DWFedBlog

THESIL MORLAN, 1945-2011, IN MEMORIAM

dwfedblog — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:24:33 +0000

It is with great sadness that I report the death of Thesil Morlan, who suffered a fatal brain aneurysm on December 8. Most readers of this note will probably not have heard of Thesil. She never tried to make waves. She preferred to work quietly, but dependably, from her home, Quill Cove [sheep] Farm, on the rocky coast of Maine, to promote numerous causes related to global peace and justice. She was a passionate advocate of human rights, especially those of women and girls, and a leader of the Maine Chapter of Amnesty International. And for 22 years she was active in UNA USA, at times serving as President of its Maine Chapter. I have interacted with Thesil for roughly a quarter century, first through the World Federalist Association and then through its successor, CGS; and we have both served as members of the Steering Committee of the World Federalist Institute (WFI), a CGS think tank, since its founding in 2005.

The daughter of a professor of political science at the University of Redlands, Thesil graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Mt. Holyoke College and subsequently became an intellectual, author and artist in her own right. She was the consummately skilled editor of all 39 numbers of the semi-annual magazine, Minerva, now an official publication of both CGS and WFI. At this writing, it is not known whether anyone else will try to replace her in that capacity. Readers would do well to access past numbers of Minerva on line. (Just Google Minerva and you’ll get it.) Writing of Thesil and Minerva, Tad Daley had this to say: “We just devoured Minerva …. I really read a lot and… try to absorb a great deal of the contemporary policy debate. Yet, each time I received Minerva, it contained stuff that I had not seen anywhere else. Important stuff. Insightful stuff. Imaginative stuff. Beyond the parameters of the mainstream stuff.” We respectfully dedicate to Thesil this number of the Newsletter of the Minnesota Chapter of CGS and honor her memory by including in it the following three excerpts (prefixed by M:) from Minerva, 39, November 2011.

- Joe Schwartzberg, President, Minnesota Chapter, Citizens for Global Solutions

Conflict between Israel and Iran leading to war? Why we need world federal government

dwfedblog — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:31:53 +0000

The headlines these days make it clear that the conflict between Israel and Iran may move beyond economic sanctions against Iran. Israel has stated it may attack Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that any attack would be met with retaliation.

Without federal world government in place, an attack and invasion may soon be in the making creating a nightmare for thousands upon thousands of innocent citizens particularly in Iran, but also possibly in Israel if the conflict spills over to the broader Middle East.

Ayatollah Khamenei is quoted as saying that “…any attack would be 10 times worse for the interests of the United States.” The US has provided Israel with money and weapons, and Congress under the influence of the Israeli Lobby has voiced full support for Israel’s threats against Iran if the Iranian government refuses to bow to Israeli demands to cease their nuclear program.

Israel has nuclear weapons. What’s wrong with this picture?

A world federal government would analyze the conflict from the point of view of the world public interest rather than narrow national self-interest.

The (World) Federation would likely note that Israel maintains almost 200 nuclear weapons. Iran has none. Iran is concerned that Israel will attack its nuclear facilities, as it did Iraq’s and Syria’s with impunity. Israel fears that eventually Iran will obtain nukes.

Under a World Federal Government neither nation would need, or be allowed to possess, weapons of mass destruction since under a world union there would be no need for such horrible weapons.

Much like California does not need nuclear missiles to protect itself from Texas, as part of a world federal union Israel would not need these terrible weapons to protect itself from Iran, or any other nation. Similarly, Iran would have no need to seek nukes for its defense.

In a democratic world federation there would be nonviolent alternatives to war. Both parties would take their dispute to mediators for resolution, and if that fails they could turn to a World Court (such as the World Court’s Bench for International Conflicts in the Earth Constitution), or as another avenue, could take the dispute to a democratically elected World Parliament.

The global democratic Federal government described here makes going to war unnecessary, and indeed, illegal.

When engaging in war becomes a world crime

Under a well-written world constitution, starting or engaging in war is against the law. Possessing or acquiring nuclear weapons also becomes against the law. But under this new global governing structure, laws would be enforceable, not mere empty words as is currently the case.

Any national leaders or generals who started a war, or maintained nuclear weapons would be treated as common criminals, and would be held individually accountable. World police would arrest them, and they would be prosecuted for world crimes.

State-sponsored terrorism considered a world crime

War crime prosecutions in an Israel/Iran war could include leaders of the United States for providing weapons and money to Israel. Such support could be consider state-sponsored terrorism. If evidence was provided that covert operations were also employed causing death or destruction such as in false flag operations, the operatives and those who ordered such actions could be considered world criminals and be prosecuted accordingly.

United Nations not equipped to deal with the Iranian/Israeli conflict

Because the rule of sovereignty for each nation is written in the UN Charter, the UN has no authority to prevent either Iran or Israel from going to war, or even for possessing nuclear weapons.

If the US is involved, the UN’s hands are completely tied because the US has the power of the veto in the UN Security Council — an ultimate means to avoid prosecution for world crimes.

In the present conflict it appears that the US is an ally of Israel, and Iran may have China or Russia on its side. Because of the undemocratic powers of these powerful nations, they go unrestrained on the global stage. Their veto power in the UN Security Council can prevent any action which might prevent war.

Will war soon be the outcome? Will hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, families, women and children become war victims as occurred in the invasion of Iraq? Another avoidable catastrophe simply because the nations refuse to unite and to federate?

– Roger Kotila

Spring 2011 T.D.W.F. Now Online

dwfedblog — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:59:14 +0000

The Spring edition of Toward Democratic World Federation is now available on our website in anticipation of the Summer/Autumn edition. You can find it in our online library here.

The End of an Era in the U.S. Nuclear Arsenal

dwfedblog — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:10:34 +0000

Today marks the dismantling of the most powerful nuclear bomb the United States ever built.

You can read about it here.

‘After the Dalai Lama’

dwfedblog — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:38:20 +0000

We’ve come across a compelling article from the Wall Street Journal’s Amy Yee entitled “After the Dalai Lama: Tibetans in exile build new institutions as their spiritual leader leaves politics.”

You can read it on the International Campaign for Tibet’s website by clicking here.

The Emery Reves Saga

dwfedblog — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:01:29 +0000

On 27 July 2011 we helped Garry Davis celebrate his 90th birthday while visiting San Francisco.

In checking past messages, I came across Garry’s account of “The Emery Reves Saga,” which was published in the April–May 1997 issue of World Citizen News. This arose from Garry’s first-hand knowledge of Reves.

Robert Betchow of Switzerland had arranged for a reprint of a hundred copies of The Anatomy of Peace with the assistance of Ruth Gunnarsen of Copenhagen. Then in 1995, through Ruth’s arrangement with a Danish printer, I acquired 1,000 copies of Reves’s opus. These were made available for participants of the World Congress which we hosted in June in San Francisco of the World Federalist Movement. And for almost a decade afterwards copies were available to others.

Thanks to intercession by Barbara Walker, we obtained Wendy Reves’s permission to copy the portrait of Emery from the Dallas Museum of Art, which we displayed (along with pictures of other leading democratic statesmen and world governmentalists) at the Congress and later in our San Francisco office. Then, thanks to the Museum’s Curator, we were able to arrange for those attending the World Federalist Association’s Fall Assembly in Dallas on 14 October 1999 to visit the extraordinary Wendy & Emery Reves Wing of the Museum, which (as Garry mentions) was an exact replica with art and furnishing of their Riviera home.

Although Reves and Davis were disillusioned with the actions of early World Federalists, who advocated working through “feudal” nation-state governments, Democratic World Federalists (in our Statement of Purposes and Objectives) allows for achieving democratic world government in a number of ways. — John O. Sutter

Click here to read the article.

Good Morning, Everyone.

dwfedblog — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:28:17 +0000

The Democratic World Federalists‘ blog is now live! … and also very much a work in progress.

Stay tuned, and feel free to question/comment.