Category Archives: CPNN

CPNN (Culture of Peace News Network) bulletin of November 1, 2016

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RENEWABLE ENERGY ON THE MOVE !

Renewable sources of electricity overtook coal last year to become the largest source of installed capacity in the world, according to the International Energy Agency.

A recent graph is spectacular showing how the cost of solar energy has come down while the volume deployed has gone up. In 1975 a silicon solar energy module cost over $50 per watt, while now it is less than $1 per watt. The milliwatts installed have risen from 1 to 115,000 ! Since 2000 the deployment of solar has doubled seven times.

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CPNN (Culture of Peace News Network) bulletin of September 1, 2016

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CITIES ONCE AGAIN

Once again this month, we find cities in the lead for the various componens of a culture of peace, including sustainable development, tolerance and solidarity, democratic participation, peace activism and disarmament.

Before going into detail, we should celebrate the formal signing of the peace accord for Colombia, which has been under negotiation for several years and which has been followed, step-by-step, by CPNN, as well as the progress towards a peace accord to end 47 years of war between the government of the Philippines and the communist movement National Democratic Front.

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CPNN (Culture of Peace News Network) bulletin of June 1, 2016

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REFORMING THE UNITED NATIONS

Since its creation over 70 years ago, the United Nations has been the hope of mankind “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” But more and more, we are losing hope that in its present form it can succeed. This was especially evident in recent weeks when the great powers did not bother to send high-level delegations to the UN’s Humanitarian Summit despite the fact that 60 other countries sent their heads of state. While Germany was represented by its Chancellor Angela Merkel, the other great powers were essentially absent: Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia and China.

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CPNN (Culture of Peace News Network) bulletin of May 1, 2016

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NONVIOLENCE IS MAKING HISTORY

Nonviolence is in our news these days. Let us begin by recalling the words of the great tactician of nonviolence, Martin Luther King, speaking of Mahatma Gandhi: "nonviolent resistance is not a method for cowards; it does resist. If one uses this method because he is afraid or merely because he lacks the instruments of violence, he is not truly nonviolent. This is why Gandhi often said that if cowardice is the only alternative to violence, it is better to fight… nonviolent resistance … is not a method of stagnant passivity… For while the nonviolent resister is passive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent, his mind and his emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade his opponent that he is wrong. The method is passive physically but strongly active spiritually. It is not passive non-resistance to evil, it is active nonviolent resistance to evil."

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CPNN (Culture of Peace News Network) bulletin of March 1, 2016

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THE STRUGGLE OF AFRICA

There is an epic struggle for the heart of Africa between the forces of the culture of war and those of the culture of peace. On the one hand, attacks by Boko Harem, Al Qaida, ISIS, and Al-Shabaab get the headlines in the commercial media, not to mention potential for civil war in Burundi and the fratricidal war in Southern Sudan, On the other hand, if the many recent articles in CPNN about initiatives for the culture of peace are an indication, it is the culture of peace that is gaining!

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CPNN (Culture of Peace News Network) bulletin of February 1, 2016

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PEACE: ARE WE MAKING PROGRESS ?

As we enter the new year of 2016, we may ask if the culture of peace continues to advance on all the fronts that we covered in the various CPNN bulletins of 2015:

WELCOME THE REFUGEES (December): Despite the political resistance to refugees in Europe, there are also social movements in defense of the refugees. This was expressed recently by rallies throughout Europe marking the Global Day of Action against Racism. The Madrid Rally was held under the slogan: "We are all migrants and refugees, we all have rights." Another slogan was "No to NATO!", making it clear that the influx of refugees is largely due to the military interventions by NATO in Africa and the Middle East.

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