I am working in a document in Conflict Transformation, Transitional Justice and Restorative Justice for Colombian peacebuilders.
As we know restorative Justice is a discipline under development. Colombian practitioners are skeptical about its use in a context of intractable conflict and gross violation of human rights. They prefer to work Transitional Justice. I think both disciplines complement each other.
During my research I was surprised the lack of theoretical documents about the relatio… Continue
Today, the Peace and Collaborative Networking site's membership reached over 3000. There are currently members from over 100 countries around the world. Experiences and backgrounds of individuals on the site range from undergraduate students in North America, Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Mid-East, mid to senior level professionals in development, conflict resolution, human rights, social entrepreneurship, etc. working in all regions of the world and scholars/academics.
The success of this s… Continue
Posted by czelizer on July 19, 2008 at 9:38am —
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Erle Frayne Argonza
Among all thought modalities coming from the East that are most valuable for bringing human awareness to its next level—under the rubric of Asian Renaissance— yoga meditation stands out as the most potent. Having studied and practiced this Asiatic science for almost three (3) decades, I can testify to its efficacy for effecting quantum leap in awareness and intelligence.
Following from the foregoing declaration, I would posit that yoga meditation, or simply meditatio… Continue
I adore Camilla Paglia. Was lucky enough to meet her and this is how became one of my best articles ever. I published that interview with Paglia for Serbian edition of Playboy, a perfect contexts for her first media appearance in our part of the world. She is, as was in the days when this was more important to state, very much pro - Playboy oriented. To avoid confusions, see her page on Wikipedia, excellently edited.
Why I love Paglia?
Be… Continue
Posted by jelena grujic on July 18, 2008 at 3:30pm —
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Special Projects Coordinator Kate Williams contributed this week’s post.
In an earlier post we talked about the problems that can arise when a desire to do something positive is misdirected. (See “First do no harm”). People sometimes rush into crisis situations without planning out how they will direct their desire to help. We talked about the importance of making sure that that positive energy is channeled into positive, effective and sustainable action. Positive change requires a combination… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza
Maganding umaga! Good morning!
A gladdening news for me is the fact that many people in the West (or North) highly appreciate Asian growth and its role as today’s life-breather of the global economy. Without Asia, given the recurrent recession of Western/Northern economies, the global economy would be in a collapsed state today.
The added news that certainly warms the heart is that many Northerners/Westerners look up highly to Asia as the hope of the world, that hope comin… Continue
Good evening!
I am posting an interesting article, culled from the Executive Intelligence Review, that has bearing on the questions raised about the Zimbabwe quagmire.
Happy reading!
=======================================================
Is Zimbabwe Violence a British Operation?
by Douglas DeGroot
African military intelligence sources have told EIR that the brutality and professional, execution-style nature of the killings and violence during the period leading up to the June 27 Pr… Continue
Thank you for visiting the Collaborative Peace and Development Networking. Please take a moment to look at the guide to using the site below. You're especially encouraged to read item # 12 about the new groups features, # 13 about the new events calendar, and #15 (see below) about privacy to make sure you're not posting inappropriate information on the site. In addition please see item # 7 about appropriate use of the network. If you have a question that is not answered please fee… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago
Good morning, Fellows across the globe!
Let me continue to write awareness-raising materials about peace, cooperation and development, by focusing on the machinations of the financier oligarchs. The Empire is rising again, the logic being that it is a most fit governance machine for global oligarchic games and forthcoming conflicts.
Guessing gamers have been busy releasing speculations about the next financiers’ great war, and the state machinery that will… Continue
I am soliciting for ideas on a possible reconciliation framework in Zimbabwe. After years of political violence that became more protracted and vicious in the run-up to the Presidential run-off elections of the 27th June 2008, many societies were pushed to breaking point with communities "tearing" each other part. The level of violence, savagery, thuggery, intimidation and loss of life experienced was unprecidented in the history of an independent Zimbabwe, nothwithstanding the violence experien… Continue
This paper looks into the issue of communalism and its superiority to nationalism, with a short case assessment of Nepal's Madhesis movement. The main hope of the paper is to begin an academic and political discussion about the conventional definitions and traditional concepts of nationalism and communalism. Is communalism superior to nationalism? This paper presents my experiences and observation about communalism found in various cases.… Continue
Dear friend
I would like to alert you to a very very important and unusual Open Letter to Peacebuilders. It raises some very serious issues about what we all - everyone on this online community, I guess - think and do in the broad field of peace-building after hurt and harm. With very solid arguments, it ask whether we have not deviated a far distance from genuine peace work - among other things to keep good relations with governments and their funding machinery.
I myself have coined the… Continue
This week's post was written by Associate Director, Laura Harms
Coordinating the internship component of our summer and semester program gives me the chance to get to know a lot of wonderful organizations, companies and individuals doing great peacebuilding work in Indianapolis. By nature, I am attuned to seeing connections and themes emerge even between the most unlikely groupings. I enjoy the synergy of these connections and the creativity it provokes in me.
One theme that has emerged in my o… Continue
Dear Colleagues, There are countless opportunities for individuals seeking to pursue academic study at all levels to obtain financial support from private foundations, directly from academic institutions and from various governmental and intergovernmental agencies. In addition, there are a number of fellowships that provide funding for independent research/internships/language study as part of (or after completing) an academic program. As part of developing in…
Dear Colleauges
One of the main goals of this site is to help practitioners, students and scholars network, connect and share best resources. As I am often working in different contexts (and countries) and across multiple computers, I wanted to share some of the free software/it services that I have found incredibly useful to help me stay connected, up-to-date and informed. This is not specifically an endorsement of any particular product/company (and I only want to list free se… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza
Good afternoon from Manila!
This gentleman has a special fondness for Africa, a fondness that now makes me desire to plant my feet in the continent somehow. My own humble contribution there should be, aside from doing project engagements as a development expert, to spread the Teaching (Lightwork, yoga) to our fellows there.
My entry point should be South Africa. Having been reared in the big city-university life-intellectual environments all my life, I guess the cosmopolit… Continue
Review article
Marc Pilisuk with Jennifer Achord Rountree
Who benefits from global violence and war?
Uncovering a destructive system
Praeger Security International –
Series Contemporary Psychology
2008, 316 pp
If you want all the facts and a wealth of sources to back them up about the incredibly violent and resource-wasting system called market-cum-monopoly capitalism, this is the book you should plough through, require your students in political science and international relations to… Continue
Amahoro!
Amahoro means peace in Kirundi, my native language of Burundi.
I am a freelance journalist involved in peace and development activities in my country. I am also a founding member of the Amahoro Youth Club which mission is to solidify the peace process in Burundi at all levels by provinding spaces for dialogues and exchanges among young people in Burundi and in the diaspora.
I also write for Peace Direct in England, through its project Insight on Conflict which I recommend that you vis… Continue
Bujumbura, Burundi
July 3, 2008
This is a continuation of the preceding posting about the Amahoro Youth Club
The Amahoro Youth Club – an experiment on civil society development
Amahoro means peace in the local language, Kirondi. So everything TFF does – through our trainers, project coordinator Ina Curic and myself - is related to peace, peace by peaceful means, conflict-resolution, reconciliation, forgiveness and co-existence with good balances in terms of ethnicity, gender, social a… Continue
*** Please feel free to forward to any filmmakers (documentary and narrative), journalists (print, web, television, photo) ad agencies (for PSA's) and organizations working on humanitarian material.***
*** For Humanitarian, Film, Art and Photo Organizations who would like to act as partners to the HMF for the 2008 Festival & Conference, please contact us at pr@humanitarianmedia.org.***
___
New York / Los Angeles – The Humanitarian Media Foundation (HMF), which launched offici… Continue
Posted by KJ Wetherholt on July 3, 2008 at 8:14pm —
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Bujumbura, Burundi
July 3, 2008Here follows the text that the Amahoro Youth Club members have formulated in co-operation with TFF’ Ina Curic and Jan Oberg.
We applied for money from the Swedish Folke Bernadotte Academy and obtained a “No” so right now while we post this, none of us know how to proceed – except developing and implementing a new fund-rasing strategy and drive.
But, as you can see, the vision is there. And one day we will succeed – TFF with the guidance, the AYC… Continue
Posted by Jan Oberg on July 3, 2008 at 7:30am —
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Erle Frayne Argonza
Greedy financiers across the globe made humungous killing in the commodities futures recently, which largely explains the sudden hyper-inflationary price increases in grains. The panic that resulted from the ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ that food stocks are running out further exacerbated the already volatile situation of the food markets.
The flawed reasoning—that the problem has a great deal to do with the supply side—has been bandied by the paid Pied Pipers of the g… Continue
The Colombian government reported that "The ex presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three american citizens and 11 soldiers and policemen, are set FREE!. This might surely be the best news of the year, so far. Juan Manuel Santos, the colombian Defense Minister just announced at 2:30 p.m. (local time) that the operation called Jaque, held close to the Apaporis river, between the provinces of Guaviare and Vaupes, in the colombian forest, was sucessful. Fifteen hostages were rescued, released… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza
Speculation, more speculation!
Speculation has driven food prices up, and is now driving gas prices up as well. It is a core feature of the ‘virtual economy’ based on predatory finance, the main game of the global financier oligarchs who are now in practical control of the world’s strategic economic sectors.
Commodity speculation is getting to be a ‘plague of the 21st century’ as claimed by a noblesse gentlaman from Europe, Italian Economics Minister Giulio Tremonti. How t… Continue
i wanted to put this link here ages ago, but did not manage till now.
this is a link to a great online gallery of the pictures taken in sarajevo during the siege.
http://www.sa92.ba/v1/index.php?x=browse
some of them are famous, taken by well-known photographers. some are not famous, but are just as good.
i Continue
Posted by Iva Vukusic on July 1, 2008 at 2:15pm —
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Erle Frayne Argonza
When Kenichi Ohmae released his writings about the rise of region-states, my curious, quite naughty mind nurtured the irresistible query about what Ohmae had at the back of his mind. Ohmae is among the coterie of contemporary Japanese intellectuals that include Francis Fukuyama and William Oichi. These intellectuals are no charlatans, and they belong to a new breed of Japanese who are more Western and globalist in orientation than their forebears.
While my esteem for… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago
Wars fatten financiers’ purses. This has been an established fact, a modus operandi of abominable usurers since the time of the Greek and Italian city-states yet.
The modus is simple, though complex in their implementation. The financier oligarchs, planning behind the scenes, would identify sources of potential conflict, reasons for launching them, and then finance war machines on both sides of the competing parties. Whoever wins hardly matters at all, what… Continue
This week's installment comes from Kate Williams, the Institute's Special Projects Coordinator
While perusing the BBC’s News Site the other day, I came across the following article: Blogger arrests hit record high. Since 2003, over 60 people have been arrested for expressing their opinions in blogs. Blogging is something I have always taken for granted: how could much trouble come from these on-line diaries? I’ve read contro… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza
Kapayapaan! Paz! Pax! Peace!
Oil price hike or OPH can be a precipitating factor behind military coups d etat. Since OPH is among the world’s focal issues today, we may as well reflect on a country case to examine how the OPH precipitated the launching of military coups: the Philippine case.
Before everything else, I hope the difference between military coup and mutiny is clear to the readers. A military coup is an offensive action aimed at a seizure of state power (coup d… Continue
CAGE BIRDS
They run away from their home, their home a safe place. A place they have adored since they were young. They leave because it’s not safe anymore, because they cannot feed their families, because they have lost hope in the land they once cherished. It hurts them to leave but what can they do, they have two option. First they can stop fleeing and die by the bullets. Secondly by hunger and starvation and torture.
Yes this is the story of the cage birds. They all have different stories t… Continue
Posted by Rashid Zuberu on June 24, 2008 at 4:00pm —
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Erle Frayne Argonza
The recession stays, the downward global economic spiral will continue for an indefinite time. This is the pattern that we can now see across the globe.
Stock markets have been crashing, going through a freefall for couples of months now. In Manila, the Philippine stock market is down at 2,400+ points as of this morning, or 800 points short of its best performance of 3,300+ late last year. The pattern is true in other stock markets as well.
One thing is clear: this… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago
Good morning!
It is a stormy morning actually as I write this piece, and it seems to coincide with stormy events in the European continent at the moment. The continental storm has got to do with the finalization of the Lisbon treaty that could have effected complete political integration of Europe.
What makes the treaty questionable, in the opinion of many in Europe and across the globe, is that it didn’t pass through the public opinion mills and debates. E… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago
Happy Centennial Anniversary to my Beloved Alma Mater, the University of the Philippines!
Being a development expert, I wish to highlight in this briefer the developmental side to the premier university of my beloved country. The University or the Philippines or U.P. is foremost of all an indication of the maturity of Filipino education and educators, in that after 100 years of existence, we as a people were able to show to the world the viability of a grand univer… Continue
This week blog was written by Danielle Tate, Recruitment and Marketing Coordinator.
When it comes to discussing race and diversity there are two things that often bothered me when I was in school and to this day. First, in most cases the topics were covered on such a surface level. Because race is an issue that is so engrained into the fabric of our society from its inception, it is an extremely difficult and sensitive topic to discuss. Having such a conversation can make those involved very un… Continue
Krishna Hari Pushkar
In Nepal, there are ongoing blackjack contravention about the recruitment issues of Head of the State and Government. After the pronouncement of CA election result, the Maoists (former rabbles) emerged as biggest party and finally claimed for their over estimated privileges to nominate the head of the state and government as per their vested wishes, despite the fact that they do not have either essential consensus for their proposed candidate among the CA represented… Continue
Good day! I've lifted the entire news clip from the MSN news features regarding the peace talks between the MILF and the Philippine government. The news goes:
Muslim rebels cautiously welcome peace offer by Philippines
Muslim separatists in the Philippines on Thursday cautiously welcomed President Gloria Arroyo's proposal to resume peace talks that had stalled over control of disputed territories.
The leadership of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had not yet seen the government's dr… Continue
Krishna H. Pushkar,
Berlin, Germany
I believe the Terrorist Tag is not permanent. The Tag can be affixed either for certain timeframe or limited in specific activities only. For example, the president of Nepalese largest party CPN (Maoist) Mr. Pusp Kamal Dahal was a once an International Terrorist for a decade and now he is one of the most influencing popular peoples’ leader in Nepal which has been observed by recently exposed result of CA election in Nepal.
Similarly, the existing Head of the… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza
Good afternoon from Manila!
The headlines and front pages of the major dailies here are focused (scoop) on the Ces Drilon abduction by the Abu Sayyaf, the CIA-created jihadist group operating in Mindanao (southern Philippines; Ces Drilon is a rated journalist of the oligarchic ABS-CBN). Reports say the P15 Million rock-bottom ransom is out, and that the jihadists have signaled an ultimatum.
As this is happening, the national army is massing up troops and intelligenc… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza
Good afternoon from Manila!
As of this moment, Manila is in the heat of coffee shop speculations about the fate of the recently abducted Ces Drilon & crew, personnel of the oligarchic network ABS-CBN, by the Abu Sayyaf. The ‘cara y cruz’ debate is whether the Lopez group will pay for the ransom of Drilon & crew, amounting to $5 Million more or less.
Having observed peacekeeping for some time now, and having had the privilege of being close to peace negotiators on b… Continue
Hi, I thought I would forward this to everyone who might be interested. ;) Please don't hesitate to contact me for further information.
Call for Papers for the 2008 HMF International Film/Media Festival & Conference
The 2008 HMF International Film/Media Conference will be taking place concurrently with the 2008 HMF International Film Festival and the associated 2008 HMF International Art/Photo Exhibition.
The 2008 HMF International Film/Media Conference will be an integral… Continue
Posted by KJ Wetherholt on June 15, 2008 at 12:10am —
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Erle Frayne Argonza
Good morning!
As I was moving back to home-base, done with my gym exercise, my eyes caught the news bit in the newsstands about the biggest Philippine flag recently unfurled in Baguio City. So huge was the flag, it weighed over 3 tons.
Whoever may have conceived the idea (a lady), she was acting magnanimously on the behest of her own Guide from Above. The choice of creating and unfurling a big flag, on the occasion of Philippine Independence day, can be perceived as a toke… Continue
The Institute’s Special Projects Coordinator, Kate Williams, contributed this week’s post.
This week, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision that dramatically challenged the present administration’s decision to imprison individuals at Guantanamo Bay. The US naval base in Cuba has been home to a number of men, 270 in total. All have been described as “enemy combatants,” and held without trial for years. The Supreme Court’s decision will not close the facility, nor ensur… Continue
Dear Friends
Many individuals around the world are interested in doing graduate work in Peace and Conflict Resolution at the MA or Ph.D. level. There are several excellent existing guides to finding programs around the world. Dr. Brian Polkinghorn at Salisbury State University, has compiled an excellent guide to Graduate Programs in Conflict Resolution, Peace Studies and Alternative Dispute Resolution aro… Continue
Dear all:
Yesterday I attended the parliamentary session in Ottawa, in which PM Harper offered an apology in the name of the government and people of Canada to the First Nations, Metis and Inuit groups.
The full text of the apology and official responses is in the Hansard Transcript of the House of Commons:
The apology comes as part of a comprehensive settlement between the government of Canada, the churches of Canada and indigenous survivors of "Indian Residential Schools" that pursued the… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza
Philippine solidarity to all Fellows on Planet Earth!
On the 12th of June 1896, as the sun was rising, the Philippine Flag was raised for the first time in Kawit, Cavite. The Philippine National Anthem was also played, in the genre of classical marches, putting it alongside the French Republic’s anthem. Emilio Aguinaldo, first president of the new republic, declared the independence of the Philippines from Spain and the official birthing of the Philippine nation-state.
Tha… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza
Nationalists are in power today in Nepal. Being a Filipino nationalist, I’d honestly say there is much cause to celebrate the Nepalese nationalists' victory.
Here in my country, we Filipino nationalists have always been in the margins. No matter what efforts we do to create a modern nation-state, our efforts get stalled by the forces of the ancien regime (landlord-clergy classes) that dominate power in the economic, political and cultural domains in my country.
Nepa… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago
Magandang hapon! (Good afternoon!)
I remember very well my first anthropology. I was then around 6 or 7 years old, a very innocent tot growing up in Tuguegarao (capital town of Cagayan). Among our yaya (child caregivers) was a young lady from Penablanca town just beside Tuguegarao, where the yaya invited my family for a visit one day.
In the neighbor town of Penablanca did I first encounter the Aetas (Atta in Ibanag language) who were natural inhabitants th… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza y Delago
The latest Burma cyclone that caused much havoc, with death tolls now past the 100,000 mark, could very well be an occasion for building peace, cooperation and accelerated development in the continental Southeast Asia (Con-SE). That is, if the leaders of the region have the foresight and political will to pursue grand projects aimed at economic and political integration in the near future.
The Burma calamity is also an opportunity for the Burmese leadership (milita… Continue
Burundi – short backgroundWith the increasing interest in Burundi and its remarkable peace process, many have asked me to provide a short background. Just a few days ago, a ceasefire agreement was signed with the last rebel group, the FNL and its leader Agaton Rwasa. It is a great step forward in the consolidation of this country's struggle for democracy, reconciliation and peace.
Burundi is number 171 out of the 175 countries on UNDP's Human Development Index. The GNP per capit… Continue
May 29, 2008
Lund, Sweden
On May 19, TFF's Board sent an Open Letter adressed to the UN Secretary-General, Iraq's Prime Minister and Sweden's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. Read it here.
Regrettably, our concern therein has been confirmed today.
The conference is broadcast on Swedish Television. I've watched it and write to you while it happens. Here some scattered observations:
Opening spee… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza
Good morning from Manila!
The recent turn of events that saw the catastrophic devastation of the old order in Nepal should not be equated to the complete eradication of kingship. Any adroit observer of political dynamics knows that, in the founding of any modern nation-state, the forces of the deposed ancien regime will counter-attack sooner or later, with the option of a royal revival or equivalent being the top agenda.
Nation-building takes so much time to galvani… Continue
This weeks blog comes from our Recruitment and Marketing Coordinator, Danielle Tate.
On Sunday June 1st a 12-year-old boy was gunned down in a senseless act of violence; a drive-by shooting at a park just blocks from his home. So far today there have been 5 shootings resulting in the death of 2 people and injury of 5. Earlier this year a baby and a toddler, together with their mothers, were shot to and killed while being held in their mother’s arms. Last September, just minutes before a cr… Continue
Erle Frayne Argonza
Nepal is going through a ‘late nationalist’ revolution. Just like those states that experienced the birth pangs of nationhood, Nepal is expected to pass through the same thorny road.
For a long time in their lives, the Nepalese were accustomed to regarding their King as the sovereign of the land. The King was the unifying symbol of all aspects of life in the Kingdom, and this was already a step ahead of its former state.
To recall, Nepal for a very long time was an… Continue