CHOOSE PEACE

Johan Galtung and Daisaku Ikeda are two major figures in international peace studies. Ikeda is a leading Buddhist, author and educator and is deeply rooted in the Mahayana Buddhism of Nichiren. Galtung is the founder of the Institute for Peace Research in Oslo and has developed a more general Buddhist orientation. Together, through dialogue, they search for ways of interfacing Buddhism and peace. Presented as a dialogue between the two men, Choose Peace explores practical solutions to many of the global problems afflicting the world today. Galtung and Ikeda identify sources of violence and unrest and consider the role of Buddhism in formulating peaceful solutions to violence. The implications of political forces such as nationalism and socialism are considered and the role of human rights, grassroots power and the United Nations in peacekeeping initiatives are explored.