{"id":33724,"date":"2024-02-04T19:11:49","date_gmt":"2024-02-04T18:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=33724"},"modified":"2024-02-04T20:01:12","modified_gmt":"2024-02-04T19:01:12","slug":"the-culture-of-peace-utopia-or-alternative-security-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=33724","title":{"rendered":"The Culture of Peace \u2013 Utopia or Alternative Security Policy?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .<\/p>\n

Received at CPNN by email<\/p>\n

Is it possible to see the UNESCO\/UN culture of peace program as a blueprint for a feminist, non-violent security policy? Are there alternatives to war and militarisation, or is the culture of peace just utopia? Can a more pacifist view help us out of the increasing horrors of war?<\/p>\n

These are questions that Ingeborg Breines, a former UNESCO director and president of the International Peace Bureau, raises in her new book The Culture of Peace \u2013 Utopia or Alternative Security Policy? published May 2023, by the Orkana Publishing House, Stamsund\/Oslo. The publication, which is written in Norwegian, has gotten good reviews. It consists of 416 pages in hard cover and includes rich reference material and some illustrations.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

The publication has three parts. The introduction describes the intentions of the author and the challenges facing the culture of peace vision. (See attached table of contents.) The author argues both for peace on earth and peace with the earth. Drawing on her background she challenges the old thinking that \u201cSi vis pacem, para bellum\/If you want peace, prepare for war\u201d. For the survival of humanity it is considered urgent to develop a new paradigm and new structures and practices underlining that \u201cIf you want peace, prepare for peace\u201d!<\/p>\n

Part I describes the culture of peace program of UNESCO\/UN \u2013 the origin, the process, the vision, the goals, the partners, the hopes, the enthusiasm, the achievements. The author brings to the forefront a series of guiding documents, inspiring projects and publications such as the International Year for a Culture of Peace, the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World, the Manifesto 2000 on a Culture of Peace, the Seville Declaration on Violence, the Statement on Women\u2019s Contribution to a Culture of peace, the Declaration on the Right to Peace and not least the Constitution of UNESCO with its emphasis on international intellectual and ethical cooperation and its credo: \u201cSince wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that defences for peace must be constructed\u201d .<\/p>\n

Part II highlights factors that hinder the culture of peace to take roots, notably the broad and growing militarization, not only of society but also of the human mind. The author argues that humanity is facing three alarming existential crises: (i) the climate and environmental catastrophe, (ii) the growing gap between the \u201chaves\u201d and the \u201chave- nots\u201d, and (iii) the nuclear arms threat. She considers that the military-industrial complex seriously – economically, ecologically and ethically – stand in the way of finding innovative and sustainable solutions to the challenges facing humanity.<\/p>\n

Part III presents an holistic approach to peace-building based on the eight pillars of the UNESCO\/UN culture of peace program: (i) Learn to live together, (ii) Promote sustainable social and economic development, (iii) Promote respect for human rights, (iv) Secure equality between women and men, (v) Foster democratic participation, (vi) Foster understanding, tolerance and solidarity, (vii) Promote free flow of information and knowledge, (viii) Foster international peace and security, with special emphasis on pillar one on education and pillar eight on peace-building. <\/p>\n

Part III contains descriptions of relevant international structures and institutions, both within the UN system and regional and sub-regional, as well as peace building projects and ideas, including from the international peace movement and visionary individuals. Seen together, the publication provides both important knowledge and suggestions for an effective transition from a culture of war and violence towards cultures of peace and non-violence.<\/p>\n

Blurb<\/strong><\/p>\n

Military expenditure was reduced in the period between the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the attack on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001 and many people started to hope that finally the world\u2019s military and political resources would be used for welfare instead of warfare. UNESCO developed a global program for a culture of peace that got broad and enthusiastic support. Individuals, organisations, institutions and countries contributed to the development of the vision of a culture of peace and got inspiration, energy and sense of community and meaning. The UN, both in a visionary and hopeful way, put the culture of peace as the headline for the new millennium.<\/p>\n

But the war against terror changed everything. Also Norway participated in wars in countries where we had no controversies. Fear, enemy images and suspicion were created – again. The climate- and environmental crisis is threatening both humanity and the planet. A worldwide pandemic has further aggravated poverty, violence against women and social unrest.<\/p>\n

The war in Ukraine has brought the horrors of war closer to us. Could it lead to disgust for all war, for war as an option? Could the vision and experience of a culture of peace help us stand against a dominating and desperate belief that weapons, ever more numerous, ever more lethal and potentially capable of full extinction of humanity, and that it is necessary in order to build peace and justice? Is the time ripe for acknowledging that it is only through disarmament and d\u00e9tente that we can manage to meet the ecological and social challenges facing us? <\/p>\n

This book is a contribution to the strengthening of the world\u2019s fragile peace architecture and gives suggestions as to how a culture of peace may be build through education, diplomacy, dialogue, democracy, justice, gender equality, art, culture and sound common sense.<\/p>\n

TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/p>\n

Preface
\nIntroduction<\/p>\n

Part I – FROM IDEA TO A CULTURE OF PEACE PROGRAM<\/p>\n

\u00b0 The dream of peace and the fight for a world organisation
\n\u00b0 Utopia
\n\u00b0 The vision
\n\u00b0 The League of Nations
\n\u00b0 The UN
\n\u00b0 UNESCO and the Culture of Peace
\n– The vision of a culture of peace \u2013 a new Millennium \u2013 new hope
\n– The concept of a culture of peace
\n– The culture of peace program
\n– The International Year for a Culture of Peace and the UN Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence
\nfor the Children of the World.
\n– Manifesto for a Culture of Peace
\n– Culture for peace
\n– Women and a culture of peace
\n– National culture of peace programs
\n– The UN High Level Forum on the Culture of Peace<\/p>\n

PART II – WHAT IS THREATENING PEACE AND SECURITY TO-DAY?<\/p>\n

\u00b0 Corona collapse and a new security concept
\n\u00b0 Hindrances for a culture of peace
\n\u00b0 Military meaninglessness and powerlessness
\n\u00b0 \u201dSecurity\u201d or peace?
\n\u00b0 Militarisation
\n\u00b0 Criminalizing war
\n\u00b0 War against terror
\n\u00b0 Why would a rich country need an arms industry?
\n\u00b0 Economic warfare \u2013 sanctions
\n\u00b0 Hybrid war
\n\u00b0 Defensive, non-aggressive defence
\n\u00b0 Nato \u2013 beyond expiration date
\n\u00b0 Closing down Nato
\n\u00b0 Our \u201cbig\u201d ally
\n\u00b0 Star wars
\n\u00b0 Norway says no to the UN, yes to Nato
\n\u00b0 Russia, our neighbour
\n\u00b0 Neighbours as friends, not foes<\/p>\n

ENVIRONMENT- AND CLIMATE CRISIS<\/p>\n

\u00b0 Anthropocentric
\n\u00b0 Mother Earth
\n\u00b0 Nexus environment \u2013 security
\n\u00b0 The military and the environment
\n\u00b0 Ecocide
\n\u00b0 Food insecurity
\n\u00b0 From capitalism to a new green deal<\/p>\n

INEQUALITY AND STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE<\/p>\n

\u00b0 The billionaire report
\n\u00b0 The social report
\n\u00b0 Inequality between men and women<\/p>\n

(Continued in right column)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Question for this article:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

\n

What are the most important books about the culture of peace?<\/a><\/p>\n

(Continued from left column)<\/p>\n

THE NUCLEAR THREAT<\/p>\n

\u00b0 How to stigmatise, delegitimize and prohibit nuclear arms.
\n\u00b0 How many nuclear weapons exist, and where?
\n\u00b0 Status symbol?
\n\u00b0 It is called balance of terror?
\n\u00b0 Usable nukes
\n\u00b0 Enough is enough
\n\u00b0 First use
\n\u00b0 Nuclear weapons agreements
\n\u00b0 The Non-proliferation Treaty
\n\u00b0 The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear weapons, TPNW
\nNorway, party to the NATO strategy on nuclear weapons
\nThe International Atomic Energy Agency – verification and dual role
\n\u00b0 Environmental and health consequences
\n\u00b0 Nuclear weapons and nuclear energy \u2013 Siamese twins
\n\u00b0 Depleted uranium
\n\u00b0 Women and nuclear weapons
\n\u00b0 Nuclear free zones
\n\u00b0 With the UN for nuclear disarmament and development
\n\u00b0 Anti-nuclear arms organisations<\/p>\n

PART III – UTOPIA OR PRAXIS? POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVE SECURITY POLICY<\/p>\n

\u00b0 Mother Earth and the Matriarchy
\n\u00b0 Rather pluralism than unilateralism
\n\u00b0 Who do we want to be?
\n\u00b0 World future orientation
\n\u00b0 Meaning and happiness
\n\u00b0 Change and transformation
\n\u00b0 Positive thinking
\n\u00b0 Emotional intelligence
\n\u00b0 Getting out of fundamentalism
\n\u00b0 The Seville Declaration on Violence
\n\u00b0 Radical love, the ultimate goal?
\n\u00b0 Hope
\n\u00b0 Creativity<\/p>\n

1 LEARN TO LIVE TOGETHER<\/p>\n

\u00b0 Education for all
\n\u00b0 Good development requires good education
\n\u00b0 Children on the run
\n\u00b0 Peace education
\n\u00b0 Disarmament education
\n\u00b0 Methodology
\n\u00b0 It is fun to be nice
\n\u00b0 My history – and your history
\n\u00b0 What is the situation for peace education in Norwegian schools?
\n\u00b0 How to avoid militarization in schools?
\n\u00b0 The education of the heart
\n\u00b0 Moral codex and ethical standards
\n\u00b0 Pakistan – Afghanistan \u2013 examples
\n\u00b0 To teach a culture of peace in Pakistan<\/p>\n

2 PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT<\/p>\n

\u00b0 The desired future \u2013 the UN Agenda 2030
\n\u00b0 Food security
\n\u00b0 Limits to growth
\n\u00b0 To do without \u2013 what is enough?
\n\u00b0 Finance capitalistic globalisation
\n\u00b0 Human – humanistic – humanitarian
\n\u00b0 Ecologic economy
\n\u00b0 What is productive work?
\n\u00b0 Useful, bullshit and dangerous jobs
\n\u00b0 Converting the military industry
\n\u00b0 Progressive taxation
\n\u00b0 Guaranteed minimum income \u2013 basic salary – citizen\u2019s salary
\n\u00b0 Social contract
\n\u00b0 Democratic multilateralism<\/p>\n

3 PROMOTE RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS<\/p>\n

\u00b0 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
\n\u00b0 The Human Rights Council
\n\u00b0 Universal Periodic Review, UPR
\n\u00b0 The International Court of Justice, ICJ
\n\u00b0 The International Criminal Court, ICC
\n\u00b0 International law \u2013 the duty of peace – prohibition of violence
\n\u00b0 Humanitarian law\u2013 the international law of war
\n\u00b0 Responsibility to Protect, R2P
\n\u00b0 Norway, a champion of international law?
\n\u00b0 From international law to the law of war?<\/p>\n

4 SECURE EQUALITY BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN<\/p>\n

\u00b0 The rights, resources and representation of women
\n\u00b0 Gender equality is healthy
\n\u00b0 The end of Patriarchy?
\n\u00b0 Men and masculinities
\n\u00b0 The rationality of care
\n\u00b0 Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security
\n\u00b0 Sexualized violence
\n\u00b0 Feminism \u2013 both a tool for change and an imperative
\n\u00b0 Feministic foreign policy<\/p>\n

5 FOSTER DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION<\/p>\n

\u00b0 Are the people allowed to rule?
\n\u00b0 Democracy-ranking
\n\u00b0 Direct democracy or disciplined democracy?
\n\u00b0 Lobbying
\n\u00b0 99% versus 1%
\n\u00b0 Non-hierarchical structure and local democracy
\n\u00b0 Centralization weakens local democracy
\n\u00b0 Military exceptions
\n\u00b0 Thinking globally \u2013 acting locally
\n\u00b0 Regional cooperation<\/p>\n

6 FOSTER UNDERSTANDING, TOLERANCE AND SOLIDARITY<\/p>\n

\u00b0 The grey-pink race and racism
\n\u00b0 Symbols and statues
\n\u00b0 Longing for meaning
\n\u00b0 Religious tolerance – interreligious understanding
\n\u00b0 The image of God of Spinoza
\n\u00b0 Violations, humiliations of honour and human dignity
\n\u00b0 Ethical disposition
\n\u00b0 Compassion<\/p>\n

7 PROMOTE FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE<\/p>\n

\u00b0 New Information and Communication order
\n\u00b0 Languages
\n\u00b0 News and fake narratives
\n\u00b0 Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Expression
\n\u00b0 The language of peace – the language of war
\n\u00b0 Getting rid of enemy images
\n\u00b0 Dialogue \u2013 debate \u2013 discussion
\n\u00b0 Whistleblowers and human rights defenders
\n\u00b0 Peace journalism
\n\u00b0 Women in the media \u2013 women journalists
\n\u00b0 War and cultural industry<\/p>\n

8 FOSTER INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY<\/p>\n

\u00b0 Peace by peaceful means
\n\u00b0 The right to peace
\n\u00b0 Peace as a condition for sustainable development
\n\u00b0 Disarmament, essential, but not in vogue
\n\u00b0 How to strengthen the political will to disarm?
\n\u00b0 Peace race or arms race?
\n\u00b0 Dismantling of national capacities for war
\n\u00b0 Preventive diplomacy
\n\u00b0 Is the UN able to unite the nations?
\n\u00b0 Human security
\n\u00b0 Common security
\n\u00b0 Pacifism
\n\u00b0 Civil obedience \u2013 civil disobedience
\n\u00b0 Nonviolence
\n\u00b0 Conscientious objection \u2013 civil service
\n\u00b0 Equality in the military \u2013 on whose terms?
\n\u00b0 Community service \u2013 new conscription
\n\u00b0 Ministries of a culture of peace
\n\u00b0 Peace tax
\n\u00b0 Peace movement
\n\u00b0 Peace research \u2013 research for peace?
\n\u00b0 The Nobel Prize for Peace Promoters
\n\u00b0 Nobel Summits
\n\u00b0 Military-free and environment conscious Costa Rica \u2013 a role model<\/p>\n

IV ANNEXES<\/p>\n

\u00b0 Bibliography
\n\u00b0 UN days
\n\u00b0 Acronyms<\/p>\n

Ingeborg Breines (i.breines@gmail.com)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDUCATION FOR PEACE . Received at CPNN by email Is it possible to see the UNESCO\/UN culture of peace program as a blueprint for a feminist, non-violent security policy? Are there alternatives to war and militarisation, or is the culture of peace just utopia? Can a more pacifist view help us out of the increasing … Continue reading The Culture of Peace \u2013 Utopia or Alternative Security Policy?<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,76],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-33724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education-for-peace","category-global","tag-global"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33724\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}