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Night vision photo by Pfc. Elizabeth Erste Courtesy US Department of Defense

In this, the inaugural issue of my E-Newsletter, I reflect on the need for change, moving away from the fear-based punitive approach for dealing with violence.

Do you really know what's real? In the PAR Explorations, I examine the connection between our experience of reality and how that related to violence.

So, what do we do with this thing? In the PAR Applications, the question of practicality is explored. The PAR Model theory needs to be translated into practical application. I give some thought to how that might be done.

As usual, there's a lot going on in the news. Two items of particular interest are the announcement of the effort to establish a National Peace Academy in the United States and US military reforms in Iraq (see below). Encouraging stuff. And the article on "Why the Brain Follows the Rules" from Scientific American Mind, gives us more insight on how understanding neurological processes can help us understand how the violence pathogen operates.

You also find a featured resource — this month, Peace Partnership International — which you may find useful. I've also introduced a comments section in which I welcome your thoughts about the content of this E-Newsletter.

Thanks for taking the time to look over my E-Newsletter.

— Ari Cowan

eflecting on the need for change in the way we see, describe, and respond to violence, I note that traditional punitive model rarely works and, when it does, it’s only over a short term. We need a better way. The PAR Model — built on a public health foundation — fits the bill.  More . . .

he connection between my experience and perception of reality has a direct bearing on my understanding of violence. In creating the PAR Model, I asked, “What is common in the mental construct of those who engage in violence? How did their reality get so marked by real or imagined powerlessness and an absence of alternatives that they resorted to violence?” I realized that the key to ending violence was ending the power deficiency which is very real to people in the grasp of violence. More , , ,

hen I consider the value of the “Violence Integrative Prevention and Restoration (PAR) Model,” I realize it lies in the Model's ability to produce tangible, measurable results. The results are fairly obvious: a reduction and, ultimately, elimination of violence — interpersonal to international. More . . .

A dismal calculus: The value of keeping order
The Economist, UK — 15 May 2008
Peacekeeping makes sense: an accountant's point of view. Calculations by the Copenhagen Consensus suggest that peacekeeping is a good investment.

Zimbabwe: Children bear brunt of violence
AllAfrica.com, USA — 30 May 2008
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) strongly denounces the political violence that has displaced at least 10,000 children in Zimbabwe and that is . . .

US military reforms its prisons in Iraq
International Herald Tribune, France — 01 June 2008
But however tarnished America's reputation for treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the reputation of many Iraqi prisons is worse.

A National Peace Academy is on its way
Peace Partnership International, USA — 02 June 2008
Troubled with a trillion dollar war, a homicide rate 10 times that of other leading industrial nations, and a prison population that includes 1 in every 100 citizens, Americans . . .

Why the Brain Follows the Rules
Scientific American Mind, USA — June 2008
Clues to understanding the human social brain come from a study of punishment's role in fairness.

Burundi’s peace building gives Africa lessons on reconciliation
Dispatch Online, South Africa — 29 May 2008
Utilizing Burundi’s peace building experience we can develop more effective means for bringing all parties to the table – literally and figuratively.

50 years of peacekeeping to be marked
RTE.ie, Ireland — 26 June 2008
Ceremonies will be held in military barracks today to mark 50 years of Ireland's involvement with peacekeeping overseas. Taoiseach Brian Cowen will watch a . . .

The link below will take you to a featured resource which provides an expanded understanding of approaches to understanding and ending violence, practical peacebuilding, or contemporary thought about the role of violence in our lives.To make the connection below, click on the name of the resource.

Peace Partnership International
Peace Partnership International is forging partnerships with and among government, civil society, and business, to catalyze the transformation from a culture of violence to a culture of peace throughout the world.

Additional resources, including recommended reading and viewing can be found on my Resource page.

Got some ideas, opinions, enhancements, and expansions on the material covered in this E-Newsletter? Lovely. Please send them off to me via e-mail (click here for contact information) . I'll dial them into my thinking and, in some cases, post them in this section of the E-Newsletter.