Global Majority promotes nonviolent conflict resolution education, mediation and advocacy. We believe that principled dialogue is imperative and must replace violent conflict if humankind is to thrive.

Unresolved conflicts lead to secondary humanitarian and environmental crises including military and civilian deaths, forced migration, unemployment, destruction of families, environmental and natural resource degradation, and the failure of health, educational, and other social security systems.

As a measurement of the GNP of the world’s national economies, an inordinate amount of resources are invested in small arms, weapons systems and other military expenditures. This misdirection of resources has direct and indirect impacts that detract from the building of healthy communities. The militarization of developed and developing economies is rooted in insecurity but justified by leaders as necessary for their national security.

Combined with the militarization of national economies, the doctrines of pre-emption and unilateralism in international relations have resulted in the erosion of multilateral agreements, treaties, and international legal norms. Because of this erosion of international norms, the world is becoming more fractionated, polarized, and less secure.

The Solution

While conflict is ever-present as a result of economic, political, social, and cultural difference and disparity, conflict can be managed through structured negotiation and mediation. In the past twenty years, the art and science of principled, interest-based negotiation, mediation, and arbitration systems have been developed to resolve conflicts of all types. From domestic legal systems to international commercial and political forums, the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) has been successfully employed to avert or end violence and other destructive forms of conflict. In fact, virtually all wars are brought to an end through a process of negotiation or mediation. The challenge is to redirect the resort to violence to new forums of negotiation and principled conflict management.

Despite the successful development and practical application of non-violent conflict resolution mechanisms, the promotion of training programs and first use of ADR techniques in avoiding and averting potentially damaging conflict is drastically under funded and underutilized.

The growing role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as key actors in the formulation of national and international policy has created new opportunities for negotiation and mediation of conflicts in many regional and global arenas. But, the training of skills in the art and science of non-violent conflict resolution as well as the promotion of mediation training and use of mediation in the international arena has not been prioritized.

Combined with the need for an expansion of non-violent conflict resolution training and forums, the global community must formulate an international call rooted in the principles of non-violence that will be effective in confronting governments and alliances that have become reliant on the militarization of conflict to the detriment of humanity. A new manner of thinking and acting is crucial to the survival of humankind. A global movement that promotes non-violence can give voice to the global majority who seek to live in peace. Such a movement can also provide concrete education, training, and mediation services based upon specific skills and applications practiced by those who are culturally sensitive and committed to the development of processes that promote the non-violent resolution of disputes.

Given the enormity of the challenges that face people and communities in so many parts of the world, the vision must also be big. We expect that the vision will be shaped by those who embrace a part of it in their community, nation, or region of the world. We will learn by doing as we advance a shared vision that knows no national or regional boundaries.

The General Proposal

The Global Campaign for Non-Violent Conflict Resolution (“the Campaign”) is a project of Global Majority which seeks to develop:

1.  A global network of trained negotiators and mediators who can work with governments, businesses, and NGOs to promote training and the use of non-violent conflict resolution mechanisms.

2.  Resources to expand Track II and other forms of dialogue through mediated settings that can be used to promote and advance the principled resolution of disputes.

3.  Resources to enable representatives of government, business, and NGOs to explore, discuss, and design programs and campaigns to build sound alternatives to violent or destructive conflict.

4.  Resources where the documented concerns and proposals of diverse NGO, government, business and organized labor representatives can be presented to policy makers where such policy concerns are currently without voice. The function of an international campaign to promote the non-violent resolution of conflict contemplates the articulation of a broadly agreed upon set of moral principles based on the respect for life and fundamental human rights. Procedurally, such a campaign seeks to bring parties in conflict to the negotiating table or a supervised mediation process.

5.  Educational and practical mechanisms to work with governments, non-state actors, and others who may be prone to violence to demonstrate peaceful alternatives through nonviolent conflict resolution methods.

6.  A broad alliance of organizations and global citizens committed to the non-violent resolution of disputes through negotiation, mediation, and other forms of conflict resolution.

7.  A broad alliance of organizations and global citizens committed to the non-violent resolution of disputes through negotiation, mediation, and other forms of conflict resolution.

The Call

We acknowledge that these objectives are idealistic and will be viewed by some as thoughts normally relegated to the province of dreamers. However, our conviction in the pursuit of these objectives is bolstered and reinforced by the necessity to bring reason and method to the resolution of conflicts in a manner that will empower the creative and peace-loving aspirations of all people and cultures. The ultimate success of this articulated vision may be difficult if not impossible to measure. A single success in the aversion and avoidance of violent conflict will be one measure of fulfillment of this vision. Another measurement of success will be the empowerment and involvement of those individuals, communities, and organizations who embrace, shape, and advance this vision as part of a true global majority that will give life to a Global Campaign for Non-Violent Conflict Resolution.

This call has been developed and advanced by an internationally diverse group of individuals who share a common vision, the genesis of which is rooted in shared cross-cultural experience, conflict resolution training, and a high regard and respect for the fundamental principles codified in the International Declaration of Human Rights.

Bill Monning, Professor, International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program on Negotiation, Mediation, and Conflict Resolution, Monterey Institute of International Studies

We are a growing network of people and organizations in over 20 countries. By signing the pledge, you will lend your voice to a campaign that seeks to empower the voiceless in a focused effort to influence policy makers to pursue negotiation, mediation, and principled dialogue as necessary alternatives to war and violence.

We will add your name to a growing network capable of moving together in a growing number of countries. By signing the pledge, you will add legitimacy and force to future appeals, strengthen network-building activities, and be registered as one of the global majority. (We affirm that your name and contact information will NOT be shared with any other organization and that we will provide only periodic updates and will not flood your email!)

As you join us with your name and email address as a signatory to the Global Pledge, please consider forwarding our web link or a copy of the pledge to your friends, family, and co-workers. As 10 becomes 100, 100 becomes 1,000, 1,000 becomes 10,000… Global Majority will be able to raise a voice that will truly resonate the will and aspirations of the true global majority. Thank you for signing the “GLOBAL PLEDGE” and for affirming your commitment to peace and non-violent conflict resolution.

THE GLOBAL MAJORITY PLEDGE

Declaration of Principles

Promoting Dialogue: Giving Voice to the Global Majority

Preamble: Recognizing that violence is too often the preferred option for resolving conflict and that the spiral of violence continues to impact innocents; considering the need to convert global military budgets to investment in programs that will uplift the human condition; recognizing the multi-faceted nature of violence rooted in political marginalization, poverty, racial and gender discrimination, environmental degradation, population displacement, and inadequate healthcare (especially as manifest in HIV/AIDS crisis), and believing that the global majority want peace but too often lack a voice in the decisions affecting our lives, I endorse the following principles as part of the Global Majority Pledge with the goal of developing a global network to pressure governments and others resorting to violence to sit down and negotiate:

1.  Peace can be achieved through the active participation of the global majority;

2.  Non-violent conflict resolution (NVCR) must be adopted and practiced by all;

3.  Constructive dialogue, negotiation, mediation, and other forms of non violent conflict resolution can replace military and armed conflict;

4.  Gender, racial, and ethnic equality must be respected as critical to the achievement of effective cooperation and dialogue among people and should be prioritized in education, government relations, business, and diplomacy;

5.  Inclusion of diverse stakeholders and interest groups in constructive dialogue is critical to the achievement of durable and non-violent alternatives to violence;

6.  To be human is to respect the humanity of others. Respect can be cultivated, earned, and modeled;

7.  Social responsibility must be practiced and promoted by all sectors of the global community including civil society, governments, businesses, labor, religious organizations, academia, the media, and the military;

8.  Non-violent direct action that is creative and supportive of dialogue should be supported at the local, regional, and global level among individuals, organizations, and networks;

9.  The practice of peace will build the path to peace.

I _______________, a member of the global majority, endorse the nine point path to peace, commit to practice non-violence while joining the global movement to promote non-violent conflict resolution at all levels of human engagement.

Go to http://www.globalmajority.net/register/index.aspx to sign the pledge.