Matters of Life and Death
April 2004
Banner photo: ©SEKAI BUNKA PHOTO
Toda Institute's Eighth Anniversary
Participants at the Toda Institute’s peace conference in Honolulu
The Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research celebrated its eighth anniversary on February 11. To commemorate its establishment, the institute sponsored a peace conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, on February 7. Institute Director Dr. Majid Tehranian read a message from Daisaku Ikeda in which the SGI president emphasized the need for optimism and hope in inspiring people to work together for peace. Sincere and tenacious dialogue, he stated, is the key in winning a victory for humanism.
The keynote speaker was Prof. Kevin Clements of the Australian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, who talked about new elements of world conflicts and his ideas for conflict resolution from the vantage point of prevention, peace- building and development. The conference participants discussed imperial mono-polarism, ways to apply soft power, the creation of an international world order from perspectives of "other nations" and "others," the eradication of breeding grounds for terrorism and the need to strengthen the UN. The discussions underscored the significance of people-led peace-building in overcoming the negative effects of sovereign-state systems.
The Toda Institute has announced that it will hold an international symposium in Budapest, Hungary, in July as part of its ongoing three-year global governance project. This project has already resulted in the publication of research papers on the rebuilding of Afghanistan and the globalization and democratization of the media.
The institute also recently celebrated the appointment of former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to its growing network of international advisers.
