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Our
project aims to educate Americans about the dynamic political
system in Europe with proportional representation and coalition
governments. We seek to engage American audiences in understanding
the European approach to global security. Our approach illustrates
the benefits of achieving security without abandoning respect
for human rights, a commitment to eradicate the root causes of
terrorism, and the promotion of dialogue and reconciliation in
international relations.
Americans,
on the one hand, can learn a great deal from the European approach,
which is in accordance with declared American moral values. The
experience of overcoming centuries of violent conflict that engulfed
the European continent and spread to the entire globe has lead
to the creation of system that can serves as a model for effective
collective security and democratic practices and a strong commitment
to development assistance. This is what we wish to call the “European
Paradigm” that needs to be explored, critically examined
and promoted as the standard bearer of human achievement in the
field of foreign affairs. In this time of intense crisis, this
experience is very valuable for finding effective ways of influencing
events in the Middle East conflict. This is indeed not so much
because of what policy makers in Brussels or other European capitals
will do specifically but more by the tools they can provide and
the example they set.
The
Europeans, on the other hand, can benefit from learning about
the more dynamic social and intellectual entrepreneurship trends
reflected in many think tanks such as World Policy Institute that
allows private initiative to gain momentum and influence global
affairs. In Europe state subsidies mainly through political party
structure is the main means of support for NGOs. In the United
States, individual donors and larger corporations make commitments
to non-profit organizations as part of philanthropic programs.
An important current trend in the US is the movement from individual
corporate philanthropy to corporate collaborative philanthropy,
where more energy, skills and resources can be harnessed to make
a larger impact. We seek to explore how these diverse approaches
can be combined to develop a more powerful way of dealing with
common global problems.
We will initially convene a round table to create a working group
and engage various influential individuals and institutions in
Europe and United States to discuss the modalities for the formation
of this trans-Atlantic dialogue. Ultimately, we will seek to build
a media that can take the ideas of mediation and conflict resolution
to the broadest possible audience and shape the emerging global
consciousness.
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