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The Tunisian Nobel Prize: Dialogue as a Political Virtue

日本語訳 | français | العربية

The refugee crisis will no doubt reshape the geopolitical, cultural , global economic policies  and challenge the core principles of the Europe Union. The Syria crisis will not only continue to drive the refugee crisis but also potentially trigger revolution in Syria and other Middle East countries. We would like to share a mosaic view of these complicated issues. France has historical ties with Syria, North Africa and the Middle East,and in general, the French have a rich knowledge about the issues in the region. I was fortunate to be introduced to Patrice Barrat, founder  of Bridge Initiative International, by my good friends Byron Janis and his wife, Maria Cooper Janis.**

Patrice has worked at the grass-roots level for many years on his concept to build the bridge to transcend traditional barriers of culture and ideology.  In recent years, he lived in Tunisia to promote his mission at the fount of the Arab Spring and witness the activities of the Quartet, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureates. I am very pleased to introduce his noble work.

(**Byron Janis, the world famous concert pianist, composed the Global Forum theme song “One World “ – with lyrics by the four time Oscar winner Sammy Cahn and sung by John Denver. Maria Cooper Janis is the daughter of the renowned actor Gary Cooper.)

— Akio Matsumura

The Tunisian Nobel Prize

Dialogue as a Political Virtue

It seemed so simple. They were here, on stage, all together for the first time since the news came from Oslo – on October 9, 2015, a week earlier – that the union of their forces in the summer of 2013 had earned them the Nobel Peace Prize.… Continue reading

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UN Finally Urges Japan to Do More for Health

Read this article in German.

 

by Akio Matsumura and Chris Cote

 

Days after the World Health Organization downplayed the health crisis in Fukushima, UN Special Rapporteur for the right to health Anand Grover strongly recommended that the Japanese government be accountable for the health of its population and take more appropriate action. Finishing an 11-day tour of Fukushima prefecture and other affected areas, he urged that the government take a more cautious and active position on health issues related to the 2011 nuclear accident.

He concluded:

“Ladies and gentlemen, members of the press, during the visit I have also heard from the affected residents, and particularly heard from persons with disabilities, young mothers and pregnant women, children and older persons, that they’ve had no say in the decisions that affect them. The right to health framework requires the state to ensure the participation of all communities in decisions that affect them. This means that the affected people need to be part of the decision making process as well as of the implementation, monitoring and accountability processes. Participation would not only inform decisions holistically, but also build the confidence of the affected community in the government. This is also necessary in restoring normalcy after the disaster in an effective manner.

I urge the government to ensure that the affected people, particularly the vulnerable groups, are fully involved in all decision making processes. This should include their participation, among others, in the formulation of health management service, designing of evacuation shelters, and implementation of decontamination.

… Continue reading
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Fukushima Needs a Hero: Responsibility and Democracy in Japan

 

Read this article in Japanese.

 

By Akio Matsumura

 

 

Yastel Yamada is 73 years old. He seems a little tired after weeks on the road in the United States. He is trying to save Japan.

One of the first people I have met who can tell the inside story of the Fukushima accident, Yamada is concerned that work is not being done on the three nuclear reactors that melted down last year because the high radiation levels are still keeping TEPCO workers away. The crippled buildings are unstable, still contain nuclear assemblies, and present a long term threat to the people in the area. The cooling systems especially are a cause for concern. Mr. Yamada, founder and president of the Skilled Veterans Corps for Fukushima (Fukushima Genpatsu Kodotai), along with 700 members, want to help clean up the site.

 

The rationale behind the Skilled Veterans Corps is that even if the workers get cancer from the radiation, it may take 20 years to develop, wherein average life expectancy only gives them 12 to 15 years to live anyway. He doesn’t believe they should risk young lives to do work that his group can happily and capably handle. On his current tour of the United States he is gaining support for Americans to pressure the Japanese government into taking a more responsible route with the disaster: his group, as well as an international assessment team, should be let in.

 

Beyond cleanup of the site, Mr.… Continue reading

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The Hydrangea Revolution and Japan’s Unheard Voices

This article is now available in German.

“The splitting of the atom has changed everything, except man’s way of thinking, and so we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe.” – Albert Einstein

 By Akio Matsumura

Who is leading us toward nuclear catastrophe? Government and political leaders, profit-minded business leaders, and paid nuclear scientists. Yes, it is difficult to change their thinking.

 

However, those of us in Japan and the United States live in democracies. Government derives its power from the people through laws that guarantee our freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of the press. And our history shows that people under oppression will eventually stand up. In recent memory, the Arab Spring shook the Middle East free from the grip of several dictators, and although much of the movement erupted in violence, real change has come. This past Friday Mohammed Mursi became Egypt’s first civilian, democratically elected president.

 

Since the Fukushima accident a popular movement has grown in Japan as well. Also on Friday, tens of thousands of people protested the government’s decision to restart two reactors this month at the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture. People chanted “No More Fukushima,” and called for nuclear energy to remain off in Japan. They want accountability and responsibility by the Japanese government and TEPCO. (It is notable that many young mothers joined the demonstration to call for their children’s safety).

 

These tens of thousands are the Hydrangea Revolution.  Hydrangea flowers are composed of many small flowers and are resilient in the face of strong winds and storms.… Continue reading

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A Lifetime Chasing Osama: Implications and Possibilities for Our Generation

By Chris Cote

I have never fought in a war, but for the majority of my memorable life my country, the United States, has been in one. The United States emerged triumphant in the Cold War shortly after I was born and throughout the 1990s exerted its military power in a number of small affairs throughout North Africa and the Middle East. This involvement in the region expanded and escalated immensely during the 2000s. At the same time, Americans and many others willingly traded in political freedoms and compromised their democracies for nominally greater security. Three recent events—the end of the Iraq War, the continuing Arab Uprisings, and the surprising death of Osama bin Laden—have opened the way for the United States to reflect on its role in the global affairs. I am twenty four years old and I have acknowledged the shifting state in world affairs and America’s necessarily smaller role in them. I am looking forward to a future as an American whose country is not intractably occupied abroad and able to focus on more urgent priorities at home and a more narrow conception of vital interests abroad. Instead of clawing to its possessions and interests abroad, the United States should shrink its role abroad, and polish off its tarnished political system at home, the political system responsible for its initial greatness.

Growing up in Massachusetts

I was born on a snowy April day in the waning years of the Cold War. The long ideological and physical battle between the East and West—like the concurrent struggle between the Celtics and the Lakers—had to come to an end.… Continue reading

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And If the Mountain Cannot Be Conquered: What Do We Have Left after the 11th of September, February, and March?

By Akio Matsumura

“Well George, we knocked the bastard off.”  These were Sir Edmund Hillary’s first words to a friend after descending from the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. Time Magazine named him and his companion Tenzing Norgay, the first two to summit Mount Everest, two of the most influential people of the 20th century. The idea of conquering pervades Western thought and has given way to human civilization’s incredible achievements. But this insatiable need to surpass has led us into many intractable situations and caused us to lose sight of the larger forces at play. Did they really “knock the bastard off?”

As humans, we are governed by two sets of laws—natural law (often defined or interpreted through spiritual texts) and human (political) law. How we choose to perceive and reconcile their power greatly alters the trajectory of human civilization. The most spectacular consequences of these laws, natural disasters and wars, define our human history.  Pompeii is still being excavated 2000 years after a volcano buried it in ash and disease has wreaked havoc on whole populations. Human-waged wars—from warring ancient Chinese states to World War II—have shaken civilizations as well.

Three recent symbolic dates stand out as civilization-shakers. On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda terrorists attacked the United States. On February 11, 2011, Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president of Egypt after several weeks of revolt.  And on March 11, 2011, Japan was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami. The human toll and sacrifices from these events are equally painful.… Continue reading

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Uprising in Egypt: Why Not Let the Young People Decide Their Own Future?

Read in Japanese (日本語 ).

By Akio Matsumura

 

For 18 riveting days the world watched the extraordinary drama taking place in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. Tens of thousands of men and women, young and old, were chanting “Mubarak must go,” as they peacefully demonstrated their anger with the government.  Their protests, and those in Tunisia, have started a new period in Egypt and the Arab world. The protesters’ display of courage and persistence in the face of an oppressive regime has now coursed like a raging river through many of the countries in the region.  It is difficult with the protests and government responses in Yemen, Jordan, and Libya.

 

President Obama said “There are very few moments in our lives where we have the privilege to witness history taking place. This is one of those moments. This is one of those times. The people of Egypt have spoken, their voices have been heard, and Egypt will never be the same.”

In our memory, in addition to the uprisings throughout Northern Africa and the Arab Middle East we have seen uprisings in Iran, the Philippines, Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and movements in Bulgaria and Romania.  Common themes pervade each of these historical events, but why this time and why Egypt?

Egypt is a central force in the political puzzle of the Middle East.  President Mubarak’s departure is already rocking the region, though the events’ longer term geopolitical effects are yet to be seen. 

… Continue reading
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Nation Building at Home: Where is America’s Great Wall?

By Akio Matsumura

President Obama, in his second State of the Union address, said that we are the first nation to be founded for the sake of an idea – the idea that each of us deserves the chance to shape our own destiny.  The president emphasized that we need to work on developing America as a nation.  “Sustaining the American Dream has never been about standing pat. It has required each generation to sacrifice, and struggle, and meet the demands of a new age.”

Indeed, America was founded on an idea, and great ideas inspired and led to the nation we have today. The transcontinental railroad, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the NASA space programs were hallmarks of American leadership and progress.

When my parents visited the US for the first time from Japan in 1979, we toured the East Coast.  They were amazed by the Queensboro Bridge, built before my father was born in 1909; the US Capitol building; and the six lane highways that connected them.  We drove from Niagara Falls to Washington, D.C.—a length of 2,500 miles, or 1 ½ times the length of Japan.  When my father learned that we had not driven into the middle of the US but had stayed only on one coast he asked, “Akio, why did Japan attack such a large country?”  But many of the monuments, bridges, railroads, that amazed my parents were built over 100 years ago, even in the time of the Civil War. America’s leaders inspired by a desire for a Great America—and yes, by extraordinary profits—set their sights far into the future and undertook incredible projects that continue to awe visitors to this day.… Continue reading

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The Death and Rebirth of U.S. Ground Forces

Dear friends:
I have been so fortunate to have the advice, opinions and wisdom of extraordinary men available to me throughout my life.  The three with whom I sought counsel the most were former US Ambassador to the UN, Reverend Dr. Glenn Olds; Ambassador Angier Biddle Duke (D); and Mr. Bradford Morse, former administrator of the UNDP and US Congressman (R). Ambassador Olds served as the White House international adviser for four U.S. presidents: Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Bush, Sr.

Fifteen years ago, Ambassador Olds introduced me to Dr. Scott Jones and advised me that Dr. Jones would be able to provide me with top-notch analysis of U.S. policy.  As sadly all three of my initial mentors have gone to another spiritual world, I am lucky to have Dr. Jones’s advice and fair, non-partisan insight on U.S. policy.

In a thirty-year career in the U.S. Navy, Scott Jones was a carrier jet fighter pilot in the Korean War, and later served in Naval Intelligence in South Asia, Europe, and Washington, D.C    For six-years he was special assistant to my dear friend Senator Claiborne Pell.
It is my great pleasure to introduce his article.
Yours truly,

Akio

 

 

The Death and Rebirth of U.S. Ground Forces

A burden too heavy has been placed on the shoulders of U.S. ground forces in the nation’s longest wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  No level of respect and verbal support for the young men and women in service of their country can mitigate the mental and physical consequences of repeated combat tours. … Continue reading

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Rock Paper Scissors: The Deadly Vocabulary of Fighting

Read in Japanese (日本語 )

By Akio Matsumura

In childhood we played the game Rock-Paper-Scissors.  Rock wins over Scissors, Paper wins over Rock, and Scissors wins over Paper. There is no single absolute power among three partners. The outcome always depends on the opponent’s tactic.

This game also plays out in democratic governance. Government executives have power over their people because they execute the law.  The legislative body has the power over the government executives because they produce the law and appropriate the budget.  And people have power over the legislature because they elect them.

Now let’s put it an individual perspective, specifically my personal case.

One disadvantage I have is that I speak poor English, and zero Spanish, French, (or  Chinese or Hindi, whose speakers total 37 percent of the world’s population). I do have the advantage, however, of meeting so many eminent people in the hundred countries I have visited.  Not speaking all of these languages has come in handy: I have a keen eye for understanding intentions and unspoken expressions.   It has helped me grasp the total picture rather than become weighed down on an analytical level.  I read a situation as if it were poetry, not prose.  However, when I debate the difficult issues with my country men in Japanese, each word, each paragraph and the precise meaning of expressions interrupt me from understanding the true intention of my opponents.  I find myself missing the total picture of our debate.  We must have both perspectives to balance our overall viewpoint; for without the trees, we wouldn’t have the woods! … Continue reading