen artistic and cultural experiences aimed at triggering reflection processes on the causes and effects of the armed conflict and the different forms of violence, as well as the ways in which conflicts are addressed in our society. The program seems to have resources, in my view, the most important thing is that it remain as a public policy document, that it goes through the memory and reconstruction of the conflict. May its transversal axes be human rights and a healthy democracy. I hope it contributes to the creation of fairer and less violent communities, that the creators who participate have aesthetic and ethical intentions and that sensitivity is a path and a place of arrival.

* Catalina Ceballos is an anthropologist specializing in International Resource Management. She has more than 23 years of experience in the strategic design of cultural and media projects. She has been Deputy Manager of RTVC Radio, manager of Canal Trece, director of the Master’s Degree in Cultural Management at Universidad Ean, consultant in public policy, media and cultural and artistic projects, and Communications consultant for the Truth Commission.

July 2, 2023FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, Latin AmericaLatin AmericaCPNN Coordinator

France: For an Emergency Plan to Overcome the Crisis

… DISARMAMENT AND SECURITY …

A declaration of the Groupe parlementaire La France insoumise -NUPES & La France insoumise (translation by CPNN)

The death of young Nahel on the morning of June 27 in Nanterre triggered a wave of emotion and anger in the country. It has also acted as a spark, triggering a revolt in many cities across the country, which urgently demands a political response.

Faced with this situation, the government has locked itself into an escalation of verbal security that only serves to worsen the situation. They shirk their own responsibility and target rebellious France to hide their incompetence and inability to act. At the same time, they give up looking for a way out of the crisis, and they abandon the victims of damage to public property, housing and businesses essential to daily life.

We advocate no strategy of violence, but we demand that the causes of the situation be addressed because the problems are not new. For working-class neighborhoods, racism, police violence or discrimination in access to employment or housing are the daily lot of the inhabitants. The destruction of public services, social protections and associative solidarity, due to neoliberal austerity policies, has been going on for decades. For there to be harmony, strong actions are needed on the part of the government which, today as yesterday, are absent. Since the revolts of 2005, there has been no response.

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(click here for the original French version)

Question for this article:

Where are police being trained in culture of peace?

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Restoring trust is all the more difficult since the government has distinguished itself in recent years by its inability to deal with popular demands by any means other than contempt and ignorance, whether during the mobilization of yellow vests or against retirement at 64. They make it seem like no change is possible within the current framework. Therefore what is required is a complete break and exceptional responses.

For this, we request a debate in the National Assembly under Article 50-1 of the Constitution in order to propose an emergency plan including:

* The immediate repeal of the “license to kill” provisions of the Cazeneuve law of 2017, responsible for the explosion of deaths when the subject refuses to comply

* The creation of a “Truth and Justice” commission to establish all responsibilities concerning police violence that has resulted in the death or mutilation of citizens

* The immediate expatriation of any case of police violence, the complete reform of the IGPN and the creation of an independent investigation service.

* State support for repairs to shops, housing and public places that have damaged in recent days

* An in-depth reform of the national police to rebuild a better trained republican police and to get rid of all forms of racism, including in particular the dissolution of the BAC, the restoration of the code of ethics of 1986, the strengthening of training, the introduction of genuine community policing and the end of lethal immobilization techniques. We must close the period started by Sarkozy in 2002 that treats young people from working-class neighborhoods as an enemy from within.

* A global action program against discrimination including in particular the creation of a Commissioner for Equality, specialized centers within the courts of appeal and the implementation of the identity check receipt to fight against the face control

* A public investment plan in poor neighborhoods for the restoration of public services, housing, public schools, access to health and culture, financing of associations and social centers

July 1, 2023DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, Europe, HUMAN RIGHTS, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITYEuropeCPNN Coordinator

Songs Dedicated to Abolishing War, Establishing Justice, and Fighting Climate Disaster

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An email to CPNN from Mistahi Corkill

Greetings,

I link below my anti-war music video, No to NATO. I hope my song is useful for the anti-war movement to build up forces and strength to oppose those who wish to keep us in perpetual war. Build a people’s lasting victory for peace! Disband NATO! Bring the troops home!

All the best!

Mistahi

page for Mistahi Corkill at Peace and Planet News

Question for this article:

What place does music have in the peace movement?

Video: No to NATO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwc-XBjl1tc

Conflict resolution and peacebuilding: The Union of Women of Cultural Communities for Peace in Mali (UFCPM) equips its members

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article by Boubacar Païtao in Maliweb (translation by CPNN)

In order to promote endogenous practices of conflict resolution and peacebuilding, the Union of Women of Cultural Communities for Peace in Mali (UFCPM) organized, from June 12 to 14, 2023, at the Auberge Titi de Fana, a capacity building workshop for influential women in their community and within their group on key concepts including peace, forgiveness, reconciliation, social cohesion, resilience.

The opening ceremony was chaired by the representative of the Governor of Dioïla, Jean Marie Sagara, in the presence of the president of the UFCPM, Kéïta Fanta Chérif Kéïta, the representative of the Norwegian Church Aid (AEN), Samake Loda Coulibaly.

After the words of welcome of the village chief of Fana, the president of the Union of women of cultural communities for peace in Mali (UFCPM), Kéïta Fanta Kéïta indicated that in these moments of multidimensional crisis in our country, it is the women who are innate champions for the maintenance of peace around us, and who are committed to the fight for pacification, stabilization, security, social cohesion, virtuous governance of Mali.

She added that they created the UFCPM with this in mind, with the aim of contributing to the reconciliation of hearts and minds to restore a definitive peace and strengthen social cohesion and the resilience of communities. According to her, UFCPM brings together all the women of the cultural communities of Mali who have decided to face the crisis situation with a clear vision. They are supported by courage and confidence in their power to strengthen the resilience of the communities very affected by the different crises and rebuild the socio-economic fabric deteriorated by these crises that our country has been experiencing since 2012.

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(Click here for the original in French.)

Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

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Thus, she added, the women decided to use all their potential as mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, aunts, grandmothers to make Mali a haven of peace where assistance to the another is a cardinal value necessary for good living and the achievement of sustainable human development through stability, peace and social cohesion. According to her, the Union of Women of Cultural Communities for Peace in Mali (UFCPM) aims to contribute:

– the promotion of endogenous practices of conflict resolution and peacebuilding, the multiplication and application of regional, national and international legal and regulatory instruments;

– the promotion of intra- and inter-community initiatives to revive existing ancestral ties and maintain them for the benefit of social cohesion and the socio-economic emergence of the various localities;

– the creation of lasting mechanisms to strengthen the prospects for peaceful coexistence and reduce the risks of the outbreak and/or resumption and continuation of violent conflicts;

– the strengthening of intergenerational, intra- and inter-community dialogue for the respect of human rights and the promotion of the culture of peace,

– Consolidation of collaboration and consultation relations between Cultural Associations involved in conflict resolution, social cohesion and socio-economic development;

– the initiation of effective and efficient mechanisms to strengthen the actions of good governance.

In this dynamic, she continues, this workshop is designed to strengthen women in their intervention so that they can intervene in conflict situations.

Following her, the representative of the Governor of the Dioïla region, Jean Marie Sagara, welcomed the holding of this workshop for influential women in the communities, especially at a time when our country is facing a multidimensional crisis. . Given the importance of women in crisis resolution mechanisms, this workshop is timely. It will make it possible to better equip them on the key concepts of peace, forgiveness, reconciliation, social cohesion and resilience.

June 29, 2023Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITYAfricaCPNN Coordinator

ECOWAS enhances the capacity of its Regional Women, Peace And Security Steering Group

. WOMEN’S EQUALITY .

An article from ECOWAS: Economic Community of West African States

About fifty Regional Stakeholders from the Regional Women Peace and Security Steering Group have converged in Lomé, the Togolese capital for a four day Capacity Building Workshop (Training of Trainers), 19th -22nd June, 2023, organized by the ECOWAS Directorate of Humanitarian and Social Affairs (DHSA) with the support of the ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO) Project, co funded by the EU and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ.

The Workshop on the African Union Continental Results Framework (CRF) is coming on the heels of the development of a Simplified CRF document by the ECOWAS Commission. The CRF is a tool that enhances the monitoring and reporting of WPS National Action Plans in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325). The Resolution accorded full recognition to the disproportionate impact of violent conflict on women and girls, the under-representation of women in formal peace processes and the undeniable value in women’s participation. It also clearly highlights the importance of mainstreaming gender throughout peace and security processes and architecture.

The workshop is expected to enhance the capacities of regional and national stakeholders in monitoring and reporting the WPS agenda using the CRF tool. It will also enhance the capacity of participants in delivering training on the Simplified CRF in future training and capacity building events, including the planned Pilot, In-Country Stakeholders Training, improving the understanding by key stakeholders of their roles in monitoring and reporting on the WPS agenda and strengthening the internal coordination of the Regional WPS Steering Group.

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Questions for this article

Can the women of Africa lead the continent to peace?

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ECOWAS Commission’s Commissioner for Humanitarian development and Social Affairs, Professor Fatou SOW-SARR, in her welcome remarks, stressed the urgent need to ensure that Women in the region are included and involved in all national and regional peace and security agendas and processes to increase their involvement in conflict prevention, management, resolution, reconciliation and peace building. Additionally, she said that the data gathered from the workshop would enable the commission to generate input that can be used to formulate concrete policies, plans, programmes and activities aimed at empowering and involving women in the implementation of the various commitments of ECOWAS to improve the collective peace and security of the region.

The Togolese Minister of Social Action, Women’s promotion and Literacy, Madame Adjovi Lolonyo APEDOH-ANAKOMA in her welcome address, congratulated all the participants on their successful entry into the Women Peace and Security Regional Working Group, praising their profound commitment to promoting peace and security in the region. She outlined the importance of peace to any developing nation, because without peace there can be no progress, quoting Kofi Annan, then Secretary General of the United Nations, “Without progress, there can be no peace. Without peace, there can be no progress”.

She stressed the importance of the involvement of women in peace building, Women are naturally inclined to respect life, to educate and to defend. Women play a pivotal role as advocates for peace and are a voice for the vulnerable. She opined that with the natural maternal instinct and maternal heart beating in the core of any nation, it would be difficult for war to still break out.

In conclusion, she called on all participants to make the most of the workshop and use it to acquire skills in evaluating the effectiveness of the “Women, Peace and Security” program in their various countries. She said, in so doing, they will play a crucial role in ensuring the advancement of women’s rights and promoting a culture of peace in the entire West African region, highlighting the importance of emphasizing that peaceful coexistence is essential for the well-being of our citizens and for having a better future for our countries and our region.

The opening ceremony was concluded with a symbolic ceremonial inauguration of participants into the steering Regional Working Group on Women Peace and Security which reaffirmed the commitment of the participants to contribute to the full implementation of the “Women, Peace and Security Agenda” across the region. Representatives of Guinea Bissau, National Defence College Nigeria, Togo, WANEP, UNOWAS were presented with plaques and decorated with customized scrolls, representing all members of the Steering Group.

June 29, 2023Africa, WOMEN'S EQUALITYAfricaCPNN Coordinator

The Trillion Dollar Silencer: Why There Is So Little Anti-War Protest in the United States

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

A book by Joan Roelofs on sale by Clarity Press.

The Trillion Dollar Silencer investigates the astounding lack of popular protest at the death and destruction that the military industrial complex is inflicting on people, nations, and the environment, and its budget-draining costs. Where is the antiwar protest by progressives, libertarians, environmentalists, civil rights advocates, academics, clergy, community volunteers, artists, et al? This book focuses on how military largesse infests such public sectors’ interests.

Contractors and bases serve as the economic hubs of their regions. State and local governments are intertwined with the DoD; some states have Military Departments. National Guard annual subsidies are large. Joint projects include aid to state environmental departments for restoration, and government-environmental organization teams to create buffer zones for bombing ranges. Economic development commissions aim to attract military industries and keep the existing bases and corporations. Veterans Administration hospitals are boons to their communities.

Universities, colleges, and faculty get contracts and grants from the DoD and its agencies, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The Minerva Initiative. Reserve Officers’ Training Corps programs are subsidized by the DoD. Civilian jobs in the DoD provide opportunities for scientists, engineers, policy analysts, and others.

Every kind of business and nonprofit, including environmental and charitable organizations like The Nature Conservancy and Goodwill Industries feeds at the DoD trough via contracts and grants.

Individuals, arts institutions, charities, churches, and universities succumb to the profitability of military-related investments. Pension funds of public and private employees are replete with military stocks.

Philanthropy is another silencer. The DoD itself donates equipment to organizations, especially those of youth, and lends equipped battalions to Hollywood. The weapons firms give generously to the arts and charities, heavily to youth and minorities. They also initiate joint programs such as providing tutors and mentors for robotics teams in public schools.

Our militarized economy is destructive and wasteful. How can we replace the multitude of dependencies on military funding and restore the boundary between it and civil society? Surely a first step is to see how military spending results in the complicity of civil society in its pernicious outcomes. That is what this book tries to reveal.

* * *

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Questions related to this article:

The peace movement in the United States, What are its strengths and weaknesses?

(Continued from left column)

Reviewer comments

“It is perhaps the most fraught question of our time, whatever happened to the anti-war movement? In this provocative and illuminating book, Joan Roelofs penetrates deep into the inner-workings of the vast political economy of war-making, revealing how the arms cartel has consolidated its power, captured our political system, infiltrated the media and stifled dissent. At a perilous moment in history, Roelofs has given us a call to action, loud and clear enough to awaken our anesthetized consciences.” JEFFREY ST CLAIR, Editor of CounterPunch, Author, Grand Theft Pentagon

“The Trillion Dollar Silencer is a masterful primer on an institution – the United States military — that has literally thousands of facets and functions, and about a thousand billion dollars each year to support its role in preparing for and making war around the world. Rich in explanatory images, charts and maps, the pieces of the puzzle that Joan Roelofs identifies are so many and so complex that even the most informed readers will learn something in every chapter. The book’s central question is how the military industrial complex has been able to acquire so many taxpayer dollars year after year and so much cultural assent to its overwrought, violent mission. The answers she gives will help us to reverse our otherwise continuing deadly and expensive course.” CATHARINE LUTZ, Professor Emerita of Anthropology and International Studies, Co-Director, Costs of War Project, Brown University

“The world’s leading weapons dealer and warmaker, the United States, may also have the least popular resistance to militarism. Why the quiet acceptance? This book helps us to become aware that darn near every inch of U.S. society has been infiltrated by the normalization or celebration of war preparations, that essentially our culture, not just our elected officials, has been bought. This book also provides guidance on what we can do about it.” DAVID SWANSON, Executive Director of World Beyond War and author of War Is A Lie

“Why is there so much acceptance of, and so little protest against, our war policies and all the other tactics of subversion employed by the military-intelligence-industrial complex to sustain hegemony. While the peace movement answers this question with reference to propaganda, fear and distractions, this book focuses on the enormity of the war machine’s penetration into numerous aspects of civilian life. The sections in the book on this penetration into philanthropy, nonprofit organizations and NGO’s are probably the most eye-popping portions of the book. Roelofs shows that the real goal is the construction of “the normal” in ways functional to the interests of the Pentagon, unconventional warfare institutions and military contractors.” PAUL SHANNON, Executive Committee of Mass[achusetts] Peace Action

“Now is exactly the right time for her highly recommended book.” W.T. WHITNEY, Counterpunch

“…for individuals and collectives who are already politically initiated and opposed to the US imperialist war machine, the present book would be of immense help to widen the cracks of this mighty system…” MANALI CHAKRABARTI, Research Unit for Political Economy, India

(Editor’s note: It has been called to our attention that another article published at this time describes a report on how American military contracts to so-called “think tanks” are able to inject their propaganda into the mass media. The article is Report Shows How Military Industrial Complex Sets Media Narrative on Ukraine. The report shows that Ukraine War coverage in the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, from March 1, 2022, through January 31, 2023 quotes 33 think tanks, all but one of which receive military funding.)

June 29, 2023DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, North AmericaNorth AmericaCPNN Coordinator

Burkina Faso: Peace and social cohesion at the heart of the book “The problem tree and other news” by Lacina Téguéra

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

An article by Mamadou Zongo in Le Faso

A teacher and journalist, Lacina Téguéra presented his book entitled “The problem tree and other news”, this Saturday, June 17, 2023 at the headquarters of Editions Plum’Afrik, in Ouagadougou, in the presence of the godfather Jean Marie Kafando.

Burkina Faso is experiencing an unprecedented security crisis marked by terrorist attacks. In addition to the efforts made by the political and military authorities for the reconquest of the entire national territory, each citizen, according to his skills, contributes in his own way to this fight against the terrorist Hydra. It is in this sense that Lacina Téguéra has given himself the mission of promoting the values of peace and social cohesion through its collection of short stories “The problem tree and other news”.

Drawing inspiration from his daily experience, the author addresses themes such as social cohesion, living together, literacy, education, respect for tradition, youth employment, the condition of African women, leadership issues, etc. “It’s to tell the Burkinabè population to come back again to social cohesion and living together, because these are small quarrels that slowly become wars between populations”, explains the author.

(Article continued in right column)

(Click here for the original French version of this article.)

Question for this article:

Do the arts create a basis for a culture of peace?, What is, or should be, their role in our movement?

(Article continued from left column)

It is for Lacina Téguéra to make its share of contribution to the training and education of the new generation, in a world in perpetual change. “In this difficult context that our country and some countries in the sub-region are going through, it is more than necessary, through books, to promote the culture of peace, living together, tolerance and to instil certain values such as honesty, the value of tradition, respect for elders, the spirit of solidarity and family. This book is also another proof of resilience. The context is certainly difficult, but we will not abdicate and Burkina Faso will remain standing,” he said.

For Lacina Téguéra, his work is written in a simple style, accessible to everyone. It therefore invites readers to make it their own, to read it and to recommend it to loved ones. “One thing is to write, one thing is to be read. I therefore invite readers to purchase the work or to recommend it to friends and colleagues. That’s why I write in simple French, accessible to all with a certain dose of humor… This document is to be read with handkerchiefs to wipe away the tears of laughter or crying,” he said.

Jean Marie Kafando, entrepreneur, sponsor of this dedication ceremony, congratulated the author for the quality of his work and for this big step in the world of writers, by extension of entrepreneurship. “I initially agreed to be his godfather because it is a long friendship, an acquaintance of twenty years. It is a very beautiful work which aims to be educational and which speaks of the problems that Burkina Faso is experiencing today. So it’s my way of bringing my stone to the construction of living together,” he said.

A teacher by training, Lacina Téguéra is currently attached to school and university administration in the Human Resources Management Service of the Provincial Directorate of Preschool, Primary and Non-Formal Education of Bazèga. He is also the correspondent for RTB/Radio and the newspaper Le Pays in the province of Bazèga. The book is available at the unit price of 3,000 F CFA.

June 29, 2023Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATIONAfricaCPNN Coordinator

Luanda to host third Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from Mundo ao Minuto (translation by CPNN)

Angola will host the 3rd Luanda Biennale – Pan-African Forum for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence – on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of November, to address the continent’s themes on violence prevention, it was announced today.

An intersectoral commission, coordinated by the Minister of State for the Social Area, Dalva Ringote, is already preparing the meeting that should take place under the motto “Education, Culture of Peace and African Citizenship as Tools for the Sustainable Development of the Continent”.

(Continued in right column)

(click here for the original Portuguese version of this article.)

Question related to this article:

The Luanda Biennale: What is its contribution to a culture of peace in Africa?

(Continued from left column)

The Biennale of Luanda, a meeting resulting from a decision of the 24th Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in 2015, will bring together heads of State and Government from the continent and the world, young leaders and international organizations.

The Angolan Government, in a statement, invited financial institutions, the private sector, civil society, scientific, artistic and sports communities to participate in the meeting to address crucial issues on the continent and promote the prevention of violence.

A memorandum of understanding signed on June 20, 2023 between the Angolan Government, through the Luanda Biennale, and the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OEACP) was also under analysis at the level of the preparatory body.
The memorandum ensures the active participation of the OEACP and the Member States of the six regions of the organization, supporting the mobilization of resources from partners and actors and identifying joint initiatives that can be integrated into the Bienal de Luanda program.

The previous Bienalle de Luanda took place between 27 and 30 November 2021 (see CPNN December 2021.

June 29, 2023Africa, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATIONAfricaCPNN Coordinator

English bulletin July 1, 2023

. . THE PEACEMAKERS . . .

Little has changed since our bulletin of February 17 in which we quoted authorities saying that with the war in Ukraine we are “sleepwalking to Armageddon. This month, Anthony Blinken, the American cabinet minister responsible for foreign affairs, CIA, etc., insisted that the war should be continued because a ceasefire “would legitimize Russia’s land grab. It would reward the aggressor and punish the victim.”

But there are efforts for peace. In CPNN this month, we cite those of the African countries, the Pope, Presiden Lula of Brazil, the Chinese government, and the civil society meeting in Vienna.

The most recent initiative comes from a delegation of African countries that met with President Zelensky in Kiev and President Putin in St. Petersburg. The delegation included the presidents of South Africa, Comoros, Senegal, and Zambia as well as the prime minister of Egypt and representatives of the presidents of the Republic of the Congo and Uganda. “This war has to have an end. It must be settled through negotiations and through diplomatic means . . . This war is having a negative impact on the African continent and indeed, on many other countries around the world,” said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

In his meeting with the African delegation, Putin mentioned a draft peace agreement that was drawn up with the help of Turkish President Erdogan: “It was called treaty of permanent neutrality and security guarantees of Ukraine,” Putin said, adding that the document included 18 articles pertaining to Ukraine’s security. But the agreement was never realized, for which Putin blamed the other side.

As described in a recent CPNN article, Pope Francis has launched a peace mission aimed at finding a settlement of the Russia-Ukraine war, upsetting Ukraine’s allies with his refusal to insist that Russia leave Ukraine as a starting point for negotiations. The pope has appointed Cardinal Matteo Zuppi as a special envoy for his peace mission.

The Pope’s initiative reflects his support in general for the culture of peace. In April of this year, he diffused a video throughout the world, saying, “Let us develop a culture of peace. Let us remember that, even in cases of self-defense, peace is the ultimate goal, and that lasting peace can exist only without weapons. Let us make non-violence a guide for our actions, both in daily life and in international relations.”

Recently, the Pope met with Brazil President Lula and they discussed Lula’s proposal of a group of countries to mediate in possible negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow. Lula’s proposal has elicited little response from the international community.

The Chinese government also presented a peace proposal earlier this year, and Chinese envoys have met the leaders of both Ukraine and Russia to promote it. While the proposal was dismissed by NATO, it was welcomed by many in the Global South, although some questioned whether Chinese threats against Taiwan did not contradict the principles of their proposal.

The Chinese initiative also reflects its public support for the culture of peace. In a video about President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to the Chinese Academy of History, the Deputy Director-General of the Academy says that, “The pursuit of peace and harmony is the foundation of the Chinese spirit. It is in the gene of Chinese civilization. In the 5,000-year history, our ideal world is of great unity. We value a culture of peace and unity.”

As for the civil society, during the weekend of June 10-11 in Vienna, Austria, over 300 people representing peace organizations from 32 countries came together for the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine to demand an end to the fighting. Despite the uniform bottom line of the participants, which was a call for peace talks, there were plenty of disagreements about what should be mentioned in the final declaration. Noting these disagreements, participant Medea Benjamin says that “the most important segment of the final document and the gathering itself was the call for further actions.” “This weekend should be seen as just the start,” said organizer Reiner Braun. “We need more days of action, more gatherings, more outreach to students and environmentalists, more educational events. But this was a great beginning of global coordination.”

As expressed in a blog this month by the CPNN coordinator, “Are we sleep-walking to Armageddon, as some have predicted? Or will the forces for peace be able to end the Ukraine War? . . . As the late Daniel Ellsberg warned us, our world hangs in the balance.”

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY

Lula meets the Pope, talks world peace