PRESS CONFERENCE BY DR. DEEPAK CHOPRA ON ALLIANCE FOR NEW HUMANITY

PRESS CONFERENCE BY DR. DEEPAK CHOPRA ON ALLIANCE FOR NEW HUMANITY

(Issued on 11 November 2005.)

Dr. Deepak Chopra, a leader in the field of mind-body medicine, told correspondents at a United Nations press conference today that an international movement he launched two years ago -- the Alliance for a New Humanity –- was meant to marshal the energies of people and organizations around the world to find ways to create true global security.

Dr. Chopra, whose press conference was sponsored by Guatemala’s mission, said the Alliance wanted to organize people to act collectively and build solutions to address conflict, poverty and environmental degradation.  He said the old tactics to ensure global security were no longer working, and peace should be a cornerstone of foreign policy.  The alliance will hold its third major conference called the “Human Forum of Puerto Rico” in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on the 8 to 11 of December 2005.  Among its founding members are:  Dr. Chopra, Nobel laureates Oscar Arias and Betty Williams, Puerto Rican Senator Antonio Fas, human rights activists Kerry Kennedy and Judge Baltazar Garzon, and singer Ricky Martin.

“There’s a debate right now in the General Assembly about the bombings in Jordan…and there will be the usual wrangling”, said Chopra.  “But the war on terrorism is not being won.  It’s being lost, just like the war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on AIDS.  All of these are probably the wrong metaphors for finding a solution to the problem of global instability.  We will never win any war, particularly the war on terrorism, if we do not look at the deeper causes of instability.”

He added that, during the Puerto Rico conference, the alliance will unveil the results of a Gallup Organization poll of Muslims from 10 different countries.  The poll was meant to discover the perceptions of Muslims around the world, which would help political, economic and business leaders learn about the attitudes of Muslims, and in turn improve the understanding of these populations.

In response to a reporter’s question, Dr. Chopra acknowledged the Alliance’s desire to collaborate with the United Nations and the fact that Geoffrey Sachs, special advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals, would be one of the speakers at the upcoming Alliance conference.

He also noted that the five permanent members of the Security Council were responsible for 90 per cent of the weapons sold, traded and manufactured around the globe. “It’s a great irony that we call it the Security Council.  It is actually the No. 1 dealer in weapons in the world.”

He said the Alliance’s basic goal was to create a network of networks that could one day reach a critical mass in world awareness and develop creative solutions for the world’s problems.  “If you want a new crop, you have to sow a new seed”, he added.  “We have to create a fundamental shift in consciousness to create a fundamental shift in reality.  Can you and I learn to be in peace?”

The Alliance was promoting the concept of “branding, marketing and selling peace” with the same methodology that corporations like Starbucks, the Coca-Cola Co. and Victoria’s Secret use to sell their products around the globe.

“We have to develop a methodology for conflict resolution”, he said.  “We’ve never had world peace, but we’ve also never had modern technologies.”  Instead of fostering conflict and destruction, the new technologies -- such as the Internet, computers and cell phones -- as well as the media and entertainment could be used to bring new ideas into the world and foster peace.

The Alliance planned to create a global network of so-called “peace cells” -- groups united by their awareness and concern.  The goal would be to tangibly connect people and organizations that realized the fundamental unity of humanity and all of nature.  He said the peace cells could use the new technologies, such as the Internet, to converge despite the barriers of geography and national boundaries.

The Alliance would be meeting with non-governmental organizations, such as Care and Save the Children, as well as businesses to develop methods to foster its goals.  “We want to see how we can tie in the MDGs.  They will be meaningless unless we have a shift in consciousness”, he added.

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