Most wars today are internal struggles in Third World nations. Some Canadians are working with activists in those places to bring peace and social justice, and they all learn from each other. Joanna Santa Barbara, a psychiatrist who studies the effects of war on children, visited the Philippines last summer and shares her insights with us here. Her mention of the human rights activist Ed Garcia stimulated us to phone him in London for an interview. I had first heard of Garcia in Moscow as one of the people transferring great ideas for nonviolent strategies from one country to another during the 1970s and '80s. He sheds light on his own country -- and also on other areas, such as Latin America.
Another big question today concerns the prospects for peace in the former Yugoslavia. Here we present a debate between Andrew Pakula and David Parnas about the Dayton Accord.
We also publish a portion of John Holdren's memorable Nobel acceptance speech. (And luckily, those of you live near Toronto will have a chance to attend a lecture on May 9 by another great Pugwashite, Joe Rotblat, who was pictured on the cover of our January-February issue. He's an excellent speaker.)
Canada's new foreign minister, Lloyd Axworthy, has floated the idea of acknowledging that nuclear weapons are contrary to international law and refusing to have anything more to do with them. He has asked Canadians to give their opinions on this subject and also on the importance of defending human rights abroad. You can send him a message by visiting the Canadian government Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.ca/english/news/statem~1/96_state/003e.htm. That's an invitation to express yourself! Go for it.
Occasionally a long-time subscriber writes to say with regret that she can no longer afford our magazine. If someone out there wants to help us continue sending such people, they'll be grateful, and so will we.
Peace Magazine Mar-Apr 1996, page 4. Some rights reserved.
