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Jan Øberg/Oberg/Öberg


General background

Born January 13, 1951, Danish, PhD in sociology, peace and future researcher. Former director of the Lund University Peace Research Institute (LUPRI); former secretary-general of the Danish Peace Foundation; former member of the Danish government's Committee on security and disarmament. Visiting professor at ICU (1990-91) and Chuo Universities (1995) in Japan and visiting professor for three months at Nagoya University in 2004 and 2007 and four months in 2009 - at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.

Oberg is co-founder with his wife, Dr. Christina Spännar of TFF. Chairman of the board 1997-2003 and interim chairman 2007-2008, director of the TFF and head of its Conflict-Mitigation teams to ex-Yugoslavia, Georgia, Burundi and Iraq.


Network

Oberg is former member of the Scientific Committee of International University for Peoples' Initiatives for Peace, IUPIP, in Italy. Co-initiator of the Danish Highschool for Peace and the Danish Centre for Conflict Resolution. Member of the advisory board of the Toda Institute, Hawaii, and of the Tibetan Centre for Conflict Resolution in Dharamsala, India. Editorial advisor to Peace Review. A Journal of Social Justice. Likewise he is a member of the advisory boards of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, the President of which is David Krieger, and of the Center for Global Nonviolence in Hawaii. He also serves at the advisory board of the Human Security journal published at Belgrade' University.

Oberg is listed in Marquis Who's Who? and in the International Directory of Experts and Expertise. In 2006 he was among 250 individuals worldwide nominated for the World Medal of Freedom by the American Biographical Institute, as a follow-up to being included in ABI's The International Directory of Distinguished Leadership 2006. Oberg was also granted the 21st Century Award for Achievement by the International Biographical Centre in Cambridge, England.

In 2005 he became a member of the Japanese Study Group on PeaceBuilding and the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence at James Madison University in the United States.

2006-2009 he was board member of the Nordisk Fredsakademi - Nordic Peace Academy in Jondal, Norway. Oberg became a member of the Ara Pacis Council for Dignity, Forgiveness, Justice and Reconciliation, established in April 2010 in Rome. The Ara Pacis Initiative is also on Facebook.


Books and articles

His main books are "Myth About Our Security", "To Develop Security and Secure Development", "Winning Peace" (co-author), and in 2004, he published "Predictable Fiasco. The Conflict with Iraq and Denmark as an Occupying Power" (in Danish). In 2005 he contributed to a Danish textbook on psychology with a chapter on peace and conflict psychology and to another book on evil.

In 2006 he is a co-editor of "Encyclopedia of Peace" and in 2007-2008 writing on a book on "Yugoslavia - What Should Have Been Done?" together with Johan Galtung and Hakan Wiberg.

His total academic production is 3600 pages of published in academic works, including ten books written, co-authored or edited; he publishes 300-500 pages per year, much of it on this site. Columnist in Nordic newspapers, occasional contributor to the cultural page of Helsingborg Dagblad in Sweden and a bi-weekly columnist for the Danish daily Dato.


Awards

Honorary doctoral degree from the Buddhist Soka University in Tokyo.
In 2003, TFF and he was awarded the Peace Prize of the Castel Nuovo municipality in Italy that is given with reference to Dante Alighieri and rewards peace-making efforts.
In 2004, he received the North-South Cultural Communication Prize from the Research Fund for the Study of the Future of North-South Cultural Communication in Rabat, Morocco.
Received the Swedish Peace Council's 2005 Small Peace Prize in April 2005.
In 2006, the "Wooden Shoe" prize by the Danish Movement Against the EU".


Address

Vegagatan 25, SE - 224 57 Lund, Sweden

Phone

+46 0738 52 52 00

Skype

janoberg • Skype phone +46 46 288 46 15

E-mail

Website
& blogs

oberg@transnational.org

www.transnational.org

www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/profile/JanOberg

janoberg.wordpress.com

http://www.facebook.com/janoberg.se

 



Jan Oberg 2008

 

 

Oberg Photography
Series from several countries
and their people plus selected themes

Articles by Jann Oberg

The most recent on top - See also Oberg's columns in Nordic languages here and Kalejdoskop articles in Nordic languages.


2011

Jan Oberg, October 7, 2011
The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize - positive and negative aspects

Jan Oberg, September 3, 2011
Libya - What Should Have Been Done?
A 3-part status with predictions after the first 6 months of yet another failed conflict-management. Please help spread it because the media will most likely ignore it.

Part I - Prologue: What We Should Have Learned By Now

Part II - What Should Have Been Done Before the NATO/US Decision to Bomb?

Part III
Status 6 Months Later and Some - Hopefully Wrong - Predictions

 

Jan Oberg, June 13, 2011
NATO at the crossroads after Gates' speech
Comments to Associated Press

Jan Oberg, April 28, 2011
Conversation about the situation in Libya and other Middle East - on TV Europe

Jan Oberg, April 20, 2011
What should have been done in Libya in a pro-peace perspective? -
Part I - Prologue

Jan Öberg, 2:a april 2011
Libyen - motsägelser, dåraktiga antaganden och missriktad humanism (från 21:a mars)

Jan Oberg, March 21, 2011
Libya - contradictions, foolish assumptions and flawed humanism

Jan Øberg, 18. marts 2011
Libyen - krigsdagbog (Libya - A War Diary)
In Danish from the day when each and every Danish parliamentary party went to war together, without a single MP declaring dissent.


2010

Jan Oberg, December 19, 2010
New TFF - Help shape, fund and contribute to positive peace
The 2011 Appeal

The first announcement about what TFF will do the next 25 years: An interactive, multi-, social media site

EARLY WARNING
Jan Oberg, June 27, 2010
Early warning for Burundi - It needs violence-prevention now!
Presidential elections on June 28 could turn into widespread violence. Read the background and what can be done to help 9 million people to continue their peace struggle.

Jan Oberg, June 3, 2010
Violence or non-violence on board Ship to Gaza?
What if just one person used violence or had the wrong motivation?Jan Oberg
, May 26, 2010
Now member of the Ara Pacis Council for Dignity, Forgiveness, Justice and Reconciliatio, established in April in Rome. The Ara Pacis Initiative is also on Facebook

Jan Oberg, February 12, 2010
How was the largest ever
on-line Security Jam?
Perhaps more technical than intellectual potentials to change the world towards peace

Jan Oberg, February 9, 2010
Stop Sweden's furtive accession to NATO!

Jan Oberg, February 7, 2010
Ikke til at bære - Enkefru Plums Støttefond i graven
Personlig kommentar til at Danmarks-historiens vigtigste fond af sin slags nu må lukke

Jan Oberg, February 1, 2010
The U.S. is now a dictatorship
Pentagon's new strategy and budget is enough as evidence and reason for a worldwide confrontation with the U.S. MIMAC - Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex
.

Jan Oberg, December 19, 2009
Proposal to World Press Photo - Reconciliation and Peace Photography

Jan Oberg, October 9, 2009 - blog on PCDN
Scandal: Obama gets the "peace prize"

Jan Oberg, July 23, 2009 - blog on PCDN
The post
-Michael Jackson phase of human history...

Jan Øberg, Danmarks Radio, "Apropos" - 11. juni 2009
Globalisering og fred
27 min især om den hemmelige samarbejdsaftale mellem FN og NATO i et videre perspektiv.

Jan Oberg, June 3, 2009 - blog on PCDN
The long-term C5 crisis: Arguments and readings

Jan Oberg, June 3, 2009 - blog on PCDN
Condemn North Korea's nukes and question Western responses

Jan Oberg, May 11, 2009 - blog on PCDN
Nuclear weapons and mainstream media

Jan Oberg, April 5, 2009
G20 and C5 - Connecting the dots?
Reality Show for Real Politicians? -
Part 1

Annette Schiffmann & Jan Oberg
War anniversaries: It is all going so well in Iraq and the Balkans - isn't it?
March 20 marks the 6th anniversary of the Iraq War and March 24 the 10th anniversary of the destruction of Yugoslavia...

Jan Oberg, 18. januar 2009
Ser DR verden uden for Danmark?
Åbent brev til DR's ledelse og valgte redaktioner om en lille analyse af dr.dk-hjemmesiden. Det står faktisk ganske skidt til - eller?

Jan Oberg, EUObserver.com, January 13, 2009
With EU 'peace'-making into 2009
Most likely we will see more chaos and divisive action in the EU in 2009. One only has to look at the bloc's reaction to the current Middle East conflict.

 

2008

Jan Oberg, December 17, 2008
The Richard Falk case, Israeli authoritarianism and Western media

Jan Oberg with Transcend Media Service, December 12, 2008
A 10 min. argument for nuclear abolition
About mega-terrorism, how the Ballistic Missile Defence really works and what is needed to get rid of nuclearism.
Stoppa smyganslutningen till NATO

Upprop i Svenska Dagbladet - 1:a december 2008
Över 60 svenska medborgare begär att en Medborgarkommission tillsätts och att Sverige nu får en debatt om förhållandet till Nato.
Initiativtagarna, däribland TFF:s Jan Öberg, har upprättat en hemsida just för detta här.


Al Burke & Jan Öberg
Svenska Dagbladet 19:e december 2008
Det behövs fredsmäklare som förstår försoning

Jan Oberg, October 22, 2008
Nobel Laureate Ahtisaari endorsed terrorism

Four reasons why he does not deserve Nobel's Peace Prize

Jan Oberg, October 10, 2008
Nobel Committee's choice is again a scandal.

Jan Øberg til Danmarks Radio
10. oktober 2008
Nobels Fredspris til Ahtisaari - en klokkeren skandale, igen.

October 2, 2008
Non-violence - the most viable and most ignored principle

September 29, 2008
'Bailout' - psycho-economic denial.
Or are we all doomed to domino down the drain?

September 27, 2008
Paul McCartney should not have gone to Israel....really?

September 19, 2008
Re-visiting Croatian nationalism (A)
Or, how nationalist can a country be that wants to join the European Union?

September 19, 2008
Re-visiting Croatian nationalism (B)
Observations in text and pictures from driving around in the country

September 10, 2008
September 11 seven years later and what we said at the time

September 1, 2008
War in Georgia: It had to happen

Aftonbladet, August 10, 2008
Karadzic redan dömd - i medierna

July 19, 2008
Diary from Burundi # 6
Bridging cultural divides

July 7, 2008
Who benefits from global violence and war?
Review of Mark Pilisuk and Jennifer Achord Rountree's Who benefits from global violence and war? Uncovering a destructive system.

June-July 2008
Burundi - a background

Dairy from Burundi # 5

Dairy from Burundi # 4

Dairy from Burundi # 3

Jan Oberg, 8:e juni 2008
Det svenska insatsförsvaret

Jan Öberg, 29:e maj 2008
Svenska Televisionens bevakning av frågorna kring Sveriges försvar - ett brev som inte besvarades.

Yusra Moshtat & Jan Öberg, Aftonbladet,
29:e maj 2008
Varför rulla ut röda matten?
Uppläggningen av Stockholms-konferensen vittnar om att det är västliga krigsförbrytare och deras ”demokratiska” regering i Irak, inte ­irakiska folket, som ska ha draghjälp av svenska regeringen. Och som vanligt ställer media inga kritiska frågor.
.

Jan Oberg, May 15, 2008
Kosovo - what the international 'community' never understood
Six rather simple themes which - if having been managed differently - could have produced a much better Balkans than today's.

Arne Hansen radiointerview, 2. maj 2008
Samtale om FNL's voldsudbrud omkring Burundi's hovedstad - og om den fredsprocess, der trods alt går videre.

Ina Curic & Jan Oberg
Early warning - Burundi !
Listen to Burundi’s cry now! If there ever were a case for civilian humanitarian intervention, this is it. And the time is now.

Jan Oberg, April 10, 2008
Israel denies visa to Richard Falk: Yet another Jewish fundamentalist clamp down on intellectual freedom

Jan Oberg, April 2, 2008
Diary from Burundi # 2
About smiles and hospitality as social indicators, about Christian-Muslim relations.

Jan Oberg, March 24, 2008
Diary from Burundi # 1
Observations from a mission, its purpose and the work with the Amahoro Youth Club and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Jan Oberg, February 29, 2008
Can the EU become a peace-maker in the world? In Kosovo?

Jan Oberg, February 19, 2008
Our experiment with the media on Kosovo's secession

Jan Oberg, February 17, 2008
Kosova's secession - Part 1
What is conveniently forgotten?

Jan Oberg, February 17, 2008
Kosova's secession - Part 2
What can happen after this? 17 possibilities - and when will they ever learn?

Arne Hansen, Frederikshavns Lokalradio 20. januar 2008
Samtale om Kosovo og andre aktuelle ting

Stefan de Vylder, Yusra Moshtat & Jan Öberg
Svenska Dagbladet 17:e januari 2008
Margot Wallström "glömde" kriget

Margot Wallströms svar

 

2007

Poul Friis, DR - 21. december 2007
Fred i verden?
En samtale og ringe-ind program om freden, julefred og anden fred.

Jan Oberg, November 22, 2007
Kosovo - failed international conflict-management.
Why we will soon see a new chapter in the tragedy called Kosovo and why it is not predominantly the fault of the local parties. Will the media do it differently this time?
With links to must-read resources.

Jan Øberg, 22. november 2007
Den kommende tragedie i Kosovo - forfejlet konflikthåndtering. (Med resourcer til forståelse)
Det kan på ingen måde gå godt i regionen i de næste få måneder og du vil måske gerne kende nogle af årsagerne hertil. Fremtiden har brug for én ting fremfor noget andet; en anerkendelse af at det internationale samfund selv er medansvarlig for den frygtelige situation i Kosovo og Bosnien og at det dybest set har sat sig selv i politisk fængsel begge steder. En ny begyndelse baseret på en række åbne, ærlige lærdomme er en nødvendighed. Jeg frygter det ikke sker.

Introductory video, October 27. 2007
TFF Video Channel on YouTube

National Public Radio - Talk of the Nation
Gore Nobel sparks debate over climate and peace
Jan Oberg and Stephan Faris discuss the prize and the issue, with people calling in. 3 million listeners, 300 radio stations in the US. Listen to it (17 minutes).

Jan Oberg, October 12, 2007
The Nobel Peace Prize 2007: A great misjudgement

In CounterPunch

Jan Öberg, 12:e oktober 2007
Nobelpriset 2007 till Al Gore - en allvarlig felbedömning

Jan Oberg, OneWorld - October 1, 2007
Mistranslating, misinterpreting and demonising Ahmadinejad
About MIMAC, the Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex and its role in promoting war and manufacture threats that don't exist.

Jan Oberg and TFF Board, August 16, 2007
TFF's 10 Point Plan
Towards Peace In and With Iraq

A contructive proposal from the Transnational Foundation in Sweden

Jan Øberg, 31. juli 2007
Danmarks tilbagetrækning fra Irak - en ny udenrigspolitisk skandale
Video på 1 min.

Aleksandar Mitic & Jan Oberg, July 19, 2007
A new beginning for Kosovo

During the last almost 20 years, the Kosovo conflict has been handled by the international community on the basis of three counterproductive assumptions. One, it was believed that it could be dealt with as a special case. Two, it was seen as a political power issue rather than a case for professional conflict-resolution. Three, there was a belief that the lack of mediation could be covered up by NATO’s “peacemaking” bombings in 1999. Albanians and Serbs have all reason to feel cheated by the international community. It must now make a new beginning.

Jan Oberg and 16 TFF Associates, July 12, 2008
Blair is the wrong man for the job

Jan Oberg, OneWorld, June 28, 2007
Blair "our" envoy: The poverty of the UN and the West

Jan Oberg, June 20, 2007
Why "unique" Kosovo must become independent
Look back a bit to the 1990s and you will understand the incredibly biased articles by the bombing enthusiasts of 1999.

Jan Øberg, Jyllands-Posten 23. maj 2007
Støt Burundis enestående fredsproces nu!
Fred og udvikling er endnu ikke sikret. Og 300.000 lider lige nu af hungersnød. Hvert år giver verden desværre Burundi mindre end 50 pct. af den nødvendige humanitære bistand på skaldede 150 mio. dollars; det svarer til én dags amerikansk krigsførelse i Irak. Verdens prioriteter er absurde.
Det er nu, Burundi skal have hjælp, og vi skal forebygge en ny krig. Og hvorfor ikke give Nobels fredspris til Burundis syv millioner fredskæmpende mennesker?

Jan Öberg, Aftonbladets Debatt 21:e maj, 2007
Förhindra ett nytt folkmord!
Folkmordet i Burundi krävde 300 000 människors liv. När konflikten ebbade ut och fredsuppbyggandet kom igång försvann världssamfundets intresse för världens tredje fattigaste land.

Aleksandar Mitic & Jan Oberg, May 9, 2007
Kosovo's Pandora Box
One of the most dangerous and unrealistic ideas circulating today in international politics consists of considering the Serbian province of Kosovo as a “unique” case. Under such thinking, Kosovo’s independence should be imposed on Serbia in breach of all international laws and UN SC 1244.

Jan Öberg, 8:e maj 2007
Kommentar till Sveriges Televisions "Aktuellt" inslag om domarna mot serbiska krigsförbrytare
Risken att legitimera krig när det saknas en bredare ram och källkritik. Brevet har aldrig besvarats av Aktuellt.

Jan Öberg, 1:e maj 2007
Kosovo behöver en lösning som alla kan leva med
Refuserad debatt-artikel till Sydsvenska Dagbladet...

Jan Øberg, 11. april 2007
Hvad er fred?
Opsummering af 35 års tanker og praksis

Fred er at sikre udvikling og udvikle sikkerhed med ikkevold og mangfoldighed - og meget mere...

Jan Oberg, OneWorld US, April 2007
The UK-Iran dispute: Appealing to cooler heads

Jan Oberg, OneWorld US, March 2007
Putting Europe to the peace test
Isn't it strange that there is not a word about disarmament, nuclear abolition (the EU is a nuclear-based union), nonviolence, reconciliation, no peace-making philosophy or any serious adherence to the UN Charter in the proposed EU Treaty?

Yusra Moshtat & Jan Oberg, March 19-20, 2007
Support peaceful plan so the U.S. can leave Iraq
Let’s stop shouting only “The US out of Iraq”. Unless combined with a vision of a decent, respectful and helpful international mission in Iraq and a better policy plan for the Middle East, that slogan plays into the hand of those who advocate ongoing occupation. It’s not a matter of leaving Iraq, it’s a matter of being there in a completely different way. Dennis Kucinich's plan deserves worldwide support.

Yusra Moshtat & Jan Öberg
Göteborgs-Posten, 16:e mars 2007
Stöd fredlig plan för att USA ska lämna Irak
Det finns bara ett sätt att få stopp på den pågående och accelererande konflikten i Irak: De USA-stödda trupperna måste lämna landet. Först då kan en folklig fredsprocess inledas och den bör bland annat bygga på den demokratiske presidentkandidaten, Dennis Kucinich's visionära plan, skriver Yusra Moshtat och Jan Öberg apropå fyraårsdagen sedan kriget startade.

Jan Oberg, The Christian Science Monitor,
March 15, 2007
Keep Africa's good-news story good
War-ravaged Burundi has made amazing gains recently. But it urgently needs aid.

Johan Galtung, Jan Öberg & Håkan Wiberg,
Aftonbladet, 5:e mars 2007
"Ohållbart om Kosovo"
Ahtisaaris plan är orättvis och kommer att leda till ökat våld. Varför är Martti Ahtisaaris så kallade medling om Kosovo och presstäckningen av denna så partisk och så lite objektiv?

Galtung, Øberg & Wiberg,
Jyllands-Posten, 28. februar 2007
En uholdbar plan
Martti Ahtisaaris forslag til Kosovo-provinsens fremtidige status er fredsforhindrende, mener forfatterne, der er tilknyttet den Transnationale Stiftelse for Freds- og Fremtidsforskning, TFF. De har fulgt udviklingen på Balkan i over 30 år.

Yusra Moshtat & Jan Öberg
Svenska Dagbladet 27:e februari 2007
Bildt tiger om USA:s krigsbrott
Även som Sveriges utrikesminister har han försvarat USA:s folkrättsliga brott. Inte ett enda kritiskt ord har utrikesministern formulerat mot detta vidriga krig, som skördar minst 100 människoliv varje dag.
Artikeln åstadkom hundratals blog-inlägg...

Aleksandar Mitic & Jan Oberg
International Herald Tribune, February 22, 2007
The Kosovo example
A much-shortened argument of a longer article to be published elsewhere.

Jan Oberg, February 14, 2007
What is peace? Summary of my 35 years of thinking and practising

Jan Oberg, October 6, 2006
Does the European Union Promote Peace?
Analysis, Critique and Alternatives.

A new booklet by TFF's director. One of the very few systematic analyses of the often-stated claim that the EU is an actor for peace.
While it may not be completely false, the EU peace capabilities leaves very much to be desired. Intellectually and morally its proposed Constitution is a great step backwards compared with the 60 year old UN Charter.(Free download of PDF. Please make your honour payment here).
Dansk version.
Svensk sammanfattning.

Håkan Wiberg & Jan Oberg, September 22, 2006
Monenegro - A state is born
Gives a historical account and analyses the independence as a result of re-defining identities, re-writing history, of the international game with Milosevic, of strange voting rules and referendum criteria. It may go well for Montenegro, but there is no guarantee.

Jan Oberg, September 10, 2006
September 11 Five Years: 9 problems and 11 solutions - Part 1
It changed the world. But for the wrong reasons. The biggest problem is not 9/11 but 7/10: October 7 when the Bush administration started the “war on terror” in a mistaken or deliberate attempt to capitalize on that fateful day: 9/11. But their deficient and opportunistic interpretation of the event has created a world much more unstable than any time since 1945.
Part 2 - The 11 Solutions.
Among them: Scrap the war on terror!

Jan Øberg, Grønlandsk Kultur- og Samfundsforskning 2004-05
Balancér Igaliku-aftalen med fredspolitik
Det drejer sig om den grønlandsk-dansk-amerikanske aftale, der giver USA carte blanche til at anvende Thule-basen. Artiklen gennemgår hvad aftalen siger og ikke siger og placerer den inden for rammerne af den amerikanske strategi for atomkrigsførelse.
Derpå stiller Øberg 7 forslag til hvorledes Grønland fremover også kan bidrage til en fredeligere verden, nu man - formodentligt lidt uforvarende - er kommet til at medvirke til en mulig atomkrig.
Foredraget gav anledning til en del debat i Grønland og publiceres nu i Grønlands Universitets - Ilimatusarfiks - Årsbog på Forlaget Atuagkat.

Dansk DR 2 - 21. maj 2006
Ouafas Fredsmission
Det er i aften de begynder - 8 programmer på dansk DR 2 om konflikter, alternativ konfliktløsning og forsoning. Et enestående TV-initiativ, et pædagogisk tilbud om at forstå konflikter på en ganske anden måde - faktisk 8 stykker fredsjournalistik.
Sæt dig godt til rette og få både oplevelser og håb. Nu i aften 20.00 - 20.30. Mere her, dog er det forkert når det siges at serien begynder den 28. Den begynder i aften den 21. maj.
PS Alle 8 programmer genudsendes, check lige hvornår så du selv, dine venner og kolleger får chancen.

Jan Øberg, 23. marts, 2006
Dansk FN-diplomat roser og beskytter formodede krigsforbrydere
Jessen-Petersen, FN missionens leder i Kosovo, forhindrer - efter ordre fra højere magter - at vi nogensinde vil kunne få klarhed over hvem der stod bag forbrydelser mod serberne i Kroatien og i Kosovo. Hvis ærinde går han og FN hér?

PressInfo 235, 2:a april, 2006
Muhamad-karikatyrerne (3): Grandet och bjälken: Vi måste lära oss att se vår egen kulturblindhet
Den ena sidan av globaliseringens mynt visar naturligtvis hur vi ser på oss själva. Men den andra visar - oavsett om vi kan förstå det eller tycker om det - hur de andra ser på oss. I detta globaliseringens tidevarv går det inte för någon, stark eller svag, att ignorera denna andra sidan. Varje försök att med makt eller våld påtvinga andra våra egna värden och synpunkter som om de vore universella kommer att fungera som ett recept på global förstörelse, allas kamp emot alla. Vare sig mer eller mindre.

Artikeln avslutas med en lång rad "kanske kunde vi lära oss att..."

PressInfo 235, March 22, 2006
Muhammed-karikaturerne (3): Splinten og bjælken: Vi må lære at se vores egen kulturelle blindhed
Den ene side af globaliseringens mønt er naturligvis hvordan vi ser på os selv. Men den anden er - uanset om vi kan forstå eller synes om det - hvordan de andre ser på os. I denne globaliseringstid vil ingen, hverken stærk eller svag, slippe godt fra at ignorere denne anden side af mønten. Ethvert forsøg på med magt og vold at påtvinge andre vores egne værdier og synspunkter vil før eller siden forvandles til en opskrift på global ødelæggelse, alles kamp mod alle. Intet mindre.
Artiklen afsluttes med en lang række "måske kunne vi lære at..."

PressInfo 235, March 17, 2006
The Muhammad caricatures (3): The speck and the log. We must learn to see our own cultural blindness
One side of the coin is what we in the West think of ourselves. The other side is what they think of us. No one, strong or weak, can afford anymore to ignore the other side of the coin, the coin of globalisation. And forcing people to share our view of ourselves is a recipe for world destruction, no less. End with a series of "perhaps we could..." learn something important.

Jan Oberg, March 13, 2006
The real story: How Milosevic was much more evil than you ever knew
The media call him a butcher and compare him with Stalin, Mao and Hitler. That's right, but they don't give us the the broader picture. At his death I choose to tell you how I believe he alone caused all the troubles - and I met him. The evil of Milosevic is grossly understated by Western politicians, diplomats and media. Indeed, I've found reasons to believe that he can be tied to the genocides in Rwanda and Burundi too.
I've been a witness. These is my findings. I can no longer keep silent.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

PressInfo 234, March 10, 2006
Western peace prevention continues in former Yugoslavia
If you believe that Western politics should serve as a model of decency, fairness and principled policies, consider the topical news concerning Kosovo's future status and new leader, Montenegro's referendum, Serbia, etc. The Western propaganda calls it mediation - believed by those who don't know what mediation is. It's sheer power politics as usual.

PressInfo 234, 21. marts, 2006
Vestens fredsforebyggelse fortsætter på Balkan
Hvis du har den opfattelse at vestlig politik bør tjene som model for anstændighed, fairness og principfast politik ude i verden, så kig lige på de aktuelle emner fra det tidligere Jugoslavien såsom Kosovos status, Montenegros folkeafstemning, krigsforbryderne, Kosovos nye statsminister etc. Vestlige medier kalder det mægling mens det er rå magtpolitik, der meget vel kan lede til nye problemer på Balkan. Men så vil det være serbernes skyld.

PressInfo 235, 16:e mars, 2006
Västvärldens fredsförhindrande politik fortsätter på Balkan
Om Du tror att västvärldens politik bör fungera som mönster för anständighet, rättvisa och ett principiellt politisk handlande, bör Du tänka över de aktuella nyheter från före detta Jugoslavien om Kosovos framtida status, dess nya statsminister, Montenegros folkomröstning, krigsförbrytere, etc. Västlig propaganda kallar det medling och de som inte ved vad medling är tror på det.

PressInfo 233, 11 februari, 2006
Mohamedkarikatyrerna (2): Det finns ju ett sammanhang !
Om ett större sammanhang rättas till, skulle Danmark - dess regering och folk - tvingas ställa frågan: Vad har vi gjort fel i så mångas ögon under de senaste 10-15 åren? Detta skulle öppna för någon sorts lärdom och långsiktig försoning med dem som uppfattas som fiender. Hittills har den danska regeringen och de danska massmedierna - jodå, det finns naturligtvis några undantag - hållit sig på den senare, sammanhangslösa vägen. Det bådar illa. Det kommer det att väcka ilska hos ännu fler av världens medborgare.

PressInfo 233, February 9, 2006
The Muhammad caricatures (2): But there is a context!
There is a context to the Muhammad caricatures. If that context is addressed, Denmark - its government and people - would have to ask: What have we done wrong in the eyes of so many during the last 10-15 years? That would open for some kind of learning and long- term reconciliation with the perceived enemies.
But if that context is ignored, Denmark will react only with self-pity, feeling misunderstood and sink deeper into it cultural insensitivity and institutionalized lack of self-criticism and empathy. This means more conflict in Denmark and more conflict between Denmark and the Muslim world.

PressInfo 233, 9. februar, 2006
Muhammed-karikaturerne (2): Men der er jo en større sammanhæng !
Hvis man tager denne større sammenhæng med i betragtningerne over det der sker i disse uger så må Danmark, regering og befolkning, udfordre sig selv og spørge: Hvad er det vi synes at have gjort så forkert i så manges øjne de sidste 10-15 år? En ærlig diskussion ville givetvis bidrage til at skabe ny kundskab og åbne døren for en mere forsonende, mindre kulturblind, måde at forholde sig til resten af verden på.
Men hvis man fortsætter med i politik og medier at stirre sig blind på disse tegninger og droppe den større sammenhængen så vil den danske reaktion forblive selvmedlidende. Og som "offer" kommer man at synke dybere ned i kulturel ufølsomhed.

PressInfo 232, 9. februari, 2006
Mohamedkarikatyrerna (1): Förtrycksfrihet
I dessa dagar fruktar jag att den västliga civilisation i snabbt ökande grad framstår som helt befriat från inlevelse och medkänsla, för öppen debatt och för den civilcourage som behövs för att be om ursäkt.
Det här rör sig inte om huruvida somliga ser för negativt på Danmark - det gör de säkert. Det helt centrala är att den aktuella danska politiken är huvudorsaken till att mlijoner har en så negativ bild av landet.
Det kan mycket väl tänkas att vi nu bevittnar början til en utveckling, som kommer att sluta i en katastrof för oss alla.

PressInfo 232, 8. februar, 2006
Muhammed-karikaturerne: Undertrykkelsesfrihed
I disse dage frygter jeg at den vestlige civilisation i stigende grad opfattes af andre som blottet for indlevelse og medfølelse, for egentlig åben debat og for den civilcourage der er brug for når man skal sige "Undskyld, vi skulle have håndteret det hér lidt anderledes."
Det hér drejer sig ikke om hvorvidt nogle mennesker dømmer Danmark som helhed for hårdt - og det gør de såmænd nok. Det helt centrale er at den aktuelle danske politik er hovedårsagen til at millioner har fået dette billede af Danmark og danskerne.
Det kan meget vel tænkes at vi nu er vidner til begyndelse af en udvikling, der efterhånden vil ende i en katastrofe for os alle.

PressInfo 232, February 7, 2006
The Muhammad caricatures (1): Freedom of suppression
These days I fear that Western culture increasingly comes across as lacking both empathy, self-critical debate and the courage to say, We are sorry! My native country is now a rogue state in the eyes of millions of fellow human beings. Whether or not this is a fair judgment of Denmark is not the issue. The issue is that Danish politics is a prime reason that those millions hold that image.
We could well be witnessing the beginning of a drift towards unparalleled catastrophe, writes TFF director Jan Oberg who is a Danish citizen.

Jan Oberg, January 21, 2006
At the death of President Dr. Ibrahim Rugova in Kosovo

Jan Øberg, 10 januari 2006
Om SVT:S Aktuellt Iran-bevakning
Fria medier ska givetvis inte skicka fredsbudskap eller arbeta för nedrustning. Men de ska inte heller bidra - medvetet eller på grund av icke-existerande analys - till att legitimera upprustning eller våldsanvändning som sanktioner och/eller krig. Aktuellts inslag gjorde indiskutabellt det.

TFF-ere deltager i Åbent Brev, Berlingske Tidende, 2. januar 2006
Sandhedens time: Forlad Irak inden sommer
Åbent brev til statsminister Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Kære Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Danmark har nu en historisk mulighed: meld klart ud om tilbagetrækningen af de danske soldater i Irak. Samtidig bør du garantere, at Danmark ikke vil lade irakerne i stikken, men at vi vil bruge mindst tilsvarende ressourcer på civile bidrag til genopbygningen af det irakiske samfund under ledelse af FN.

Jan Oberg - December 13, 2005
Save the life of Stanley "Tookie" Williams
Williams was executed today. Oberg's appeal letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

PressInfo 231, December 9, 2005
Is the European Union pro-peace?
Read the Constitution/Treaty text and you are in for a surprise! Contrary to what you have heard repeatedly, there is no hope for real conflict-resolution and peace there. In this field, the EU is more in need of reform than the United Nations. This PressInfo also includes information about TFF's work concerning the EU, not the least Johan Galtung's analysis and Erni & Ola Friholt's constructive re-formulations of the Treaty. By Jan Oberg.

Aleksandar Mitic & Jan Oberg in the International Herald Tribune
December 5, 2005
Response to Hashim Thaci's article on Kosovo's independence
A few counterarguments to Thaci's article about Kosovo's independence. IHT printed a much shortened version; here is our article in full.

PressInfo 228, 10. november 2005 (dansk)
Kosovo - mange andre muligheder end uafhængighed
Det internationale samfund mangler en principfast politik og strategi for Kosovo. Det gør det muligt for visse aktører at hævde at der kun findes én løsning - deres egen. Udviklingen i spillet om Kosovo lover ikke godt for alle dem, der måtte håbe på både retfærdighed og fred i og omkring provinsen.
I princippet er der mange mulige løsninger - og vi nævner dem. Men en stagnerende politisk tankegang og fraværet af en principfast politik plus ren ønsketænkning om fremtiden gør det stadigt særere at se en rimelig løsning. Og derfor kan vold bestemt ikke udelukkes i fremtiden.

PressInfo 228, 27 oktober, 2005
Kosovo: Många valmöjligheter utom oberoende
Det internationella samhället saknar en principfast politik och strategi för Kosovo. Det gör det möjligt för vissa aktörer att hävda att det bara finns en enda lösning: deras egen. Utvecklingen i spelet om Kosovo bådar illa för alla som hoppas på både fred och rättvisa i och kring provinsen. I princip är många lösningar möjliga, men ett stagnerande politiskt tänkande och avsaknaden av principfast politik kopplat till rent önsketänkande om framtiden försvårar avsevärt en rimlig lösning. Därför kan våld definitivt inte uteslutas i framtiden.

PressInfo 228, October 27, 2005
Kosovo: Many options but independence
The international community lacks a principled policy and strategy for Kosovo. This plays into the hands of actors who believe that there is only one solution: their own. The latest developments in Kosovo bodes ill for those who want both justice and peace in and around Kosovo. In principle many solutions are possible, but rigid thinking and lack of principle coupled with wishful thinking remain major stumbling blocks and, thus, new violence can not be excluded. By Jan Oberg and Aleksandar Mitic.

Jan Oberg, October 27, 2005
Letter about Burundi to BBC
A short letter to a forum debate and program on "Can rebels be woed from the bush?" Oberg - just back from Burundi - offers the case of this country as a positive example of a peace process that has integrated all but one guerilla movement.

Jan Øberg, 20. september 2005
Freds- og konfliktpsykologi
"Introduktion til psykologi" - Danmarks største psykologibog; 2. udgave nu med et kapitel af Øberg om bl.a. vold, krig, menneskets natur, civilisationspsykologi, forsoning, fred, ikkevold, magt og kvinder som en særlig fredsressource. 1314 sider, 499 danske kroner. Læs mere og bestil her.

Jan Oberg, September 16, 2005
Eurasia: A New Peace Agenda (2005)
New book on this region, contents in three: 1. Dialogue of civilisations for peace; 2. Security in Eurasia: Old dilemmas and new challenges; 3. Globalisation and regionalization. Area experts, international relations and peace scholars. Oberg's chapter is on "Western Conflict-Management as Militarism and Imperialism" written in 2002.

Jan Øberg, 8. august 2005
Atombombens generationer
Gæst hos DR P1 Formiddag - med Poul Friis
58 min samtale og ringe-ind-program.

Interview med Jan Øberg i Kristeligt Dagblad, 5. august 2005
Da mennesket gjorde sig Gud lig
Fredsforsker efterlyser læren af Hiroshima.
Af Else Marie Nygaard.

Jan Øberg Ny bog om EU, 5. augiust 2005
Fremmer EU freden?
Hovedkonklusioner og hvordan du downloader den.

Drude Dahlerup om TFF & NyAgenda bog, 1. august, 2005
Fremmer EU freden - om et seminar og en ny bog
Jan Øberg's "Fremmer EU freden - Analyse, kritik og alternativer" udkommer den 4. august 2005. Traktatforslaget er ikke halvt så visionært som den nu 60 år gamle FN-pagt. At EU er et fredsprojekt er en myte, også selvom unionen ikke er en ny militaristisk supermagt. Se her hvorfor! Øberg fremlægger 25 forslag til hvorledes EU skulle kunne blive en freds-union. Seminar i København. Bogens hovedindhold mm.

PressInfo 222, Juli, 2005
Srebrenicas muslimer mindet - resten fortiet
Der er al grund til at mindes massakren udført af serbiske soldater på uskyldige muslimske civile i Srebrenica for 10 år siden. Men med mindre det betragtes som acceptabelt at kvantificere forbrydelser og at misbruge menneskelig lidelse politisk, er der ingen gyldig begrundelse for at glemme eller fortie andre massakrer, etniske udrensninger og terrorbombninger, i hvilke andre uskyldige civile mistede livet. Har medierne lært noget som helst i disse ti år? Af Jan Øberg.

PressInfo 222, July 11, 2005
Srebrenica Muslims Remembered, the Rest Silenced
There is every reason to commemorate the massacre by Serb soldiers on innocent Muslim civilians in Srebrenica ten years ago today. But unless it is considered acceptable to quantify crimes and politically misuse human suffering, there is no plausible reason to forget or silence other cases of massacres, ethnic cleansing and terror bombings in which other innocent people lost their lives. The coverage of the Srebrenica massacre proves that mainstream media have learned nothing since 1990. By Jan Oberg.

Swedish Peace Prize to Jan Oberg & TFF, April 21, 2005
The "2005 Small Peace Prize" by the Swedish Peace Council
About the Council, its motivation and Oberg's words of gratitude.

New book on Media and World Affairs
Democratizing Global Media
One World. , Many Struggles

Edited by Robert A. Hackett & Yuezhi Zhao
Includes Jan Oberg's chapter "The Iraq Conflict and the Media: Embedded with War rather than with Peace and Democracy."
See contents and order your copy here

The Kosovo Solution Series - 10 articles on the future of Kosovo together with TFF Associate Aleksandar Mitic

 

 

 

Articles 2002 - 2004

Et nyt år i tsunamiens tegn - med Gudrun Schyman & Christina Spännar

Nytt år i tsunamins tecken - med Gudrun Schyman & Jan Öberg

New year in the sign of the tsunami - with Gudrun Schyman & Christina Spännar

Review: The Silence of the Security Council in the 1990s

Grevil-sagen handler netop om offentlighedens interesse

Från patriarkal maktutövning till mänsklig säkerhet och demokrati - med Gudrun Schyman

11 danskere dræbt i Irak

Undskyldning for Irak? Til hvem?

Om Ondskab i det globale samfund

Demokrati eller Demagogi? Med Gudrun Schyman

De små stegens tyranni kan bli ett stort steg mot EU-militarism Med Gudrun Schyman

USAs diplomatisk affald i Irak

Vi kan lære af den forudsigelige fiasko i Irak

Forudsigelig fiasko. Konflikten med Irak og Danmark som besættelsesmagt
Bogpræsentation

Ett fredsskapande EU kräver lite mer nytänkande

Iraq et år efter - og behovet for forsoning.
Radiointerview.

Hvordan bekæmper vi terrorismen uden at lukke det åbne samfund? Radioprogram.

Det internationale samfund. USA & Europa i det globale system. En anden verden. Tanker om fremtiden for os alle. Danske undervisningsmaterialer

Macedonia 2002-2003. War, Peace or Something Else?

Irak-høring - ja. Men hvad bør formålet være? (1)

Irak-høring skal fremme en politik til gavn for irakerne (2)

Irak-høring - ja. Men hvad bør formålet være?

Lovende initiativ af Anders Fogh Rasmussen til en Mellemøsten-Europa fredsproces
Med Else Hammerich.

Irakierna Behandlas Rasistiskt

Nej till USA - men kanske ja till ickevåldsmotstånd?

Låt oss använda krigstiden konstruktivt

Political Fundamentalism in DC: Will Bush Prevail or Listen and Think?

Kofi Annan kan stoppa kriget med Jörgen Johansen

Løs konflikten på fredelig vis

Nedrustning den glömda frågan

Den direkte Debat på P1 med Poul Friis

"Irakmannen - Jan Öberg"

In The Japan Times
Reasoning against an Iraqi catastrophe

Aktivt EU kan stoppa Irak-krig - på svenska

Debattera "Aktivt EU kan stoppa Irak-krig" - på svenska

The most common misunderstandings about Iraq. Speech given by Jan Oberg in Berlin, November 2002

Konfliktlösning, inte krig, med Irak

Iagttagere: USA ønsker en krig mod Irak - på dansk

Iraq: The West needs intellectual armament and conflict-resolution

Bevar den norske ambassade i Baghdad!

Konfliktløsning, ikke krig, med Irak - 10 punkter

The West does not understand Iraq: perhaps we need an Intifada?

USA dürfen die Vereinten Nationen nicht missbrauchen - in German

Watching TV in Iraq (Iraq 2) - in English

Visit Iraq! (Iraq 1) - in English

Vest forstår ikke Irak, vi behøver måske en Intifada? - på dansk

Väst förstår inte Irak, kanske vi behöver en Intifada? - på svenska

Kik! På TV i Baghdad (Irak 2) - på dansk

Titta! På TV i Baghdad (Irak 2) på svenska

Rejs till Irak! (Irak 1) - på dansk

Res till Irak! (Irak 1) - på svenska

Groups urge countries to oppose Bush's nuclear plans

Dansk udenrigspolitik og forskning ved en korsvej

Et fredeligt Europa - noget nyt
(med Christian Hårleman)

Militarisering af den Europæiske Union: Kan imperialistisk politik og krig undgås nu?

Militarisering af den Europæiske Union: Klumpe-Dumpe som fredsskaber

Militarisering af den Europæiske Union: En civilisationsfejltagelse

"Following Gandhi's Path 1 - Really, India shouldn't be possible!"

Three minutes silence for the dead in Afghanistan and three other peacemaking suggestions

Den falske humanismes støvletramp
Publiceret i Kristeligt Dagblad

Tre minutters stilhed for de døde i Afghanistan og tre andre fredsfremmende forslag

Stats- og privatterror - pas på!

Can we learn to live without the bomb?

Danmarks militær i Afghanistan øger risikoen for terrorisme

Tre minutters stilhed for de døde i Afghanistan og en Sandheds- og Forsoningskommission

Mark Rothko og tilfældighedens gave

Terrorbekæmpelse og verdensherredomme

Terrorbekämpning: Somalia har kopplats ned

 

Articles 2000 - 2001

Makedonien och krigets psykologi - illustrerad

Western militarism and democratic control of armed forces

Conflict-mitigation - ten years of experiences and the challenges ahead

Vill vi bli globaliserade? Vill de andra? Tankar efter 11 september

Terrorangrebet, hvad betyder det, hvordan skal det besvares?
RealAudio, på dansk/Danish.

Tænk hvis den vestlige presse dækkede dette fra Makedonien

Hvad vil der ske i Makedonien - Nogle tænkelige scenarier - og et utænkeligt

NATOs talfusk i Makedonien

Makedonien - på väg mot krig med EU:s och USA:s hjälp

Om at få Makedonien ind på vejen til fred

Jugoslaviens bombare håller Palme-föreläsning på SIPRI

Er USAs tilsyneladende forvirrede politik i Makedonien en samlet politik for destabilisering?

Makedonien - på vej ud i krig med EUs og USAs hjælp

FN-förbundet på krigsstigen

EU:s militarisering - farlig lärdom av Kosovo-konflikten

At TFF's 15th Anniversary - the past, the present and the future

Kosovo/a självständigt? Kanske, men inte likgiltigt hur

EU's militarisering - farlig lærdom af Kosovo

Om demokratiskt förankrad utrikespolitik för en mångfaldig värld

Peace work and movements at the turn of the century


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