From the Director
As newsletter #10 goes to press and headlines in the "hard news" papers raise the specter of US military strikes against Iraq, the accounts of peace-seeking dialogues in these pages take on more importance, not less. The latest Peace Proposal by Center founder Daisaku Ikeda cites historian Arnold Toynbee's retrospective view that the "deeper, slower movements," not apparent in passing headlines, have been the ones to change human history over the long span of time.
The Earth Charter, a normative guide to creating "cultures of peace" globally, is gathering steam as one such people's movement. What can you do? For starters, informative Earth Charter booklets are available from the Center. Also, the Earth Council has a website and on-line newsletter at http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr.
Implied in the Earth Charter are fundamental changes in our economic way of life. To explore alternative paths to a sustainable future, the Center is joining with Cambridge Forum this spring to host a public lecture on "Human Wellbeing and Economic Goals" by Dr. Neva Goodwin, a leading proponent of "contextual economics." If you want to know what that means, join us on March 25th. All are welcome.
As always, ideas for a twenty-first century free of war offered by the Center's latest Global Citizen awardees are featured in the winter issue of our newsletter. In eloquent and memorable addresses, Nobel laureate Oscar Arias calls for "demilitarization as an investment in humanity," and disarmament specialist Randall Forsberg reminds us that "peace is a community endeavor." In a conversation at the Center on the same subject, Professor Joseph Rotblat, pioneering founder of the Pugwash Conference, shakes up "fossilized minds" and advises a "sense of loyalty to humankind."
Meanwhile, during the past several months, BRC has conducted what I believe to be history-making seminars (in the Toynbee sense!) on "Conditions for Abolishing War." If the provocative ideas highlighted from the first sessions interest you, do let us know, and you'll receive word as soon as proceedings are published.