HUMAN WRONGS WATCH

Jan Oberg


The war in and on Syria has been started in spring 2011 – the underlying conflicts much much earlier.

What our media have shown us is snipers, bombings, killings, ruins, dead bodies and press conferences with Western politicians.

But did you “see” the underlying conflicts?

Get an understanding of what the problems standing between the parties are?

Did you get the impression that weapons is the only thing “they” understand?

Did you feel hopeless about it all? Confused? Depressed because of all the human suffering?

That peace is impossible?

If so it’s because we are missing a huge part of the picture. We need something else.

We need to switch from – repetitive and depressive – war and violence reporting to conflict and peace reporting.

We need a focus on issues, history and structures instead of appointing one side and one person as the problem.

We must supplement the focus on weapons and fighters and focus on human potentials.

We must scrap the garbage theory that peace is about good guys winning and bad ones losing.

We must listen to all the parties, not just out own politicians and media.

And we must look at common interests and ways out of the violence and ask: Who can do what for a better Syria in the future, a Syria with people at peace with each other and the world.

Are you interested in new ways of understanding conflicts?

Then – being in Syria until Christmas – I am available.

In two ways:

1. I will post short articles based upon these other approaches at the TFF Associates blog.

2. I have been here in beautiful, historical Damascus the last 5 days and will go to several places – Aleppo on Saturday.

I’m available to media and others who take interest in what is going on here in a conflict and peace perspective.


Contact:

janoberg@mac.com


Swedish iPhone +46 738 52 52 00


Syrian mobile +963 941 35 36 52


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janoberg.se – for updates, messaging and phone.


Skype: janoberg

*About the author: Dr Jan Oberg, Peace studies professor. PhD in sociology, peace and future researcher. Associate professor (Docent) at Lund University, thereafter visiting or guest professor at various universities. 

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 has taught peace courses for more than 10 years at the European Peace University (EPU) in Schlaining, Austria and teaches MA courses twice a year at the World Peace Academy (WPA) in Basel, Switzerland. Learn more about Jan Oberg.

Jan Oberg’s article was published in: TFF – Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research. Go to Original.

About TFF:  TFF is an independent think tank, a global network that aims to bring about peace by peaceful means. It inspires a passion for peace from the grassroots to the corridors of power.

TFF is an all-volunteer global network. It promotes conflict-mitigation and reconciliation in general, as well as in a more targeted way in a selected number of conflict regions – through meticulous on-the-ground research, active listening, education and advocacy. Learn more about TFF