In this blog I write about world affairs, presenting a view of the world free from NATO propaganda.
Peace Anthropology and Development Anthropology and History are the tools with which I analyze international affairs, as part of a world-wide web of people working for peace through Transcend, UNIDIR and other agencies. Terrorism? This is largely political propaganda: my EPES Mandala Consulting group specialized in “terrorism” and far more people die each year from road accidents or from the flu, than from terror attacks. A lot of news is fear-mongering and most comes from a small number of corporate and government sources. Investigative journalists are a threatened species.
“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.”
What could I do to counter this ludicrous cycle of unending conflict? I decided to create an annex for my APF evaluation, to put on record what CONFLICT is really all about. Here it is: it contains an official EU definition of conflict management and prevention published it the referenced report. Please use it, dear reader! And please do not believe that violent conflict is permanent and unending. Peace is possible. Violence is not inevitable!
Read MoreHonoring my dear friend General Hendrik van der Graaf.
General Henny created and perfected a system of persuading people with firearms to adopt micro-disarmament in exchange for peace and development. General Henny, former member of the Board of UNIDIR – the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research in Geneva - died March 10th 2021 at the age of 88, in his hometown of Eindhoven.
Read MoreThe NYT is sympathetic to this tragedy, but the authors miss a lot of context. They accuse the United Nations of using people who were “woefully unprepared” (that is the journalists’ judgment) for their task of investigating human rights abuses in DRC. I thought it would be useful for us all to share some of these experiences and to explain the context which – naturally enough – a couple of well-meaning journalists might not be able to “feel” or understand.
Read MoreSISTER CITIES are meant to promote knowledge and exchange between people. We start the conversations between Virginia and West Africa through two important texts.
Read MoreCitizen Diplomacy builds international understanding, and the Richmond’s Sister City relationship is intended to build relationships with their twinned cities. In my case, this means primarily Ségou, second city of Mali for which the citizen support group Virginia Friends of Mali was created.
Read MoreWe have created the Sister City relationship between Richmond in Virginia, and Ségou. The idea is that people who know each other, may like each other, gain respect for each other, and promote peaceful understanding.
Read MoreThis text is based on a talk I delivered in Abuja on 20th April 2004 to a conference of senior ambassadors and officials who included the Nigerian Minister of Defense and of Foreign Affairs and the chiefs of staff of all the Nigerian armed forces. Some of it was also published as an opinion piece in The Comet newspaper of Lagos.
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