Dear friends and colleagues, In the light of Bruce’s timely reminder of the many dimensions of peace studies as reflected in the list below (and in the light of Maríía Cristina’s perceptive earlier remarks about seeing things as a whole), perhaps we should consider an introduction to the book that reviews these dimensions and places the actual articles in the book within the larger framework of the science of peace as it has blossomed worldwide within the past 50 or more years? Then the first two chapters could be Leo’s chapters on his GPS, which would be excellent, but all the different views in the book would have already been reviewed in the Introduction that places our collective work in GHA within that larger worldwide movement. This is put forward simply as something we might want to consider. In peace and harmony, Glen Martin From: Bruce Cook, AuthorMe.com [mailto:cookcomm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2014 12:02 PM To: gha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; Peace Group Cc: Martin, Glen T Subject: Regarding Glen Martin's Helpoful Comment for the new GHA Book Dear GHA Members: I have felt deep disappointment to see our overall reaction to Glen Martin's very helpful comments on our new book. Many thanks to Maria Christina Azcona for her recent efforts to improve this. In my view, we must deliberately avoid personal attack and we must discipline ourselves to accept criticism in a positive way. (Believe me, I am too familiar with my own reactions to criticism, and I find have to constantly suppress my own "knee-jerk" reactions.) Thus, in the spirit of harmony and peace, and a personal appeal for all of us to improve our new book, I ask that we shift the focus back to the original comments from Glen Martin, which I quote (in part) below. Can we please try to consider these ideas as we develop our manuscripts? Thoughts from Glen for the new GHA book: In our book, we need to consider these comments from Glen Martin and take them seriously. He is helping us see new directions for peace studies. 1. ...the vast contributions to understanding the violent dynamics of our world made by Max Weber, Immanuel Wallerstein, Jürgen Habermas, and others. 2. ...the global ethics movement and the great amount of work done on defining global ethics on behalf of peace. 3. ...the theory and practice of nonviolence and the vast amount of work coming from the inspirations of Gandhi, King, Tolstoy, etc. 4. ...the worldwide movement for the study and practice of nonviolent communication led my Marshall Rosenberg and others. 5. ...the role of capitalism in the promotion of war, a literature spearheaded by Marx and continued by many others. 6. ...[the literature on] totalitarianism, its forms and roles in war and violence… [considering] the literature on that subject, led, for example, by Hannah Arendt. 7. ...the institutions and motivations usually associated with war and violence: multinational corporations, systems of exploitation, industrial-military complexes, militarized sovereign national security states, terror and counter-terror, undemocratic structures of governing, motives for imperialism, patterns of hate, fear, and ignorance, etc. – things that are most often taken as causes of war and impediments to be overcome through a process of both dialogue as well as structural changes. 8. ...the vast literature on human rights and human dignity and its contributions to creating peace and harmony. 9. ...the ethics of care and compassion and the literature around that theme. 10. ...the positive things that are usually associated with the establishing of peace: conflict resolution, authentic democratic modes of governing, economic conversion to peaceful goods and services, dialogue directed toward mutual understanding, nonviolence in theory and practice, nonviolent forms of communication, economic and social justice, truth and reconciliation processes, respect for human rights and human dignity, etc. 11. ...the ethical, structural, social, and psychological characteristics of a world peace system (as opposed to the present war-system) 12. ...how the four societal spheres can be effectively and properly differentiated or what value it would be to approach society this way. Each set of social information – humanitarian, instrumental (informational), organizational, and technical would seem to apply to all the spheres?... Just collecting data is not going to create peace. the ethical, structural, social, and psychological characteristics of a world peace system (as opposed to the present war-system)? Now that I have reiterated these important thoughts, please spare me the personal attacks we've had to endure. Isn't it obvious that, as a peace group, we need to be at peace with each other? The members of GHA represent an articulate "think tank" seeking harmony and peace. Let's learn to work with each other and continue to make a significant contribution to world peace. Yours in pursuit of harmony and peace, Bruce Bruce L. Cook, Ph.D. President, GHA-USA Vice-President, GHA Director of CSSS Publishing and Editorial team President, World Writers Resources, Inc. 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