Solothurn Conference of 15/16 October 2022 – Part 1
“What Media for Peace?”
Preliminary note
(Red.) Media play an important role in current wars. The Solothurn conference focused on the disinformation of the mainstream media against countries that oppose the foreign policy of the governments of the so-called value West and claims to hegemony.
The “Swiss Standpoint” was involved in the preparation and implementation of the conference and several members of the editorial board participated. In consultation with the organisers, the editorial team has decided to publish contributions in German, French and English over the next few weeks.
We begin this series with the welcoming words of Gabriel Galice, President of the Geneva International Peace Research Institute GIPRI, (Part 1), and the contribution of Middle East correspondent Karin Leukefeld, (Part 2).
Words of welcome at the opening of the conference
by Gabriel Galice*
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear friends,
I am pleased to open the proceedings of the conference “What Media for Peace?”.
This conference is an initiative of the Swiss Peace Movement, the Association Switzerland-Cuba, Alba Suiza and our Peace Research Institute GIPRI. We are all particularly indebted to the initiator and driving force behind this conference, Natalie Benelli: Thank you Natalie!
I would like to thank all active conference participants and our guests from South America, North America and Europe.
The theme of this conference aims at fundamental questions of democracy, civil rights and international law. As colleague Alfred de Zayas rightly points out, the “right to peace” is a human right, even if the great powers do not recognise this right in reality.1 The great powers, i.e. their oligarchies, rather have an interest for war, interests in war.
The correspondence between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud entitled “Why War?”, published in 1933, is still of great importance today.2
After describing the political and economic drivers of war, Albert Einstein wrote: “How is it possible for this small clique to bend the will of the majority, who stand to lose and suffer by a state of war, to the service of their ambitions? An obvious answer to this question would seem to be that the minority, the ruling class at present, has the schools and the press, usually the Church as well, under its thumb.”
Religious organisations have certainly lost a lot of influence, while the media – which is closely linked to big finance – has gained more power.
Tomorrow we will explore this topic together. Thank you for your attention.
| * Gabriel Galice was born in Lyon in 1951 and lives in Bern. He studied economics and political science and earned his doctorate at the University of Grenoble. He is President of the Geneva International Peace Research Institute (GIPRI) and holds a professorship at the Study Centre for Diplomacy and Strategy in Paris. His main areas of interest are analyses of the significance of the nation state and the development of Europe, the EU and NATO. Central to this for him as a peace researcher are all questions of war and peace. Another area of specialisation is the work and philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Gabriel Galice has published a large number of books, articles and analyses in international journals and is also a valued guest on independent television stations and radio discussions. (https://gipri.ch) |
(Translation “Swiss Standpoint”)
1 Alfred de Zayas, Building a Just World Order, 2021 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H_AH97E2z4
