Tag Archives: dialogue

Conflict Transformation & Building a Sustainable Peace

Posted on April 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

The last two weeks have been full of beneficial lectures from topics ranging from International Humanitarian Law to the role of religion in Peacebuilding.

Kishu Daswani, A Professor of Law in Mumbai delving into questions around “Just War Theory“

Dr. Chaiyan Rajchagool on the Moral Component of Peacebuilding

Some more conflict analysis tools by USAID from Jenn Weidman

An inspiring  morning with Mr Bhichai Rattakul talking about lessons from his time as Thai foreign Minister dealing with the Vietnam War & Pol Pot…

As the overall theme for this final module was Conflict Transformation I  found it really useful to hear past Rotary International President Mr Bhichai Rattakul emphasise the power of “the small things” when dealing with people but yet how to always hold onto to the bigger picture of how things will work out in the longer term 10/20 years down the road.

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Posted in Course Content, Rotary Peace Fellowship

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Why we must talk

Posted on February 25, 2012 | 1 comment

I watched this TED talk on the plane to Bangkok.  It’s by Jonas Gahr Støre, the foreign minister of Norway, who makes a compelling case for open discussion, even when values diverge, in an attempt to build greater security for all.  He talks about:

“The deficit of political dialogue, our ability to address modern conflicts as they are, to go to the source of what they are all about and to understand the key players and how to deal with them…”

Many of his points struck a chord with me and many of the themes came up during lectures this week.  When do we talk and when do we walk away and under what circumstances? Definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it already.

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Posted in Conflict Resolution, Rotary Peace Fellowship

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