News from M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the world today?

A shift in worldview.
In fact, before answering the interview questions I want to set a context within which I will answer them. We are experiencing a major shift from an existing worldview of competition and separateness to an emerging worldview of cooperation and oneness or interconnectedness. This has major implications for us as individuals, groups and societies.

Paul Hawkens, author of Blessed Unrest, refers to this shift as the greatest social change movement in the history of humanity. There is no name, no leader, no apparent structure. And yet there are hundreds of thousands of groups throughout the world working to create a world that works for everyone.

The shift relates to integrated, interrelated dynamics of global climate change; adjustments and restructuring of political, governmental, and economic systems; and the awakening to our interdependence and oneness, both with one another and with the living Earth system we are part of. The shift is marked by major breakdowns in all these systems already taking place and likely to intensify - breakdowns that are necessary in order for us to break through to new systems, new consciousness, new equilibrium in what we might call a culture of peace.

The biggest challenge is to co-create the breakthroughs while managing the inevitable conflicts of the breakdowns in peaceful and nonviolent ways as we discover and design institutions and ways of being in this emergent worldview.

Why do you think National Peace Academies are important?

Perhaps H.G. Wells said it best, "History is a race between education and catastrophe." And Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea is adamant that it is education that is the key to safe and healthy communities, not force or bombs or violence. In fact, the tag line of his latest book, Stones into Schools, reads: Promoting Peace with Books, not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

When as a global family decide to educate ourselves for peace, the definition of which is learning to live in right relationship with self, others and the world around us, we will move that much closer to living in a culture of peace instead of a culture of violence. National Peace Academies bring a focus on peacebuilding and the development of the peacebuilder - inner and outer; personal and professional - thereby consciously and proactively creating and supporting safe, healthy and sustainable communities and societies. It begins with and within each one of us.

As Maria Montessori said, "Establishing lasting peace is the work of education." In the USA, the National Peace Academy, through peace education, peace research, peace practice, and peace policy, adds value to, and works synergistically and collaboratively through and with, existing and emerging programs and institutions - at all levels of civil society, business, and government - towards nurturing a culture of peace, sustainability, and increased livelihood for all citizens, nationally and globally.

And when we talk about educating for peace, there is a need to understand that presently we live in a culture of violence, or perhaps better said, a violent culture. Imagine a triangle and at one point is direct violence; another point structural violence, and at the third point cultural violence. We seem immune to the fact that violence and fear basically inform our society. How do we make the shift from living in a violent culture to living in a culture of peace? What would direct, structural and cultural peace look like? I want to see all of us living in safe, healthy and sustainable communities. We need to be intentional about bringing that about. This includes skill-based peacelearning that will be commonplace in national peace academies. Graduates (peacebuilders) will enter the workplace well suited to communicate authentically, establish healthy relationships, participate in conflict resolution and mediation, and help create work environments conducive to bringing out the best in co-workers, leading to happier and more productive situations.

Imagine peace education in schools throughout the country. Our children will know how to resolve conflict without fighting, learn to actively listen and to participate in healthy dialogue, discover how to create play and learning environments that support self-esteem and confidence. The basic skills of right relationship will lead to transforming our society. Together we have the capacity to create a world that works for everyone.

Has Gandhi inspired you as a peace educator? Who else in the field of nonviolence has guided you?

Yes, most definitely. In fact, Gandhi's consistent striving to demonstrate principle-based living is one of the most inspirational stories in recorded history. There are a number of visionary leaders who inspire me and inform the work I am doing. My heroes are those whose speech and actions embody and reflect the nonviolent principles they espouse. One that comes immediately to mind is Elise Boulding, considered the mother of peace research. Elise and her husband Kenneth were instrumental in laying foundation stones for conflict resolution, peace education and nonviolence and she wrote the book, Cultures of Peace: The Hidden Side of History. Michael Nagler also comes to mind, founder of METTA Center in Berkeley, as he continues to exemplify nonviolence and proactive peacebuilding. Azim Khamisa, founder of the Tariq Khamisa Foundation is amazing as he has forgiven the young man who murdered his son and now empowers youth to have a sense of belonging and contributing to healthy communities. I am also inspired by Aaron Voldman, Ocean Robbins, Lisa Schirch, Kimmie Weeks and Ben Quinto, and certainly Oscar Arias, Nelson Mandela, HH Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King.

Having worked on a national presidential campaign, can you describe what is right with American politics? What do you believe is the most dysfunctional aspect of our electoral system?

As National Campaign Manager for Kucinich for President I experienced the most intense phase of this lifetime to date - and enjoyed every minute of it. What is right with American politics is the premise that We The People are an arm of the government - our voices count. What is challenging and disturbing is that our political system is presently so polarized and self-centered that in politics we have lost sight of service on behalf of the greater good, and the voice of the people is not being heard.
The most dysfunctional aspect can be summed up in one question and is perhaps best described by the Blackeyed Peas: Where is the love?

When we define peace as the wholeness that comes from right relationships, then the answer to this question involves pointing out the absence of right relationships. People are acting out of misguided self-interest (political, financial), which comes from the win-lose mentality of our culture of fear and scarcity and go-it-alone individualism, a natural result of our worldview of separateness. So politics needs to search for common ground.

As I mentioned up front, our challenge is to live intentionally and lovingly in this shifting worldview. The worldview that is dissolving ... its use-by date is up. We have done really well developing the individual, utilizing competition to refine and improve and be the best, and discovering the separate parts of the whole - studying and researching and building in distinct areas. Now it is time to study, research and build in the spirit of cooperation and unity, recognizing that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and that we are all interconnected - simply put - one.

Having said all this, I am an eternal optimist, and stand firmly with those in politics who know, and act according to that knowing, that service is all about the individual offering their contribution and strengths on behalf of the general welfare. We live in a beautiful country with great promise - it is necessary and timely that we make the shift from individualism and separateness to group awareness and unity, recognizing and acting upon our interconnectedness in the spirit of our Founding Fathers who built this country on the premise: E Pluribus Unum ... out of many, one.

If you became Secretary of Peace, what would be your top priority? Would you work cooperatively with the Pentagon or would you make your department a subversive force in Washington?

My top priority is always inspiring cooperation on behalf of the common good, and that would not change if I became Secretary of Peace. In fact, it would give one a brilliant platform from which to work as a cooperator and peacebuilder, both within the system in Washington D.C., as well as through bringing a focus on creating infrastructures of peace to our international policy.

This shift in thinking, therefore acting, will lead to creating safe, healthy and sustainable communities and societies. Tom Barnett in his book, The Pentagon's New Map, states clearly that business and civil society cannot survive (or thrive) without stable infrastructure.

Thus, as for the Department of Peace working cooperatively with the Pentagon, yes, yes. In fact, there are many in the military who want to see people trained in peacebuilding, recognizing the wisdom of building cooperative relationships. Therefore as Secretary of Peace there would be an effective partnership of both keeping the peace and proactively building the peace. We face a unique opportunity for transformation in thought, word and deed throughout society.

Let me conclude by stating emphatically that it is time for every individual, group and country to learn to resolve conflict wisely and responsibly before it escalates to violence.