1
Introduction:
Attaining global peace and alleviating global warming are
most urgent and complex problems of our time. Both are confrontation prone as
deeply rooted in cultures and traditions.
Although both cannot be solved over-night, we must have appropriate
mechanism to understand their causes and prepare our youngsters to cope with
them in years to come.
Economic interdependence among nations and cultures is spawning a global
economy. Globalisation also
highlights clashes of divergent cultures and belief systems, both political and
religious. If global peace is ever
to be achieved, global-scale education, with the use of the modern digital
telecommunications, will be needed to create mutual understanding among
nations, cultures, ethnic groups, and religions. The Internet is the future of telecommunications and can be
a medium for building peace.
2
Intercultural Understanding for Global Peace:
2.1
What is peace through culture?
The word ÒcultureÓ is derived from the two words ÒcultÓ and
Òur.Ó ÒCult,Ó of course, means
cultivation. ÒUrÓ is an ancient
Chaldean term meaning ÒlightÓ -- the creative aspect of the universe. Hence, culture is literally the
cultivation of creativity.
Peace is more than just the absence of war. Just as it takes acts of war to make
war, it takes acts of peace to make peace. Peace, then, is a structure of positive acts of creativeness
that are carried out in a spirit of high idealism.
- "Genuine peace must be the product of many nations, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. For peace is a process -- a way of solving problems."
- John F. Kennedy
- "Peace is a never-ending process, the work of many decisions by many people in many countries. It is an attitude, a way of life, a way of solving problems and resolving conflicts... It requires us to work and live together."
- Oscar Arias Sanchez; Nobel acceptance speech, 1987
- John F. Kennedy
2.2
Comparison of Eastern and Western Cultures
|
Eastern Culture |
Western Culture |
|
Monotheism |
Polytheism |
|
Truth, Goodness,
Beauty |
Justice, Equality,
Freedom |
|
á
Japan: Champion |
á
USA: Champion |
|
á
Random |
á
Logical |
|
á
Intuitive |
á
Sequential |
|
á
Subjective |
á
Objective |
|
á
Looks at wholes |
á
Looks at parts |
|
á
Holistic |
á
Rational |
|
á
Synthesis |
á
Analytical |
|
á
Art and Literature |
á
Scientific |
|
á
Emotional thinking |
á
Critical thinking |
Table 1
Both cannot and should not dominate other, but should have
close dialogues between them.
Global University System (GUS) is adopting philosophies and
principles that emphasize trans-cultural and moral values rather than
ideologies. The priority is in
academic freedom and quality in education.
2.3
Hierarchy of Civilization, Culture and Religion:
Hierarchy of
civilization, culture and religion may be
depicted as follows (Figure 1);
Figure 1
Religion may correspond to root of a tree, culture to trunk
and civilization to flowers and fruits.
Japan could be a cherry tree, China a peach, and America an apple. We need a cross pollination for jointly
creating a new global culture and civilization of a global society in the
knowledge age of the 21st century by youngsters around the world.
Their collaboration across boundaries of continent and
ocean, and of nation and culture would bring new age, as similar to the Golden
Age of Spain when Jews, Christian and Moslem co-mingled and co-existed to
create Renaissance out of the Dark Age. Our new age would enable us to
create a new civilization, say, neo-Renaissance with the appropriate use of
advanced ICTs by all the people of the world, not only those three religions,
but also those of orient in Asia and the Pacific, and Africa, etc.
3
Global University System (GUS):
The Global University System (GUS) [Utsumi, et al, 2003] is a worldwide initiative to create advanced telecom
infrastructure for accessing educational resources around the world (Figure
2). The aim is to achieve
"education and healthcare for all," anywhere, anytime and at any
pace.
Figure 2
GUS aims to
build a higher level of humanity with mutual understanding across national and
cultural boundaries for global peace [Varis, et al,
2003]. The mission of GUS is
to help higher educational and healthcare institutions in remote/rural areas of
developing countries to deploy broadband Internet in order for them to close
the digital divide. These
institutions also act as the knowledge center of their community for the
eradication of poverty and isolation through the use of advanced Information
and Communications Technologies (ICTs).
Learners may take courses from different member universities around the
world, obtaining their degree from the GUS, thus freeing them from being confined
to one academic culture of a single university or country. The GUS program is a comprehensive and
holistic approach to building smart communities in developing countries for
e-learning and e-healthcare/telemedicine.
Each GUS of various countries will maintain the sub-models
of their countries autonomously – along with construction and maintenance
of its databases, modification of their sub-models, and supply of game players
in cooperation with their overseas counterparts through the global Internet.
4
Peace Gaming Project:
4.1
Globally Collaborative Environmental Peace Gaming (GCEPG)
Project:
The GCEPG (which was
initiated by GLOSAS/USA in early 1970s [Utsumi, 2003])
is a computerized gaming/simulation with a globally distributed computer
simulation system to help decision makers construct a globally distributed
decision-support system for positive sum/win-win alternatives to conflict and
war. The idea involves
interconnecting experts in many countries via the global Internet to
collaborate in the discovering of new solutions for world crises, such as the
deteriorating ecology of our globe, and to explore new alternatives for a world
order capable of addressing the problems and opportunities of an interdependent
globe. Gaming/simulation is the
best tool we have for understanding the world's problems and the solutions we
propose for them. The
understanding gained with scientific and rational analysis and critical
thinking would be the basis of world peace, and hence ought to provide the
basic principle of global education for peace.
With global GRID computer networking technology (which
concept Dr. Utsumi initiated [McLeod, 2000]) and
Beowulf mini-super computers of cluster computing technology, we plan to
develop a socio-economic-environmental simulation system and a climate
simulation system in parallel fashion, both of which are to be interconnected
through broadband Internet in global scale (Figure 3).
Figure
3
4.2
Global Socio-Economic-Energy-Environment Development (GSEEED)
Project:
The GSEEED Project is a
variation of and the initiation of the GCEPG. The quantitative policy analysis of globally collaborative
GSEEED Project will focus on the sustainable development in Japan, the US, China,
Russia, Kazakhstan, and many other relevant countries.
The initial focus on energy security will be on the global
interrelations and interdependencies among those countries with the deployment
of a gas pipeline from Tomsk, Siberia to China, and the construction of
hydroelectric dam in the Republic of Altai, Siberia where there are five UNESCO
World Heritage sites which draw increasing number of tourists (400,000) into a
small town of Gorno-Altaisk with only 9,000 residents. This gas pipeline will certainly affect
socio-economic developments of Siberia, China, and hence the ones of Japan, the
US, Europe and others. Japan will
also increasingly depend on the energy (oil and gas) supply from Russia and
uranium from Kazakhstan.
This GSEEED Project will then demonstrate integrated and
synergistic approach among grassroots, government, university, stakeholder,
etc. Use of graphic info
modeling/mapping and potential "peace gaming" (*) on key issues and solutions
will assist each group's ability for standardized data gathering and
situational analyses, projecting out possible outcomes for more informed
decision making and activities. It
brings together most sophisticated university-based mathematical modeling techniques
and experts and regular people who can then more easily see--at a glance--how
issues and outcomes can impact and interact each other.
(*) which term Dr. Utsumi coined almost three decades ago. War gaming is to win the war once when
it happened, and peace gaming is to avoid the occurrence of war (Figure
4). Avoiding war is much cheaper
than waging war. Our Òpeace
gamingÓ might be said to be equivalent to the scale of PentagonÕs Òwar games.
Figure 4
This project will train local experts for leadership
development, in relation to strategic use of technologies and cooperation among
stakeholders for more effective advocacy, informed policy, public understanding
and participation and concrete community development.
This project will have two-tier system:
a.
One for training young would-be decision makers in crisis
management, conflict resolution, and negotiation techniques basing on
"facts and figures" and
b.
The other for helping decision makers to construct a globally
distributed decision-support system for positive sum/win-win alternatives to
conflict and war.
5
Development History:
5.1
Global Telecom:
Over the past three
decades, the GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the
U.S.A. (GLOSAS/USA) played a major
pioneering role in extending U.S. data communication networks to other countries
and deregulating Japanese telecommunication policies for the use of e-mail
(thanks to help from the Late Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldridge)
[Chapter 1 of UtsumiÕs
Proposed Book]. This triggered the de-monopolization
and privatization of Japanese telecommunications industries. This movement has later been emulated
in many other countries, as having more than one billion email users around the
world nowadays.
For over a dozen years since 1986, we conducted once or
twice a year a series of innovative distance teaching trials with "Global
Lecture Hall (GLH)" tm videoconferencing using
hybrid delivery technologies, which often spanned the globe [Chapter 2 of UtsumiÕs Proposed Book] and [Utsumi, 2003].
Thanks to such efforts and
for initiating global e-learning movement since early 1980s, Dr. Utsumi
received the prestigious Lord Perry Award for Excellence in Distance Education
in the fall of 1994 from Lord Perry, the founder of the U.K. Open
University. The two-year senior
recipient of the same award was Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the inventor of
satellites.
5.2
Peace Gaming Demonstration:
A demonstration of global-scale peace-gaming was held at
the conference on "Crisis Management and Conflict Resolution" by the
World Future Society (WFS) in New York City, in July of 1986. It was one
of the largest and perhaps most successful demonstrations of global
gaming/simulation organized so far. The event was on a crisis scenario
involving the U.S.-Japan trade and economy issues. Professor Onishi in
Tokyo supplied his FUGI model, which is the world largest econometric model [Onishi, 2007].
Noted U.S. economists were panelists of this event and
electronically interconnected with Japanese counterparts for three days of
computer-assisted negotiations. Several hypothetical policies were
examined. One question was the effect of raising military expenditures in
Japan to the American level while lowering those of the U.S. to the Japanese
level. Simulation predicted that the balance of trade would thus be even
by the year 2000, with necessity of cooperation, rather than competition, by
both countries in the future. This clearly indicated the cost and dilemma
of American's nuclear umbrella protecting Japan's economic prosperity, thus
threatening American's economic prosperity.
5.3
Globally Collaborative Innovation Network (GCIN):
The essence of education is the inheritance of wisdom (i.e.,
know-how on how to live a life), more than mere transfer of knowledge (Figure
5). We hope that, as an extension of our GCEPG/GSEEED
projects, learners will also form a global knowledge forum for the exchange of
ideas, information, knowledge and joint research and development, which will
foster creativity of youngsters around the world. Researchers in
developing countries can co-work with colleagues in advanced countries to
perform joint collaborative research with use of virtual laboratories for
experiential/constructive learning and creation of knowledge through the global
GRID technology (which concept I initiated — see McLeod
(2000)), thus forming GCIN [Utsumi, 2006].
Such interactions among youngsters around the world through global
broadband Internet would certainly promote mutual understanding and hence global
peace.
Figure 5
Dr. Hallan Cleveland, former
president of the University of Hawaii and former US Ambassador to NATO, once
wrote that 8 bits become one byte, 5 bytes become one word or data, which
becomes information. Information selected with intelligence becomes
knowledge. We then expanded its
hierarchy as depicted above. As
shown, each item is controlled by the one above. However, Justice and Forgiveness/tolerance have to be
two-way interaction.
6
Officers of GUS:
The officers
of the GUS are: P. Tapio Varis, Ph.D., Acting President, (University of
Tampere, former rector of the United Nations University of Peace in Costa
Rica); Marco Antonio Dias, T.C.D., Vice President for Administration, (former
director of Higher Education of UNESCO); Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., Founder and
Vice President for Technology and Coordination, (Chairman of GLOSAS/USA). The trustee members are: Dr. Pekka
Tarjanne, (former Director-General of the ITU) and Dr. Federico Mayor, (President
of the Foundation for Culture of Peace and a former Director-General of the
UNESCO).
7
Financing GUS and GCEPG/GSEEED Projects:
Our projects
will combine (1) the Japanese government's Official Development Assistance
(ODA) funds and (2) Japanese electronic equipment with (a) the Internet technology
and (b) content development of North America and Europe, to help underserved
people in rural and remote areas of developing countries by closing the digital
divide.
References:
McLeod, J., "Power (?)
Grid!," Simulation in the
Service of Society, Simulation, September 2000 <http://preview.tinyurl.com/22bl7v>
Onishi, A, (2007), "Alternative
path of the global economy against CO2 emissions: Policy simulations of FUGI
global modeling system"
<http://preview.tinyurl.com/3x75bc>
and Appendix B <http://preview.tinyurl.com/36ox9s>
Takeshi Utsumi, Draft
of Proposed Book
"Electronic Global University System and
Services"
http://preview.tinyurl.com/27ykrf
Takeshi Utsumi,
P. Tapio Varis, and W. R. Klemm, (2003)
"Creating Global
University System"
Takeshi Utsumi,
GLOSAS/USA (2003)
"Globally Collaborative
Environmental Peace Gaming"
Takeshi
Utsumi, GLOSAS/USA (2006)
"Globally
Collaborative Innovation Network with Global University SystemÓ
Paper for Learning Technology, IEEE Computer Society, Vol. 8, Issue 3, July, 2006
http://preview.tinyurl.com/fuwg6
Tapio
Varis - Takeshi Utsumi - William Klemm (Eds.), (2003)
Global Peace Through The
Global University System
University of Tampere, Finland
2003
ISBN 951-44-5695-5
The entire contents of this
book can be retrieved at;
Dr.
Takeshi Utsumi is the
Founder and Vice President for Technology & Coordination of Global
University System (GUS) and the Chairman of the Global Systems Analysis and
Simulation Association in the U.S.A. (GLOSAS/USA). He is the 1994 Laureate of the Lord Perry Award for
Excellence in Distance Education.
His public services have included political work for deregulation of
global telecommunications and the use of e-mail and voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP) through ARPANET, Telenet and Internet; helping extend American
university courses to developing countries; the conduct of innovative distance
teaching trials with "Global Lecture Hall (GLH)TM"
multipoint-to-multipoint multimedia interactive videoconferences using hybrid
technologies; as well as lectures, consultation, and research in process
control, management science, systems science and engineering at the University
of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania, M.I.T. and many other
universities, governmental agencies, and large firms in Japan and other
countries.