Friends of Peace

Recently I visited PRIO website that have the mission:

“• to conduct high-quality academic research on questions relevant to the promotion of a more peaceful world

• to contribute to theoretical and methodological development both within specific academic disci-plines, and through cross-fertilization between disciplines

• to engage in the promotion of peace through conflict resolution, dialogue and reconciliation, public information and policymaking activities

• to disseminate research through academic publica-tions, through reports related to our engagement activities and via the general media

An essential part of PRIO’s mission is to maintain impeccable academic standards and to subject institute publications to the regular mechanisms of quality control employed in the appropriate academic disciplines. This approach also forms the basis for our two scholarly journals: Security Dialogue and Journal of Peace Research.

Relevance is at the core of the peace research tradition. PRIO engages in research on the conditions for peaceful coexistence between nations, between groups and between individuals. This implies that PRIO researchers seek means of nonviolent conflict management and resolution, as well as ways to nurture and build long-term sustainable peace. As a research institute that focuses on the dynamics of war and peace – including the emergence, prevention and resolution of armed conflict – PRIO is actively engaged in training, policy research and information brokerage as means of preventing armed conflict and supporting peace processes.

When PRIO was founded in 1959, it was one of the world’s very first peace research centre. Since that time, many other centres and university departments with a peace research agenda have been established, some of which sharing PRIO’s dedication to academic quality. PRIO was born out of tensions related to the Cold War, and for many years it served as a centre of research-based criticism of Cold War politics. Since the end of the Cold War, the emphasis of PRIO’s research has shifted to reflect the current dominance of civil wars within armed conflict; the relationship between peace and democracy; the widened scope for multilateral cooperation within the United Nations; and the fact that PRIO’s host country, Norway, has taken on a special role as peace broker in many parts of the world. PRIO’s research agenda has always been international, and the work-ing language of the institute is English. The institute places considerable emphasis on maintaining its scholarly and institutional independence and its capacity to conduct critical research.

PRIO remains Norway’s only peace research institute. As such, it maintains links with all Norwegian universities and is connected with a number of independent research institutes abroad. In addition, PRIO is involved in a strategic partnership on peace-building with the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) in Bergen.

To an increasing extent, institutions that do not identify themselves with ‘peace research’ have begun to engage with research topics that are situated at the core of the PRIO agenda. We view this ‘mainstreaming’ of peace research as a positive development, one that creates an opportu-nity for researchers at PRIO to engage more with the wider world of scholars and policymakers, rather than treating peace researchers as a special ‘in-group’. PRIO will continue to cultivate a rich and variegated network comprised of research institutes and univer-sities worldwide. Our international network helps inform our research agenda and assists with the dissemination of our research findings. Relations with universities – both internationally and within Norway – are particularly important for the training compo-nent of PRIO’s work. Students and doctoral candi-dates either based at PRIO or receiving supervision from PRIO staff take their degrees at universities both in Norway and abroad. PRIO is engaged in international collaboration with various academic associations, and participates in broader associations such as the International Studies Association (ISA), and the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR).”

These missions are relevant to our websites so I have re-produced them for public interest.

Source: www.prio.no

Recently Hamas in a message urged the United Nations to distinguish between Israeli “crimes” and Palestinian “resistance” in its investigation of human rights violations in the Gaza war. They have “asked any investigation commission to be just towards the Palestinian people and … not to put on a same level the Zionist crimes” and the acts of “resistance” by Palestinians.

“What the Palestinian people did and our resistance during the war … amount to self-defence to protect the Palestinian people,” The rep. Former international prosecutor Richard Goldstone was named on Friday to lead a broadened human rights probe into violence during Israel’s 22-day Gaza offensive in December and January.

At the same time, the Israeli government hailed what it said was Obama’s commitment to Israel’s security. Leading Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat focused instead on “the statements by President Obama confirming the principle of a two-state solution.” Israel should understand “that the track leading to an end of the occupation since 1967 of the Palestinian and Arab territories and to the start of a two-state solution is the only track that can be followed,” said the rep.

A November 2007 conference in Annapolis, near Washington, relaunched peace negotiations on the basis of the roadmap, although dozens of rounds of talks between Israel and the Palestinians have produced little visible progress.