Institute for Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) Presentation with Frances Flannery
January 18, 2024
Presentation Overview: According to most political analysts, the current Israel-Hamas conflict has the clear potential to spark WWIII, an outcome of suffering that no nation can afford, particularly in a time of dire climate crisis that threatens 3.6 billion people by mid-century. Addressing climate change will take unprecedented international cooperation and coordination, a daunting task that will certainly be thwarted by a World War. Yet the outmoded paradigms of inequity that infuse most systems of international relations and counter-terrorism are ill equipped to create sustainable peace in Israel and Palestine. Similarly, the inequitable systems that are charged with meeting the challenge of climate crisis have thus far proven themselves to be incapable of implementing wide-scale, equitable climate actions. One hope is a “middle-out” approach that unites diverse organizations across civil societies and can create effective peacebuilding strategies even in the most challenging of conflicts. This talk explores the evidence for the effectiveness of a “middle-out” approach in civil society in creating sustainable peace, using the model of the One Billion for Peace Pledge, of which IRAS is already a signatory.
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