Scilla Elworthy
Preparing for Peace

(A database of papers and lectures from past and present)

"Remember your humanity and abolish war"

(Joseph Rotblat)

In 2000 - that is before 9/11, the war on terrorism, Afghanistan and of course, Iraq - Sir Joseph Rotblat, the Nobel Peace Prize winner came to the historic meeting house of Rookhow, and spoke to a packed room on ‘The Prevention of War in the Nuclear Age’.

Thus Westmorland General Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain, began a peace initiative, called Preparing for Peace, to explore these questions with international experts and witnesses. Read the texts of our papers and public lectures and find out more about our initiative (by Rachel Rogers), publications and education programme.

 

In September 2001 Joseph Rotblat returned and gave another, impassioned talk "The Quest for Global Peace".

"The Quest for Global Peace"

In November 2003 the lecture series was completed. The education and speaking programme continued until Spring 2008 when the programme was laid down as had been planned. During that time two of the project leaders had prepared general papers which they used as a basis for each of their presentations (See below for link to Brian's Walker's paper " Creating a Culture of Peace" and Daphne Sanders paper " Preparing for Peace - Presentation").

Scilla Elworthy

We have done what we planned to do and we give you all these resources to to help you take forward the path of Preparing for Peace.

What are the objectives and purposes of war?

Are these objectives and purposes achieved?

Do the ends justify the means?

 

Hugh Beach:  Is war successful in achieving its objectives

Beatrice Heuser:  Is war successful in achieving its political objects

Samuel Brittan:  The ethics and economics of the arms trade

Robert A Hinds:  Why are people willing to go to war

Hew Strachan:  Can War Be Controlled and Contained?

What are the costs of war, both human and environmental?

 

Brian Walker:  A Quaker's View of 21st Century War

Stephen Castles: Environmental change and forced migration

Paul Rogers: Environmental costs of war

Robert Fisk: Paradise Lost: A Beirut Elegy

Paul Grossrieder: The Human Costs of War

John Cairns Jr: War and Sustainability

 

Exploring the processes of peaceful resolution.

How may we resolve conflict without resorting to violence?

Lynn Davies: Conflict and Chaos: War and Education

Hugh Miall: Conflict Transformation (editing in progress)

Brian Walker: Creating a Culture of Peace

Frances Stewart: Development and Security

Javier Solana: Effective Multilateralism

LC Jain: Getting to Know Jainism in the context of a warring 21st century

Scilla Elworthy: Friends’ contribution to policy change

Abdul Jalil Sajid: Islam and Ethics of War and Peace

Jawad Botmeh: Civil Resistance in Palestine: The village of Battir in 1948 (in preparation)

Margaret Anstee: Leading a UN Mission: Angola 1992-93

John Cairns Jr: Peace and Sustainability: Nurturing Complex Systems

M S Swaminathan: Peace Dividend: Pathway to achieving UN Millennium Goals

Christopher  Williams & Lee Yun Joo: The Minds Of Leaders: De-Linking War And Violence

Crispin Tickell: The UN and the Future of Global Governance

George Monbiot: We the Peoples: Building a World Parliament

Brian Walker: Thomas Paine (1737-1809), the Quakers and the Abolition of War

What is terrorism? Who is involved and what are their objectives?

How might we better understand terrorism and help to move the world away from terrorist acts?