Give Peace a Chance: Preventing Mass Violence - Softcover

Hamburg, David A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1612051391 ISBN 13: 9781612051390

Publisher: Routledge, 2013

Synopsis

In Give Peace a Chance, the distinguished Dr. Hamburg teams up with his filmmaker son to tell the story of selected significant peace achievements over the past 25 years. Including lessons from personal experience, pithy quotes from interviews with international dignitaries, and the insights of a documentary sensibility, this book reflects upon striking moments in peace history and inflects them with the perspective of preventive medicine. From Jane Goodall's rainforest research station, to a hostage taking in Eastern Africa, to the Reagan-Gorbachev post-summit epiphany in Reykjavik, the Hamburgs take us there. They then distill the wisdom of these and many other encounters into an essential "six pillars of prevention"-education, early action, democracy building, socioeconomic development, human rights, and arms control. These six pillars are essential not only to reflections upon the past, but to future prospects emerging from recent challenges to peace-the Arab Spring, the violent repression in Syria, and the brewing faceoff with Iran. Features of this engaging text: Combines personal experience(including involvement in a hostage rescue mission) with ongoing research in a variety of areas over 50+ years. Includes feature quotes and vignettes from international figures including Kofi Annan, Sam Nunn, and Hillary Clinton, among many others. Builds upon six key pillars of prevention: education, early warning, democracy, development, human rights, and arms control. Concludes with prescriptions for peace action in four key areas: the US and Western democracies, the UN, the EU, and NATO. Offers carefully selected Recommended Readings for every chapter. See Stanford University's website for twenty-nine videotaped interviews with world leaders in the prevention of mass violence at http://lib.stanford.edu/preventing-genocide/list-interviews

About this title

About the Author:

David A. Hamburg, M.D., is DeWitt Wallace Distinguished Scholar at Weill Cornell Medical College. He was President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York from 1982 to 1997. He has been Professor at Stanford University and Harvard University, President of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, and President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Among his many publications are Today's Children (1992), No More Killing Fields (2002), and Learning to Live Together (2004). Dr. Hamburg was a member of President Clinton's Defense Policy Board and the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology. He was the founder of the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology, and Government. He cochaired with former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict. He is currently chairing two distinguished parallel committees at the United Nations and European Union on the prevention of genocide, reporting to Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon, and Javier Solana. Dr. Hamburg's many honors include the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal (its highest award) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian award of the United States).

Review:

“This book is not so much a plea to end ongoing conflicts but an analysis of how to prevent mass violence before it erupts. It thus offers an elaborate response to the question of what we can do to reduce the chances for violence and increase the chances for peace. This is done in the form of a personal and, at times, intimate conversation with David Hamburg making the book compelling and easy to read for a nonexpert audience, while offering insights for seasoned conflict prevention and peacebuilding practitioners”
―Alliance for Peacebuilding

“For those new to David Hamburg’s work, Give Peace a Chance can function as either an extended introduction or a condensed version of his lifelong effort to promote peace across the globe. More than that, Give Peace a Chance: Preventing Mass Violence serves as a methodical handbook to help guide the next generation of peacemakers who seek to take up the torch that David Hamburg has worked so hard and for so long to light.”
―Foreign Policy Association

“David Hamburg has given us fresh insight into preventing violence and preserving peace in this new book―complete with his personal reflections on working with hostage takers and peacemakers alike. Coauthored with son, Eric Hamburg, Give Peace a Chance adds a new voice to the continuing plea for peace.”
―Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate

“Father and son have teamed up to produce a timely and insightful book on how the global community can prevent mass violence. Their ‘pillars of prevention’ are essential for a more peaceful world, and they themselves are true national treasures.”
―Former Senator Sam Nunn, Co-Chairman, Nuclear Threat Initiative

“Complete with fascinating research, analysis, and personal vignettes, their work helps clarify principles and policies to better identify and prevent deadly conflict worldwide.”
―Senator John Kerry (D-Massachusetts)

“David Hamburg has been a champion of human rights and a peacemaker throughout his life. In this new book he explores fresh approaches to conflict resolution ... finds in recent events new opportunities for multilateral nuclear disarmament.”
―Baroness Shirley Williams, British House of Lords

“This lively book ... sounds a call to action to prevent violence through such means as education, mediation, and early warning.”
―Joshua S. Goldstein, author of Winning the War on War and War and Gender

“David Hamburg provided intellectual capital, physical presence, and inspirational leadership, an essential foundation for the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction legislation and the pro-active follow-through of the last two decades.”
―Senator Richard G. Lugar (R-Indiana)

“Profoundly moving and eloquent....I highly recommend this book for anyone seeking thoughtful, wise insights into the prevention of deadly violence, and inspiration for applying these principles in an increasingly complex and chaotic world."
―Melanie Greenberg, President and CEO, Alliance for Peacebuilding

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1612051391
• ISBN 13: 9781612051390
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224