As they organize against the US/British war of Afghanistan, peace activists in the US are confronting the challenge of how preserve civil liberties and security while working for peace and addressing the root causes of terrorism. Few people are more qualified to address these questions than Johan Galtung. And today we will spend the hour with him.

Tape:

• Johan Galtung, widely known as the founder of the academic discipline of peace research. He has served as Professor of peace studies at the Universities of Hawaii, and universities around the world. Galtung established the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo in 1959 and the Journal of Peace Research in 1964. He has published over 1000 articles and 100 books on peace studies and conflict resolution. Johan Galtung is a consultant to several UN agencies and recently founded TRANSCEND, a global network of 150 experts trained in conflict resolution who do field work around the globe. He is also a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (the “Alternative Nobel Prize”). Johan Galtung has helped mediate 45 major conflicts around the world over the past four decades. He recently led a weekend long workshop on peaceful conflict transformation and reconciliation at Pace University in New York.

Related link:

• TRANSCEND: A Peace and Development Organization for Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means