- Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research
Articleissues
cleanup = August 2008
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refimprove = August 2008The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFF, is a research-based
think tank inSweden . It is aglobal network with about 85 TFF Associates working for "peace by peaceful means", the basic norm of theUnited Nations Charter and of the philosophy ofMohandas K. Gandhi .History and governance
The
foundation was established in1985 by Jan Øberg and Christina Spännar inLund , Sweden, as an independentnot-for-profit foundation registered in accordance with Swedish law. At the time, Øberg was director of the the Lund University Peace Research Institute, LUPRI, which was closed down by the university in1989 .Fact|date=September 2008
TFF is governed by a Board of at least six members and conducts its activities with shifting teams of experts composed from its pool of TFF Associates. TFF is all-volunteer and anetwork rather than aninstitute . Neither being a state or university institute nor a movement, it preserves its independence and finances its activities by donations from ordinary citizens worldwide and receives nogovernmental andcorporate organizational support.Fact|date=August 2008Goals
- to promote
conflict analysis andconflict mitigation as well aspeace-building andreconciliation ;
- to increase the general understanding of the potentials ofnon-violence inthinking ,action andpolicy-making ;
- to go beyondacademic research and apply its knowledge to concrete conflicts with the aim of alleviatingsuffering ;
- to providealternatives such as perspectives ofpeace journalism to generalnews media coverage of conflicts where it works;
- to providepolicy-makers and citizens alike withpeace plans and other materials that combineinnovative thinking andtheories with workable, practicalsolutions .Research, education and outreach
TFF's research work concentrates on
conflict-resolution ,peace studies ,non-violence ,reconciliation ,world order ,reform of the United Nations ,nuclear disarmament and abolition, alternative security and defence studies.Fact|date=August 2008TFF's publications are linked below. Among those its Associates have contributed to are Dietrich Fischer, Wilhelm Nolte and Jan Oberg (1989) "Winning Peace. Strategies and Ethics for a Nuclear-Free World"; Jan Øberg (ed., 1992), "Nordic Security in the 1990s"; [http://www.regency.org/visionhope.html "A Vision of Hope. The 50th Anniversary of the United Nations"] (1995), Chadwick F. Alger (ed., 1998), "The Future of the United Nations System;" Metta Spencer (ed., 2000), The Lessons of Yugoslavia; Robert A. Hackett and Yuezhi Zhao (ed., 2005), "Democratizing Global Media;" M. Intriligator, A. Nikitin and Majid Tehranian (ed., 2005), "Eurasia: A New Peace Agenda", and
Johan Galtung and Charles Webel (ed., 2007), "Handbook of Peace and Conflict Studies" and Lester Kurtz (ed., 1999 and 2009) "Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict".
Fact|date=August 2008 TFF combines on-the-groundresearch , active listening to all parties,academic andpublic education as well asadvocacy .
Over the years, it has worked in a series ofconflict regions such as all parts of formerYugoslavia , Georgia,Burundi andIraq . Its teams carry outconflict diagnosis through repeated visits and interviews, produce peace plans, provide education and skills training, promotereconciliation or related activities.Fact|date=August 2008It has worked with members of governments in
Croatia ,Serbia ,Kosovo ,Burundi andIraq . It has mediated, facilitated reconciliation and provided training in co-operation with e.g. theCouncil of Europe andUnited Nations peacekeeping missions such asUNPROFOR ,UNTAES andUNPREDEP and numerous non-governmental organizations (NGO) such as IOM,International Organization for Migration , theNorwegian Refugee Council and localcivil society organizations in conflict zones. It has served asgoodwill (unpaid) advisers to Dr.Ibrahim Rugova as well as three consecutive governments inBelgrade in the early 1990s.Fact|date=August 2008Øberg has written opinion pieces on
Kosovo [ [http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2000/kosovo/stories/present/kfor/ Misguided motives led to the chaos in Kosovo] , Jan Øberg,CNN ] [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/22/opinion/edlet.php Dealing with child labor; The Kosovo example] , Jan Øberg,International Herald Tribune ] andAfrica . [ [http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0315/p09s01-coop.html?s=hns Keep Africa's good-news story good] , Jan Øberg,Christian Science Monitor ]Associates
Among the foundations's Associates are:
Richard A. Falk ,Johan Galtung ,Brian Urquhart ,Michel Chossudovsky ,Riane Eisler ,Hazel Henderson ,Ken Coates ,David Loy , andDaisaku Ikeda . SirPaul McCartney is Honorary Friend of TFF. [ [http://www.transnational.org/About_associates.htm TFF Associates & their articles] , TFF]References
External links
* [http://www.transnational.org TFF's homepage]
* [http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/profile/JanOberg TFF on Peace and Collaborative Development Networking]
* [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/insight/archives/2000/01/30/22109 'Soft power' is working around the world to prevent more wars] —Taipei Times article by TFF associate Jonathan Power
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