A better world is possible - Global Commons Institute

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Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com interventions cost little. Of the examples mentioned above, successful third party mediation between Renamo and Frelimo in Mozambique in1989-92 cost approximately $350,000; the gun return scheme organised by businessmen in El Salvador (1995-1999) cost $1.3million; and the task force set up in former Yugoslavia in 1999 to forge effective, united democratic opposition to Milosevic cost $240,000. The removal of a dictator and installation of democratic process is a monumental task, as in the case of Slobodan Milosovic. Bombing failed to remove this dictator, while support for local democratic opposition succeeded. Scilla Elworthy demonstrates how the money to be spent by Britain on 232 Eurofighters at a cost of £80m each could be put to far better use to: put another 1000 peacekeepers into Afghanistan organise negotiations with warlords to bring militias and opium production under control support local initiatives to restore law and order outside Kabul set up liaison centres all over Iraq to enable people to get help with the daily trauma which engenders hatred for the occupying forces - civilians murdered, destroyed homes, arrested relatives, lack of food and employment. The £426 million per annum used to subsidise arms exporters could be used to: set up gun collection schemes in every single country where there is local killing, including Sudan, DR Congo, Colombia, Indonesia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, and Nigeria introduce effective boundary controls on gun-running, with severe and enforceable penalties fully support the EU commitment to develop a "Civilian Crisis Management Capacity" by providing training for civilians ready to join. This is not to say that military intervention is never necessary, but to date, the value of non-military measures has been insufficiently recognised and that very substantial savings can be made by investing in them. An All-Party Parliamentary Group on Conflict Issues (APPGCI) was set up in 2007 to study conflict issues at the suggestion of the Ministry for Peace in 2007. The APPGCI provides a forum where Parliamentarians, government officials, NGOs, academics and others come together on a regular basis to share ideas and thoughts about the challenges of non-violent approaches to managing conflict. To follow the activities of the APPGCI go to Conflict Issues. Scilla Elworthy founded the Oxford Research Group (ORG) in 1982 to develop effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers worldwide and their critics. For this work she was awarded the Niwano Peace Prize in 2003 and nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2003 she founded Peace Direct to fund, promote and learn from peace-builders in conflict areas. Both are described below. Oxford Research Group (ORG) Its purpose is as follows: “ORG works to promote a more sustainable approach to security for the UK and for the world. We seek a shift in global priorities away from militarism, and towards security based on justice, human rights, prevention of conflict and fair distribution of the world’s resources”. “Regardless of what current projects we work on, our long-term goals are always 190
Copyright Bruce Nixon 2010. All rights reserved. This electronic copy is provided free for personal, non-commercial use only. www.brucenixon.com the same: to encourage and promote a deep shift in the way that people think about security, based on the understanding that lasting security is not attainable through military means. Developing long-term ‘sustainable security’ for everyone means understanding the root causes of conflict, and promoting dialogue rather than confrontation as the means to a truly secure world”. Its key principles are dialogue, respect, prevention and pragmatism. ORG stresses the importance of building relationships and trust. Its two main programmes are Global Security for the 21st Century and Human Security and the Middle East. Global Security “Central to this programme is an ongoing critical analysis of the current ‘war on terror’ which shows how acutely the current approach to security is failing, and how it is in danger of distracting world leaders from the far more deadly and unavoidable threats posed by climate change, resource competition, poverty and marginalisation, and global militarisation. Linked to this analysis are a range of initiatives to shift thinking towards non-military conflict prevention, and the protection of innocent life”. Middle East This is seen as the major flashpoint threatening global security. “The premise of a human security approach is that no political or strategic goals can be pursued that ignore basic human needs for safety, well-being and livelihood. People on the ground, and their legitimate aspirations, should come before all other political or strategic considerations. We work on two primary implications of this approach. First, in negotiations, a way needs to be found of allowing all voices to be heard and respected. Solutions which exclude significant constituencies are doomed to fail. We provide forums in which groups who disagree may begin to build dialogue and find common interests. Second, in military interventions, those who plan and execute them need to find ways in which operations protect, respect and include local populations, rather than alienating them. Our work with Western militaries offers contexts in which fresh thinking can be undertaken about what is to be learned from mistakes made in recent interventions”. If you wish to promote peace, through lobbying your MP for example, you need to be well -informed. ORG provides reliable reports and articles. It is a valuable source about the situation in the Middle East, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Oxford Research Group recently launched a new website: Sustainable Security – Global responses to global threats (Sustainable Security). This website is part of a larger programme, "Moving towards sustainable security" begun in 2006. The project has involved publications, consultations in different parts of the world, and a series of publications. Sustainable Security intends to be an important platform for promoting a better understanding of the real threats to global security in the 21st century and the policies that should be implemented to address those threats at their root cause. The website is organised to highlight four interconnected drivers of global insecurity: Climate Change Competition over natural resources Global militarism Poverty and marginalisation Peace Direct is another key organisation with similar principles, such as working with local people in peace building. Peace Direct say that peace cannot be built by politicians alone and 50% of conflicts start again within ten years of a 191
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