DRAFT: 5.2.98

PROPOSAL

FOR A COLLABORATIVE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON

DIAGLOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS:

A NEW PEACE AGENDA FOR A NEW MILLENNIUM

February 11-13, 2000

Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research

This is an invitation for collaboration in an international conference. As the concluding conference in its four-year research project on Human Security and Global Governance (HUGG), the Toda Institute is planning to hold a conference on February 11-14, 2000, to draw up a new global peace agenda for the new millennium. As the most daunting challenge facing the 21st century, "dialogue of civilizations" will be the conference theme, particularly focusing on the issues of human security, global governance, and technological choice.

The conference aims at fostering a serious dialogue between the two scientific-technological and religious-humanistic cultures. It will bring together a distinguished group of representations of the world's major civilizations, including Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Humanist, and Indigenous peoples. The conference also aims at providing a conceptual and policy bridge to the Toda Institute's next research theme, Human Rights and Global Ethics. In contrast to the HUGG Project, necessitating a macro approach to global problems, the Global Ethics Project will have a high level of specificity with respect to the ethical and legal requirements for providing the social, economic, political, and cultural conditions necessary for human security, dignity, and freedom.

The conference calls for participation from different sets of experts: (1) world religious and philosophical leaders, (2) IGO and NGO experts familiar with human security problems, (3) corporate and government policymakers familiar with problems of global governance, and (4) scientific and technological leaders involved with studies and applications of the technological tools in solving human problems. These epistemic communities are often isolated by their differences in worldview, discourse, and audiences. In the belief that their cooperation is urgently needed for a more peaceful 21st century, the conference aims at bridging such communication gaps. The results of the conference will be published in the HUGG Book Series.

The Toda Institute is seeking collaboration in this project from peace and policy institutes and foundations. For any further inquiry regarding the conference, please contact Professor Majid Tehranian, Director, Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research, 1600 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1111, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA. Tel.: 808-955-8231; Fax: 808-955-6476; Email: majid@hawaii.edu; Webpage: http://www.toda.org