Theories and concepts

By Johan Galtung
“Pentagon Study Declares American Empire Is ‘Collapsing,’” is the title of an essay by Nafeez Ahmed, analyzing the study.
Sounds interesting. His subtitle: “Report demands massive expansion of military-industrial complex to maintain global ‘access to resources’”. Sounds familiar.

By Gunnar Westberg
Board member of TFF
August 20, 2017
The author has been twice to North Korea and maintains contacts with physicians in the North Korean branch of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War in that country.

By Johan Galtung
Lecture notes at the Hardanger Academy for Peace Development and Environment
30 Jul 2017
These are the goals of the United Nations; the Hardanger Academy in little Jondal, Norway (population ca.1150) made them three foci.
The problem arose: what do they have in common? Are they three aspects of the same thing? If so, what is that “thing”?

By Richard Falk
International law is mainly supportive of Palestinian grievances with respect to Israel, as well as offering both Israelis and Palestinians a reliable marker as to how these two peoples could live normally together in the future if the appropriate political will existed on both sides to reach a sustainable peace.

By Richard Falk
We are living amid contradictions whether we like it or not, driving expectations about the future toward opposite extremes.
Increasingly plausible are fears that the ‘sixth extinction’ will encompass the human species, or at least, throw human society back to a technology of sticks and stones, with a habitat limited to caves and forests.

By Richard Falk
Prefatory Note
The text below is drawn from a talk given at the Spring Festival of the Arts in Beirut, Lebanon on 15 June 2017. Comments welcome.

By Jonathan Power
July 11th 2017

By Johan Galtung
3 July 2017
There are many of them – of different kinds – in world geography. We can try to identify the characteristics of their peacefulness.
Or we can start by identifying belligerent societies and then see peaceful societies as their negations. Let us try this one first.

By Richard Falk* and David Krieger**
TFF PressInfo # 420
June 30, 2017

By Jonathan Power
June 20th 2017
Frederick the Great of Prussia was a friend of Voltaire and enjoyed ribald evenings with the philosopher discussing the intricacies of life’s dos and don’ts. Before becoming king he was persuaded by Voltaire to become a pacifist.