One World, Many Peaces

The Scariest Halloween Event of All: 'Swine Flu Parties'

Improving your social life and gaining immunity from Swine Flu at the same time? This sounds too good to be true because it is, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the CM (common sense). Believe it or not, people around the U.S. have been hosting-- and attending-- what the CDC calls "Swine Flu Parties." A CDC document I received from the human resources department at a college where I teach this week had, mixed in with a lot of scare tactics and practical information, the following strange passage that Halloween party and zombie movie aficionados should keep in mind:

What is CDC’s recommendation regarding "swine flu parties"?

"Swine flu parties" are gatherings during which people have close contact with a person who has 2009 H1N1 flu in order to become infected with the virus. The intent of these parties is for a person to become infected with what for many people has been a mild disease, in the hope of having natural immunity 2009 H1N1 flu virus that might circulate later and cause more severe disease.

CDC does not recommend "swine flu parties" as a way to protect against 2009 H1N1 flu in the future. While the disease seen in the current 2009 H1N1 flu outbreak has been mild for many people, it has been severe and even fatal for others. There is no way to predict with certainty what the outcome will be for an individual or, equally important, for others to whom the intentionally infected person may spread the virus.

CDC recommends that people with 2009 H1N1 flu avoid contact with others as much as possible. If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.)

So please dear One World, Many Peaces readers, loved ones, friends, acquaintances and total strangers: there's already enough serious epidemics called Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs: AIDS, Syphilis, parasites) associated with getting laid; don't add Swine Flu to them with a Swine Flu Party. If you're Halloween isn't scary enough, here is a scary idea for you. As to how to be social if you have Swine Flu, the CDC isn't very helpful and your best bet may be social media on an oft sanitized device or a sanitarium.  Here is what the CDC recommends for you and your caretakers:

Stay away from others as much as possible to keep from making them sick. If you must leave home, for example to get medical care, wear a facemask if you have one, or cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue. And wash your hands often to keep from spreading flu to others. CDC has information on “Taking Care of a Sick Person in Your Home” on its website at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/guidance_homecare.htm

Asian States Initiate EU-Like Bloc for Peace, Prosperity (and to 'Lead World')

 

Asian states have united to officially oppose the Euro-American formula for global dominance emphasizing "peace and security" with one based on "peace and prosperity" instead, and which has a much better track record historically.  The two focal points of their meeting in Hua Hin, Thailand, was on reducing China-India tensions over a dispute about commercial projects in Kashmir and capitalizing on Asia's relative and growing economic strength worldwide compared to others, like the U.S. and U.K., who continue to struggle with the financial crisis and downturn. This meeting marks a watershed moment in world power politics and world history that should not be underestimated.

The most vocal member of this group of states was newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who has already shown clear signs of wanting to distance Japan from a half-century of U.S. dominance. The new bloc would build upon the existing 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with additional regional partners including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, Japanese officials have said. No mention was made of Pacific Rim organizations which include states like the U.S. and Canada. Pakistan was also conspicuously absent at the meeting and in mention. With the African Union, the European Union and other regional organizations in development, George Orwell's vision for 1984, a regionally fragmented world in which continents compete, may belatedly becoming true.

Another global, state-based movement also started with an effort to reduce tensions between China and India: the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which sought to offer the world a third option to the Cold War superpower approach.  But NAM sought less to 'lead the world' as this new bloc explicitly does than to offer an alternative, and it included many Middle Eastern, African and South American states. The negative example for this new Asian bloc would be the pseudo-alliance Japan formed during World War Two as a public relations tactic to further it's imperial aims: The Greater East-Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. In any case, whatever form it takes, just the idea of a strong pan-Asian organization on EU-lines is a significant current event that cannot help but shape the future.

NATO is 'A Corpse Decomposing' Says General, Should it be Revived?

Halloween seems to be coming early to the largest and most powerful military alliance in existence anywhere today, if not ever. The former head of Canada's armed forces, a longtime member of NATO command whose soldiers are still at the front line in Afghanistan, characterizes the organization as "a corpse decomposing and somebody's going to have to perform a Frankenstein-like life-giving act by breathing some lifesaving air through those rotten lips into those putrescent lungs or the alliance will be done." This is also a clear indication of more fundamental and yet unaddressed issues ab

General Rick Hillier criticizes NATO in no uncertain terms in his new book A Soldier First: Bullets, Bureaucrats and the Politics of War, out next week. He goes on write that, with its ailing mission in Afghanistan, "NATO had started down a road that destroyed much of its credibility and in the end eroded support for the mission in every nation in the alliance. Sadly, years later, the situation remains unchanged." However, he does not seem to directly address  the fact that NATO came into existence to defend capitalist countries against communist ones during the Cold War, and those conditions no longer exist. Instead, NATO is "dominated by jealousies and small, vicious political battles" and a "lack of cohesion, clarity and professionalism," according to General Hillier.

Ironically, NATO (for North Atlantic Treaty Organization)-- an exclusively military alliance-- has carried out more peacekeeping than military missions since the end of the Cold War. NATO's arch nemesis, the Warsaw Pact Organization (WPO), was created by the Soviet Union soon after NATO as a counterbalance and was disbanded soon after the communist bloc collapse in 1989. Again ironically, NATO and the WPO never fought a direct conflict with each other, and their member forces actually served as peacekeepers together. Yet NATO has persisted as if the Cold War was still in effect, without ever formally redefining itself or its purpose, and with as or more mixed results. The question General Hillier raises is: Should NATO be revived?

The U.N. has no permanent peacekeeping or other forces with which to enforce its conventions and treaties. NATO is often criticized by scholars and activists alike for reporting to no one except itself, meaning the military heads of its 28 member states, who are often at odds in terms of troop commitments, funding, purposes and so on. I propose that NATO be put under U.N. command, though I cannot say I am the first to do so. Noting that U.N. conventions and treaties are binding only insofar as members want them to be because of sovereignty issues, transferring NATO to the U.N. would bolster our only world government in ways that current events require and the future merits.

The Return of U.S. Big Stick and Dollar Diplomacy with Olive Branch to Sudan

The "comprehensive strategy to confront the serious and urgent situation in Sudan" President Obama outlined yesterday was far from anything new in American diplomatic affairs, which is not to say ineffective. Actually, the shift in policy marks a sharp return to diplomatic tactics the U.S. perfected during its expansionist phase in the 19th and early 20th centuries: 'big stick' and 'dollar' diplomacy.  Here is how the two policies worked then and are intended to now.

Dollar diplomacy works like dangling a carrot on a stick in front of a donkey, providing a motivation to move in any direction the dangler sees fit. The U.S. did this with Caribbean and South American nations throughout the 19th century to great effect, and is generally associated with Theodore Roosevelt, who also won a Nobel Peace Prize. The Sudan plan outlined by Obama  will hold out "incentives" for Khartoum if it improves its record on human rights and the advancement of peace. Dollar diplomacy incentives generally include generous aid packages and industrial development. Sudanese President Ghazi Salahadin calls this a policy of "engagement not isolation," euphemisms about which he would do well to seek critical historical scrutiny.

Big stick diplomacy generally tends to be used after dollar diplomacy fails, and its effectiveness lies in a threat and/or its actualization: do what we tell you to, or we'll beat you with our bigger stick. The U.S. has done this numerous times, most recently in Iraq under the pretext of eliminating weapons of mass destruction that were never found. While Obama did not explicitly mention the big stick diplomatic tactic, it is implied in affirmation that "Our conscience and our interests in peace and security call upon the United States and the international community to act with a sense of urgency and purpose." These words are remarkably similar to those uttered by George W. Bush and his father before attacking Iraq.

The original U.S. big stick and dollar diplomacies were put into effect because American could not, at the time, dictate terms to other countries because the global empires of the British, French and Spanish were still too strong. In our stage of globalization, the same holds true for different reasons. This is why Alex de Waal, Sudan expert at the Social Science Research Council, rightly states that "It is not as if the US can dictate the terms, let alone bring along Russia, China, and the Arab world." As current events,  President Salahadin is right to think these diplomatic moves are "new" in terms of U.S.-Sudan relations, but they are far from it as historical forces that have shaped the future in which we live.

China-India Tensions Rise over Pakistan and Kashmir Commercial Projects

Tensions between the two most populous countries totaling about one third of world inhabitants were ratcheted up a notch this week, with no resolution in sight. Indian Prime Minister Singh strongly objected to China's new and ongoing commercial projects in Pakistan and the disputed territories it controls in Kashmir. Within a wider context from China's point of view, this is only one more step towards total domination of Central Asian natural resources and industry, highlighted by China's monopolies on most such resources in Afghanistan, to NATO's and the U.S.'s great dismay. 

While Pakistan is internally preoccupied in terms of security due to militants with Afghanistan in much the same plight, China is swooping in to capitalize, snatching up mines of precious and base metals, agricultural lands  as well as key heavy industries in the two countries. Meanwhile, the U.S., NATO and Pakistan itself seem strangely willing to take on the proverbial "dirty work," and content to hand off the rewards to China, which has yet to deploy rapidly growing military powers abroad, anywhere.  Needless to say the extent to which the U.S. military is strained and NATO cooperation halfhearted makes them vulnerable, and Chinese expansionism easy. Not even the U.S. military command could be so dumb as to instigate a war between them.

Kashmir is a contentiously disputed region between India, Pakistan and China in which armed conflict has flared several times between the countries since 1947. The U.N. has deployed several large peacekeeping forces to the region to little success other than maintaining a status quo detrimental to everyone involved, especially the Kashmiri people.  Yet, in the 1970s, India and China agreed to the peaceful principles of coexistence, which then set the stage for the Non-Aligned Movement, arguably the most peaceful global force during the Cold War. All this leads to a far-fetched but poignant question: Are Al-Quaeda and China working together, as their alignment of interests (other than religious) suggest?

If the U.N. Security Council had any prescience whatsoever, they would address the rising tensions between India and China head on without delay. The potentially dire consequences of not doing so have no historical precedent in human history because of the size and military capabilities of the two countries, both nuclear powers. But China is a permanent, veto-wielding member of the Security Council, so little is likely to be done if it were presented as an issue, as was the case with the Korean and Vietnam Wars. China-India tensions, almost inevitable as a current event, must be actively reduced to avoid a catastrophe beyond the proportions of the World Wars.

Che Who? Obama's Global Cult of Personality Begins

President Obama has now reached a pinnacle of global popularity cults matched only by Che Guevara. Cults of personality are a constant throughout human history, but in recent times they have been primarily based on nationality, race and/or ideology, a powerful propaganda machine and a perception of merit (think Nelson Mandela, Adolf Hitler, George Washington and Mao Zedong). Obama has now earned himself a place among them and others, and has bettered them in certain respects.

Obama was limited to the national, racial and ideological cults until late last week, when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to him for, as his campaign rhetoric went and acceptance speech acknowledged, "change" and "hope" that have yet to turn into any actual results, national or global. And in this too he has a lot in common with Che, but that is not my point here. There are much bigger problems and possibilities than Obama talking the talk but not walking the walk yet. Literally and for only 10 months.

As the New York Times reports: "A CD of President Barack Obama's inaugural speech has sold a half million copies in Japan, leading publishers to flood the market with over a dozen language-learning titles centered on his oratory." The worldwide market is about $8 Billion dollars annually. Then there is the infamous Obama Chia Pet, not to mention the innumerable  T-Shirts, posters and other thingamabobs meant only to make money by capitalizing and so perpetuating Obama's cult of personality.

Thanks to mass media and the Internet, the scope of the scope and speed of the spread of Obama's cult of personality is beyond anything Castro could have imagined in plastering Havana with Che posters after his victorious revolution in the 1950s. Obama too has brought about a unique global revolution, as previously reported on One World, Many Peaces, but it has yet to bear any fruits worth saving the seeds for future generations, as he would have us believe. Kings and queens never had it so sweet. Liberalism has not had a comparable cult since Adam Smith, but he put forth some powerful ideas at least.

So this is a warning to the world now and in the future: Obama's global cult of personality is just beginning, and there may be no stopping it even if he his killed tomorrow. He would actually then become the martyr that all long-lasting cults of personality depend on:  religious (i.e. Jesus), philosophical (i.e. Socrates), racial (i.e. Dr. Martin Luther King) and political (i.e. Gramsci). Cults, of personality and otherwise, tend to inhibit their members ability to think, let alone participate in constructive critical dialogue. Therein lies the danger that only Obama himself can temper.

Because Obama's global cult of personality is in its infancy and has done nothing (and so nothing wrong), it is all the easier to become an unknowing, unthinking member. I, for one, still want to believe that he will be an agent of change towards peace and prosperity worldwide that would equal his cult of personality.  But I will not sacrifice constructive critical dialogue in his or anyone else's name (including my own), and deeply fear for those who do and will, and what can happen at their mercy. As a current event creating the future, Obama's global cult of personality cannot be a neutral force.

Launch and Live Coverage of the PJSA Conference on the Power of Nonviolence

Bringing together scholars, activists, educators and leaders of many top local, national and international organizations, the Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) conference starts today at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (October 8-10, 2009). This year's topic is "Exploring the Power of Nonviolence," honoring Gandhi's 140th anniversary. For live coverage follow @AntonyAdolf on Twitter.

Randall Amster, Executive Director of the PJSA and a conference organizer, describe it thus: "a focus on grassroots organizations, working with individuals and groups in the region to help develop a bridge from dialogue to action. Plenary panels, breakout groups, brainstorming sessions, and an impressive list of keynote speakers will offer multiple points of engagement and opportunities for networking with scholars, activists, and educators in the pursuit of peace and justice. Some of the highlights include:

Sister Helen Prejean: author and real-life story behind Dead Man Walking (made into an Academy-Award winning film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn), and also one of the world's great death penalty abolitionists, will give the opening keynote speech tonight. She is also the founder of "Survivor," a victim's advocacy group in New Orleans.

A Panel Discussion on "The Future of Peacemaking":  with Jonathan Schell, author of several books, most recently The Seventh Decade: The New Shape of Nuclear Danger (American Empire Project) and  George Cheney, Director of Peace and Conflict Studies, and of the Barbara L. and Norman C. Tanner Center for Nonviolent Human Rights Advocacy University of Utah.

Will Allen:  Founder of Growing Power and A MacArthur Fellow in 2008, Allen is an urban farmer who is transforming the cultivation, production, and delivery of healthy foods to underserved, urban populations, for which he was named . He will give a plenary speech on Saturday entitled "Food Sovereignty and Justice."

Special Sessions On: Violence in the Workplace, Transformative Nonviolence and the History of Peacemaking, Models for Peace Education, Social Media and Activist Education, and special sessions on the Gandhian tradition, Loyola, and Technology as well as field trips to peace organizations around Wisconsin.

Visit the PJSA Conference website, and get there as soon as you can! If you can't, get live coverage of the 2009 PJSA Conference by following @AntonyAdolf on Twitter. Antony Adolf will be presenting "Transformative Nonviolence and Cultural Change in World History" on Friday afternoon, and is certain this conference is a current event that will shape a more peaceful future for everyone.

Swedish Spanking Ban Spreads Nonviolent Culture Globally

Sweden is known for a lot of great things: it's massages, its Nobel prizes, its filmmakers, its fair dames, and let us not forget smörgåsbord with a variety of herring. Generally, however, spanking and bans on it do not come to mind. Yet this week Sweden is celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of their ban on spanking children,  which proponents argue has done much to spur a nonviolent culture across the country-- and abroad.

Twenty-four other countries around the world passed similar spanking bans since 1979, when Sweden was the first to do so. At the time, traditional spankers claimed that the ban would lead to undisciplined children and could not be enforced. They turned out to be wrong: the percentage of children spanked has dropped from 90% to 10%, youth crime has decreased in Sweden since the mid-1990s, and violent crime has not gone up.

The Swedish ban on spanking is based on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, about which UNICEF says the following on its website:

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights—civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention just for them because people under 18 years old often need special care and protection that adults do not. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognized that children have human rights too.

Although the "legally binding" statement must be taken with a grain of salt because the U.N. itself has no legal way to enforce it, the Convention as a whole is heartening. 

Whether you want the right to spank your child or not, it is plausible that there is a direct correlation with Sweden's consistently strong appearances on the Global Peace Index and the spanking ban. To the old saying "spare the rod, spoil the child" can now be added another: "spare the child, and spoil the violence." Spanking in Sweden is less of a current event today than it was thirty years ago, but the more nonviolence future it has helped create is our present.

The Olympic Peace Tradition and the 2016 Games Candidate Cities

In a few hours, the International Olympic Committee will announce the host of the 2016 Games chosen from four finalists: Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. The two front runners are Chicago and Rio, with Rio having the significant advantage of the Games never having being held in South America, and Chicago with the star power advantages of President Obama and Oprah Winfrey. However, there is also an unacknowledged impetus bringing Chicago ahead of Rio rooted in the origins of the games themselves. 

The Olympic peace tradition was renewed in 2006 with the U.N.’s Olympic Resolution, by which 179 nations agreed to halt hostilities during the Winter Games in Turin, Italy, that year. Legend has it that late in the 9th century BCE, the king of a Greek city-state visited the famed Delphic Oracle with the aim of ending altogether the seemingly interminable hostilities between his compatriots. The priestesses advised him to establish a special truce between local rulers like himself, a bold and unparalleled venture in which he was ultimately successful. The Ancient Greek Olympics are also the origins of among the longast-lasting peace symbols, olive branches.

The terms of the truce provided that, every four years, all fighting between Greeks would cease from twelve days before until twelve days after a sporting competition celebrating the gods, in which all Greeks could participate and travel safely to and from. On this premise, the first Olympic Games were held in 776 BCE at Olympia, a central city named after gods’ dwelling. In time, the Games included literary competitions, diplomatic meetings and trade summits. The original Olympic Games were one of the few ways Ancient Greeks made and maintained inter-polis peace, substituting war for sport, an integral if often understated component of the modern Olympic movement.

The olive-branch crown given to victors was chosen to represent the wisdom of the goddess Athena in giving the plant to the Greeks, and was uniquely suited to represent peace and social concord because olive trees required one or two generations to bear fruit, which assumes a stable state able to withstand external and internal threats. So the point of retelling the story of the Olympics as a historical guide to the 2016 choice is that picking Chicago would give the U.S. one more reason to end its current military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan by then (as if it needed any more) so as to create an Olympian future for us all.

For more stories in the history of peace and peacemaking around the world, check out Antony Adolf's Peace: A World History. (Note: Antony Adolf is of Greek heritage and and lives in Chicago, and hopes that whichever city gets the bid will keep up the Olympic peace tradition.)