Thank you Teeri. I'm sure some people may think it doesn't have any place on this list but it was a real eye opener for me.
And very much appreciated!

tmren wrote:

> Carol Ely wrote:
>
> >There was nothing political in the statement that war is a threat to the world's culture heritage, which museum professionals are committed to protect.
> >
> Dear Colleagues,
> I have pasted below a speech by Dr. Robert Muller, one of the key
> figures associated with the founding of the UN. As museum professionals
> who govern interpretation for our culture and posterity, I urge you to
> read it because you will be very surprised at his view of the current
> world situation.
>
> Terri McNichol
> Ren Associates
>
> Subject: HOPEFUL PERSPECTIVE: AN APPRECIATIVE VIEW OF THE
> GLOBAL DIALOGUE ABOUT THE WAR - SYNOPSIS OF REMARKS BY DR.
> ROBERT MULLER, FORMER UN ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL
>
> Dr. Robert Muller, former assistant secretary general of the  United
> Nations, now
> Chancellor emeritus of the University of Peace in Costa Rica  was one of
> the people who witnessed the founding of the U.N. and has worked in support
> of or inside the U.N. ever since. Recently he was in San Francisco to be
> honored for
> his service to the world through the U.N. and through his writings and
> teachings for
> peace. At age eighty, Dr. Muller surprised, even stunned, many in the
> audience that
> day with his most positive assessment of where the world stands now
> regarding war and peace.
>
> A synopsis of his remarks is below:
>
> "I'm so honored to be here," he said. "I'm so honored to be alive at
> such a miraculous
> time in history. I'm so moved by what's going on in our world today."
>
> Dr. Muller proceeded to say, "Never before in the history of the world
> has there been a global, visible, public, viable, open dialogue and
> conversation about the very legitimacy of war".
>
> The whole world is now having this critical and historic
> dialogue--listening to all kinds of points of view and positions about
> going to war or not going to war. In a huge global public conversation
> the world is asking-"Is war legitimate? Is it illegitimate? Is there
> enough evidence to warrant an attack? Is there not enough evidence to
> warrant an attack? What will be the consequences? The costs? What will
> happen after a war? How will this set off other conflicts? What might be
> peaceful alternatives? What kind of negotiations are we not thinking of?
> What are the real intentions for declaring war?"
>
> All of this, he noted, is taking place in the context of the United
> Nations Security
> Council, the body that was established in 1949 for exactly this purpose.
> He pointed out that it has taken us more than fifty years to realize
> that function, the real function of the U.N. And at this moment in
> history-- the United Nations is at the center of the
> stage. It is the place where these conversations are happening, and it
> has become in
> these last months and weeks, the most powerful governing body on earth,
> the most
> powerful container for the world's effort to wage peace rather than war.
> Dr. Muller was almost in tears in recognition of the fulfillment of this
> dream.
>
> "We are not at war," he kept saying. We, the world community, are WAGING
> peace. It is difficult, hard work. It is constant and we must not let
> up. It is working and it is an
> historic milestone of immense proportions. It has never happened
> before-never in
> human history-and it is happening now-every day every hour-waging peace
> through a global conversation. He pointed out that the conversation
> questioning the validity of going to war has gone on for hours, days,
> weeks, months and now more than a year, and it may go on and on. "We're
> in peacetime," he kept saying.
>
> "Yes, troops are being moved.
> Yes, warheads are being lined up. Yes, the aggressor is angry and upset
> and spending a billion dollars a day preparing to attack. But not one
> shot has been fired. Not one life has been lost. There is no war. It's
> all a conversation."
>
> It is tense, it is tough, it is challenging, AND we are in the most
> significant and potent
> global conversation and public dialogue in the history of the world.
> This has not
> happened before on this scale ever before-not before WWI or WWII, not
> before
> Vietnam or Korea, this is new and it is a stunning new era of Global
> listening, speaking, and responsibility.
>
> In the process, he pointed out, new alliances are being formed. Russia
> and China on the same side of an issue is an unprecedented outcome.
> France and Germany working
> together to wake up the world to a new way of seeing the situation. The
> largest peace
> demonstrations in the history of the world are taking place--and we are
> not at war! Most peace demonstrations in recent history took place when
> a war was already waging, sometimes for years, as in the case of Vietnam.
>
> "So this," he said, "is a miracle. This is what "waging peace " looks
> like."
>
> No matter what happens, history will record that this is a new era, and
> that the 21st
> century has been initiated with the world in a global dialogue looking
> deeply, profoundly and responsibly as a global community at the
> legitimacy of the actions of a nation that is desperate to go to war.
>
> Through these global peace-waging efforts, the leaders of that nation
> are being
> engaged in further dialogue, forcing them to rethink, and allowing all
> nations to
> participate in the serious and horrific decision to go to war or not.
>
> Dr. Muller also made reference to a recent New York Times article that
> pointed out that up until now there has been just one superpower-the
> United States, and that that has created a kind of blindness in the
> vision of the U.S. But now, Dr. Muller asserts, there are two
> superpowers: the United States and the merging, surging voice of the
> people of the world.
>
> All around the world, people are waging peace. To Robert Muller, one of
> the great
> advocates of the United Nations, it is nothing short of a miracle and it
> is working.
>
> =========================================================
> Important Subscriber Information:
>
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
>
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).