A Dialogue on Foreign Policy: Report to Canadians

Department of Foreign Affairs, Canada, 2003.

The future of Canada's foreign policy lies in building on distinctive advantages in a time of great change and uncertainty. A diverse population makes them a microcosm of the world's peoples; their geography and population give them broad global interests; their economy is the most trade-oriented among the G7 nations; and their relationship with the United States is extensive and deep. With these and other assets, Canadians recognize that they have a unique basis for asserting a distinctive presence in the world. They also believe that in these times of enormous change, Canada must take stock of how they want to approach new and continuing international challenges. To represent the values, interests and aspirations of Canadians as they confront these challenges, their country's foreign policy must draw as broadly as possible on the views of our citizens.

Resource Link: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/cip-pic/participate/fpd-en.asp

Accord: An International Review of Peace Initiatives

Conciliation Resources.

This full-text online journal provides detailed narrative and rigorous analysis on specific war and peace processes, combining readability with practical relevance. Accord acts as a primer for international readers unfamiliar with specific wars and peace processes as well as a reference tool containing comprehensive texts of peace agreements.

Resource Link: http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/index.php

African Journal on Conflict Resolution

The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD).

In launching a new academic journal focusing on conflict transformation in Africa in 1999, ACCORD fulfilled a long-held ambition to contribute to the intellectual development of thinking, writing and dialogue in the field of conflict management on the continent of Africa.

Resource Link: http://www.accord.org.za/ajcr/intro.htm

Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution

The Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution (formerly known as ACRON) is a network of the United States' most pre-eminent conflict prevention and resolution organizations. Formed in 1999 and incorporated in 2003, the Alliance is dedicated to increasing the effectiveness of the conflict management field and maximizing its impact on international peace building.

Resource Link: http://www.aicpr.org

Americans for Informed Democracy (AID)

Americans for Informed Democracy (AID) is a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization working to raise global awareness on more than 500 U.S. university campuses and in more than 10 countries. AID fulfills its mission by coordinating town hall meetings on America's Role in the World, hosting leadership retreats, and publishing opinion pieces and reports on issues of global importance. Through these efforts, AID seeks to build a new generation of globally conscious leaders who can shape an American foreign policy appropriate for our increasingly interdependent world.

Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org

Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Asian Relations

Nuclear weapons in North Korea. Trade with China. Economic development in India. The United States' relations with countries in Asia promise to be some of the most dynamic in the twenty-first century. Indeed, U.S.-Asian relations are the "the next big thing" in America's role in the world. But despite the importance of this relationship, public discourse fails to contextualize these issues in a constructive manner that focuses on the opportunities that exist for collaboration, rather than the dangers that are posed when powers collide. For this reason, Americans for Informed Democracy proposes its new initiative, The Next Big Thing: The Future of U.S.-Asian Relations.

Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/usasia.doc

Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Darfur and Beyond: The Role of the ICC

In March of 2005, the U.N. Security Council referred the crimes in Darfur to the International Criminal Court. Notably, the U.S., a veto power on the Security Council, decided not to use its veto to block this historic action. Just months later though, in August of 2005, President Bush appointed John Bolton as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Bolton has a clear record of ardently opposing the International Criminal Court and aggressively seeking to undermine its effectiveness and legitimacy.

Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/globalgovernanceicc.doc

Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Entrepreneurship in a Globalized World

Thomas Friedman's bestseller The World is Flat argues that advances in technology are leveling the global competitive playing field and reshaping the challenges and opportunities faced by the next generation of entrepreneurs. U.S. entrepreneurs now compete more directly with businesses around the world, while working more cooperatively with foreign businesses and labor to manufacture and deliver their products. What does the changing global landscape mean for socially responsible global entrepreneurship? What are the challenges? What are the opportunities? Americans for Informed Democracy is bringing town hall style discussion of these questions to universities across the U.S. through its Entrepreneurship in a Globalized World initiative.

Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/entrepreneur.doc

Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Global HIV/AIDS

Nearly 40 million people around the world live with HIV or AIDS. More than half of the infected reside in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. This global pandemic is affecting not only the health and well-being, but also the economy and security of countries around the world. Realizing the crucial role that young people can play in combating the global pandemic, Americans for Informed Democracy is focusing this February on global HIV/AIDS and the role that young people can play in combating it.

Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/globalaids.doc

Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Reforming the U.N. for a Safer World

On March 21, 2005, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan presented a new report for sweeping reform in the United Nations, In Larger Freedom. In his report, Annan calls for a collective security system to fight terrorism, an enlarged Security Council, a revamped UN human rights system and new guidelines for military action. While the reforms are critical to the U.N.'s continued effectiveness in a changing world, questions remain as to whether the U.S. will support these reforms, which many advocates believe are necessary to address the pressing security and development imperatives of the twenty-first century, from the genocide in Darfur to the Millennium Development Goals.

Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/globalgovernance.doc

Americans' Role in the World: Building a More Secure Future (NIF Issue Book)

As the only superpower left standing after the Cold War, America exercises global dominance. Yet, the September 11 attack showed us that we are not immune to the world's problems. Powerful and prosperous, yet not universally liked, Americans are no longer certain about their security in the twenty-first century. This issue book presents four perspectives on the questions of what kind of world we want our children and grandchildren to live in and what we will have to do to achieve it.

Resource Link: http://www.thataway.org/exchange/files/docs/AmericasRole_IssueGuide.pdf

America?’s Global Role Issue Guide

Public Agenda.

September 11th dramatically recast how the U.S. engages the world. The U.S. remains, as it has for the past decade, the world's sole remaining superpower. The question of how we relate to the world -- whether on economic globalization, the environment, human rights, global health crises, relations with China and Russia -- needs to be addressed, whatever happens in the struggle with al Qaeda. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=americas_global_role

Buddhist Peace Fellowship

BPF seeks to awaken peace where there is conflict, bring insight to institutionalized ignorance, promote communication and cooperation among sanghas, and in the spirit of wisdom, compassion, and harmony, offer practical help wherever possible. Members are involved in disarmament work, environmental and human rights, including campaigns that oppose oppression of Buddhists in Bangladesh, Burma, Vietnam, and Tibet.

Resource Link: http://www.bpf.org

By the People

By the People: America in the World, an initiative of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, aims to energize and enhance the national conversation on America's role in the world through a series of national and local broadcasts and events that demonstrate the relevance of foreign policy issues to local concerns. The project includes three national PBS specials, two cycles of local programming to be produced by PBS stations in cooperation with community organizations, national and local forums for civic dialogue, and an interactive web site.

Resource Link: http://www.macneil-lehrer.com/btp/

Canadian Community for Dialogue and Deliberation

The NCDD-inspired 2005 Canadian Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation has been transformed into the Canadian Community for Dialogue and Deliberation. Mirroring the growth of this exciting field of practice, C2D2's website will also grow and reflect the different emergent streams of the Canadian dialogue and deliberation community from coast to coast.

Resource Link: http://www.c2d2.ca

Carter Center

The Carter Center, in partnership with Emory University, is committed to advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering. Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, the Atlanta-based Center has helped to improve the quality of life for people in more than 65 countries.

Resource Link: http://www.cartercenter.org

Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue

The Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue is an independent and impartial organisation whose motivation is to reduce human suffering in war. We believe preventing and resolving armed conflicts is the surest means of doing so. The HD Centre is active in a number of conflict resolution projects around the world, promoting and facilitating dialogue among belligerents. In support of these projects we conduct research and analysis bringing forward practical policy recommendations to improve international efforts to secure and sustain peace.

Resource Link: http://www.hdcentre.org

Centre for World Dialogue

Established in 1995, the Cyprus-based Centre for World Dialogue is an international NGO that exists to promote greater understanding between the peoples of the world. The Centre has hosted conferences, seminars and meetings in Cyprus and elsewhere on issues of international concern and publishes a quarterly journal called Global Dialogue, which promotes the exchange of ideas on a broad range of international issues. Subscriptions to the journal, which aims to encourage debate as an alternative to violence, are $60/year for individuals and $92/year for institutions.

Resource Link: http://www.worlddialogue.org

Circles of Change: A Quiet Revolution in Haiti

Produced and directed by Jane Regan and Daniel Morel/Wozo Productions in collaboration with Beyond Borders.

Learn how Beyond Borders promotes participatory learning and leadership by viewing Circles of Change, a 20-minute DVD/VHS video documentary about the grassroots movement that is transforming notions and practices in education and leadership in Haiti and beyond. Through Open Space and Touchstones Discussions (Reflection Circles), the seeds of change are being planted among a new generation of Haitian leaders.

Resource Link: http://www.circlesofchange.com

Citizen Participation and Local Government in Latin America: Advances, Challenges and Best Practices

Isabel Licha. Asian Development Bank (ADB), 2002.

In this document, we explore the issue of the participatory practices of Latin American local government that have emerged recently within the framework of the advance of the decentralization process. We show that the main challenge faced by local governments is that of promoting participatory processes of public administration that really help strengthen local governability through efficient, fair, sustainable, and democratic development policies, within the framework of the new rules of play for fiscal management.

Resource Link: http://www.adb.org/Documents/Events/2002/Citizen_Participation/Overview_LAC.pdf