Forum Report

The ‘A World Without Walls: An International conference on Peace Building, Reconciliation and Globalization in an Interdependent World” took place from Saturday the 6th to Wednesday the 10th of November during which the crucial issues surrounding peace building and reconciliation were examined from a multitude of perspectives. The program brought together a group of speakers consisting of 24 leading figures from international politics, academia, and civil society, and more than 100 participants, to discuss salient issues surrounding the role of peace building and reconciliation in global politics and civil society. Among the speakers were Professor Anthony Giddens, former Ecuadoran President Alfredo Palacio and Dr Johan Galtung. The lectures covered a wide variety of topics concerning conflict prevention and reconciliation around the world, and what needs to be done for the future.

Forum Speakers

Dr. Alfredo Palacio (Former President of Ecuador)
Ali Ahmad Jalali (Former Interior Minister of Afghanistan)
Ana Trišić-Babić (Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Prof. Anthony Giddens (Professor Emeritus at the London School of Economics; Life Fellow of King's College, Cambridge; Former Director of the London School of Economics)
Arno Truger (Director of the Austrian Study Center for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR)
Dr Ariel King (Founder of the Ariel Foundation International Women Impacting Public Policy)
Amb. Dr. Cynthia P. Schneider (Former Ambassador of the United States to the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
Dr. Erkki Tuomioja (Former Finnish Foreign Minister)
Prof. Dr.  Fawaz A. Gerges (Professor of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science)
Prof. Dr.  François Heisbourg (Chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (Special Advisor, Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique, Paris)
Dr. Gerhard Prätorius (Head of Coordination CSR and Sustainability, Volkswagen Group)
Dr. Gerlinde Niehus (Head of Corporate Communications Section, Public Diplomacy Division, NATO)
George Galloway (Former UK MP; Vice President of the Stop The War Coalition)
Dr. Gerhard Prätorius (Head of Coordination CSR and Sustainability, Volkswagen Group)
Dr. Gerlinde Niehus (Head, Corporate Communications Section, Public Diplomacy Division, NATO)
Prof. Dr.  Gert Weisskirchen (Former Member of the German Parliament, Former Spokesperson of the Social-Democratic Parliamentary Working Group on Foreign Affairs)
Dr. Hans Günter Brauch (Political Scientist, Historian; Chairman of AFES PRESS)
Heinz J. Kuzdas (Photographer and Author of "Berliner Mauer Kunst: Mit East Side Gallery")
Prof. Dr.  Inge Kaul (Former Director of UNDP's Office of Development Studies)
Ioannis Kasoulides (MEP, Former Foreign Minister of Cyprus; 2008 Cypriot Presidential Candidate)
Lord Jack McConnell (Former First Minister of Scotland)
Sir James Mancham (Former President of the Republic of Seychelles)
Dr. Jan Oberg (Director & Co-Founder of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research)
Janez Janša (Former Prime Minister of Slovenia)
Joaquim Chissano (Former President of Mozambique; Former Chairperson of the African Union Former Presidet of Mozambique)
Dr. Johan Galtung (Norwegian Mathematician and Sociologist; A Principal Founder of the Discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies)
Prof. Dr.  Joris Voorhoeve (Former Defence Minister of Holland and Professor of International Security Studies at Nederlandse Defensie Academie)
Dr. Leonie von Braun (German Judge (Berlin Criminal Court); Chair of Amnesty Germany's coordination group against Impunity)
Dr. Luc Reychler (Professor of International Relations, University of Leuven; Director of the Center of Peace Research and Strategic Studies (CSIS))
Marcia Barrett (Lead Singer of Boney M)
Marina Pendes (Deputy Minister of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Merethe Stagetorn (Defense Lawyer for the Danish Supreme Court)
Dr. Miomir Zuzul (Former Foreign Minister of Croatia, Former Croatian Ambassador to the United States)
Nouzha Skalli (Moroccan Minister for Family, Social Development, and Solidarity)
Prof. Dr.  Oleg Kolobov (Dean of the Faculty of International Relations, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod, Russia)
Ribal Al-Assad (Founder and Chairman of IMAN; Founder and Director of the Organization for Democracy and Freedom in Syria)
Prof. Dr.  Rudolf Bernhardt (Former President of the European Court of Human Rights; Professor, Max-Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law)
Dr. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (Former President of Latvia)

Location

• ICD House of Arts and Culture

Summary of Events

Saturday, 6th November: The first day of the conference began with a series of introductory sessions that set the thematic tones for the days to come. The talks examined the progress of peace building since World War II, world governance crimes against humanity and the post conflict task of reconciliation. The official opening session of the event included speeches from former presidents Joaquim Chissano (Mozambique) and Dr. Alfredo Palacio (Ecuador), the former first minister of Scotland Lord Jack McConnell and Dr Johan Galtung, the principle founder of the field of peace studies. These were followed by Professor Anthony Giddens who spoke on the Nation State in the Global Age and a panel discussion on Peace building and Reconciliation in a New World Order. The day came to a close with a presentation of the SchwarzRotGold initiative, with live music, dinner and refreshments.

Sunday, 7th November: The second day further explored issues concerning creating a, less conflict-ridden world with morning lectures of Globalization and the European Union, Steps towards reducing political violence, deactivating cultural minefields between Islam and the West and the prospects for peace in Afghanistan. The after lunch sessions’ focus turned to the steps necessary to transition from crisis management to prevention and the impact of the fall of the Berlin Wall on global politics. The evening component examined new strategies for peace building and reconciliation using Soft Power and cultural diplomacy and how to bridge gaps between cultural cleavages. The day came to a close with a group dinner where participants and speakers could get to know each other in a relaxed informal atmosphere.

Monday, 8th November: The third day of the conference examined a range of topics, beginning with the psychological walls between peace and intellectual solidarity and the reconceptualization of security after the Berlin Wall. The next morning session consisted of a lecture and panel discussion on the future of Nuclear Proliferation and the arms trade, followed by lectures on NATO and dialectics of Walls, the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility for peace building and reconciliation in the globalised world. The late afternoon examined the realities of a world without walls, the importance of the female perspective in peace building and increasing mutual understanding between Islam and the West.  The academic portion of the evening concluded with a panel discussion on barriers to equality and coexistence, before the Gala Event featuring food, refreshments, live music and art reflecting Berlin’s wall art scene.

Tuesday, 9th November: The morning session of the fourth day of the conference turned its attention to Russian-American-European relationship, and the western Balkans’ EU integration and reconciliation. After lunch a panel discussion explored the impact of the fall of the Berlin Wall and future challenges in global politics, the conflict between peace and justice in international relations and a lecture and panel discussion on international humanitarian law, peacekeeping and the unspoken crime of genocide.

Wednesday, 7th November: The final day of the conference began with the presentation of selected participant papers, covering topics such as that dealt with overcoming cultural cleavages around the world. The final part of the conference looked towards the future with a lecture on Peace building & Biosociety, finishing with a panel discussion on the necessary actions to consolidate and sustaining cooperation to create more peaceful societies.

Saturday, 6th of November 2010

Central Daily Themes:

Tensions, Conflicts and Peace Agreements: Historical Macrostructures and Turning Points since 1945

Dr. Hans Günter Brauch

• Few formal peace agreements after WWII. No official peace agreements after the war. The major turning points in east-west relations were the Korean and Vietnam wars.
• There are a number of schools of thoughts with which to interpret post WWII history: Pragmatic (Grotius) pessimist ( Hobbes), and optimist (Kant).
• All transformations in Europe are results of big wars. Vienna 1815- after Napoleonic wars. Versailles 1919- after WWI and Russian revolution. Exception: Fall of the Berlin wall (and capitalization of eastern Europe apart from Romania)- the only entirely peaceful transition ever in the world. (although aftermath wasn’t entirely peaceful)
• Security systems in UN Charter- universal system of collective security, regional arrangements or agencies, a right of individual or collective self-defense?
• Hobbesian perspective for the end of the Cold War; US technological advanced. Grotian perspective; Soviet learning (perestroika), goal to modernize USSR through reduction in military spending.
• Concerning peace in Europe; four visionaries that made a difference by putting their concepts on the agenda at the right historical moment- David Mitrany (founding a working peace system), George Marshall (from punishment to integration of Germany- led to the EEC then EU). Monnet (functional institution building- intellectual founding father of EU, helped create 65 years of non-fighting, longest ever), and Mikhail Gorbachev’s Perestroika and Glasnost.

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – An Overview”

Merethe Stagetorn

• War is not a crime, it is not forbidden. One of earliest modern examples of genocide is the extermination of Herero people in German Southwest Africa (Namibia) in 1904. Following the Herero uprising caused by building railway they didn’t want, the Germans drove them into desert then stopped them leaving. Eighty percent of the people died.
• In the 20th century there was the genocide of Armenian population in Ottoman Empire 191, the Holocaust, Soviet Union Gulags, the Khmer rouge, the Kurds in northern Iraq, Tutsies in Rwanda, and Ex-Yugoslavia.
• And now, in the 21st century: Sudan-Dafur, Democratic Republic of Congo and others. Many have not yet been tried by a court; more than ten years can pass before this happens.
• The crime of genocide is in having the intent. People’s defense is often to say they didn’t know what was happening.
• It includes preventing births within group and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group, but does not include political killings (killing communists does not count as genocide)
• Preventing the symptoms that lead to genocide must include groups and organizations that cross boundaries between us and them. Hate speech should be made culturally unacceptable. The UN should pose arms embargos to prevent the organization of a genocide, and provide international security protection for moderate leaders.

A World Without Walls: Governing Globalization

Dr. Inge Kaul

• A world without borders is something that benefits only certain people. Therefore, we may need to introduce new borders. We are coming out of the period were nations aimed to privatize the world. We have now moved towards globalization, free trade, capitalization etc
• Today in the press it appears that we are living in times of war: war on terror, currency wars, competition for natural resources, rushing from crisis to crisis .
• International co operation is needed today for financial and peaceful reasons. There is a big tension between having to co-operate.
• Developing countries also want to be taken into account. As a result we are in a tightening web of global crisis.
• Throughout the world we know we should be respectful of our neighbors.
• We need to reach an understanding of complimenting current sovereignty – responsible sovereignty.
• The internet is a fantastic means for joining forces and communication across the world
• Because of the compartmental way the world is we usually do not want to be involved. Danes traditionally generous so many countries get ‘free rides’.
• Today most market failure is due to private failures of the state.

Reconciliation between Countries and Societies: the Example of the French-German Experience

Dr. François Heisbourg

• The initial impetus for reconciliation between Germany and France after the war came from the cultural groups and intellectuals in both countries.
• Without the intellectual and cultural roots between the countries, reconciliation would have been very difficult.
• The new German and French history textbooks are quite effective for young students because they have a common narrative, unlike the ones in China and Japan which still dispute their respective histories.
• Mutual rebuilding, economic entwinement, and the threat of a third World War helped play an integral role in the reconciliation between Germany and France
• Non-military acts and mutual cooperation between France and Germany since the end of the war is an important part of the EU’s DNA.
• Both Russia and the EU agree that Russia joining the EU would be a bad idea because it does not make sense for both sides. Russia joining the EU is highly unlikely.
• The formula that helped Germany and France is not universally applicable. For example, Japan and China have territorial disputes, and in China, Indo-China and the Korean peninsula there are still military conflicts. When Germany and France began the reconciliation process, these were non-issues which allowed them to move forward in the reconciliation process.

Participant Paper: The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) as a bridge between the two Koreas

Dr. Arthur H. Westing

• The Korean state was in 1953 also separated in two. Once again, both states went in remarkably separate ways. For 57 years, the two sides continue to work separately after what was a temporary armistice and have no peace treaty. The agreement established a demarcation line, the DMZ, that prevents access to the natural resources.
• The DMZ could be used to establish a natural reserve, commemorating the conflict and protecting the wildlife and natural resources that have been preserved there.
• In 1991 the Secretary General of South Korea went to Kofi Annan and proposed to create a natural reserve on the DMZ. In 1997 the president of South Korea gave a speech in the UN that the DMZ should be a natural reserve. The North Koreans deny this possibility.
  Now it is time to take diplomatic advantage to do this.
• Therefore, even though it appears completely unlikely, if they do reconcile the DMZ will be gobbled up for agriculture and industrialization and this opportunity will have passed by.
• This confidence building scheme could lay the foundations for peace and make one wall less in the world.

Keynote Address

President Joaquim Chissano

• Interdependence is important in the world today, brought about by the process of globalization.
• Peace building is about many things. People confuse peace building and peace keeping. Peace and the absence of war depend on peace building and the building of many things.
• After the decolonization of the continent the hope of Africans to live in peace with each other was short lived. Violent conflict has done more harm to the continent.
• The African people and their leaders have long realized the problems they have. They need unity and solidarity; however the international interest has not always helped the conflict. There is a divide between East and West - Berlin can be seen as comparable.
• Development of dictatorships was a product of the Cold War.
• In Africa everyone is aware of the importance of elections. There are an increasing percentage of women in leadership and key government positions.
• In many African countries the media is better than political parties to voice their discontent about public service delivery. This population is better informed than ever before.
• Over time peace building is reinforced not only by strengthening of democracy but by improving living standards. Democracy is developing in the right way in Africa (but not everyone will agree).
• In some cases people say that Africa was better off in colonial times than today.
• We need to learn from each other in building peace. In spite of difficulties the progress made is encouraging.

Keynote Address

President Dr. Alfredo Palacio

• South America is finally achieving an importance in the world commensurate with its potential, although in some areas there is inequality.
• A wall between South America and the rest of the world can still be found. The legacy of colonialism persists.
• Ecuador is a good example of the uneven distribution and abuse of power. Multinational companies exploited the countries need for investment and expertise to extract oil and negotiated an unfair share of the profits.
• Countries do not have to succumb to such deals, whether from other governments or the private sector. Equitable partnerships are crucial for peaceful and mutually beneficial development.

Keynote Address

Dr. Johan Galtung

• The fall of the Berlin wall and collapse of USSR was foreseeable. Today we can foresee the decline of the west.
• There is a new category of de-developing countries. The fall of US imperialism will occur before 2020, necessitating an end to violence and coercion and the beginning of dialogue and cooperation.
• The role of state will decline. Regional organizations like the EU are the future. There will also be an alliance of Islamic countries (57 of them). The US and Israel are the only countries that still believe they have divine mandate.
• Capitalism doesn’t have equality built in to it, measures that promote equality need to be added, some of which are known and some which aren’t.
• The West understands mutual but not equal. West always wants a bit extra. The West’s conviction that they are somehow superior needs to go.
• Media should learn to look out for the positive to be an inspiration and not contribute to apathy and pessimism. There is a solution to Israel and the Middle East, namely the 1967 borders
• Globalization was happening before the rise of the West: China and Somalia from 500 to 1500.
• With the decline of the state less people will give their lives for states. 2,000 nations in world.  
• People will dedicate themselves to them more to peace

Welcome Words

Dr. Miomir Zuzul

• Conflict moves and progresses civilization.
• Reconciliation is required for peace building not the other way round.

Welcome Words

Lord Jack McConnell

• Regional issues can strengthen the importance of identities, whether national, regional or historic. Regional configurations should not forget this as the EU has occasionally done.
• National peace building efforts are always slow, and must be reconciled with its urgency without external interference.
• Overall the world is removing in right direction, however efforts must remain positive and proactive to insure against regressing back into conflict.

The Nation State in the Global Age

Prof. Anthony Giddens

• The fall of the Berlin Wall was a transformation of society that not only affected Germany, but the entire world. Many East and West Germans, and even Churchill himself, were opposed to Germany becoming one. This has played into their identity crisis to this day.
• With today’s current economic structure, the poor are asked to bear the faults of the rich countries.
• Globalization is not a single force, but rather a complex set of forces that are at times conflicting and contradictory.
• The advent of globalization does not mean the end of the nation state. Separatist movements strive to form their own nation state in even today’s globalized world.
• Nation states still represent military power and identity, especially within the context of the EU
• Globalization has been driven by the age of communication. Nations are becoming intrinsically cosmopolitan as a result of intensified communication. Nations must decide how to shape their image as a result of this situation
• Being cosmopolitan is heavily influenced by integration today. The nature of integration has changed a great deal. Fifty years ago, an immigrant from Europe moving to America had to leave their way of life and culture completely behind. Today with technology, immigrants can stay in constant touch with their cultures and country from which they left through communicative tools.
• The headscarf debate is one that has evolved and grown more complicated as a result of globalization. Multiculturalism presumes a shared value of rights that are universal and should not be imposed, yet very few countries actually adhere to such an ideal.
• In Canada, multiculturalism is buoyed by institutions where immigrants have a common understanding of what it is like to be Canadian and to maintain a Canadian identity while maintaining their original ethnic identity.
• There has to be unity through diversity in Germany. However, new frameworks need to be implemented to help foster these changes.
• No one has found a way to mix capitalism and socialism.
• There is no nation nowadays which is not struggling with its national identities. England is not anymore called United Kingdom. The reason for this search is that the national identities were based on the otherness. But in the global age nations are not territorial in the same way.
• Globalization is a complex set of forces, they often work upon one another, it’s contradictory, complex and not have a single origin
• The character of immigration itself has changed from the traditional model: first generation: don’t assimilate the new culture. Second generation: half and half. Third generation: totally assimilated
• Chancellor Merkel recently said: “Multiculturalism has failed in Germany” but multiculturalism has never been tried in most of the countries. Multiculturalism has been misunderstood.
• Canadian philosopher Taylor: Multiculturalism is accepting some possibilities, not all values.
• Multiculturalism does not mean letting communities grow as they want as happened in Germany and Netherlands.

Peace building and Reconciliation in a New World Order: New Actors, New Challenges, New Opportunities

Lord Jack McConnell, President Dr. Alfredo Palacio, Prof. Anthony Giddens, Dr. Johan Galtung, Dr. Miomir Zuzul, Dr. Hans Günter Brauch

• Education is the best tool for encouraging change. Funding in many parts of the world is woefully inadequate.
• The UN and WHO budget is also a fraction of the total amount invested in weapons when disarmament would mean that more funds would be available to invest in medicine. However, as long as countries feel menaced by one another (the constant state of anarchy), proposals remain unsuitable.
• The EU is not guaranteed to be of major significance in the future. There is a potential for Europe to move towards a leadership division.
• The creation of a functional EU can be achieved without the attempt to create an EU identity..
• The EU needs a new concept of peace: involving economy, structures, processes and leadership.
• Globalization processes and advancements pose challenges and opportunities – the greatest current dangers are nuclear proliferation and climate change.
• Issues like climate change have incited the need for a new society and new economy, requiring new models, abating from the British industrial revolution: low carbon economy.
• A fundamental shift in thinking is required for the consideration of long term security.
• Iran’s seeking regional power highlights the hypocrisy of nuclear states. The use of sanctions and/or military force on Iran will not work: for attaining security measures.
• The U.S. and U.K. should take responsibility and admit about their interference in Iran politics.
• China will not be the successor of the U.S: China is not interested in this role.
• It should be remembered that China lifted 400,000,000 from poverty, into middle-class.
• There should be a creation of an East Asian Community, based on Confucianism: for growth and Buddhism for wisdom, and incorporating Human Rights etc.
• The West does not understand Islam, and therefore needs to be educated to learn about Islamic culture and religion.

Sunday, 7th of November 2010

Central Daily Themes:

Globalization, Interdependence and the EU´s Strategic Partners

Dr. Ioannis Kasoulides

• International scene is both more peaceful and more complex since fall of Berlin wall.
• The EU needs to be an effective global actor and take the lead in joint responses to common challenges. EU began in encouraging interdependence to discourage war.
• During the last few decades the world has become more interdependent. More global problems have come to light and we have become aware of their global implications.
• Need an international response. The economic crisis has shown the extent that the world is interdependent.
• There is an increasing importance of developing countries, with the trend in Asia’s favor. By 2013 the combined GDP of developing economies will surpass that of the developed world. The combined population of EU and US will only be 9% of the world.
• The world’s gravity centre is shifting from the west to the east. However the emerging powers should not be seen as a homogenous block. EU needs to upgrade its effectiveness with external affairs with both traditional allies and emerging powers.
• The EU has established strategic partnerships with the US, Canada, Russia, Japan, China, India, Brazil and Mexico.
• Getting EU relations right with Africa is one of the hardest challenges. New partnerships are being forged with South Korea and South East Asian countries.
• Close cooperation with china is an absolute necessity. China should play a more constructive role in negotiations, especially concerning Sudan and Iran. India also important.
• Russia has once again become a global player and is trying to regain lost influence in neighborhood.
• Relations between EU and US are now in relaxed phrase, brought about by conciliatory spirit of Obama. This relationship is not only a partnership but an alliance. Will the EU and US seek to defend western interests of a universal power sharing?
• The EU and US have everything to gain from a partnership. Partnerships need to be two way.

Steps to Reducing Political Violence

Dr. Joris Voorhoeve

• In 2050 there will be 2.5 billion people. Half of the world population is younger than 25, this growth could mean high maternal mortality, serious problems like HIV etc.
• Human’s propensity for political violence is historical and remains ever-present. Civil war is the most common, and dangerous threat, producing genocide, persecution and marginalization.
• As Europeans we should strengthen our external relations. EU is the biggest ever invention in international relations: 27 countries peacefully working together for common goals.
• Pressing priorities include:
• Small arms treaties. The worst is the possession of small weapons; half a million people are killed a year. Small arms upset entire societies.
• Reduce rampant population growth in the poorest countries. Countries with a balanced demographic situation are peaceful.
• Development cooperation. We focus too much on economic growth. We should focus institutions that defend the rule of law. Particularly reforming police offices in order to make people to trust in national security.

Deactivating the Cultural Minefields Between the World of Islam and America and the West: The Primacy of Politics?

Dr. Fawaz A. Gerges

• Today xenophobia is everywhere and is being empowered by politicians and the media.
• After the Cold War ended there was a clash of civilizations and culture.
• The divide between the West and Islam that emerged after the fall of the Berlin Wall was based on history and the ideals of Muslim expansionism.
• At the end of the Cold War, Muslims could not figure out why they were the new enemy of the West. The West thought that Muslims were the new ‘Barbarians’ after the Berlin wall came down, while the Muslims felt that the West was trying to imperialize the Middle East as part of a Western hegemony.
• Ironically, Osama Bin Laden and other Muslims who the West fights today, fought alongside the West against the Russians during the Cold War.
• In the early 1990s, Bin Laden and his cohorts mutilated and altered history by declaring the West an intrinsic enemy of Islam; that the west was standing in the way of Muslim states expanding. Al Qaeda said they would be the vanguard and fight for Muslim rights.
• In the late 1990s, the jihadists targeted the ‘far enemy’ which was the USA. They felt that if they attacked the ‘snake’s head’ and fought back against the Muslims, then the Muslim community would be legitimized in the international community.
• 9/11 was more about the M/stronguslim world than it was about the West. Bin Laden was not foolish enough to think he could defeat the West, but rather put them in a greater struggle which is exactly what has happened since that day.
• The war on terror has sustained and expanded al Qaeda over the past years.
• In order to change the debate on the West vs. Islam we will need cultural diplomacy and dialogue.
• Obama said the USA should not view the Muslim world through the prism of ‘terrorism’. He said Islam and Muslim people are an integral part of the American social fabric.
• Cultural diplomacy produces political results. The perception that Muslims hate the West culturally is wrong. Muslims want a free democracy, a free state, free speech, etc; what Muslims dislike about the West is their foreign policy.
• However, unless you have a political solution to work towards to, cultural diplomacy and its benefits will little to no effect.

Prospects for Peace, Reconciliation & Reintegration - Focusing on Next Month's U.S. Reassessment of Obama's COIN Strategy for Afghanistan

Dr. Ali Ahmad Jalali

• The thought in the US and EU that Afghanistan is not a fixable country is very simple minded. Before the 1960s, it even was a holiday destination country for the neighboring countries, it was a peaceful country”.
• Less than a year after Obama decided to send the troops surge, people are talking about the failure of the strategy before it has even started to work.  After the war we had all the conditions to recover but no plan, and today we have a plan but we don’t have the conditions and the time.
• We have to change the strategy in Afghanistan. The challenge is how to find a way to not be military engaged and on the other hand we have to prevent terrorism in the West.
• There are three major actors in Afghanistan: the State, the Taliban insurgence, and the US led international community. The Afghan government should resolve the problem of the insurgency.
• The Taliban will be removed from power but not defeated.
• The story of Afghanistan is a failure of the construction of institutions. Many institutions legitimate themselves as private security institutions.
• Taliban is a general word: there are many groups under that umbrella.
• The Taliban were removed from power in less than two months in 2001, how is it possible that they are growing their power now? Distrust from the civilians in their government, support from neighboring countries, and general growing extremism in the area, doubts about the resolve of the international community.
• Future solutions have to be based on reducing the level of threat by non-military means and building the capacity to respond to that threat.
• You can’t expect a country with such a history of war to reconstruct so soon. Military has to be a supporting element, it should create an environment and this should be all controlled by the Government. Army and police cannot develop in isolation from the government.

Welcome Address

Amb. Harry Helenius

• During the Cold War the border between Russia and Finland was closed, for the first time.
• The borders of the Cold War divided the closeness of Finland and Estonia. Finnish diplomats were not allowed to leave Moscow when in Russia.
• Tourism during the 1960s grew slowly between Finland and Leningrad. Shipping from Tallinn to Helsinki is considered by some to be one of the first cracks in the Iron Curtain, encouraging contact between the two sides
• Thirty percent of EU exports to Russia go via Finland. The walls can not only be physical but mental, it was difficult to have a perceptive insight into Russia during the Cold War.

From Crisis Management to Conflict Prevention

Dr. Erkki Tuomioja

• When the Cold War finished, it greatly reduced the chance of a nuclear war which many were worried about actually happening.
• Military spending immediately dropped after the end of the Cold War, however it has since surpassed the existing levels of that during the Cold War: Mainly the US and China.
• Security does not only relate to military force, it also relates to disease, climate change, human trafficking, and drugs.
• Population growth has made the world interdependent whether we like it or not. As a result many of our challenges are interlinked and connected. If a state cannot protect itself from conflict, then the international community has a responsibility to help those in need.
• The EU can bring a variety of crisis management solutions that no other country or region can. However as a whole, the EU crisis management system is reactive as opposed to proactive, and is plagued by disunity.
• Finland is a small country, but has worked closely with its Nordic neighbors to help UN missions.

From Crisis Management to Conflict Prevention

Dr. Erkki Tuomioja, Lord Jack McConnell, Dr. Joris Voorhoeve, Dr. Ali Ahmad Jalali, Dr. Fawaz A. Gerges & Amb. Dr. Cynthia P. Schneider

• The US role: the USA tends to behave as if every country just were a simple political subject, but the truth is that there are countries with very rich cultures and we should approach them with this in mind.
• The problem is lack of attention to culture. “Culture humanizes whereas politics demonizes”. America tends to treat everyone as a political being.
• The EU: in relation to Europe, the disappointment from pro-Europeans with the defeat of the treaty. There is a crisis of confidence among the European Union.
• The EU does not use effective delivery of the development aid.
• Crisis of identity in EU about its position in world, which is as damaging as US crisis of confidence. There needs to be clarity of what the EU stands for and its purpose. Does no longer lead the world in climate change and does not use its leverage that its development aid contribution would give it.
• Conflict prevention needs to be done on a regional basis and not from Brussels or New York.
• Afghanistan: If the situation after a war is not better that before the war, then that war was not worth it”.
• The problem in Afghanistan is how the war with the Soviet Union was conducted. Afghans just became a pawn. Afghans don’t fight as group but for every village.
• Crisis prevention is a something we wish it happened but never happens. Wars should never be optional; you are forced to go to war.
• We need a new international security organization. After 9/11 US acted ambitiously and unilaterally; fifty years of collective security cooperation ended the morning after 9/11.
• Pakistan is one of most dangerous country in world: weak government, lack of institutional power, nuclear weapons.
• Turkey is a great force for stability and prosperity- a bridge between east and west. There needs to be a greater role for Arab League. Vacuum of internal leadership needs to be filled.
• Neither the USA nor Europe can understand the really complex situation of some Middle East countries.
• It is the lack of opportunities creates insurgents. Conflict prevention is difficult; crises only attract attention after it has become a crisis.
• There is a tendency to blame US and ex-colonial powers too much. Internal dynamics are more important, we need to create institutional frameworks. Democracy is creating foundational aspects of society. When there is no institutions communities fall back on ethnicity and tribalism.
• Regional powers need more critical roles who have interest in stability in their neighborhoods.

The Impact of the Fall of Berlin Wall on Global Politics and the future of Peace building in a Multi-Polar World

Dr. Vike Freiberga

• Countries used to be aligned according to their communist or democratic beliefs.
• The mid-term election results in the USA prove that the USA’s power is weakening even further.
• The current economic powers are slowly losing ground to emerging economies. This was hastened by the financial crisis. This will inevitably lead to more political influence for developing countries in the future.
• The ICC is trying to work with local organizations on the ground in local communities that have been afflicted by tragedies such as rape and violence, and have tried to compensate them in a variety of ways. One of which is having surgeons and doctors who do reconstructive surgery on women who have been brutally raped.
• We are not just living in a multi polar world, but we live in a multitudinous world that requires many skills from all sectors of society.

International Politics in a New World Order: New strategies for Peace building and Reconciliation using Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy

Dr. Alfredo Palacio, Janez Janša, Lord Jack McConnell & Ioannis Kasoulides & Amb. Dr. Cynthia P. Schneider

• Cultural divisions occur for a variety of reasons, and are not simply products of the cultures themselves. External factors can play as much a part as the communities themselves.
• Soft power can be used in a very effective, for example in poverty relief efforts. The more poverty there more likely it is for conflict to occur.
• It seems ridiculous there are 100,000 peace keeping troops under UN. What we need most is a shift away from the resources we commit to, from the easy peace keeping to the more difficult peace building.
• Often peace building mission are too slow, badly commissioned and not enough communication.
• Development challenges are essential in post conflict scenarios. Investment in institutions is crucial. Nothing happens without personal determination and nothing lasts without the institutions.
• The United Nations is in need of reform to more effectively engage in peace building and reconciliation.
• There is awareness of problems now in west
• There was much more respect for culture during the Second World War than in there has been in Iraq.
• Extremists always understand the value of culture- the bombing the Buddhists.
• Culture can be used as a positive force; even democratizing. For example the Afghani television show Afghan Star was merit-based and very popular. It was also transforming for women.
• Increasing inter-cultural understanding is the key for establish peace and allowing for reconciliation of past grievances.

6 Civilizations, 15 Walls How to Approach Them

Dr. Johan Galtung

• Models of civilization: Western, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, Chinese, Japanese and Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The West tends to relate badly to the other models of civilization. It is both universalistic and singularist: they see themselves as superior.
• Other civilizations do not suffer from this tendency. China for instance, the community is the primary unit, not the individual
• The European Union can serve as an example for the rest of the world: Japan and China can cooperate more for mutual benefit and Afghanistan and its surrounding neighbors can create a form of union.
• It is important to learn from each other, not simply try to teach or dictate to one another: to take the best aspects from each and incorporate them.
• The UN is in serious need of reform, beginning with the abolishment of the Veto powers of the S5, and the Security Council should be vastly expanded.

Monday, 8th of November 2010

Central Daily Themes:

Response to the fall of the Berlin Wall: Reconceptualization of Security

Dr. Hans Günter Brauch

• Three reasons triggered the reconceptualization of security in today’s world: the end of the Cold War, Globalization, and the transition from the Holocene to the Anthropocene (where humans have begun to have a significant impact on the world’s environment)
• The need for security creates proactive actors.
• We face two new security challenges: Terrorism and Climate change while globalization has created new actors (terrorist, organized crime) and processes (uncontrolled financial flows and speculation).
• International security: the UN and the League of Nations.
• Alliance security: NATO, Warsaw Pact.
• Human security: Freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom to live in dignity
• There is now a need for environmental security: Global climate change and international, national and human security.
  Climate change is a threat multiplier of existing trends, tensions and instability, that overburdens fragile and conflict prone stated and regions.
• Climate change and International security are interlinked. There needs to be a stabilization of temperature increase at 2 degrees in global average temperature by 2100.
• A combination of sustainable development strategy and peace policy will be needed. We need an anticipatory learning in order to prevent the natural disasters.

Peace, Intellectual Solidarity and Psychological Walls

Dr. Luc Reychler

• Good fences make good neighbors.
• North Korea is really living the Stalinism and the DMZ is like a museum of the Cold War, you can’t believe it exists these days. Both countries long for the normalization of relations, even reunification.
• There are many known steps to take towards building stable peace: the lack of weapons and violence, a positive neighborhood and political-psychological environment, the decrease of multipolarities, dealing with the past, the fall of psychological walls and enhancing dialogue.
• Psychological walls can be intentionally created. Factors which sustain psychological walls include the existence of an unfair playing field born from inequalities.
• So much of the debate of the African economical problem is being taken by white actors. This is another kind of colonialism.
• Most universities are divided into different disciplines. Inter-disciplinary research is still not enough, and much work still falls prey to reductionism.
• The failure on the war on terror is the failure on the empathy.

The Future of Anti Nuclear Proliferation and the Arms Trade - An Overview
Nuclear Abolition and Alternative Defense

Dr. Jan Oberg

• Weapons come from the walls within our own mind. Einstein said everything has changed but our way of thinking.  Today’s Nobel Prize winners have policies that go against the original will of Nobel.
• The ballistic missile defense system is not defensive. Mutually assured destruction is not a defense system.
• Nuclear war could start from a variety of ways: technical or human failure, more countries acquire them, doctrines treat them as conventional, small terrorist groups
• There has been a practical Non Proliferation Treaty breakdown; Ballistic Missile Defense boosts belief that nuclear war can be won.
• Less than one thousand people decide the policies for 5.6 billion people. This is not reflective of a true democracy. No country has ever had a referendum on nuclear weapons.
• public opinion ignored, democratic deficit
• While states have cut back on public spending, they have increased their military spending in sixteen of the nineteen G20 countries.
• There needs to be a focus on possession not proliferation, the Ballistic Missile Defense system should be abandoned.
• We should encourage alternative thinking for security and defense; conversion of military R&D, production, deconstruction of MIMAC through democratic control.
• Global priorities must be better organized: the new climate agreement will be $100 billion, while the Global Arms trade for 2009 was US $58billion.
• The Arms Trade is now a systematic structure. States are now main actors – assisted by private dealers – investment, trade and aid patterns have become intertwined (when you export weapons you can also become an aid donor – called tied aid).  People are paying the price for this lack of non-transparency through corruption, drugs, prostitution etc.
  

The Future of Anti-Nuclear Proliferation and the Arms Trade

Dr. Jan Oberg, Dr. Hans Günter Brauch, & Dr. Luc Reychler

• West needs enemies to justify existence, and these enemies are constructed. 9/11 was used to create an enemy when in reality it does not compare to the amount of murder and deaths from preventable causes in America every day.
• This artificial creation of enemies creates a demand for weapons
• Countries are required to export weapons in order to reduce their price internally
• The weapon industry is based on a male fascination with weapons and does not stem out of any real need.
• Problem in Belgium; the walls between Flemish and French can be easily overcome.
• Needs to be more training for peace, it is not treated as seriously as training for war. Peace building is a professional task. There are many cases where weapons may be required for peace-building but that does not mean there are not too many weapons in the world
• Nuclear weapons are not something to be tamed, they should be abolished completely.  They are not something that belongs to human civilization, individuals should not have the power to kill millions
• Copenhagen was an indication of the true state of global politics; acceptance that great change is needed on the ground but is only happening in speeches.
• Decision-makers, particularly in relation to climate change, need to be reminded of the right of future generations to life.
• Agenda of UN Security Council should be broadened to consider factors in their decisions such as women’s rights and this is starting to happen as it is pushed by the smaller countries
• Japan is a strong supporter of the abolition of nuclear weapons but many Japanese people are unaware that they are the 5th largest nuclear power. America should remove their weapons and bases out of Japan.

Lecture Series - NATO and the Dialectics of Walls

Dr. Gerlinde Niehus

• Walls restricting freedom are erected out of feelings of fear, there are both good and bad walls.
• Security environments are threatened by threats which transcend borders. The most threatening threats are the ones we cannot see – non-conventional and those of non-military nature.
• Terrorist groups have established themselves around different regions, globally – so the threat is still with us – due to instability within the regions they come from.
• Globalization processes are irreversible, and enhance the flow of crime and violence to which democratic states remain vulnerable. Thus many new global challenges have emerged and continue to grow.
• We thus require NATO to engage beyond our own borders, NATO must grow.
• A world without walls is not necessarily required for peace as they can offer freedom and security. Collective defense is not obsolete, but we must find new ways of interpreting it within our new environment- To be currently effective it needs to be modernized (reform and resources).
• NATO should deal with asymmetric methods, including cyberspace.
• NATO needs to deal with cyber defense of our systems and those of our allies – EU also has important role to play.
• Transforming walls to bridges through crisis management; stabilizing, reconstruction and building bridges through partnerships.
• Military capability is necessary but is not sufficient, the future will need better plans and operational capabilities and be better connected with other players including the UN.
• NATO believes the cost of inaction is greater than action.
• NATO partnerships: a way of building bridges and avoiding walls to be built in the first place.
• NATO has 20 partner countries, including Togo and Australia – these partners are thus able to help shape formations of arrangements etc.
• NATO can then become a security hub: benevolent walls provide for peace, security, freedom. Walls are not static as they can be transformed into bridges.
  
  

The Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility for Peace building and Reconciliation in the Globalized World

Dr. Gerhard Prätorius

• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a voluntary approach which goes into various aspects of society, including civil society etc.
• CSR is a commitment to improve community well-being through discretionary actions.
• CSR is a new form of business governance which is greater than legal compliance towards accountability and transparency. It is dialogue orientated, with value and strategy-based components tied in within economic processes of a business/company.
• It includes sustainable development, lowering ones ecological footprint, and confronting resource scarcity.
• Demographic changes will be important, including megacities and the global middle class that is expanding at a rapid pace.
• Measuring well-being is a new emerging discussion – there is no development shown between economic level and happiness.
• It is important to draw new dialogues and partnerships and bring private and public sectors together. Under the challenges of globalization, it has become necessary.
• Volkswagen as an international business needs to interact globally not nationally and thus has adopted a global view. He suggests Volkswagen is on its way in reaching its 2018 strategy, which includes becoming a leadership in environmental stability.
• CSR is thus Volkswagen’s contribution to environmental sustainability
• CSR in practice: stakeholder involvement with increasing expectations – what are Volkswagens CSR ratings? They are at the top of companies which integrate issues of core CSR issues are paramount.
• Very important now to “think blue” – technical solutions are not enough – must make opportunities to use these opportunities – sophisticated technological solutions therefore must be used and applied.
• Corporate citizenship as a global responsibility - it is in their own interest to have employees which are involved and educated internationally and nationally in CSR.
• Growth will come from civil society at all levels who expect businesses to maintain a greener approach (tangible efforts) – thus taking CSR – accountability and transparency.

Is it a World Without Walls?

George Galloway

• The West has double standards on the Palestinian question.
• The Palestinians were dispersed throughout the world 62 years ago, their country was wiped out off the map. They are many in Lebanon and Syrian but you can find them all over the world in countries like Brazil.
• It is wrong that Palestinians, who are the victims of a massive act of expropriation, that are called the terrorists.
• There was a second wave of massive expulsion of Palestinians in 1967 with the occupation of the West Bank of the Jordan river, the east side of Jerusalem and Gaza strip. This was completely illegal, has never been punished
• The world’s biggest law breaker, Israel, has never been punished. How do you think the Islamic world sees this? When you claim that your system is based on the other countries adhesion to the rule of law, then you are exposed as hypocrites.
• Israel has been granted a license to kill and to harm by the Western countries. It is just not moral but dangerous what we are doing. The Al Qaeda phenomenon, the self burning in Madrid etc. we have to stop this.
• I am not a supporter of Hamas but I am a defender of self determination. But we have to face the truth: In Palestine four years ago was the first truly democratic elections ever in the Islamic world.
• Americans are trying to take democracy to the Islamic world but at the same time they allow walls like the Gaza strip. If we don’t deal with this misunderstanding, we do not know what is going to happen next.
• Hamas are not Al Qaeda. Why do we pretend they are? Al Qaeda is a pan-Islamic terrorist organization, Hamas is a liberation movement. We pretend Hamas and Al Qaeda are the same to justify the wars we are doing in the region.
• Today’s wall of Islamophobia is a much more significant world than the Berlin Wall.
• I am a man of the left. I am not against Jews: Chomsky was a Jew, Trotsky was a Jew, Einstein was a Jew. I have never in my life felt or said an anti-Semitic word.
• The myth of the Jewish people: it is likely that a big number of Jews are not Semitic in and out of Israel. There are millions of Jews who support justice to the Palestinian people.
• Walls in the world continue to grow and be built – some of concrete and some invisible, which are far more divisive than concrete walls and are a barrier to many things –people must walk in the other’s shoes.
  

Progress in Gender and Development in Morocco

Nouzha Skalli

• For more than twenty years the Berlin wall was a terrible sign. Walls that generate exclusion and terror must be torn down.
• Morocco promotes the values of the multiple cultures: Arab Bereber, African, Andalusian, and is open to French and Spanish culture.
• The UN summit held last year in New York establishes two problems: poverty, violence towards women and development.
• The Moroccan society is developing thanks to the commitment of King Mohammed VI.
• There is a plan to fight disparities in Morocco: between men and women, economical etc.
• Equality of the Moroccan members of marriage, possibility that the women can give the Moroccan nationality to their children, agenda for gender equality 2010 2015.
• Gender responsibility is highly advanced in Morocco. Since 2002 Morocco has been implementing different strategies on violence against women. The first national survey has been launched.
• Women are trying to achieve equality in different fields in the job market and decision making positions. I am one out of 5 women at the head of a Ministry in Morocco.
• It is very important to give the voice to women in the religious field, because the Koran speaks specifically to men and women.
• The challenge is equality: not to give the same to all but to give more to those who have less.

Islamic Culture in the West

Ribal Al-Assad

• The concept I want to promote is pluralism: a meaningful dialogue between East and West.
• The vast majority of us see multicultural lives every day. Globalization has brought people together in a way that strengthens our societies and economy.
• The Arab world remains unknown for the majority of the West, and from there comes the fear and the suspicion. Can we bridge this cultural gap when many Westerns still think as two separate civilizations?
• The War on Terror is a terrible act of simplification. The use of the term Islamo-fascism means nothing to Muslims. Civilizations are not clashing, they are diverging.
• Violence in the name of Islam is repulsive.
• The message from the religious and political leaders is of hope, yet we see war every day.
• Cultural diplomacy, in my view, has to work together with the political efforts. We need tolerance, education and democracy.
• There are countless people over the world who have been born under repression. Hope is what remains and hope is persistent.
• Our generation has opportunities nowadays that our parents would have never dreamt of. As we march forwards, those left behind seem smaller and smaller. Like those who have not internet.
• We have to support the free movement and the exchange of ideas.
• Obama sent a message that was of dialogue. The Syrian government should allow more media and internet freedom. They have been diminishing human rights.

A World without Walls: Barriers to Equality and Coexistence

Mark Donfried, Janez Janša, Nouzha Skalli, Ribal Al-Assad, George Galloway, Dr. Miomir Zuzul & Dr. Jan Oberg

• There are long term and short term goals: Europe’s institutions need reforming in the short term, removing barriers and increasing understanding is a long term one.
• Civil society and the younger generation will play a big part
• Merkel was wrong to have said that multiculturalism has failed, and is playing a similar game to that of Sarkozy in France
• Immigration is a false issue deployed by the right to distract the public from other more important issues. The same applies to the debate on religious dress.
• Opposition to multiculturalism is support for a monoculture; that is a fascist position.
• Coexistence must be seen as a positive thing, where differences are accepted. Assimilation does not make for a vibrant society.
• Anti-immigrant opinion and political kowtowing to it is the cost of democracy.
• We need to overcome our parochial urges, from the nation-state down a broader worldview needs to be adopted.
• Non-violence is paramount. Conflict is never worth more that its inevitable costs.

The Power of Music to Bridge Cultural Barriers

Marcia Barrett

• Music holds the power to heal, to bring peace to people and to bring people together in celebration of their shared humanity.
• We live in a world where people die every day in conflicts that have their roots in misunderstanding, mistrust and miscommunication. Listening to each other, to understand each other’s cultural is a chance at reconciling people divided by violence and cultures torn by conflict.
• Music holds the power to bring people together. Whilst it differs from culture to culture, it is a medium that demonstrates our shared humanity. When we listen to music we open our minds to a wider understanding of the experiences of others and how our these experiences connect us as human beings. We may all speak different languages Population growth has made the world interdependent whether we like it or not. As a result many of our challenges are interlinked and connected. If a state cannot protect itself from conflict, then the international community has a responsibility to help those in need.