Peace Summit Research Articles

Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine: Envisioning the Post-War Security Order

The article deals with the issue of security in Europe in the effect of the war between Ukraine and Russia from the point of view of Kyiv. Main features of the current security discourse in Ukraine are presented. Ukrainian initiatives in the security sphere are thoroughly analyzed. Special attention is given to Zelenskyy’s Peace Plan and Peace summit. The article discloses peculiarities of the Kyiv Security Compact, which is supposed to become the footing for the new security order in the region. The article ends with the analysis of NATO’s role in Kyiv’s vision about the post-war security order.

Im /Politeness of Power and Authority in Cairo Peace Summit

This paper is mainly concerned with investigating how power and authority in Cairo Peace Summit are used im/politely. Accordingly, this study analyzes power and authority through the elected model. Thus, it aims: uncovering the strategies that politicians employ to gain both authority and power in the chosen data, finding out the persuasive appeals that are utilized by politicians to assert authority and influence public opinion, and shedding light on the different types of authority ( traditional , rational-legal, and charismatic authority. It is hypothesized that: politeness and impoliteness strategies are employed by politicians to gain both authority and power in the chosen data, to assert authority and influence public opinion, and there are three types of authority which are traditional , rational-legal, and charismatic authority.

Tribal Rifts: A Valuation to the Extent of Criminal Justice System and Bodong System in Resolving Crimes and Disputes in the ASEAN Region

The Cordillera Administrative Region's way of resolving crimes and disputes between two tribes is in accordance with their Bodong system wherein the codified and published Pagta or "the law of the Bodong" (literally translated "peace covenant or pact") is Kalinga's number one cultural and historical contribution to the country's National Cultural Treasure. The study determined the extent of Criminal Justice System and Bodong System in resolving crimes and disputes encountered by tribes who are in conflict. The researcher used the case study method wherein the basis for its concept is the theoretical framework, socio-cultural theory and grounded theory and self-report data with convenience sampling. "Semi-structured interviews, narrative response and blog discussions" were also used. 50% of the respondents stand for the statement that bodong system is bound to resolve cases that involve murder, land disputes, loss of property and other violations. Hence, the Cordillera Administrative Region's urge in pursuing in the legalization and government recognition of the Bodong System has put an ease with the lengthy trials of the Criminal Justice System. The Cordilleran leaders' initiative to organize PEACE SUMMIT every year is an effective way of informing people of Cordillera the essence of Bodong in their life not just a mere machinery, but rather a system.

The Distinctive Effects of Empathy and Hope in Intractable Conflicts

The goal of the current research was to examine how discrete positive intergroup emotional phenomena affect conflict-related attitudes in different contexts of intractable conflict. We hypothesized that empathy, but not hope would be negatively associated with aggressive attitudes during escalation, while hope, but not empathy would be associated with conciliatory attitudes during de-escalation. In study 1, we examined our hypotheses within a correlational design in an emotion-inducing context, while in study 2 a two-wave survey was conducted during real-life events within the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; a peace summit as well as a war. Both studies supported our hypotheses, thus indicating the unique, yet complimentary, contribution of each of the two emotional phenomena to the advancement of peace.

Exploring Participant Motivations to Take Part in an Elite, Multinational, Sport-for-Development Event

One neglected area of research in sport event management has been to examine the motivations of individuals to take part in large, multinational sport-for-development (SFD) events. The importance of examining such motivations is highlighted by SFD's frequent struggle with attracting individuals to the programs, despite well-meaning intentions and agendas. Hence, we undertook this study to examine participant motivations for attending the World Scholar-Athlete Games and World Youth Peace Summit, a combined, multinational SFD event with a peace agenda set in the US. We conducted two studies—one quantitatively focused and the other through personal interviews and focus groups. Results from both studies revealed that individuals were motivated to participate in order to engage in world learning, for skill development, and for the opportunity to travel, with world learning being the most prominent factor. International participants had higher mean scores on all factors than domestic participants, and sport participants were more motivated by skill development than fine arts participants. These findings imply that sport events with a peace focus should highlight socialization opportunities and the mission of the organization to attract participants, while still providing an environment of healthy competition and skill development.

Interrogating ‘new anti-Semitism’

Since the breakdown of the Middle East Peace Summit at Camp David in 2000 and the start of the second Palestinian Intifada there has been a voluminous literature that asserts that hostility to Israel and Zionism is a new form of anti-Semitism. This essay critiques the ‘new anti-Semitism’ view. Reversing the method that Plato uses in the Republic, the analysis moves from microcosm (an imaginary ride on a London bus) to macrocosm (the Middle East). In the process, the author argues that anti-Semitism is best defined not by an attitude to Jews but by the figure of ‘the Jew’. In the light of the analysis, and bearing in mind the variety of possible reasons for hostility to Israel or Zionism, it is difficult to see how the ‘new anti-Semitism’ view can be sustained.

Emotional barriers to peace: Emotions and public opinion of Jewish Israelis about the peace process in the Middle East.

It is well-established today that the psychological barrier is one of the most prominent factors operating against efforts to promote peace. However, most studies along these lines have concentrated on the cognitive barriers and neglected the emotional ones. Hence, the main goal of this study is to create a deeper understanding of how emotions (e.g., fear, anger, and hatred) directed toward an adversary serve as a barrier to potential public support for peaceful resolution of a conflict. To that end, an experimental survey was conducted among a representative nationwide sample of Jewish Israelis (N = 501) in the week prior to the Annapolis Peace Summit. Negative emotions were stimulated, and different variables reflecting support for peace or violence were measured. Results obtained via paths analysis using structural equation modeling have drawn a comprehensive map of the distinct impact of each emotion on specific aspects of public opinion toward the peace process.

“Religion, World Order, and Peace” Ten Years Later

“Religion, World Order, and Peace” Ten Years Later David Little Problems and challenges as they looked a decade ago Composed as the background paper for the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, held at the United Nations in 2000, “Religion, World Order, and Peace” had two basic purposes. It was intended to provide a general orientation to the subject of religion and peace by introducing key considerations and complications; it was also intended to identify some of the pressing concerns that ought to be addressed in any serious engagement with the topic. The paper stressed that by initiating, as proposed, informal contacts between the UN and religious organizations around the world, religious and spiritual leaders need to appreciate both the promise and the frustration accompanying international efforts, like those of the UN, in the areas of social and economic development and the resolution of conflict. That would mean embracing at once an expansive spirit of cooperation and public responsibility, and a deepened awareness of the challenges posed by collaborative effort, both among different communities as well as within them. It would, in addition, mean taking a very hard look at the record of achievement of the different traditions represented and sharing best practices only after worst practices had honestly been acknowledged. The paper urged that religious actors be looked at as forces for both peace and violence and that an effort be made to account for and address the difference. It also called for attention to the constructive as well as the destructive effects of political, economic, and social conditions on religious thought and action. Second, the paper listed seven “Topics of Special Concern” (TSCs), or areas of particular challenge, as urgently pertinent to the subject of religion and peace: 1. Treatment of Minorities; 2. Conflicting Interpretations of Religious Freedom; 3. Force and Non‐violence; 4. Religion and Human Rights; 5. Religion and Public Life; 6. Coping with the Aftermath of Violence; and 7. The Meaning of Tolerance. The objective of inviting retrospective reflections on the background document from representatives or scholars of six religious traditions is to reconsider how the proposed orientation and list of challenges look a decade later. Where things stand today As to the paper’s general orientation, all six authors agree, or at least imply, that the desirable spirit of cooperation and public responsibility toward peacemaking and development can satisfactorily advance among religious and spiritual leaders only when combined with a clear‐eyed examination of obstacles that exist either among different traditions or within the same one. They all find heartening examples of peace‐oriented thinking and action within their respective communities, though most of the authors either state explicitly or hint that such efforts are by no means uniformly accepted within the communities they represent. In one way or another, all give fairly concrete guidance regarding what must be done to advance the peacemaking inclinations of their traditions over forces inside and out that oppose or retard those inclinations. As to specific commentary on the TSCs, all seven topics are addressed, and several are helpfully reframed and expanded to include urgent issues not identified in the original paper. As would be expected, the responses overlap in respect to one or another of the topics and will be so reviewed. The comments of the authors will occasionally be used as a basis for further reflection on the topics under consideration and their implications for religion and peace. Wande Abimbola takes up concerns jointly touched on in regard to TSCs 1. Treatment of Minorities, 2. Conflicting Interpretations of Religious Freedom, and 7. The Meaning of Tolerance. In addition, he combines his reflections with an urgent appeal for UN assistance. He is particularly distressed by perceived abuses against indigenous minority religions in Africa, the Americas, and Australia caused by “shameful and violent” attempts at conversion by well‐supported Christian and Muslim evangelists. This is the result of a failure to consider that “what some regard as a legitimate effort at peaceful persuasion, others take to be a coercive intrusion that unfairly threatens the right to practice religion free of outside harassment and disruption,” in the language of “Religion, World Order, and Peace.” Abimbola implies...

Religion, World Order, and Peace: A Muslim Perspective

Religion, World Order, and Peace: A Muslim Perspective Abdulaziz Sachedina David Little’s piece on “Religion, World Order, and Peace,” has underscored the importance of engagement with religious communities and their leaders in making the international order more peaceful and free of intolerance and violence. His essay has identified several topics of special concern with the purpose of garnering the active support of religious communities whose traditions are open to all sorts of retrieval by different interest groups within a single normative tradition to either further or stifle the positive role religion can play in public sphere. In the following pages, I will endeavor to address specific issues that need to be raised in the context of Islamic tradition and its political/public goals that need to be reformulated to accommodate the reality of not only the plurality of religions but also intrafaith relations that seek justification in the normative sources of Islam, such as the Qur’an and the Tradition (Sunna). Based on my field experience in the Muslim world, I will also focus on the importance of the need for the UN to connect to religious leaders in Muslim nation‐states and not just their autocratic rulers. Relevant in this connection is the public–private issue as navigated by an Islamic understanding of pluralism and consensual politics and the UN’s need to get religiously literate to influence the course of events in the Muslim world to promote freedoms of religion and expression as the fundamental human rights of all citizens. Obviously, the latter goal cannot be achieved without holding accountable those who continue to rule with force and violence even when they lack the necessary political legitimacy. Since 9/11, the world of the faithful in Muslim societies has been in turmoil because the living Islam, dominated by its traditional interpreters, the learned ulema, has not been able to guide the community at the most critical period of its existence. As indicated by Little, it is not only “flawed” religion that can become the breeding ground for violence and conflict; it is also the unjust politics that becomes the source of a violent posture adopted by religiously sensitive people to combat their corrupt leaders. To say that Islam is a peaceful religion that has been hijacked by a few militant extremist is to mislead the world to its internal tensions generated by different versions of Islamic ideals—from those versions advocating peaceful coexistence to those urging full conquest of the world for God’s religion. Likewise, there is a range of views within Islam about appropriate responses to undemocratic governance in the Muslim countries. The internal dialogue among Muslims has as yet to confront the real questions about Islam’s spiritual and moral potentials that could be harnessed by the national governments and an international body like the UN to bring about peaceful resolution to ongoing conflicts in many parts of the Muslim world. A real partnership between the UN and Muslim religious leadership that may hold a key to unlock those interpretations of Islam that can further peace has not as yet been realized. The acute problem that the international body faces is its inability to garner the support of the influential religious leaders who could act as conduit to the goals that were articulated on the occasion of the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders in the year 2000. I am sure that the question: “Who speaks for Islam and Muslim communities?” has been on the mind of many organizers at the UN. With the lack of political freedom in most of the Muslim countries where human rights violation occur more frequently, the UN needs to seek other ways of implementing incremental progress in people’s right to consensual politics. This is the key to correct many areas of concern in Little’s “topics of special concern.” The two areas of special concern, in my opinion, are as follows: first, the need for the UN to identify influential spiritual/moral leadership in the Muslim world, who are also deeply committed to the reinterpretation of the Islamic normative sources and their implementation in advancing democratic governance with a commitment to uphold international conventions...

The UN System and Religious Actors in the Context of Global Change

The UN System and Religious Actors in the Context of Global Change Josef Boehle Introduction Past political efforts of achieving large‐scale global systemic change have been successful if they have been rooted in and supported by large alliances of non‐governmental and civil society organizations. The examples of the movements for banning land mines and for the establishment of an International Criminal Court, the Jubilee 2000 campaign and the Make Poverty History campaign are some of the more recent examples. The fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany caused by a grassroots citizen movement, supported by Christian communities in the former East Germany, as well as the Solidarnosc trade union movement supported by the Catholic Church in Poland, are among the best known examples of recent history where citizen movements and religious actors joint forces. Given that the pre‐eminent global forum, where regular interactions of NGOs, transnational civil society networks and governments take place is the UN System and given the importance of citizen movements and religious actors for sustainable global change, a closer look at how civil society and religious actors engage with the UN System can make an important contribution both to analysis and strategic planning when responding to contemporary global challenges. In this article, I will look at religious actors in the wider context of global civil society and in the context of the UN System, then look at the pioneering programs for engaging with religious actors that have been developed within UNESCO, and finally reflect on the crucial contribution that religious actors are making to development cooperation and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Alliances between grassroots movements, non‐profit organizations, religious communities, and spiritual organizations, supported by religious and spiritual leaders, can have an immense global impact. The Jubilee 2000 debt relief campaign for poor countries is one example of such an alliance across a great diversity of participating groups that had won the support of many religious leaders and communities. Other less well‐known examples of the influence of global movements of religious NGOs are, for example, the participation of religious and spiritual organizations in the UNESCO led Global Movement for a Culture of Peace and the support of religious and spiritual organizations for the 2001‐2010 UN Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non‐violence for the Children of the World (Boehle, 2001, p. 217–218). NGOs often start the initial initiatives that result years later in changes in national and international law, in (re)forming international values and norms, and in (re)shaping international institutions and their programs. For example, seen from a long‐term perspective, it can be argued that it was the over 100‐years‐old international interreligious movement with its countless events and activities throughout the last century that prepared the ground for the major international interreligious events during the last decade like the Millennium World Peace Summit held in New York in 2000 or the “High‐level Dialogue on Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding and Cooperation for Peace” of the UN General Assembly in 2007 (http://www.un.org/ga/president/62/issues/hld-interreligious.shtml). The “Millennium World Peace Summit” (28–31 August 2000) brought together more than 1,000 senior religious, spiritual, and indigenous leaders from over 50 countries at the UN to address together major world problems and increase interreligious understanding and cooperation (Boehle, Josef 2001, p. 230ff). In Development and Faith, a book of case studies from around the world of religious organizations engaging with development and peace issues, Marshall and van Saanen point to the Millennium World Peace Summit and its impact: Yet since that meeting in 2000, faith groups have steadily intensified their engagement in the MDG framework, and religious actors are now poised to play even more significant roles. The major areas of engagement include national, regional, and global advocacy and mobilization around the MDGs; implementing specific programs to help fulfill them; and monitoring progress. (Marshall and van Saanen, 2007, p. 24) More recently, a major global event was the “High‐level Dialogue on Interreligious and Intercultural Understanding and Cooperation for Peace” (4, 5, and 8 October 2007), the first formal high‐level session of the UN...

Religion, World Order, and Peace: Buddhist Responses

Religion, World Order, and Peace: Buddhist Responses Donald K. Swearer The following essay presents four outstanding examples of Buddhist leaders who have dedicated their lives to addressing the issues highlighted in “Religion, World Order, and Peace,” the document prepared for the U.N. Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. The authors of the document rightly point out that from a historical perspective the world’s religions have served to constitute a sense of social solidarity but they also have contributed to enmity and violent conflict. Doctrinally, the world religions uphold ideals of peace and non‐violence, but historically they have been instrumental causes of intolerance and discrimination. In the face of the complicated connection between religion and conflict, the authors call on religious and spiritual leaders to commit to mitigating violence and transforming it into constructive behavior in ways that involve rethinking the formation of the religious life, reexamining sacred symbols, and reallocating resources. While not ignoring contemporary instances of Buddhist intolerance and even violence, are there exemplary Buddhists who are responding in positive and creative ways to the challenge posed by the U.N. document? To answer this question, I shall look at four different examples: Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese monk credited with coining the phrase, “socially engaged Buddhism;” Sulak Sivaraksa, the Thai social activist and co‐founder of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists; A.T. Ariyaratne, the founder of the Sarvodaya Shramadana movement, the largest Buddhist NGO in Sri Lanka; and Dharma Master Cheng Yen, the Taiwanese nun who established the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, the largest charity organization in Taiwan with centers in thirty countries. Although Thich Nhat Hanh’s current fame in the Americas and Europe is as a Zen meditation teacher who leads spiritual retreats, his vocation as monk and peace activist began in Vietnam during the waning days of French colonialism, World War II, and the Vietnam War. Receiving full monastic ordination in 1949, he founded the An Quang Institute of Buddhist Studies in Saigon in 1950, and Van Hanh Buddhist University and the School of Youth for Social Service in the mid‐1960s. The latter became one of the primary centers of socially engaged Buddhist activism dedicated to healing the violence of the Vietnam War on the streets of Saigon. In 1966, Nhat Hahn presented a five‐point peace proposal to Washington that included a timeline for U.S. troop withdrawal, and in 1969 he headed the Vietnamese Buddhist Peace Delegation during the Paris Peace talks. After the end of the Vietnam War, he helped organize rescue missions for Vietnamese refugees trying to escape from political oppression. In 1965, Nhat Hanh founded the Order of Interbeing (Tiep Hien) headquartered at the Plum Village Monastery in the south of France with other centers in Europe and North America based on the fundamental principle that peace in the creation of human communities requires not merely political, economic, and social change but inner transformation. A prolific writer and widely sought‐after speaker, Nhat Hanh continues his activities as a peace advocate including peace marches at MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, in 2005 and 2007. He teaches the essential relationship between contemplation and action; that the realization of one’s deepest, spiritual self and active involvement on behalf of the well‐being of others are interdependent; and that the cultural transformation necessary for the development of just, harmonious communities goes hand in hand with the practice of mindful awareness. After he returned to Thailand in 1961 having completed university and law degrees in Wales and England, Sulak Sivaraksa became a major force in developing intellectual concern over the social, economic, and political problems facing Thailand and creating a series of NGOs to address them. They have included the Coordinating Group for Religion and Society (CGRS), an ecumenical Buddhist and Christian human rights organization; the Thai Inter‐religious Commission for Development (TICD) that has sought to encourage Buddhist student associations to participate in social service and social change programs, to act as a bridge between rural and urban sectors of society, and to promote educational projects for children in slum areas; and the Santi (Peace), Pracha (Democratic) Institute (SPDI). The SPDI’s...

The Promise of Hope: Creating a Classroom Peace Summit

This article examines an innovative way to engage young adolescents in developing deep understandings of peace. Using an approach called curriculum drama, the class works together to construct a “World Peace Summit” within the classroom. This extended project creates a pedagogical bridge that links student interests and energies to curricular content and academic skills. It emboldens students to use the power of imagination and inquiry in their learning and creates situations for student leadership and peer collaboration. Challenged by the task of portraying a notable figure of peace and interacting with others within this context, students take ownership in researching a particular biography of an individual who participated in a social reform movement. Through this process, students get involved in conversations within the topic of peace and, through their character portrayal, they begin to walk in the shoes of another.

Pieces On Our Craft: Religion in Politics: Reflections on the UN’s Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders

Pieces On Our Craft: Religion in Politics: Reflections on the UN’s Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders

The Ice Is Melting in the North

The Ice Is Melting in the North Oren Lyons (bio) The following statement reflects the position of the Traditional Circle of lndian Elders and Youth and was delivered by Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper, Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation, to the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, held at the United Nations, New York, in August 2000. It is reprinted here with his permission. Leaders of the World, Neyaweha-scano (thank you for being well). Today I bring you greetings from the Indigenous Peoples of North, Central, and South America. Indeed, I bring you greetings from the Indigenous Peoples of the world. We are the keepers of the traditions, ceremonies, histories, and future of our nations. We are the ones who escaped from your proselytizing. We survived with the wisdom of the Old Ones. And we are pleased to add our voices to yours in this great effort for common sense and peace among nations. Leaders of the World, I bring you a most urgent message that was brought to our twenty-third annual gathering of the Traditional Circle of Elders and Youth. This message was brought by a runner from the north, from Greenland, and he said: The ice is melting in the north! He informed us that some fifteen years ago they noticed trickles of water coming down the sheer face of Glacier Mountain. That trickle has grown to a roaring river of ice water pouring out of this mountain into the Atlantic Ocean. He informed us that Glacier Mountain has lost four thousand feet of ice in these past few years. And the melt continues to accelerate. This is an alarming message that requires your absolute attention. Leaders of the World, We are a collective voice of Indigenous Peoples. We have joined this great mission for peace. We add our presence in support of this great effort for reconciliation between peoples and nations. [End Page 1] We agree that there must be parity and equity between rich and poor nations, between white people and people of color, and rich people and poor people, with special attention to women, children, and indigenous peoples. We, in our collective voices, add to this: that there must be a reconciliation between peoples and the natural world, between nation states and the forests that sustain us, between corporations and the resources they mine, the fish that they catch, and the water that they use. Leaders of the World, Indigenous nations and peoples believe in the spiritual powers of the universe. We believe in the ultimate power and authority of a limitless energy beyond our comprehension. We believe in the order of the universe. We believe in the laws of creation and that all life is bound by these same natural laws. We call this essence the spirit of life. This is what gives the world the energy to create and procreate, and what becomes the ponderous and powerful law of regeneration—the law of the seed. We, in our collective voices, speak to this to remind you that spirit and spiritual laws transcend generations. We know, because this has sustained us. Religion and spirituality are vital to survival and moral law. It is a faith that has sustained our human spirit through our darkest hours. It has sustained our human spirit in times of crisis during the times we suffered through the grinding measures of inexorable persecutions that have spanned generations and continue today. Yet here we are, today, adding our voices to this plea for sanity in leadership and responsibility to the future generations whose faces are looking up from the Earth, each awaiting their time of life here. Leaders of the World, We believe that reconciliation should begin here because peace is an inclusive term, and peace and reconciliation are the purpose of this summit. Peace is dynamic and requires great effort of spirit and mind to attain unity. Leaders of peace must step forward and take responsibility for a paradigm change in the direction of current lifestyles and materialistic societies. The human species has become the most voracious and abusive consumer of Earth's resources. We have tipped the balance of life against our children, and we imperil...

Edgar and the eight kings, AD 973: textus et dramatis personae

The purpose of the paper is to examine in detail the alleged submission by Welsh, Scottish and Scandinavian rulers to the English king Edgar at Chester in 973, and particularly the claim made in a number of Anglo‐Norman chronicles that these rulers rowed Edgar up and down the River Dee as part of this submission. All relevant texts (both explicit descriptions and possible allusions) will be presented and analysed, and the identities of the Celtic and Scandinavian rulers will be considered. The paper will argue that the rowing episode is a post‐Conquest fictional embellishment based on earlier Old English material, and that the meeting at Chester in 973 was a ‘peace summit’ rather than a straightforward submission.