Toward a Century of Peace: A Dialogue on the Role of Civil Society in Peacebuilding

Peace studies pioneer Kevin Clements and Buddhist peacebuilder Daisaku Ikeda engage in dialogue on topics such as conflict resolution, the refugee problem, nuclear disarmament, building a culture of peace and human rights, and the path to recovery and reconstruction following natural disasters. While articulating their personal religious beliefs, their unique perspectives underlying their actions for peace and their problem-solving methodologies, they present a message based on unlimited trust in the transformative power for change residing within each individual.

About the Author

Dr. Kevin Clements is the Foundation Chair and Director of the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Otago, New Zealand. His career has been a combination of academic analysis and practice in the areas of peacebuilding and conflict transformation. He has been an adviser to the New Zealand, Australian, British, Swedish, and Dutch governments on conflict prevention, arms control, defense, and regional security issues.

Daisaku Ikeda is President of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), an association of more than 12 million people practicing Nichiren Buddhism around the world. He has written and lectured on ways of applying the practical wisdom of Mahayana Buddhism as a philosophy of empowerment and compassion in today’s world. He has also published dialogues with more than 70 prominent individuals including Mikhail Gorbachev, Hazel Henderson, Elise Boulding, Joseph Rotblat, Linus Pauling and Arnold Toynbee.