Peace Day - September 21, 2008 - (Page 63)

PEacE ParTNErSHIP INTErNaTIoNaL • Support and encourage coordinated efforts to gather lessons learned and best practices from peacebuilding experiences around the world. In international matters, we all know that, though war is often referred to as “a last resort”, other tactics are rarely considered at the negotiating table. The Ministries and Departments of Peace will bring options to the table and insist on their priority over military force. While arms reduction and dialogue are first on the list, getting at the root causes of conflict is essential to lasting peace. Poverty, economic inequality and other complex issues require long- term cabinet-level intervention to restructure the political and institutional forces in play. Recognizing that we have spent our fortunes on developing weapons and not on these needed strategies, every Department of Peace proposal we looked at included an Academy of Peace to conduct research in these areas. Indeed, PPI has been working with the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and the Biosophical Institute to convene a process leading to estab- lishment of an Academy of Peace in the United States For developed nations, the prevention of international conflict has higher priority than it does in many of the developing nations. In these smaller countries, their vision for a Department of Peace focuses on addressing violence within their borders, such as ethnic violence, violence against women, political violence, etc., which are also issues for the developed countries.. Again, poverty, illiteracy, inequality and human rights are the issues behind conflicts that lead to domestic violence, family violence, gang and tribal violence, school shootings. Ministries and Departments of Peace will explore programs from all over the world that are having success in these areas and then bring them support, learn from them, and duplicate them in other areas. Building model communities is another strategy of this movement. In the USA, people in Eugene, Oregon, are working to make their city a City of Peace, to ask what that means and what it would take to model it. San Francisco is planning a Summer of Peace in 2010, exploring what a commu- THE iCEBERg Of ViOlENCE* dirEct vioLEncE – The violent deeds and words we see; the symptoms we normally treat The social, economic, and political systems that, wittingly or not, both result from and/or contribute to cultural and direct violence (for example, systems of retributive justice and topdown globalization) structuraL vioLEncE The social norms and values that legitimize and normalize direct and structural violence (for example, fear or hate of differences, violence in the media, narrow win-lose self-interest) cuLturaL vioLEncE *The concept of the Iceberg of Violence is from Johan Galtung of Transcend (www.transcend.org) www.worldpeaceemerging.com 63 http://www.transcend.org http://www.worldpeaceemerging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Peace Day - September 21, 2008

Peace Day - September 21, 2008 Contents Letter from the Editor The United Nations International Day of Peace Avon Mattison, IDP Visionary Surprise Announcement What You Can Do EarthDance International Earthdance International Events 11 Days of Global Unity Peace Day Central Event Pages Ari Lesser Peace One Day Peace Day Ceasefires IDP Vigils World Peace Starts From Within The Peace Film Festival Events Jazz for Peace Jazz for Peace Concerts Peace Partnership International Be Part of A Global Mastermind Mr. Peace VZones.com The US Peace Alliance A Pyramid of Light Comedy for Peace Comedy for Peace Club Events The Peace Dome World Peace Prayer Society Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots Jane Goodall’s Children’s Events Sydney’s Triple Event Peace Day Chicago Other Global Peace Days

Peace Day - September 21, 2008

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