Well, of course things are always changing. But might a change of mindset be possible in addressing some of the big security concerns of today?
Yesterday, the Oxford Research Group published a briefing paper on 'Global Responses to Global Threats: Sustainable Security for the 21st Century'. They identify the threats to global security as, in this order: 1) Climate Change, 2} Competition over resources, 3) Marginalisation of the Majority World and 4) Global Militarisation - and see 'sustainable security as the alternative to the prevailing 'control paradigm.'
From an Executive summary of the paper:
"Governments will be unwilling to embrace these ideas without pressure from below. The authors argue that NGOs and the wider civil society have a unique chance to coordinate their efforts to convince government that this new approach is practical and effective. This will mean a closer linking of peace, development and environmental issues than has so far been attempted. New political leadership in the USA and UK in the coming years may well present the ideal opportunity for progress, but unless urgent action is taken in the next five to ten years, it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to avoid a highly unstable global system by the middle years of the century."
Find out more here
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Meanwhile, IPS News reports:
"a McMaster University professor now working in Afghanistan was in Ottawa to tell Canadian officials that their war against the Taliban is ill-advised....
Dr. Seddiq Weera, an adviser to the Kabul-based National Commission on Strengthening Peace in Afghanistan, is in a position to know. After visiting senior members of the Taliban, he concluded that the insurgents are ready to negotiate and that persisting in efforts to keep the losing sides in the civil war from participating fully in Afghan life will only intensify the violence."
".... At the core of Weera's proposal is a new commission with a broader mandate than the one he works for. 'Why not invest in a national peace initiative that can be a preventive measure? It will reduce the hostilities, isolate the terrorists and reduce the number of troops needed,' he told IPS.
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And focussing on Africa, an article from a conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, headed "Peace education missing in Africa`s conflict management" reads ....
'Though a vital element in peace promotion, peace education has always missed out in Africa`s approaches to build a peace architecture, African Union (AU) Commission's Deputy Chairperson, Patrick Mazimhaka, said here Monday.'
'"It is important that we find a place for education for peace in our syllabi at all levels of education... as we strive to build lasting peace and sustainable development in Africa," Mazimhaka remarked at the opening of a three-day international conference on Strategies for Peace with Development in Africa.'
