Peace studies usually focus on the dark side of life and criticize what is wrong in the world. However, in order to make something better, we can also focus on what is going right, with the intention of reinforcing it. Consequently, our peace research and peace education are essentially based on the human resourcefulness, on figuring out and highlighting our successful peace-orientated behavior in the framework of our daily nonviolent activities, and on extraordinary nonviolent actions such as those of Gandhi and King. From this perspective, we can see that young people, in particular, are connected through networks all over the world by a common lifeworld—which includes common interests of consumption and lifestyle—and especially by the "human web" (McNiell/McNiell) based on internet communication and the extensive use of smartphones. Therefore, as an essential basis for global peacebuilding, we favor an understanding of culture based on horizontal, cross-border lifeworlds and defined by transnational communalities instead of territorial specialties—that is, on unity rather than diversity.
Although we are aware of the problems of globalization, first and foremost we see the opportunities it offers. Indeed, from our perspective, the global economic network has become so dense that we are unable to risk a more extensive war. Moreover, our dependency on our computerized infrastructure means we cannot afford to destroy it through warfare. Meanwhile, more and more young people are unable to deal with violence without becoming traumatized. Additionally and contrary to the suggestions of the media, we are aware of a worldwide increase in the ethics of nonviolence. In this worldview, we foresee—even predict—that war will become taboo in principle and, consequently, be abolished in the near future.
Following the success of our many (often shared) lectures and seminaries both in our own universities and in other institutions all over the world, we decided to publish the central slides (graphs, pictures, tables, etc.) that we used to illustrate our “talks, alongside corresponding comments in English and Chinese. Consequently, our book, Peacebuilding in a Globalized World: An Introduction to Peace Studies, was published by the People’s Publishing House, Beijing, in 2015, with forewords by Johan Galtung and Alan Hunter.
In this, we discuss about 200 issues that are central to nonviolent peacebuilding, for example: globalization and peace, cultural networking, cross-religious convergence, transnational peacebuilding, changing perspectives, human potential, conflict transformation, relevant terms, military scene, remarkable sensitivity, making war taboo, worldwide peace, economic conflicts, nonviolent conflict resolution, the spirituality of nonviolence, nonviolent civil defense, nonviolent political structures, peace in Asian cultures, the Third Power, religions’ task, peace education, reconciliation work, Peace Studies, nonviolence in schools, peace within partnerships and family.
