Nobel Peace Prize – Page 2

News of its Death is Greatly Exaggerated

Posted on October 20, 2014October 20, 2014 by kathiemm

It is alive. It is well. It goes underground and then reasserts itself.

It can currently be seen in Hong Kong, striving for greater democracy, under the name of Occupy Central—Central being the major financial center in Hong Kong, sort of like Wall Street, New York.

Occupy Central was described this morning, Monday October 20, 2014, in the South China Morning Post, as “a civil disobedience movement which began in Hong Kong on September 28, 2014. It calls on thousands of protesters to block roads and paralyse Hong Kong’s financial district if the Beijing and Hong Kong governments do not agree to implement universal suffrage…”

The full name of Occupy Central is Occupy Central with Love and Peace –love and peace being central themes in Gene Sharp’s book, the “Manual of Disobedience.” This manual and Sharp’s other publications have energized and guided a growing number of nonviolent resistance movements such as the Arab Spring and the Occupy Movement of 2011.

Sharp, who has been nominated three times for a Nobel Peace Prize, is founder of the Albert Einstein Institution, a non-profit organization devoted to the use of nonviolence in struggles for human rights, peace, and social justice. Many of his books and papers are available free on the Institution’s website. To see, for example, a list of his “198 methods of nonviolent action,” click here. Be inspired: Consider the extent to which many of these methods can be applied not just to Occupy Movement tactics but to conflicts at all levels of society. Become engaged: Join the nonviolence movement.

Honoring the Peace President

Posted on February 17, 2014February 16, 2014 by kathiemm

The birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln will be celebrated in various ways today and school children around the United States will celebrate a week’s vacation.

But we at Engaging Peace want to celebrate another American president, a man of character and honor who has worked tirelessly for peace and social justice: Jimmy Carter. He is a man of rare principle, whose message of peace and brotherhood has been matched by his deeds.

President Carter is a model of moral engagement.

He does not use euphemistic language when referring to aggression by America and its allies.

He chastised the Bush administration for using “lies and misrepresentations” to involve the U.S. in an unjust Iraq war, has urged the closing of the Guantanamo Bay prison and an end to its human rights abuses, and has criticized the use of drones to murder terrorist suspects and to spy on Americans.

Moreover, he is not just a talker but a doer, a man of moral agency. As President, for example, Carter:

Brokered the Camp David Accords, a peace agreement between Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin
Signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, despite enormous criticism from war hawks who considered efforts to limit nuclear proliferation a “sell out.”

Post-Presidency, he has:

Established, with his wife Rosalyn, the Carter Center, a nongovernmental nonprofit organization devoted to advancing human rights
Served as a peace ambassador in many troubled parts of the world.

Not surprisingly, Carter has many vocal critics—members of the power elite, the military-industrial complex, the war profiteers, and idolizers of bullies who are terrified at the prospect of a man of peace being a role model for the American people.

Despite what those critics do to detract from Carter’s image and his quest for peace and social justice, he is a President who earned and continues to be worthy of his Nobel Peace Prize.

Kathie Malley-Morrison

The power of one

Posted on October 24, 2013October 23, 2013 by kathiemm

This year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is a well-deserving intergovernmental organization—the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The OPCW works in collaboration with the United Nations to administer the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWP).

As of January 2013, the OPCW had overseen the destruction of nearly 80% of the world’s acknowledged stockpile of chemical weapons. As I write, it has a team in Syria, working to dismantle that country’s chemical weapons in the middle of a bloody civil war.

As I read the history of their work, I am fascinated. When I think of the bravery of their workers in Syria, and contemplate the potential of their efforts for peace in the Middle East and survival of humanity, I am awed and grateful.

Yet, when I view the video showing their fine exhibits to the public, my thoughts turn immediately to Malala Yousafzai—the Pakistani teenaged girl who was shot twice in the head to punish her for promoting education for girls in a district where they wanted no girls in school.

People around the world were aghast at the effort to assassinate her, prayed for her recovery, and were thrilled to see her nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize—the youngest nominee in the history of the prize.

Malala did not win it this year, though she continues to be recognized for her courage, integrity, activism—and readiness to speak truth to power. When President Obama invited her to the White House “”to thank her for her inspiring and passionate work on behalf of girls education in Pakistan,” she told him she was concerned that “drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people.”

President Obama would do well to heed the words of this young woman.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

September 15: International Day of Democracy

Posted on September 13, 2012September 11, 2012 by kathiemm

Achieving and maintaining democracy—“government of the people, by the people, for the people”[i]–is an ongoing challenge.

Perhaps President Lincoln had no alternative to preserving the Union than to wage war, but the wounds of that deadly conflict can still be felt today.

Where are the models for better ways of resolving disputes, righting wrongs, and pursuing democratic institutions?

Our nomination, in honor of this year’s United Nations International Day of Democracy (Sept. 15), is Aung San Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi is the Burmese woman who:

founded the National League for Democracy in Burma (now Myanmar),
stood up to the military junta controlling the country
was under house arrest for 15 years for agitating for democracy
rejected the junta’s offer to give her freedom if she would leave the country
embraced the non-violent principles of Mohandas K. Gandhi
delegated to her sons the responsibility to accept the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to her in 1991 while she was under house arrest
was released from confinement in 2010
was elected to the national parliament in 2012
gave her own acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012

Here are two of Suu Kyi’s thoughts about democracy:

“To view the opposition as dangerous is to misunderstand the basic concepts of democracy. To oppress the opposition is to assault the very foundation of democracy.”
― Letters from Burma

“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
― Freedom from Fear

Please tell us what you think: Are these views as applicable to the US as they are to Myanmar and other countries emerging from military dictatorships?

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

[i] Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg address, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863.