Eupan - Good for All - www.eupan.net

Written while on location in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: I have spent quite a few weeks studying to be in Cambodia – being as aware as I can be of the current situations in this country – while remaining aware of the social/political factors that have shaped its history. In particular, I have been reflecting on the issues of Genocide that characterized the regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, particularly between 1975 to 1979.   As part of our plans for shared time of peace and conflict resolution engagement in the land, we will be visiting the “museum” that commemorates the killing fields, as well as the “S-21” prison, now a museum.   In these ways alone I have been prepared for the reality of death, gruesome genocide and terrible torture that has taken place in this land.   Our first day in Cambodia, having landed in Phnom Penh, we went straight to a tourist event – visiting the King’s home at the Grand Palace.   Our guide told us his name was “Ritz,” and I thought as we walked th...

“At least 28 million people have been killed in more than 150 major armed conflicts fought mainly in the Third World since 1945 (IISS, 1997); another estimate puts the total at 40 million civilian and military deaths (Leitenberg, 2003). The proportion of civilian casualties rose from only 5 per cent of total casualties in the First World War, to 50 per cent by the Second World War and to 80 to 90 per cent by the end of the century, of whom the majority were women and children (Grant, 1992: 26; Collier et al., 2003). This is a reversion to older types of warfare.”  Source:   Contemporary Conflict   Resolution: The prevention, management and transformation of deadly conflicts.   Third Edition Oliver Ramsbotham,   Tom Woodhouse and Hugh Miall. (Page 85)   Let's not revert to warfare - but press forward in peacemaking!! Toward eupan . ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d. Posted via email from Eupan Global Initiative

I attended Elementary and Secondary school in Oregon when Senator Mark O. Hatfield was one of Oregon’s U.S. Senators.   He died this week.   I did not grow up in a politically active family and do not remember too many occasions in school or in my elementary and secondary schooling when we spoke about Senator Hatfield.   But I do remember reading about him.   My recollection is that during his term of office, he was greatly respected.   Neither loved, nor hated, but respected for the integrity. I wonder what U.S. policy and action – and U.S. International relations -   would be like today if more Senators advocated as he did. Hatfield was a Republican who disagreed with then Republican President Ronald Reagan.   He, “used his chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee to denounce what he considered the ‘madness’ of excessive defense spending.” Though a Navy Veteran who participated in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, he is described as “one of the Senate’s most unwavering pac...

We used to say the "First World" and "Third World" to designate the disparities between countries in their "progress." More recently, "Developed" and "Developing" Worlds have been used to be sensitive to the priority given to "First" and "Third" categories. While no term is perfect, I like the term I have recently read - and can not cite as I genuinely do not recall where I read it - "The Major World."  It should serve as a reminder for me (and for all too many who have the privilege to blog/free-press/freedom from war) - that I am the "Minority" in a big world that is complex and intricate.  I am not the "first" nor the  "developed" who brings peace - but a minority individual striving for peace for the entire World.  Toward eupan ~ ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d. Posted via email from Eupan Global Initiative

While much of the concern and focus of the Eupan Global Initiative includes human violence and reconciling that violence for peace – we celebrate all things that bring about the good for the all ! Issues of energy use, production and pollution – which effect all forms of life on this planet – are also within the scope of our interest! Non-Polluting Passive Power that is sustainable and achievable sounds great. Toward eupan ~ ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d. Posted via email from Eupan Global Initiative

In this article by Dr. Scott M. Thomas (December, 2010), Thomas notes several ways in which religion plays an active role in shaping ideology that informs foreign affairs within and between nation states.  ( Full PDF here. )  (More about Dr. Scott M. Thomas here .) If you are young or old - and associated with the Eupan Global Initiative and are thinking about being a peacemaker in our world - you may want to consider ways that you can become an expert on issues of religions and nations states as a means to shaping global peace - bringing the good for the all. The final paragraph of Scott Thomas' articles reads: Faith informs the daily struggles of millions in confronting larger political conflicts regarding democracy, human rights, and economic development. Ethnic and religious diasporas in the global South are connected to the West in ways that can create or reinvigorate collective identities, whose influence can both promote social welfare and fuel terrorism and interreli...

What a privilege to spend the day with Chaiwat Satha-Anand while in Thailand. Dr. Satha-Anand is Professor of Political Science – Thammasat University.  Among other titles, his is the Chairperson of the Strategic Non-Violence Commission. There were many reasons it was interesting to hear and learn from Dr. Satha-Anand – and I learned much from the depth of his “moral” and “peace” experience, teaching, research and life.   One of several interesting things that stood out to me about his story, though – had to do with his motivations and interests in studying peace.   Dr. Satha-Anand was educated in Thailand in the 1970s when Thailand experienced its own levels of political turmoil, including the fact that Dr. Satha-Anand was a student at Thammasat University in 1976 when the October 6 th massacre took place .   As Dr. Satha-Anand said, “This event shaped my life.”   Dr. Satha-Anand went on to study at the University of Hawaii – gleaning from Dr. Glenn D. Paige from a course e...

Ashoka is a citizen sector organization with some particular ideas for “how to change the world.” Social entrepreneurs address complex social problems and -- in our increasingly complex and fast-moving world -- more and more people need those same kinds of skills. Ashoka imagines and builds a world where “everyone is a changemaker.” Sound abstract? Let’s start with an example. Frank Hoffman is an Ashoka Fellow in Germany. Frank is a gynecologist by trade and was frustrated with Germany’s health care rules: Women could not receive preventative breast cancer mammograms until age 50. Frank knew that women needed these services much earlier. He may have been able to advocate for a legislative change, but didn’t. Instead, he taught blind women how to give mammograms. Lacking sight, these women saw the world through their hands. And these sensitive hands could detect -- as well as expensive medical equipment -- early stage breast cancer. Not only did German women receive preventative brea...

Elise Boulding has been an influential thinker and creative voice in peace and conflict theory.   She served as the secretary-general of the International Peace Research Association(IPRA) and president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. Boulding is credited with introducing to the field of peacemaking the idea of “imaging the future.”   For Boulding, the idea of imaging the future is placed within the context of “the 200-year present.”   Within this framework, we must understand that we live in a social space which reaches into the past that extends, as well, into the future.   For Boulding, the “200-year present” contains within it the basis for a world culture of peace and problem solving for the world, but also, the possibility of conflict, chaos and Armageddon. In my reading of religious persons throughout the history of the world, I believe they understood intuitively what Boulding labels with this term, “the 200-year present.”   We must live with...

Learning more about the situation(s) in Burma/Myanmar and Laos - border countries with Thailand. More for you in your shared awareness and shared advocacy can be gleaned from this 50 minute video by John Pilger - entitled "Burma: Land of Fear" Or, this Reith Lecture by the elected and functionally exiled leader of Burma, Aung Sun San Kyi - "Securing Freedom" Hoping to do more to extend the good for the all! Toward eupan . ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

" We are at our best when we use our capacities freely to help one another. Freedom's purpose is to enrich the community. I move from dependency to independence to contribute to the common good, to serve others in their move out of mere dependency.  Interdependence is the path toward the shining city. " Full article at John Franklin Hay's Blog.  Bikehiker ~ Toward eupan . ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d. Posted via email from Eupan Global Initiative

In several public and a few private events recently, I have been asked "What is the Eupan Global Initiative again?"  Or, as one person asked, "You're an anti-Genocide group, right?" So, this post is intended to clarify a few things. The Eupan Global Initiative is not a "membership" based group.  We don't have members - only interested, shared partners.  We do not have a mailing list - though we do have an email distribution list we have used, only on a few occasions. We do have persons who are more invested and involved than others - involving engagement with our events, or with other events where we partner in advocacy.  And, no doubt we have had shared partners over the years who have invested their efforts elsewhere, while we also get new invested partners that show up throughout each new year. We are not (at least currently) a 501(c)3 - not-for-profit charitable organization.  We have explored all the legal options toward this - but hav...

John W. Burton, an early thinker in peace and conflict studies and the author of Conflict Resolution (among many texts) and a professor at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University in Virginia and a fellow at the United States Institute for Peace, created a neologism – provention. It is a combination of engaging prevention of violence while also promoting peace.   Burton has written: conflict provention means deducing from an adequate explanation of the phenomenon of conflict, including its human dimensions, not merely the conditions that create an environment of conflict, and the structural changes required to remove it, but more importantly, the promotion of conditions that create cooperative relationships. May we be the kind of people who work for provention – the prevention of violence – and the promotion of peace. Toward eupan. ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d. Posted via email from Eupan Global Initiative

A fascinating and provocative speech by John Pilger on the occasion of accepting the Sydney (Australia) Peace Prize in 2009. Many Australian specific comments - but a provocative agenda on peace and "PR - Public Relations."  <p> Sydney Peace Prize 2009 from John Pilger on Vimeo .</p> Toward eupan . ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d. Posted via email from Eupan Global Initiative

Let’s celebrate dialogue:   Dialogue is collaborative: two or more sides work together towards common understanding. Debate is oppositional: two sides oppose each other and attempt to prove each other wrong. In dialogue finding common ground is the goal. In debate winning is the goal. In dialogue one listens to the other side in order to understand, find meaning, and find agreement. In debate one listens to the other side in order to find flaws and to counter its arguments. Dialogue enlarges and possibly changes a participant’s point of view. Debate affirms a participant’s own point of view. Dialogue reveals assumptions for re- evaluation. Debate defends assumptions as truth. Dialogue causes introspection into one’s own position. Debate causes critique of the other’s position. Dialogue opens the possibility of reaching a better solution than any of the original solutions. Debate defends one’s own positions as the best solution and excludes other solutions. Dialogue crea...