Research Papers - Peace and War

Reimagining Remembrance

Kate Guthrie — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:46:47 +0000

Remembrance Day needs to be re-imagined to make it more inclusive, more truthful and more meaningful for future generations, says this report. This would include an honest acknowledgement that some did “die in vain”, an end to “selective remembrance”, a positive stress on peacemaking, and making Armistice Day a bank holiday. The report follows the death of the 'last Tommy', Harry Patch from World War 1, who sadly described current patterns of Remembrance Day as “just show business”. Remembrance has been ‘cheapened’ by a failure to back up words with action, particularly when it comes to successive Government’s care for war veterans, but also the lack of resources put into peacebuilding. The report traces the development of Britain’s remembrance tradition and makes a series of proposals about how Remembrance Day might be updated and made more accessible. It also includes reflection on the meaning and practice of 'memory', not least from a Christian theological standpoint.

Kate Guthrie

Writing peace out of the script

Simon Barrow — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:31:01 +0100

What are the opportunities and constraints involved in highlighting non-violent interventions in situations of conflict for the general media? Civil society organizations, academic institutions, faith groups and peace workers are regularly involved in conflict transformation work, and in direct interventions to challenge violence and injustice. While the role of the military is regularly profiled and even celebrated, the contribution of those who act without weapons or contracts is usually overlooked. In part, this is because the nature of peace work is often sensitive and requires a degree of ‘under the radar’ operation. But it also happens because of lack of wider understanding and knowledge of non-violent interventions, and because such interventions do not fit the dominant ‘news narrative’ around conflict. This becomes particularly evident in times of crisis. Here we present a short case study of working with the wider media response to the 2005-6 ‘Iraq hostage crisis’ (as it became known), involving four members of a short-term Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation in Baghdad.

Simon Barrow

Responding to the situation in Iran

S. Shalom et al — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:22:33 +0100

The recent elections in Iran have thrown up a host of vital questions about fraud, human rights, people power, opposition to theocracy, international solidarity, the role of the United States, and more. In this Q and A, reproduced on Ekklesia with the agreement of the US-based Campaign for Peace and Democracy, these questions are explored from the perspective of understanding and responding to the situation in Iran - and in particular support for the large number of Iranians seeking self-determination and justice rather than repression and dictatorship.

S. Shalom et al

The Gaza conflict in context

Paul Rogers — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 10:26:34 +0000

In this research essay, Professor Paul Rogers, Global Security Consultant to Oxford Research Group (ORG - http://www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk) analyses the background to the outbreak of violent hostilities in the Gaza strip. He looks beyond the current crisis to the likely larger ramifications of these events, arguing that prolonged use of extreme force will not achieve security for the region.

Paul Rogers

How forgiveness can transcend violent tragedy

associate writer — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:51:54 +0000

Following the 2 October 2006 shooting that killed five Amish girls and wounded five others in the USA, three investigators (Dr Donald B. Kraybill, Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania, Dr Steven M. Nolt, Goshen College, Indiana, and Dr David Weaver-Zercher, Messiah College, Pennsylvania) explored why and how the Amish expressed forgiveness in the wake of the shooting. The research methods involved face-to-face interviews with Amish people to probe their practice of forgiveness. In addition the researchers pursued Amish writings on forgiveness as well as historical examples when Amish people forgave those who wronged them. The investigators also reviewed hundreds of media stories and editorials on Amish forgiveness at Nickel Mines. Finally, the investigation compared Amish practices of forgiveness with broader studies of forgiveness in American society. The research was conducted from 1 November 2006 through to 1 April 2007. The results are summarised below and have been released in the new book Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy (Jossey-Bass, 2007) - available from the Ekklesia online bookshop.

associate writer