These TFF Peace Pulses will only be published here a few times. You will also not find them on YouTube and Vimeo because both platforms have blocked TFF and me; you know, peace is dangerous these days. Later, you will find them, along with many other TFF-created videos, on Rumble. More info as I get that established. Europe is in its deepest crisis since 1945, … Continue reading 1065 – TFF Peace Pulse # 2 – We need an all-European debate about Europe’s future
These two articles are part of the series “TFF at 40″ and they invite you to learn about the probably unique history of Four Decades of Publishing Peace. I take a look at how our small, people‑financed peace foundation has communicated across four generations of technology — from wax stencils and fax machines to mass email and Substack — and why TFF continues to publish … Continue reading 1063 – TFF at 40: Four Decades of Publishing Peace – Or from 1,200 to 1,6 million…
In contrast to most, we’ll bring alternatives, solutions, hope and strategies for a better future. Times are dangerous, yes, but that only intensifies the need for constructive thinking and action! Jan Oberg, TFF director April 13, 2026 The new TFF Peace Pulse uses video messages in a new way: Max 3-5-minute-long comments, ideas or perhaps mini-lectures, all about peace – positive peace. We launch them today on April 13, … Continue reading 1062 – The first of the new TFF Peace Pulse – #1 “WWIII? Just Doubt It”
Jan Oberg February 20, 2026 What a thrill to be interviewed by former British diplomat Ian Proud! Don’t waste a minute: acquaint yourself with him here on his homepage, which he elegantly calls “Proud Diplomat.” Notice also his book, A Misfit In Moscow. Ian is, of course, also on Substack, where he calls himself The Peace Monger, and recently he set up his own PeaceMonger Channel on YouTube. For once, I was … Continue reading 1052 – Ordinary people want peace: Can citizen diplomacy build a safer future for everyone?
On this occasion – unique in the history of Nordic academia in general and peace and future research in particular – we look back on what we have achieved, we document it systematically – and then we look forward. Follow TFF if you don’t already because we are re-inventing ourselves and will do new things – and do the good old things in new ways. … Continue reading 1033 – TFF – The Transnational Foundation, turns 40
Peace will not result from any “peace” plan circulated to date. Neither will it emerge from warfare – as the elites of NATO, EU, Russia, and Ukraine seem to finally recognise after avoidable, unspeakable losses of people, trust and physical, socio-economic destruction. And horse-trading based on military ‘security’ guarantees reveals only peace and conflict illiteracy. TFF is critical of the widespread and severe misuse of the word peace – as … Continue reading 1025 – TFF Portfolio for true peace in Ukraine: UNITE trust, DREAM prosperity and other constructive components.
August 21, 2025 People’s criticism without offering any solutions and their focus on the past and present, but almost never on the future, are the two biggest obstacles to real change. And to making peace… Jan Oberg August 21, 2025 This conversation is not about Endless Militarism. The real title of Pascal Nottaz’ and my conversation is the one on top – “If You Want Peace, … Continue reading 1009 – “If You Want Peace, Be Creative and Focus on The Future.”
In December 2021, I was invited to become a regular contributor of opinion pieces to China Daily. It has more than 52 million clicks online daily and about 40 million followers on social media – according to the latest (2016) data. It serves more than 330 million readers all over the world and is a default choice for people who read about China in English. … Continue reading Analyses, comments and opinion pieces in various Chinese media
Every few days, I was on TV in Russia and China – Russia TV1 and China’s CCTV – the latter as part of a much longer studio discussion and documentary about Ukraine, Russa and the EU. February 14, 2025 – about half an hour on Russia’s leading TV Channel – 1TV – a kind of portrait with lots of views on current affairs. February 24, … Continue reading Jan Oberg on Russia’s and China’s national TV
February 17, 2025 So happy again to be on a show at Pascal’s Neutrality Studies and meet Ulrike Guérot. I’m advancing the idea – and not for the first time – that humanity, all of us, think far too much about the past and the present – so much so that there is no space and interest in how to define and search for a … Continue reading What to do pro-peace – and with Eutopia thinking
Keynote speech delivered on October 3, 2024, at the Global Changes Centre’s conference in Skopje, Macedonia. Despite the video’s title, this is not mainly about the decline and fall of the United States’ Empire. That will happen without my predictions… Instead, at this truly amazing conference, I present some major points for what I believe will be a much better world – a multipolar or … Continue reading Points for the better – future – world
June 25, 2024 Much to our surprise – and a great honour – TFF, through Jan Oberg, has been invited to attend and speak at the conference commemorating the 70th anniversary of the initiation of the famous Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. The Five Principles, as stated in the Sino–Indian Agreement 1954, are: • mutual respect for each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, • mutual … Continue reading TFF invited to highest-level peace conference in Beijing
My dear friend over 50 years and one of my two peace research mentors died this morning. He was 93. He was, beyond any doubt, one of the greatest and most innovative social scientists of our time and one of the early pioneers of the academic field of peace and conflict research. He was a controversial intellectual to some extent – the envy, of course, … Continue reading Johan Galtung 1930-2024
Get to know a few things you did not know about Jan Oberg. This is extraordinary: Some serious people contact you and say: “We have found that what you do is so interesting that we want to have a long conversation with you – who you are, what you do, how you do it, what motivates you and how you see the world – and … Continue reading Featured Business: A very personal portrait conversation of 1 h & 50 min
I was happy to be on Heroes and Patriots on March 2, 2023 – an online radio program in northern California focusing on national security, intelligence and foreign policy. The show is streamed live on the first and fifth Thursday of each month, 9-10 a.m. at KMUD.ORG and hosted by Mary Massey and John Sakowicz. More about Heroes and Patriots here. They have interviewed many … Continue reading California Radio: NATO expansion, Ukraine and Sweden/Finland joining NATO
The Nobel Committee should include a member of the US or another NATO country – alternatively, it should be transferred to State Department or NATO. That would be more honest than playing these games which repeatedly and blatantly violate Alfred Nobel’s will. Our media ought to be able to read three lines about his intentions, but no research is done to reveal the fraud. It … Continue reading The 2022 NATO Nobel Human Rights Prize – Updated
SIPRI – Stockholm International Peace Research Institute – no longer works with peace in any sense of the word. SIPRI is now SIMSI – Stockholm International Military Security Institute. Just browse its program for the 2021 Stockholm Security Conference – not one session devoted to peace, conflict analysis and resolution, reconciliation, future global peace structures, world order change, conversion of military resources to civilian, disarmament, … Continue reading SIPRI – Stockholm International Peace Research Institute – is now SIMSI
Welcome to my worldmoires – a word I have invented for the occasion. It means writing about my life in the perspective of global affairs and trends that have influenced my work and myself since I was born in the middle of the preceding century. And the occasion? I’m approaching the 50th anniversary of my work as a peace, conflict and future researcher. The Transnational … Continue reading “Goodbye Peace. Worldmoires Into A Peaceful Future”
The Global Press Coalition for Peace, GPCP, in Washington kindly turned to me and asked me to speak with them for a longer podcast. GPCP is a rather young but very innovative civil society organization that focuses on how the media deal with conflicts, war and peace – and how it can be done better. I warmly recommend that you visit and look around. Their … Continue reading Podcast – Oberg, peace and the media
November 23 and 24, 2020, marked an important event in the international academic/university history of peace and conflict research. The reason is that the Faculty of World Studies at Tehran University held a large – online – conference – “International Conference on Peace and Conflict Resolution (ICPCR)”. My colleague and friend there, associate professor Ali Akbar Alikhani, is the dynamic pioneer of this important endeavour … Continue reading Keynote speech for academic peace research in Iran
23.oktober 2020 Den norske arkitekt og fredsforkæmper, Susanne Urban har forfattet en righoldig bog, som netop er udkommet for at markere at en af verdens absolut ledende samfundsforskere, Johan Galtung, fylder 90 den 24. oktober 2020. Han er matematiker, sociolog, freds- og fremtidsforsker med en utrolig produktion af foredrag, artikler, gæsteprofessorater og hederdoktorater bag sig – f.eks. medvirket i 170 bøger heraf som eneforfatter af … Continue reading 💐 Ny bog om Johan Galtung til 90 års dagen
We send out TFF PressInfo – alerts about new posts on The Transnational – once or twice a week – or when something urgently important happens in the world. They are in English and, of course, free and you can subscribe to them here or by sending an email to PressInfo@transnational.org Here’s a typical example – a short, pointed text that introduces the links to … Continue reading A typical PressInfo from The Transnational Foundation
22. juli 2020 Mens Danmark har mængder af velfinancierede institutter for militære studier samt et forsvarsakademi har det hverken et institut for fredsforskning eller et velfinancieret fredsakademi. Men Det Danske Fredsakademi findes – et højkvalificeret initiativ, som du formentlig aldrig har hørt om. Det er i årtier blevet drevet af en ildsjæl ved navn Holger Terp, der er uddannet bibliotekar men stærkt synshæmmet og producerer … Continue reading Det danske fredsakademi siger sandheden forud for Hiroshima og Nagasaki 75
Og hvordan jeg har levet lykkeligt lige siden Omend det er meget lille, er det et stykke nordisk akademisk historie, som fortjener at blive fortalt. Det er også et tidligt eksempel på ødelæggelsen af nordisk freds- og konfliktforskning, som siden fulgte. 10. februar 2020 I november sidste år var det 30 år siden jeg forlod Lunds Universitet efter at have været forskerassistent og forstander ved … Continue reading Fredsforskningen ved Lunds Universitet nedlagt i 1989: Hvorfor og hvordan?
By TFF & Jan Oberg Herunder en typisk meddelelse fra Den Transnationale Stiftelse for Freds- og Fremtidsforskning, TFF. Vi kalder dem TFF PressInfo og denne var nummer 533. Du kan få dem også og de er gratis – bare skriv til PressInfo@transnational.org så kommer du på listen. Lund, Sweden – October 2, 2019 This is what TFF sent out as TFF PressInfo 532 today. It … Continue reading A great soul’s 150th birthday
August 21, 2019 I have long wanted to produce something like a magazine – a daily, diverse drumbeat – that is also easy and fast to curate and edit. Because… I’ve been grappling with this: The world is to rich and diverse: Why are mainstream media so predictable/boring, narrowly focused, uniform – I mean, buy your country’s five largest newspapers one morning and see how … Continue reading TFF’s Transnational Peace Affairs – A new magazine
And why I am switching balances from the most noble and important – but momentarily meaningless – job to something more rewarding… February 1, 2019 Just yesterday, I posted this extremely important and modest appeal – the Basel Appeal – on our foundation’s homepage, The Transnational, here. It was disseminated to social media, among others, my FB profile, TFF’s and my public figure page. Facebook … Continue reading Peace illiteracy
Videoinspelning av Jan Öbergs föredrag i Stockholm februari 2017 Inspelningen är uppdelad i två delar: Del 1: Vittnesrapport från Aleppo60 min. Del 2: Debatt och vägar till fred i Syrien45 min. Bakgrund10-14:e december 2016 vistades Jan Öberg i Aleppo. Med sin unika erfarenhet från staden ifrågasätter han den gängse massmediarapporteringen, argumenterar för ett nytt sätt att se på konflikter på och ger förslag till den … Continue reading “Vittnesrapport från Aleppo, en annorlunda konfliktanalys och vägar till fred i Syrien”
During the last two weeks I have received almost 800 friend requests on Facebook and about 1000 new followers. It’s overwhelming and warms my heart beyond words.
Many many thanks for your trust and support – and for not only thinking it but taking time to tell it.
I can only assume that it is all because of my visit to Damascus and Aleppo. Literally thousands have thanked me for my short texts and photos from there – and for taking the risk going there.
Lots of people go to difficult places, be they humanitarian workers, journalists, photographers, UN people, other diplomats or civil society organisations. But – regrettably, I would say – it is not often I’ve met other researchers in war zones.
Those of us who go, go because we feel we have a duty, because we are curious and must see for ourselves and because a visit opens doors to people, to the suffering and to natural human solidarity.
Media focus on all those with weapons in their hands – the warlords. I’ve always felt enriched and grateful to all the others one can meet, wonderful people who stand up and stand together, struggle, help their neighbours – and survive the other main type of people present, the murderers who get all the fame.
I’m no hero. Just that you know. Many (more) could do what I do.
But back to the social media boom, I’ve just experienced.
Olof Palme – murdered today 29 years ago • Wikipedia A politician who willed a better society, to whom politics was a calling – working for justice, international law, nuclear disarmament, against big countries bullying small countries, a person who made Sweden stand ut. Then. And it was the Palme Commission on Common Security that broke the ice towards the end of the Cold War … Continue reading Olof Palme – murdered today 29 years
After Paris attacks, Pope Francis speaks out against insulting religions: “You can’t kill in the name of a religion. That is an aberration.” And “You can’t provoke, you can’t insult the faith of others, you can’t make fun of faith.” Thank God there is such a wise Pope! If it couldn’t be misunderstood I would say “I’m Pope”! Remember also Gandhi: “There can be no … Continue reading If one could say so I would: “I’m Pope!”
P1 Debat: Hvad nytter krigen (den gør altså nytte)– gør det igen – som om det var en oprigtig holdning til fred – og spørger om krigen kan være en vej til fred. Her sidder så en soldat og en war studies professor på den en side og Lene Junker på den anden side, der skal forklare freden. Disse programmer – som heldagsprogrammet for nyligt, … Continue reading P1 Debat gør det igen
Get TFF PressInfoLet it wing into you e-mail inbox!A rapidly growing peace politics e-mail service. It’s topical, for peace, and well-researched and sometimes provocative. Points you don’t often get in the media.It is free and you can unsub anytime with a click. Why not try it now?Sign up here… Continue reading TFF PressInfo! Let it wing into your e-mail inbox
Voting has begun in Bosnia in an election dominated by nationalist rhetoric and a stagnant economy. A good 2000 pages by three scholars who were present during the wars in Yugoslavia and did not buy the Western political and media simplifications and blame game. Neither did they buy the Western ‘peace’ making, the results of which can be seen in today’s Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia … Continue reading ► ► Bosnia today and Yugoslavia then
☮ ☮ TFF PressInfo 283: Nobel’s Peace Prize is not a human rights prize The Nobel Committee again ignores Alfred Nobel’s words and spirit. Just spend 3 minutes and read Nobel’s will. Establish a new committee composed of experts in peace and not retired members of parliament. Peace people around the world have been deprived of their prize and I say so even though I … Continue reading ☮ ☮ TFF PressInfo 283: Nobel’s Peace Prize is not a human rights prize
TFF PressInfo 281: Instead of bombing IS (Part A) – Please SHARE It’s easy to be pro-war. It is easy to be anti-war. But we need alternatives to war! The first of two comprehensive pro-peace analyses containing no less than 27 proposals as alternatives to war. This one contains principles, tomorrow’s Part B offers concrete proposals. YOU can get TFF PressInfos too winging into your … Continue reading ► ► New TFF PressInfo 281: Instead of bombing IS (Part A)
☮ ☮ World Peace Day on Sunday! ♫♥ This is the incredible peace symphony by Beethoven that PLAY FOR RIGHTS performs in the Bern Cathedral, Switzerland, Sunday night with my saying a few words about global ethics and positive peace in between the movements. There are many ways to celebrate peace – just being against wars is not enough. We run on merrymaking and mindfulness … Continue reading ☮ ☮ World Peace Day on Sunday! ♫♥
► A major event in peace and conflict research & policy studies • Three authors with 130+ man years of experience with Yugoslavia • All their writings, equivalent to 2000 A4 pages, written 1991-2014 ► Not a word changed: for anyone to see whose analyses and predictions stand the test of time • Freely accessible for anyone worldwide instead of publishing 7-8 books at exorbitant … Continue reading “YUGOSLAVIA – WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE ?”
With this headline CNN conveys the idea that peace = when direct violence stops (for a while).
This is the classical journalist perspective, not even a minimum definition and makes peace a rest category in between wars and other violence. Deeply unhelpful!
A peace professional would call that peace illiteracy.
Here is how I and many other professional peace researchers see it:
PEACE can be seen as the outcome of a change in the underlying conflict, a decision about the future that all parties have contributed to define and will, therefore, be committed to help implement.
Omfattende interview med RÆSON per 1. august 2014: Om situationen i Gaza, om mægling og fred, om Irak, krigen mod terror, Ukrain, en ny kold krig, om hvordan verdensordnen er under forandring, USA på vej ned og hvorfor danske udenrigspolitik må begynde at stille om… Tryk på forsidebilledet: Continue reading Hvor har vores krige virket?
☮ ☮ Where Is The Passion for Peace? Yes, indeed – where is that passion? Today those of us who struggle for the UN norm of peace by peaceful means are often treated as dangerous or as pariahs. A brilliant, searching argument by professor Walter G. Moss who reminds us that (Western) statesmen of earlier times had values and faith to see peace as the … Continue reading ☮ ☮ Where Is The Passion for Peace? Yes,
By Jan Oberg This one has just been published as TFF PressInfo here. I argue that we need to focus on the violence on both sides rather than taking sides among the parties. The article ends with some principles about conflict understand and will be followed-up with some more concrete ideas. I sincerely believe we must try to be constructive, pro-peace and not continue to … Continue reading It’s doable: Peace Israel-Palestine
☮ ☮ Mahatma Gandhi On Palestine, Written In 1938 Since my student years, Gandhi has been one of my inspirations, perhaps the basic one. I have studied his theories and action, I’ve been teaching Gandhi and I walked in his footsteps here and there in India in 2001. No less than 76 years ago he gave us a perspective on what happens these very days … Continue reading ☮ ☮ Mahatma Gandhi On Palestine, Written in 1938
Håkan Wiberg was one of my mentors in peace studies and a friend over almost 40 years – and dearly missed today. He was an Associate of TFF from 1985 to his death in 2010. A few of the many to whom Håkan meant a lot have decided to create a blog to preserve the memory of this giant – in more than one sense – who was … Continue reading New blog about peace researcher Håkan Wiberg (1942-2010)
