Featured Image: a Crowd of protesters in Tahrir square (30 October 2019). By Revoulation2019, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Iraq has been in violent turmoil at least since 1989 when Saddam Hussein started an 8-year war against the newly created Islamic government of Iran. For historical reasons, the Middle East has failed to build-multi-State structures or dialogue forums to handle strong disputes. While many States in the world have to deal with diversity and plurality, creating a national cohesion has been particularly difficult in Iraq since its inception as a State after World War One.
There was a short period of hope linked to protests held at Al Tahrir Square in Baghdad from October 2019 to March 2020 when the protests were brutally put down by the police and the military, killing some 700 young people. It is this period of hope and its crushing that is the theme of this book of poems translated from Arabic to English.
The book is dedicated:
“To the young people of Iraq and around the world whose protests of hope flared up in the darkness of 2019… We who watched this senseless sacrifice in the name of a more hopeful future can only redouble our efforts to make the world worthy of your light.”
The Al Tahrir protests, unlike earlier or later protests which were usually regional or religiously sectarian, crossed confessional and regional barriers, bringing together especially youth no longer trusting government promises for better services – promises that were never carried out.
As Muhammad Karim writes in This is How You Go Out:
“With your hot blood
With your terror
With your voice in the ears of deaf gods
With your clothes soaked in soot and blood
With your bare chests
This is how you go out…this is how you go out.”
There were both young women and men among the protesters, sometimes in love with each other but with a sense of doom as Enas Philip Muhammad writes:
“You know, my love
You know very well
The roads I walk cannot accommodate two.”
Most of the poems were written after the movement had been crushed. Thus there is a melancholic tone to many and the theme of the dead as martyrs, as in Maytham Rad’s The Martyrs Don’t Want Anything.
“The martyrs don’t want anything
Except that the holes in their bodies
Made by bullets
Become the punctuation marks
Of an incomprehensible language.”
As Ali Riyadh wrote:
“There is a seed of freedom that has been handed down
From alley to street, from square to cafe, from town to town
The seed fell upon her soil hundreds of times and never tooted.”
There is little hope for future action. As Ayad Al-Qala’ay writes:
“Absorbed in counting their heavy days they did not know – were were the last generation of a sunken ship.”
In the same spirit Hamid Al-Madamii writes:
“Neither the just end
Nor the right start
Will ever happen.”
This book of moving poems is a cooperative effort. Sama Hussein in Iraq had collected the poems for an Arabic anthology published in Baghdad upon which this book is based.
Dr. Anba Jawi and Catherine Temma Davidson are part of Exiled Writers Ink organisation, which works to help refugees and asylum-seekers in England to have their writings known.
Camilla Reeve is the publisher of Palewell Press. All are to be thanked for bringing these poems to a wider public.
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Featured Image: Gandhi spinning at Birla House, Mumbai, August 1942. By Kanu Gandhi, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Path to Indian Independence (London: I.B. Tauris, 2012, 225pp) Simone Panter-Brick.
Simone Panter-Brick had written two earlier books on Mahatma Gandhi: Gandhi against Machiavellism: Non-violence in Politics; and Gandhi and the Middle East.
Here, in a book written just before her death; she deals with two key concepts in the thought and action of Gandhi: swaraj and dharma. Swaraj is best translated as self-realization; as in the Self-Realization Fellowship of the Indian teacher; Paramahansa Yogananda in California. “Gandhi and Swaraj” would have been a more accurate title of the book than “Nationalism”; but fewer people would have known what the book was about from such a title. As Panter-Brick points out:
“Swaraj is formed of two Sanskrit words: swa (self) and raj (rule). Thus, it can be construed either as rule over the self – the spiritual assertion of every person – or as self-rule – participation in the political affairs of the nation as citizens fully conscious of their rights and duties. For Gandhi, it was both.”
Dharma.
Dharma is a term used by Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists. Buddhists do not normally speak of their own religion as ‘Buddhism’; but usually refer to it as ‘the Dharma’ meaning truth; the law as in the sense of the natural law which sustains the universe.
Dharma in Hinduism also means order in the sense of the law of the universe; immanent but made known to humans through awakening; the basis of moral life. In a narrower sense; dharma means duty – often caste duties or loyalty to the rulers of the country; into which one has been born through the working of karma.
It is in this latter sense – the duties that Gandhi felt to the Empire – that the book develops. The book is especially useful for those of us who try to use spiritual concepts within the political field; where words take on other meanings; and can also be understood by others in different ways than intended.
My life is my message.
The understanding of the ways spiritual concepts are used in political life is made even more complex; in the case of Gandhi in that he was not a thinker in terms of systems; but in terms of action. “My life is my message.” Most of Mahatma Gandhi’s writings were newspaper articles reacting to specific events and letters; often in reply to letters asking specific questions.
Copies of his letters were kept by his secretary, Mahadev Desai; and make up much of the many-volume Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi’s effort at systematic writing; in particular his 1909 Hind Swaraj; was used on the eve of independence against him by those wanting to establish Pakistan saying that Hind; which Gandhi had used as an old name for India really meant Hindu; and that Gandhi saw no place for Muslims in Indian society; and deliberately overlooked any Muslim contribution to Indian civilization.
As Panter-Brick points out:
“Gandhi’s entry into politics sprang from the firm belief that a citizen has rights and duties, and that he, as an Indian, had a duty to perform. This Indian conception of one’s life task is best expressed in the word dharma or righteous performance of one’s duty in life”.
Born into a family whose function was that of diwan, chief administrator of a princely state; both his family and he saw his dharma as that of a government administrator; probably of a larger state than Porbandar administered by his father. As the princely states were autonomous; but under the control of the British Empire; Gandhi stressed his individual duty to the British Empire. He had lost his caste standing by crossing the sea to study in England – there being a caste prohibition to crossing a large body of water.
Thus; the only dharma he had was a responsibility to the British Empire. However; dharma for Gandhi had to be considered as a self-imposed direction for duty and not imposed by tradition.
Quit India.
Thus in South Africa; he helped to create a medical corps for the English – the 1,100 strong Indian Ambulance Corps – in the 1899-1902 war against the Boers; and again for the government in the 1906 short-lived Zulu Rebellion in Natal.
On his return to India at the start of the First World War; he had tried to recruit Indians to serve in the British Army. He failed in his efforts as individuals; who were not already members of military castes felt no dharmic duties to serve the Empire.
Gandhi’s sense of duty to serve the state of his birth ultimately gave way; when the British Raj was too slow to react favourably to Indian nationalism, granting too little, too late. Moreover; Gandhi was surrounded by Indians in the Indian National Congress; who had never felt any dharmic duty to the British Empire. They wanted to rule India without the British. They had in their hearts the slogan; which they did not use publicly until 1942 “Quit India”
Gandhi’s Vision of Swaraj.
As Judith Brown; another specialist on Gandhi’s thought, writes on the evolution of Gandhi’s vision of swaraj :
“that was to be markedly at odds with the vision of political independence held by most of his colleagues in the Indian National Congress and the country at large. For him, swaraj was not a matter of Indians ejecting the British and stepping into their shoes and seats of power…It was a great enterprise of moral regeneration of a whole people and a transformation of their society, a righting of the wrongs and weaknesses that made colonialism rule possible, and ultimately a transformation of the processes of governance.” (1)
Home Rule.
Gandhi long hoped for Home Rule, Indian independence within what later became the Commonwealth; that is, national government with foreign policy set by consensus of all the member states having a Home Rule status. He had translated into English himself his Hind Swaraj giving the title Indian Home Rule. India had been accepted as a member of the League of Nations although not independent nor having Home Rule status. In fact, the Aga Khan; considered to be an Indian; had been President of the League of Nations Assembly.
For most leaders in the Indian National Congress; it was not foreign policy which mattered but; “who ran things on the ground” in India. The Indian National Congress took advantage of every possibility to extend its control at the local level. Thus; Congress was ready when the Government of India Act was passed in the British Parliament in 1935; to take power through elections set for 1937 down to the provincial level of governance.
From 1937 until 1940; Congress controlled the internal affairs of India; gaining experience in administration that would have paved a smooth road for governing the country at Independence in 1947.
However; at the outbreak of the Second World War; the Congress High Command instructed all its provincial governments to resign in protest at the Viceroy’s declaration of war on Germany; without consulting with the people of India. (Hitler; of course, had consulted no one before attacking Poland).
The immediate result was to create a political vacuum; into which Muhammad Ali Jinnah; also a British-educated lawyer and President of the Muslim League; stepped. Jinnah was aware that London badly needed some show of loyalty in its major imperial possession; and presented himself along with a vague concept of “two nations” – one Hindu; the other Muslim and the need for a “Pakistan” for the Muslim population. (2)
Quit India.
Congress formulated a “Quit India” Campaign of immediate independence for India. Japanese troops were in Burma on the frontier of India. Along with the Japanese; there was a fairly strong contingent of Indian soldiers; who had been captured in Europe by the Germans and then sent to Asia to help the Japanese. These Indian troops were led by the Bengali leader Subhas Chandra Bose; who had played an important role in Congress politics and was a close friend of Jawaharlal Nehru. The British took the Quit India Campaign as a sign of treason in wartime and jailed much of the Congress leadership until June 1945 when the war was over in Europe.
The days of the Empire were limited.
With the end of the Second World War; events speeded up. In 1945, 1st Viscount Wavell; who had been military Commander-in-Chief in India during the war was named Viceroy. Wavell knew the situation well enough to understand that the days of the Empire were limited. He called for an interim government that would be based on a combination of Hindu and Muslim leaders: Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister, Vallabhbhai Patel, the organizational strong man of Congress at Interior, and Liaquat Ali Khan, Jinnah’s deputy, at Finance.
Mahatma Gandhi.
Mahatma Gandhi was largely on the sidelines as the administrative structures were being decided. As Panter-Brick writes:
“The Mahatma wanted to represent all Indians but not all Indians accepted that claim. He was too democratic for the autocratic princes and their vast estates. He looked too Hindu to the Muslims, too unorthodox to the Brahmins, too anti-class war to the Communists, too pro-landowner for the Socialists, and even in his party, too leftist to the right, too secular to some, too religious to others – and too non-violent to the politicians.”
Thus leadership moved to Jawaharlal Nehru; who also wanted to represent all Indians; but as Congress was over 90 percent Hindu, he was seen as a Hindu spokesman with Ali Jinnah for the Muslims.
Jawaharlal Nehru.
Jawaharlal Nehru had been brought into Indian politics by his father, Motilal Nehru; an important lawyer and an early Indian Congress leader in the 1890s. Motilal, interested in spirituality; was a member of the Theosophical Society and a close co-worker with the Theosophical President; Annie Besant, and her Home Rule efforts. Motilal felt that his son needed a Western education to be able to play a real role in Indian politics.
Thus; he sent Jawaharlal to be educated in secondary school and university in England. The separation resulted in that Motilal and Jawaharlal had distant father-son relations; and Motilal passed on few of his spiritual interests to his son.
Jawaharlal and Gandhi developed much of a father-son relation; Gandhi serving as the replacement for the distant Motilal and Gandhi; who had bad relations with his own children; saw Jawaharlal as his son and heir.
The Congress Party.
Jawaharlal Nehru was basically a secular thinker; but who understood the need to make a religious appeal to the Hindu base of the Congress Party. As Nehru wrote:
“Sacralisation of the national movement? I used to be troubled sometimes at the growth of this religious element in our politics, but I know well that there was something else in it, something which supplied a deep inner craving of human beings.”
The “deep inner craving” seemed to express itself by Hindus and Muslims each wanting to govern without the other. Suaraj came to two states; with no spiritual transformation of the leaders. We have had since ‘nationalism’ in its narrowest sense; with wars between India and Pakistan; and the division from Pakistan of East Bengal; become Bangladesh.
Never in South Asian history did so few divide so many, so murderously.
Partition was imposed from above by the British; but no Indian leaders proposed forms of association; which would have provided autonomy without division. Some ideas of an Indian confederation were suggested; but the details had not been worked out. So division seemed to be the only solution. As has been said “Never in South Asian history did so few divide so many, so murderously.” Gandhi boycotted the celebrations of Independence held among riots, massacres and refugee flows. Over a million were killed in a short time; and there were some 18 million refugees and exchanges of population.
Thus; we see the importance of discussing and finding a consensus on the structures of a state. There were no Federalist Papers debates at the time of Indian Independence. Demands for the creation of Pakistan may have been a political move rather than a “final status” demand on the part of Ali Jinnah. Administrative structures may seem dull in contrast to the ideology of political independence; and the righting of social evils. But as Gandhi and Nationalism points out well; without clear understanding of the type of state desired and broadly acceptable; the door was open to religious chauvinists and their simplified divisions.
Notes.
1) See Richard L. Johnson (Ed). Gandhi’s Experiments with Truth (Oxford: Lexington, 2006) 2) For a good biography see Stanley Wolpert Jinnah of Pakistan(Oxford University Press, 1984). Wolpert is also a biographer of Gandhi, see his Gandhi’s Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi (Oxford University Press, 2001)
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The Challenges of the NGO Peacebuilding (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2005, 267pp.)
As Kim Reimann writes in this useful overview of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the peacebuilding field; “In the past two decades, the number and influence of NGOs have grown dramatically; leading many scholars and observers in recent years to argue that a paradigm shift has taken place in politics and international relations theory”.
While the tone of much of the literature on NGOs has been positive; and has presented them in a progressive and idealistic light; the rise of NGOs has not been without controversy or critics.
As NGOs have grown in size and influence; their actions have come under much greater scrutiny… “During the course of the 1990s and early 2000s, a clearly defined set of critiques of NGOs have appeared focusing on:
Their performance and actual effectiveness.
Accountability issues.
Issues of autonomy.
Commercialization.
Ideological and/or political interpretations of their rising influence.”
The rise of NGOs
These critiques are worth looking at and will serve as a framework for this review. However; it is worth looking at the roles that NGOs try to play in the peace-building field; and why there has been increased growth in activity.
The rise of NGOs; such as the Association of World Citizens as important agents in conflict resolution; and post-conflict development efforts comes from the changing nature of conflicts.
Cold War years (1945-1990)
During the Cold War years(1945-1990); governments were the chief actors. NGOs could give advice on disarmament measures for the resolution of certain conflicts, and could provide the setting for some TrackTwo informal meetings. On some special issues that were not directly security-related such as the Law of the Sea negotiations; or the first UN environmental meetings; NGOs already had significant input.
However, even during the Cold War years; in certain areas, especially Africa; we saw the rise of non-state armed forces such as the first civil war in Sudan(1956-1972); the different rebellions in the former Belgium Congo, the Viet Cong in South Vietnam.
The World Council of Churches.
Governments were unable or unwilling to deal with such non-state actors. Much of the negotiations which brought an end to the first Sudanese civil war in 1972; were carried out by the African Conference of Churches and the World Council of Churches.
There are also cases; in which the government controlling the territory is suspect and some governments are unwilling to work with it. I was involved in the early 1990s; in helping to set up child welfare and educational programs through an NGO as the Vietnamese-backed.
Cambodian Government
The Cambodian government was not recognized by some governments and was suspect to others. It was only later that a massive UN-led effort was made in Cambodia. Under UN leadership, NGOs, the Cambodian government, and national government programs; cooperated to restore the country after war, genocide, and the failure of Vietnam to undertake development efforts for the government it helped to put into place.
The US Government and the European Union
Today; we see the same debates in the US government and the European Union; concerning a Hamas-led government in Palestine. There is the current talk of funding through NGOs so as not to deal with Hamas; considered by some a terrorist organization.
NGOs are thought to have speed, flexibility, relative cheapness, high implementation capacity; and lack of bureaucracy. They are also relatively independent from governments; often made up of multinational teams. There is also disillusionment with the role of states in constructing peace in conflict zones — governments are always suspected of acting for narrow self-interest.
NGO strengths can also be weaknesses
However; NGO strengths can also be weaknesses, and as Kim Reimann suggests; it is important to look at performance and effectiveness. It is also necessary to look at government-organized activities in the same places and in the same fields.
I would suggest that each situation presents difficulties linked to history, culture, and the current distribution of local power, and thus governments and NGOs face the same difficulties. NGOs cannot use the police or the military so they must depend on discussion and material rewards.
Performance and effectiveness depend; in large measure on the quality of the persons working for peacebuilding NGOs; thus is an issue of experience and training; background knowledge of the area in which one is working; and the organization’s ability to get information and supplies to workers in the field. Much also depends on relations with national and local authorities; local NGOs and others having local influence.
The national military is always on hand
Moreover; NGOs cannot have staffs who only wait for a crisis to arrive. The national military is always on hand. To meet a new crisis; NGOs have to find people who have worked for them before; or for like-minded NGOs. Many such people have jobs and families, and cannot ‘drop everything to respond to a call. Thus; there is a need for wide and up-to-date NGO networks of people with the needed skills.
There is a need to train people both in the culture of an area and in skills. One has to be able to draw upon a wide range of people; who know the culture of an area. We have seen the difficulties of the US government; depending on too narrow a range of Iraqi exiles for their background information on Iraq.
Democratic Republic of Congo
The number of people who know the history and culture of the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo; (probably the most difficult current conflict situation) is limited and rarely in one place.
Fortunately; there is a growing number of university-based peace studies programs; that can be helpful in training. Kim Reimann has also raised the issue of autonomy — that is the way in which NGOs can prevent being manipulated by their governments, and yet cooperate when governments undertake useful initiatives. There is a useful chapter on NGOs and the peace efforts of Norway by Ann Kelleher and James Taulbee.
Norway
Norway is known for having played a leading role in brokering the Oslo accord in the Israel/Palestine conflict as well as being active in Latin America —Guatemala and Colombia — and especially Sri Lanka. As Kelleher and Taulbee write “ As a peacemaker, Norway sprang suddenly from amid the confusion associated with the reshuffling of international roles after the Cold War. A relatively small, homogeneous population that enjoys a high standard of living has produced a highly educated, closely connected governing circle whose members move easily between public, private, and semi-official roles.
The Norwegian domestic political
The Norwegian domestic political process emphasizes consensus creation rather than confrontation. Norwegians are accustomed to the time-consuming process of sorting out strongly held convictions and dealing with shifting coalitions of interests.
They consider their consensus-building political style as aptly suited to the ambiguities and uncertainties of peacemaking.” Because there are exchanges of people between NGOs; especially church-related, academic life, and government in Norway, and because Norway has no Great Power interests; it is easy for NGOs in Norway to cooperate with the government in peace efforts as full partners; not as manipulated agents of government policy. We have similar conditions in Sweden and Switzerland — thus the important role that NGOs from these countries play in NGO peacemaking efforts.
NGOs are a crucial question
Resources for NGOs is a crucial question. Fundraising from individual givers helps strengthen NGO independence, but it is time-consuming and expensive. In an analysis of NGO activities in rebuilding Rwanda, Joanna Fisher writes:
“NGOs may be benefiting their own image rather than that of the populace that they serve; they plan strategically ar time so as to worry more about proving their worth to get funding instead of worrying about if those helped can survive in the long-term after NGOs leave.”
Accepting money from governments poses problems of independence from government policy but can also be useful.
Getting projects off the ground requires funds that NGOs do not usually have in reserve. We can agree with the editor Henry Carey in his conclusions “NGOs have a vital role in supporting societies emerging from conflicts, half of whom are relapsed old conflicts where earlier efforts at peacebuilding and prevention have failed. Greater assessments of best practices and lessons learned about the vast growth of NGO activity, both acting independently and in partnership with the UN, are needed… Finally, more investigation of how to empower local NGOs which still depend on external resources in most cases needs to be undertaken.”
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The Shifting Grounds of Conflict and Peacebuilding: Stories and Lessons.
(Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2008, 341pp.)
This book is an increasingly used form of oral history collection — sometimes transformed into a book; sometimes kept as oral archives usually in university libraries. John McDonald, US diplomat, UN administrator, and Track II diplomacy pioneer is interviewed by Noa Zanolli; on the different stages of his life and what lessons can be drawn; especially for Track II-citizen diplomacy efforts.
Track I is official government-to-government diplomacy among instructed representatives of the State. Track II is a non-official effort, usually by a non-governmental organization (NGO), such as the Association of World Citizens, academic institutions; sometimes business corporations directed either to other NGOs or directly with government representatives.
John Walter McDonald, Chief Judge, District Court of Southern Alberta in 1944. By Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Track II Efforts.
In this review, I will stress the lessons for Track II efforts. However, as McDonald points out, it is his experience as a Track I Foreign Service officer, that gave him the skills for effective Track II efforts. McDonald quotes a little verse of the Quaker economist and peace worker Kenneth Boulding:
“When Track One will not do,
We have to travel on Track Two.
But for results to be abiding,
The Tracks must meet upon some siding.”
McDonald had a rare career for a US Foreign Service officer in that nearly all his work was related to multilateral settings, dealing with numerous countries at once, rather than the bi-lateral US to one foreign country at a time; which is the usual career pattern This was followed by being Deputy Director, the UN’s International Labour Organization in Geneva from 1974 until 1978.
The Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD).
The State Department has mandatory retirement at the age of sixty-five. Thus, when McDonald retired from the State Department; he had a good deal of experience; and contacts to start in the relatively new field of Track II diplomacy.
He founded along with Dr Louise Diamond, a psychologist; the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy (IMTD) to present Track II approaches; and to carry out some projects either individually; or in cooperation with other NGOs involved in conflict resolution work.
We Live in a World Society, and Violence and Suffering Anywhere is of Concern to Us.
There seems to me to be four areas: where the skills of Track I and Track II overlap. We will look first at the four common skills, which John McDonald mentions through his experience, and then at two specific Track II issues. Those involved in diplomacy require the same skills; but for Track II, they have to be even finer with more skilful means.
Governments are used to dealing with governments. No one will ask the Ambassador of a country “What is it that you do?” or “Why are you interested in this issue?” — two questions which are nearly always asked of NGO representatives.
Therefore, NGO representatives have to have a ready answer justifying a universal concern.
“We live in a world society, and violence and suffering anywhere is of concern to us.”
The reply has to be short and not very philosophical as one does not want to get involved in a discussion of ethics but to move on quickly to the issues involved.
Analysis and listening:
As John McDonald points out repeatedly; listening is a real skill: to hear what the other is saying; both the words and the intensity of the emotions behind the words. Too often, we do not really listen. We are waiting for the chance to present our own position.
We need to be able to record the essence of what we hear without taking notes or using a recorder; but rather to write up the conversation shortly afterwards. As McDonald stresses:
“Success in diplomacy is about people, about spending time with people and building trust relationships.”
Analysis is an ongoing process. Additional contacts, changes in the situation, the actions of other actors — all can modify the original analysis. Thus, there needs to be ways of presenting modified insights to all those involved in the negotiations.
Communication: written and oral.
The ability to communicate clearly; briefly and with policy options outlined at the end of a text is at the heart of all forms of diplomacy. This is particularly true of multilateral diplomacy; where a resolution accepted by consensus is probably the only action to be taken in the short run.
The ability to choose the right words, and to avoid those words that prevent agreement is a crucial skill. Drafting UN resolutions is a particular skill, as words have to have similar meaning in all the official languages. UN resolutions have to be prepared well in advance.
John McDonald gives a good picture of the 18 month sequence; in which US State Department positions are developed for UN conferences. Thus for NGOs, there is a need to know where governments are in their preparation cycle. Ideas presented too late in the cycle are simply ignored; while the same idea presented earlier might be seriously considered.
As John McDonald notes:
“The timing must be right for an initiator of new ideas, and programs to meet with success. The institution has to be ready for new ideas, even though it does not realize this at the time. Initiators must also master the bureaucracy they have to deal with.”
Cultural sensitivity and understanding.
In a world in which an increasingly large number of countries as well as NGO representatives want to be involved in decision-making, sensitivity to cultural styles, values, sense of time and proper behaviour is crucial. As McDonald notes:
“The only thing that works is people-to-people, consensus building. Sitting down, face-to-face and talking about the problem — that’s what I keep trying to do.”
Closely linked to the ability to listen, to cultural sensitivity and to communicate clearly are other inter-personal negotiation skills. Among the most basic is the practice of keeping in contact with people known earlier. McDonald gives examples of telephone calls to people with whom he had worked 20 years earlier who provided insights and information on issues with which he was then dealing. The idea of “trust” — that people one knows will not deliberately mislead you — remains crucial.
Specific Track II Issues.
There are two issues with which government officials do not have to deal with as directly as do NGOs. The first is the selection of persons to be involved in negotiations and the second issue is fund-raising.
Balanced Delegations.
Normally, the State Department and the Foreign Ministries of other countries have professional diplomats to carry out negotiations. For NGOs involved in Track II; and where often the individual participant must cover his own costs, the situation is more delicate.
In some cases, the NGO can prepare a Tract II effort long in advance, cover the costs of participants; and thus choose “balanced delegations”— men/women, background, interests. Often, today, Track II is related to immediate conflict situations with relatively little time to raise funds and select participants. Thus, there needs to be a “pool” of people with experience, skills and availability to move fast when the need or the opportunity is there.
Fund-raising.
A theme which runs through all the descriptions of the activities of the Institute of Multi-Track Diplomacy is the difficulty of fund-raising — an issue common to many NGOs. There are a good number of requests for help from people in conflict situations and opportunities for creative action.
However, the funds are not there for follow up. As McDonald notes “If IMTD had an endowment, I could focus more intensely and continuously on our work, rather than on researching for funding. What this fund-raising headache has taught me is patience.
It’s hard to raise money for peace in the United States. I also had to persevere.”The IMTD has had the chance of having a small number of individuals; who have been very generous, but there are also problems of being overly dependent on a small number of people.
Fund-raising is also a necessary skill but one that not all possess. There is a need for Track II efforts to develop cooperation with universities having conflict resolution courses, with other NGOs working in the field and with governments — nearly a full time job. McDonald’s account of his efforts provides useful insights into Track II approaches — a field that is likely to grow.
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(Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020, 147pp.)
Thomas Nordstrom has written a useful book which more accurately should have been calles:
“The Need for a World Government in Action”.
He outlines many of the challenges facing the world society and stresses that the United Nations does not have the authority or the power to deal with these challenges adequately. The challenges are interrelated and thus must be faced in an interrelated way. Thus climate change has an impact on land use which has an impact on food production. To improve food production, there must be better education on food issues as well as greater equality among women and men, as in many countries women play a major role in food production, food preperation and food conservation.
As governments and U.N. Secretariat members become aware of an issue, the issue is taken up in one or another of the U.N. Specialized Agencies – FAO, WHO, ILO, UNESCO, or a new program is created : the Environment Programme, or different programs on the issue of women.
Logo of the Food and Agriculture Organization. By FAO, original uploader: w:en:User:Cptnemo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
Today, within the halls of the U.N. there are negotiations for a Global Pact on the Environment and for the creation of a World Environment Organization which would be stronger than the existing U.N. Environment Programme. Such a Global Pact for the Environment would clarify important environmental principles and relations between the existing treaties on the environment which have been negotiated separately.
In the United Nations, the international agenda reflects the growing influence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the scientific community in shaping policy. We see this vividly in the discussions on the impact of climate change. The distinction that used to be made between national and international questions has almost entirely vanished. NGOs must be able to provide possible avenues of action based on an effective theoretical analysis that acknowledges the complexity of the international environment.
United Nations Environment Programme Logo. By UNEP FI, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Militarization and The Complex Emergencies.
Governments can not at the same time boost expenditures on armaments and deal effectively with ecological deterioration and the consequences of climate change. Militarization has contributed to the neglect of other pressing issues, such as shrinking forests, erosion of soils and falling water tables. Militarization draws energy and efforts away from constructive action to deal with common problems. Militarization creates rigidity at the center of world politics as well as brittleness which leads to regional conflicts and civil wars. This political paralysis is both a cause and a result of the rigidity and the brittleness of current internatinal politics. Opportunities are missed for building upon the more positive elements of a particular situation.
What is often called “complex emergencies” – a combination of political and social disintegration that includes armed conflicts, ethnic violence, state collapse, warlordism, refugee flows and famine – have become one of the most pressing humanitarian issues of our time. Today’s violent conflicts are often rooted in a mix of exclusion, inequality, mismanagement of natural resources, corruption, and the frustrations that accompany a lack of jobs and opportunitiues. Lack of opportunities sows the seeds of instability and violence.
As Nordstrom points out, behind all the current armed conflicts, there is the presence in a small number of countries of nuclear weapons. If they were used, the level of destruction would be great. Although nuclear disarmament was on the agenda of the U.N. General Assembly from its start, there has been little progress on nuclear disarmament issues.
As world citizen and former President of India S. Radhakrishnan has written:
“To survive we need a revolution in our thoughts and outlook. From the alter of the past we should take the living fire and not the dead ashes. Let us remember the past, be alive to the present and create the future with courage in our hearts and faith in ourselves.”
The great challenge which humanity faces today is to leave behind the culture of violence in which we find ourselves and move rapidly to a culture of peace and solidarity. We can achieve this historic task by casting aside our ancient nationalistic and social prejudices and begin to think and act as responsible Citizens of the World. Nordstrom sets out some of the guideposts.
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October 24 is United Nations (U. N.) Day; marking the day when there were enough ratifications; including those of the five permanent members of the proposed Security Council for the U. N. Charter to come into force. It is a day not only of celebration; but also a day for looking at how the U. N. system can be strengthened; and when necessary, reformed.
There have been a number of periods when proposals for new or different U. N. structures were proposed and discussed. The first was in the 1944-1945 period when the Charter was being drafted. Some who had lived through the decline and then death of the League of Nations wanted a stronger world institution, able to move more quickly and effectively in times of crisis or at the start of armed conflict.
In practice; the League of Nations was reincarnated in 1945 in the U. N. Charter but the names of some of the bodies were changed and new Specialized Agencies such as UNESCO were added. There was some dissatisfaction during the San Francisco negotiations, and an article was added indicating that 10 years after the coming into force of the Charter a proposal to hold a U. N. Charter Review Conference would be placed on the Agenda – thus for 1955.
The possibility of a U. N. Charter Review Conference led in the 1953-1954 period to a host of proposals for changes in the U. N. structures; for a greater role for international law, for a standing U. N. “peace force”. Nearly all these proposals would require modifications in the U. N. Charter.
The semi-official emblem of the League of Nations, used from 1939 to 1941. Vectors by Mysid, based on FOTW. By The original uploader was Mysid at English Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
High-Level Panels.
When 1955 arrived; the United States and the Soviet Union, who did not want a Charter Review Conference; which might have questioned their policies, were able to sweep the Charter Review agenda item under the rug from where it has never emerged. In place of a Charter Review Conference, a U. N. Committee on “Strengthening the U. N. Charter” was set up which made a number of useful suggestions; none of which were put into practice as such. The Committee on Strengthening the Charter was the first of a series of expert committees, “High-Level Panels” set up within the U. N. to review its functioning and its ability to respond to new challenges. There have also been several committees set up outside of the U. N. to look at world challenges and U. N. responses, such as the Commission on Global Governance.
While in practice there have been modifications in the ways the U. N. works; few of these changes have recognized an expert group’s recommendations as the source of the changes. Some of the proposals made would have strengthened some factions of the U. N. system over the then current status quo – most usually to strength the role of developing countries (the South) over the industrialized States (the North). While the vocabulary of “win-win” modifications is often used, in practice few States want to take a chance, and the status quo continues.
U. N. Peacekeeping Forces: The Blue Helmets.
Now, the Secretary General knows well how the U. N. works from his decade as High Commissioner for Refugees, U. N. reform is again “in the air”. There are an increasing number of proposals presented by governments and by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) associated with the U. N. The emphasis today is on what can be done without a revision of the Charter. Most of the proposals turn on what the Secretary General can do on his own authority. The Secretary General cannot go against the will of States – especially the most powerful States – but he does have a certain power of initiative.
There are two aspects of the current U. N. system that were not foreseen in 1945 and which are important today. One is the extensive role of U. N. Peacekeeping Forces: The Blue Helmets. The other is the growing impact of NGOs. There is growing interest in the role of NGOs within the U. N. system in the making and the implementation of policies at the international level. NGOs are more involved than ever before in global policy making and project implementation in such areas as conflict resolution, human rights, humanitarian relief, and environmental protection. (1)
NGOs at the U. N. have a variety of roles – they bring citizens’ concerns to governments, advocate particular policies, present alternative avenues for political participation, provide analysis, serve as an early warning mechanism of potential violence and help implement peace agreements.
Blue Helmet – UNIFIL mission in Lebanon. Peacekeeping forces of Indonesia. By Frea Kama Juno, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Consultative-Status NGOs.
The role of consultative-status NGOs was written into the U. N. Charter at its founding in San Francisco in June 1945. As one of the failings of the League of Nations had been the lack of public support and understanding of the functioning of the League; some of the U. N. Charter drafters felt that a role should be given to NGOs. At the start, both governments and U. N. Secretariat saw NGOs as an information avenue — telling NGO members what the governments and the U. N. was doing and building support for their actions.
However; once NGOs had a foot in the door, the NGOs worked to have a two-way avenue — also telling governments and the Secretariat what NGO members thought and what policies should be carried out at the U. N. Governments were none too happy with this two-way avenue idea and tried to limit the U. N. bodies with which NGOs could ‘consult’. There was no direct relationship with the General Assembly or the Security Council. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in Article 71 of the Charter was the body to which “consultative-status NGOs” were related.
Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room of the Palace of Nations, Geneva (Switzerland). It is the meeting room of the United Nations Human Rights Council. By Ludovic Courtès, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Networking.
What in practice gives NGOs their influence is not what an individual NGO can do alone; but what they can do collectively. ‘Networking’ and especially trans-national networking is the key method of progress. NGOs make networks; which facilitate the trans-national movement of norms, resources, political responsibility, and information. NGO networks tend to be informal, non-binding, temporary, and highly personalized. NGOs are diverse, heterogeneous, and independent. They are diverse in mission, level of resources, methods of operating and effectiveness. However, at the U. N., they are bound together in a common desire to protect the planet and advance the welfare of humanity.
Wikipedia Workshop for Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communications staffs by Wikimedia Bangladesh. This is our one of big initiative to involve all community radio people to enrich Wikipedia. By Hasive, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
On the Same Wave Length.
The role of NGO representatives is to influence policies through participation in the entire policy-making process. What distinguishes the NGO representative’s role at the U. N. from lobbying at the national level is that the representative may appeal to and discuss with the diplomats of many different governments. While some diplomats may be unwilling to consider ideas from anyone; other than the mandate they receive from their Foreign Ministry; others are more open to ideas coming from NGO representatives. Out of the 193 Member States; the NGO representative will always find some diplomats who are ‘on the same wave length’; or who are looking for additional information on which to take a decision, especially on issues on which a government position is not yet set.
Ms. Emma Ruby Sachs, Deputy Director, Avaaz, Ms. May Boeve, Executive Director, 350.org Mr. Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director, Greenpeace International Ms. Yoca Arditi-Rocha, Our Kids Climate Ms. Usha Nair, Climate Leader, Global Gender and Climate Alliance Mr. Michael Brune, Executive Director, Sierra Club Ms. Karuna Singh, Director, Earth Day Network India Mr. Al Gore, Chairman The Climate Reality Project. By UNclimatechange from Bonn, Germany, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Trans-National Advocacy Networks.
It is probably in the environmental field — sustainable development — that there has been the most impact. Each environmental convention or treaty such as those on biological diversity or drought was negotiated separately; but with many of the same NGO representatives present. It is more difficult to measure the NGO role in disarmament and security questions. It is certain that NGO mobilization for an end to nuclear testing and for a ban on land mines and cluster weapons played a role in the conventions; which were steps forward for humanity. However; on other arms issues, NGO input is more difficult to analyze.
‘Trans-national advocacy networks’; which work across frontiers are of increasing importance as seen in the efforts against land mines; for the International Criminal Court and for increased protection from violence toward women and children. The groups working on these issues are found in many different countries; but have learned to work trans-nationally both through face-to-face meetings and through the internet web.
The groups in any particular campaign share certain values and ideas in common; but may differ on other issues. Thus; they come together on an ad hoc basis around a project or a small number of related issues. Yet their effectiveness is based on their being able to function over a relatively long period of time in rather complex networks even when direct success is limited.
Success Story.
These campaigns are based on networks; which combine different actors at various levels of government: local, regional, national, and U. N. (or European Parliament, OSCE etc.). The campaigns are waged by alliances among different types of organizations — membership groups, academic institutions, religious bodies, and ad hoc local groupings. Some groups may be well known, though most are not.
There is a need to work at the local, the national, and the U. N. levels at the same time. Advocacy movements need to be able to contact key decision-makers in national parliaments, government administrations and intergovernmental secretariats. Such mobilization is difficult, and for each ‘success story’ there are many failed efforts. The rise of U. N. consultative-status NGOs has been continual since the early 1970s. NGOs and government diplomats at the U. N. are working ever more closely together to deal with the world challenges which face us all.
Shellard (centre) with The Baroness Lawrence and S.P. Varma at The 68th United Nations Civil Society Conference in August 2019. By Otisjfk, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Note.
(1) This interest is reflected in a number of path-making studies such as P. Willets (Ed.), The Consciences of the World: The Influence of Non-Governmental Organizations in the U. N. System (London: Hurst, 1996), T. Princen and M. Finger (Eds), Environmental NGOs in World Politics: Linking the Global and the Local (London: Routledge, 1994), M. Rech and K. Sikkink, Activists Without Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998); Bas Arts, Math Noortmann and Rob Reinalda (Eds), Non-State Actors in International Relations (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001); and William De Mars, NGOs and Transnational Networks (London: Pluto Press, 2005).
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Louise Diamond; a co-founder of the Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy in Washington, DC; works in areas of inter-ethnic conflict to empower peacebuilders.
“Our power to empower is perhaps the most important role; we can play in the 21st century. The more individuals; who feel empowered to work in their own systems for peace and conflict transformation; the closer the world comes to that critical mass that will allow for a massive leap of consciousness; allowing new processes for peace; that were previously unimaginable to become normative and easy.”
She stresses in her book that the Spirit of Peace is a living process; encoded in our hearts, embodied in our words; expressed through our thoughts and empowered through our choices. Peace:
“Is the everyday practical matter of how we can live together harmoniously; dealing creatively and effectively with the inevitable differences; hurts and fears that arise in human relationships… On a larger scale; peace is a political goal of nations and peoples; on a smaller scale; inner peace is a personal goal for those of us; who are trying to live more consciously within this frenzied world.”
A New Cycle is Beginning.
The world can seem as “a new cycle is beginning; one that stems from the recognition of the fact that we are one. Favoring a relational, intuitional, opportunity-oriented way of thinking and a community, inter-connective, partnership approach to social relations; this new way of being; is built on our emerging understanding of universal truths: matter is energy with meaning and motion. Life is not static; it is flow. We are not broken; we are whole.
If we oppress others; we oppress ourselves…Even as the old systems disintegrate and fade away; pioneers among us; are creating new ways of living and working together; that honor the truth of our oneness. I happen to believe that peacebuilding is at the forefront of this wave; and that its pioneers are and will be among the greatest champions of a new era.”
Louise Diamond’s views will be familiar; to those who deal with individual therapy .As she writes:
“I found that whether I was working with individuals, couples, families or organizations; the work was inevitably about the issues of power and healing. In short; people were struggling to find peace and balance within themselves; and to live and work harmoniously with each other.”
Peace can be Envisaged as Having Three Basic Aspects.
Her road map for action is based on four principles; based on faith and common sense; but that are also the lessons learned for experiences – her own and that of other peacebuilders; whose views she shares.
“These lessons have to do with our basic unity and wholeness; our interdependence; the power of love for reconciliation; and our ability through conscious thought and action; to shape the world we live in.”
Her book is an inquiry into the practical implications of these spiritual lessons. How do we heal ancient wounds and restore justice? How do we ensure healthy communities?.
Peace can be envisaged as having three basic aspects – the water, ice, steam analogy. The most fundamental aspect – the water stage – we could call “metaphysical” and has to do with peace as order, harmony, and unity. Then there is the “serenity” aspect; often an inner peace; which is expressed as calm, tranquillity, equanimity. This calm, however; is also a source of energy, a will to action.
“For me; peace is literally a powerhouse of strength. I experience peace as a specific vibration of dynamic state of being; which, like a song, radiates from my heart and soul.”
The third aspect is that of “relationship – agreement, accord, rapport. The Spirit of Peace reminds us that these three aspects are really one.
The Spirit of Peace to Fill Our Lives.
Peace as harmony, order, tranquillity; accord is very close to the Taoist image of the Tao. As in Taoism; there are many avenues to tap into this flow of peace: music, poetry, dance, communing with nature, making love, deep relaxation, prayer and meditation.
“When we tap into that energy; we have access to vision, intuition, creativity, synergy, and the power of miracles – resources of mind, body, and spirit far beyond our day-to-day awareness. When we rest there; we are at home; we have found peace.
The Spirit of Peace arises from this place. Our work; when confronted with our small-minded sense of separation, our lack of harmony, our experience of conflict; is to center home. (By ‘centering home’, I mean touching the Source within myself.)”
By touching the Source; we awaken to what we need to carry us to new levels of thought and action.
Louise Diamond deals with the shifts in vision; and attitudes necessary for the Spirit of Peace to fill our lives. There are, of course; other aspects of building a peaceful society. There are often needs to build new political and economic institutions; and to formulate new policies. Yet attitude change, at a deep level; is essential. Many, I believe; will find Louise Diamond’s book both very clear and profound.
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By René Wadlow.
In the Declaration of Principles and Programme of Action; adopted by the 1976 World Employment Conference it is stated,
“A basic needs-oriented policy implies the participation of the people in making the decisions which affect them through organizations of their own choice.”
Marshall Wolfe of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) defines participation as:
“the organized efforts to increase control over resources and regulative institutions in given social situations, on the part of groups and movements often excluded from such control.”
Photo of Paulo Freire (1977). By Slobodan Dimitrov, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fathers of Popular Participation.
Among the intellectual “fathers” of popular participation is Ivan Illich and the Brazilian pedagogue Paulo Freire (19 Sep 1921 – 2 May 1997) (l). Illich urged the ‘deprofessionalization’ in all domains of life − schooling, health care, planning − in order to make “ordinary people” responsible for their own well-being.
The strongest affirmation of the superior value of participation over elite decision-making comes from Freire; who held that the touchstone of development is whether people; who were previously treated as mere objects; and acted upon can become subjects of their own social destiny. When people are oppressed or reduced to the culture of silence; they do not participate in their own humanization.
Conversely; when they participate; thereby becoming active subjects of action; they begin to construct their properly human history; and engage in processes of authentic development. Paulo Freire stresses this inclusion of the marginalized in his discussion of agricultural extension efforts. The ideal to be sought in agricultural extension is true communication or reciprocal dialogue; not the mere issuance of information by expert agronomists to peasants or farmers.
Ivan Illich. By Adrift Animal, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Participation.
“Participation” is a term that is often used in three different ways. It is sometimes used; as in much agricultural extension activities; as induced from above by some authorities; who usually seek some social control over the process. Such State-promoted participation usually aims at getting people to produce more effectively. This is not popular participation in the sense that the Basic Needs Approach uses the term “participation”; although in practice State cooperation is usually needed.
“Participation” in the Basic-Needs – inclusion of the marginalized sense – springs from below during a crisis; and in response to some threat to a community’s values or survival. Often with no prior plan or precedent; some hitherto passive group mobilizes itself to protest, to resist, to say “No”. As the world citizen Albert Camus wrote:
“Any oppressed group’s refusal to accept its conditions is always the latent bearer of all affirmations of possible new orders. To say “no” is to open up possibilities for saying “yes” in a multitude of ways. Those who begin by saying “No” to their oppressors soon feel the need to utter some “Yes” of their own.”
Albert Camus, Nobel prize winner, half-length portrait. By Photograph by United Press International, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Basic Needs Approach.
“Participation” in the Basic Needs Approach can also be used to define the catalytic action of third party change agents − technicians, community organizers, missionaries or members of a specialized NGO. Most such change agents view self-reliance of the poor and marginalized as a desirable goal. Accordingly; they see their own activation of the marginalized as “facilitation”; destined to disappear after the people awaken to their dormant capacities to decide and act for themselves.
Popular participation usually follows a sequence of steps:
Initial diagnosis of the problem or condition;
a listing of possible responses to be taken;
selecting one possibility to enact;
organizing, or otherwise preparing oneself to implement the course of action chosen;
self-correction or evaluation in the course of implementation;
debating the merits of future mobilization or organization.
If participation is to influence decision-making at a level; where it makes a difference in national development; there is a necessary transition from the micro, local area to the macro, national planning dimension.
A Basic Needs Approach; provides an opportunity for previously powerless communities to enter into national development thinking. Participation can fruitfully be understood as a moral incentive; enabling hitherto excluded groups to negotiate new packages of material incentives in areas such as food, housing and access to education.
Participation − an active role by intended beneficiaries − is an indispensable feature of the Basic Needs Approach to Development Planning.
Paulo Freire Panel. CEFORTEPE – Center for Training, Technology and Educational Research Prof. “Milton de Almeida Santos”, SME-Campinas. By Luiz Carlos Cappellano, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Notes:
For Ivan Illich see: Toward A History of Needs (New York: Pantheon, 1978).
Ivan Illich. Deschooling Society (New York: Harper and Row, 1983).
For Paulo Freire see: Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York: Herder and Herder, 1970).
Paulo Freire. Education for Critical Consciousness (New York: Seabury Press, 1973).
Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Dr. Rene Wadlow. “Are there not such spirits among us ready to join in the noblest of all adventures— the building…
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Featured Image: Photo by Lan Johnson in Pexels By Rene Wadlow. The United Nations General Assembly has designated 5 April; as The International Day of Conscience. An awakened conscience is essential to meeting…
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27 Sep 2019 – The international relations specialist Stanley Hoffmann once quipped:
“Goals are easy to describe. What matters more is a strategy for reaching them.”
The United Nations through its annual debates in the General Assembly; its special world conferences such as those devoted to the environment, population, food, women, urbanization, and within the Specialized Agencies have created goals for a world public policy in the interests of all humanity. There are three important phases of this world public policy: formulation, implementation and evaluation.
Climate Action Summit.
Thus; this September the UNGA began with a “Climate Action Summit” to evaluate governmental efforts to meet the challenges of climate change. Government leaders set out what they have done, or plan to do at the national level; but they said relatively little on what they could do together.
The question asked many years ago by the world citizen Norman Cousins.
President Trump Addresses Journalists at the UN General Assembly. By U.S. Department of State from United States, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
“Who Speaks for Man”?
To meet the major challenges of world-wide issues; strong leadership is necessary. Yet the avenues for leadership at the world level are difficult to trace. Leadership at the national level is usually clearly structured in a pyramid; with the office of President at the top; with Cabinet Ministers; the higher ranks of the military just below.
There may be a vast informal network of influential advisors; business leaders, the press – all with leadership roles; but the formal structure of governance is hierarchical and clearly defined. People generally expect the Prime Minister or the President to lead. In fact; he is judged on whether or not he provides such leadership.
At the world level; there is no world government as such, and a strong leader at the national level may play little role on the world level. What the Commission on Global Governance wrote in 1994 remains true today:
“At the moment; political caution, national concerns, short-term problems, and a certain fatigue with international causes have combined to produce a dearth of leadership on major international issues. The very magnitude of global problems such as poverty; population or consumerism seems to have daunted potential international leaders. And yet without courageous; long-term leadership at every level – international and national – it is impossible to create and sustain constituencies powerful and reliable enough to make an impact on problems that will determine; one way or another; the future of the human race on this planet.” (1)
The United Nations is the only universal organization at the world level…
Thus; there is a need for constant leadership and direction at the world level. There is a need to maintain and rebuild enthusiasm; to reset the course when policies do not work out as expected; to keep up a momentum and an enthusiasm. The United Nations is the only universal organization at the world level; and thus it is from within the United Nations that leadership at the world level must come. Leaders within the U.N. system must be able to reach beyond the member governments – at times over the heads of current government office holders – to the people of the world.
There are two positions of authority in the ill-defined pyramid structure of the United Nations. One is the Secretary-General; the other is the President of the General Assembly; who is elected for one year at a time. The President of the current; 74th session is Tijjani Muhammed-Bande of Nigeria. There have been times when the head of one of the Specialized Agencies of the U.N. or the financial institutions or U.N. programs have provided leadership; but usually on only one or two subjects.
Flag of the United Nations (Pantone). By We moved to 8.12, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Secretary-General for Leadership.
Especially on the resolution of armed conflicts; people look to the Secretary-General for leadership. In some cases; the Secretary-General has been able to play a central role. As the servant of the Security Council; the Secretary-General has been able to play a mobilizing role in times of conflict; and political crisis in those cases when the Security Council has been unified behind a decision. Since the chairman of the Security Council is a national diplomat and serves on a rotating basis only for one month; he cannot play a real mobilizing role nor is he perceived as a world leader.
Some hope that the President of the U.N. General Assembly; who is in post for a full year; could play a leadership role. So far such hopes have not been realized in practice. It would be difficult to find many people; who can name the last five Presidents of the General Assembly; or to cite much of what they have done other than presiding over meetings.
Today; with real challenges to humanity; with a reform-minded Secretary-General, who for a decade faced refugee issues; we may see some of the marks of strong world leadership.
Note:
1) The Commission on Global Governance. Our Global Neighbourhood (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995)
René Wadlow is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment. He is President of the Association of World Citizens, an international peace organization with consultative status with ECOSOC; the United Nations organ facilitating international cooperation and problem-solving in economic and social issues, and editor of Transnational Perspectives.
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(Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2018)
As Robert Vinson highlights “When Albert Luthuli; president of the African National Congress (ANC). South Africa’s leading anti apartheid organization; became the first African-born recipe ant of the Nobel Peace Prize in December 1961; the world celebrated his advocacy of nonviolent civil disobedience. The prize signaled international recognition for his Gandhian strategy to end apartheid; South Africa’s disastrous white supremist political policy of racial subordination; and separation and connected South Africa’s antiapartheid struggle to the growing global human rights campaigns.
It propelled Luthuli to global celebrity and raised the profile of the ANC; which he had led since 1952. The ANC would survive lethal state repression in the late 1960s; and throughout two ensuing decades. As a mass organization, it articulated a broad; inclusive African nationalism and led the Congress Alliance, a multiracial; milti-ideological antiapartheid coalition that shared Luthuli’s vision of a nonracial, democratic, equitable South Africa.
Albert Luthuli: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
A Vision of Universal Love and Christian-Based Activism.
Both Albert Luthuli and Martin Luther King shared a vision of universal love and Christian-based activism; against the moral evil of racism. Yet for both men; there were followers for whom nonviolence was a technique that could be set aside; if violence produced better or faster results. On the night of 13 December; 1961 as Luthuli and his wife returned to South Africa after his Nobel address; a new formation of ANC members created a new group; Spear of the Nation; set off explosive charges that marked the start of what for some became an armed struggle.
Albert Luthuli (1898 – 1967 ); was the son of a Protestant minister; but who died when Albert was six months old. He was brought up by the family of his mother; which held responsible position in the Christian Zulu milieu. He did his higher studies to become a teacher and a trainer of teachers. He was active in the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA); and made life-long friends in the Christian activist milieu.
A Positive Model of Multiracial Democracy.
In 1948; the unexpected victory of the National Party made apartheid official state policy. In June 1948; Luthuli traveled to the United States for seven months; speaking to churches, civic groups and others. He returned to South Africa; hoping that African Americans would triumph over segregation laws; and that the U.S. would become a positive model of multiracial democracy.
Luthuli became a national political figure during the 1952; Defiance Campaign based on Gandhi’s active nonviolence. Yet escalating State violence marked the 1950s. Younger militants willing to consider armed “self-defense” surged to the fore.
By the mod-1960s; the balance between a nonviolent strategy and a willingness to use force; had shifted in favor of the use of violence. However; on 25 February 1990; two weeks after his liberty was restored; Nelson Mandela addresses a mass rally in Durban; hoping to stem the rising tide of violence between the ANC supporters; and the rival Inkatha Freedom Party led by Mangosu Buthelazi. Speaking of a united South Africa; Mandela invoked Lutjuli’s prophetic words:
” I personally believe that here in South Africa with our own diversities of color and race, we will show the world a new pattern for democracy.”
It is important today to recall the quality of Luthuli’s leadership; his services to the disposseded and his collaborative leadership style.
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