A Forum for Peace

Book excerpt: For every year since 1983 the Buddhist leader and thinker, Daisaku Ikeda, has issued a peace proposal that presents solutions to a variety of global problems. While the proposals themselves are both wide-ranging and specific (covering topics as diverse as counter-terrorism relations; the prohibition of child soldiers; denuclearization of the Arctic; and strategies to prevent global warming), the common denominator at their centre is the role and effectiveness of the United Nations in addressing structural challenges and inequality. This substantial volume brings together, for the first time in one place, excerpts from the most topical and important of Ikeda's peace proposals. Themes like human security, the empowerment of women, nuclear disarmament and the centrality of dialogue are throughout informed by an unshakeable belief in the legitimacy and validity of the UN's world mission, as well as by Ikeda's own experience of the severity of war and his articulation of Buddhism as a practical route to peace. The book makes a timely and vital contribution to ethics, peace studies and international relations.