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.”
This book tells the story of removing firearms and explosives from Cambodia, a peaceful and neutral country destroyed by the USA's war in Vietnam. NATO Member States have sown war and misery in so many places; and yet USA and Britain, France and others claim to love peace.
Read MoreI decided to create an annex for my African Peace Facility (APF) evaluation, to put on record what CONFLICT is really all about. Here it is: this is now an official EU definition of conflict management and prevention published in the referenced report. Please use it, dear reader! And please do not believe that violent conflict is permanent and unending. Violence is not inevitable !
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 MoreNATO’s summit in Wales (September 4-5) was BAD NEWS for peace makers, and bad for all world citizens. Led by the pugilistic David Cameron, and urged on by the gladiatorial military that pushes Barack Obama’s policy machine, the NATO summit decided to create a new 4,000 strong rapid reaction force for initial deployment in the Baltic…. And then where will this policy lead us?
Read MoreBut whether you believe that NATO is a force for peace and stability, or a malevolent and militaristic alliance of bully-states, what Trump said about defense is hardly reassuring. He signaled his intention to increase military spending by $54 billion: meaning the Pentagon will get an increase of 10% over its current regular budget.
Read More20 Oct 2020 – It was satisfying to read Ben Norton’s exposé of the NATO propaganda machine in Syria. How right he is! A recent analysis posted on TMS in 13 Jan 2020 of press reports in Swiss and Austrian media, showed that 80% come from AP, AFP or Reuters: our ‘free’ press is not free of bias.
Read More
