Common Ground Newsletter

Winter 2007-2008

Dear Friend,

A quarter century ago, I demonstrated that I was an optimist when I founded an organization called Search for Common Ground. While we had only two employees, a handful of supporters, and a minuscule budget, we had the audacity to think we could change the world. Today, that same optimism and audacity shape our work. While I never doubted that we would make a profound difference, I don't think I ever imagined we would grow to a staff of 350, working out of offices in 16 countries. As our 25th anniversary year comes to an end, my colleagues and I count our blessings. And, in this sacred season, we send you our best wishes for joyous holidays. Above all, we hope that 2008 will bring an exponential increase in peace on earth.

Wrestling Diplomacy

IRAN. Since 1996, we have been working to improve relations between the United States and Iran. We started with discreet meetings between high-level, former officials from the two countries. In 1998, we went public by taking the US national wrestling team to Iran. The press dubbed it wrestling diplomacy, and it resulted in our being invited to the White House by President Bill Clinton, who used our initiative to signal his desire for a better relationship. Unfortunately, the breakthrough we hoped to catalyze did not occur, and US-Iranian relations have sunk to a new low. Still, we persist. Our role could – metaphorically – be compared to that of a child's truck that moves forward until it hits a barrier, backs off, but always finds a path forward.

Commonalities. Today, with hostilities threatening between the US and Iran, we are convinced that the two countries still have more in common than they have dividing them. We believe there are equitable ways to resolve security and nuclear issues. Indeed, we remain quietly engaged in trying to facilitate solutions to these contentious problems. In addition, we continue to carry out exchanges. Our strategy for improving relations – indeed, the strategy for everything we do – is to understand the differences and act on the commonalities.

An Inconvenient Truth. This fall, we sponsored a showing of Iranian films at the American University in Washington, and we also arranged for An Inconvenient Truth, former Vice President Al Gore's Academy Award-winning documentary about global warming, to be shown at a film festival in Tehran, where it played to a packed, enthusiastic audience. We are grateful to Jeff Skoll and Jim Berk of Participant Productions for making the film available. Indeed, this initiative was our most recent effort to promote common ground between Iranians and Americans on environmental issues. We started exchanges in 1999, and we continue to believe that the environment is an area where the US and Iran would benefit greatly from cooperation. Tehran, after all, is one of the world's more polluted cities – often choked in a thick cloud of yellow-brown haze. Like Los Angeles, it is pinned against mountains, and, when the wind does not blow, the air is fouled by dust spewed from construction sites and by millions of automobiles.

Lt. General (ret) Dan Christman of the US Chamber of Commerce talks with Madeleine Albright as Stephen Heintz, President of the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation looks over his notes

US-MUSLIM ENGAGEMENT. In partnership with the Consensus Building Institute, we are carrying out a project, called US-Muslim Engagement: Reversing the Downward Spiral. The goal is to improve US relations with the Muslim world.  At the project's core is a Leadership Group that includes former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Imam Feisal Rauf, Shamil Idriss of the UN's Alliance of Civilizations, Vali Nasr of the Council on Foreign Relations, Dalia Mogahed of the Gallup Organization, Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, Ambassador (ret) Dennis Ross, former AIPAC Executive Director Tom Dine, author Stephen Covey, and ex-Republican Congressmen Vin Weber and Steve Bartlett. Through a consensus process, the Group is crafting a new vision of how to address the challenges and opportunities in US relations with the Muslim world. Unlike most blue ribbon panels, it seeks to reflect the views of the public, and, to this end, it is using dialogue methodology developed by pollster Dan Yankelovich. The Group also aims to influence the policy agendas of US Presidential candidates, the coverage of US-Muslim issues in the media, and the views of opinion makers in the business, faith, and policy communities. It plans to issue its report in 2008 in order to affect both the campaign cycle and the policies of the new US Administration.

CGNEWS. The Common Ground News Service also works to build bridges between the Muslim world and the West. Every week, CGNews distributes eight to ten articles to hundreds of newspapers and websites. Since 2001, more than 5,200 of these articles have been reprinted by leading media outlets, including Al-Hayat (London), Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv), International Herald Tribune (Paris), Christian Science Monitor (Boston), Washington Post, Al Quds (Jerusalem), and Information (Copenhagen). In addition, CGNews has 20,000 email subscribers. CGNews is directed by Leena El-Ali and is published in six languages (Arabic, Bahasa, English, French, Hebrew, and – since October – Urdu). In a recent survey of readers, we found that 78% of our subscribers believe that their understanding of Muslim-Western relations has improved as a result of CGNews. For a free subscription, please visit http://www.commongroundnews.org.

Participants in Exercise Prodigal Child

CHILD SOLDIERS INITIATIVE. Child and soldier are two words that should never go together. But unfortunately, over 250,000 children are currently involved in armed combat around the world. In order to end this regrettable situation, we have forged an alliance with General (ret) Roméo Dallaire, now a Canadian Senator, and with the Canadian Government. The goal is to put the issue of child soldiers squarely on the global agenda and to find practical ways to deal with the problem. We want military, diplomatic, and non-governmental leaders to take on the issue as a shared priority. With our partners, USAID, UNICEF Canada, the University of Winnipeg, and the Pearson Training Center, we are developing new tools to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of child soldiers.

War Game. In July 2007, our Child Soldiers Initiative, led by Sandra Melone, co-sponsored an interactive simulation, Exercise Prodigal Child, at the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Training Center in Accra, Ghana. The idea was for an international group of 50 military and civilian specialists and former child soldiers to work through various scenarios. Participants were divided into three Tiger Teams, which devised tools and action plans that will soon be tested in actual conflict situations. In the process, participants realized the importance of coordination and collaboration. Here is a comment from a female human rights worker who, before participating, had limited experience in cooperating with the military.

"On a pretty deep level, I learned I could work with the people on my team in an integrated approach without departing from my ethical or child protection obligations. I can work with these guys!"

LEADERSHIP WISDOM INITIATIVE. For years, we have seen the negative impact that poor leadership can have in exacerbating conflict, and we are determined to do something about this. Our vision is of authentic leadership that heals divisions and combines inner and outer qualities. We want to promote leadership rooted in common humanity. To this end, under the direction of Susan Collin Marks, we have launched the Leadership Wisdom Initiative to encourage transformational leaders and to develop conflict management skills. The initiative is a highly leveraged effort to reach people in key positions – politicians, officials of global agencies, and emerging leaders, particularly women. The idea is to support leaders in reflecting on their experience and accessing their inner wisdom in dealing with the practical problems they constantly face. Here are the Initiative's current projects:

• In partnership with Harvard Law School's Global Negotiation Project, we sponsored a week-long leadership training in July 2007 for senior UN mission leaders, with ongoing coaching for participants.
• We are offering one-on-one coaching and leadership reflection circles for high level political and civil society leaders, including parliamentarians. Participants include leaders in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the US Congress.
• We are working in partnership with the Nairobi Peace Initiative in East Africa and Femme Afrique Solidarité in West Africa to explore barriers and opportunities faced by women leaders in Africa. In October, we co-sponsored two workshops in Nairobi that included Kenyan candidates for Parliament.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Susan Collin Marks

Leadership training for senior UN mission leaders

AWARDS. On November 6, 2007, 300 people came together for the tenth annual Common Ground Awards at Chelsea Piers in New York. It was a magical evening. Charlayne Hunter-Gault of PBS and NPR presided, and Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary had the crowd singing and cheering. Awards were given, as follows:

Peter Yarrow and Lt. General (ret) Roméo Dallaire

• General (ret) Roméo Dallaire. His experience in trying to stop genocide in Rwanda has led him to become a worldwide advocate for human rights and ending the use of child soldiers.
• Charlie Rose. A veteran newsman and host of his own show on US public television, he interviews guests in ways that transcend politics and ideology.
• Ishmael Beah. Author of the best-selling book, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, he provides witness to a personal story of redemption and healing.
• Combatants for Peace. This is an organization of former Israeli combat soldiers and Palestinian fighters who have joined forces to work for peace in the Middle East through non-violent action.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault makes presentation to Charlie Rose

• Little Mosque on the Prairie. This popular Canadian TV sitcom defuses misunderstanding and hate through the use of drama and humor.
• Health Care Coverage for the Uninsured. A coalition of strange bedfellows from across the US political spectrum, this group grew out of a two-year-long, consensus process that we sponsored and that resulted in an historic agreement to reduce the number of Americans without health insurance.
• Eliav-Sartawi Media Awards. At a separate ceremony at Columbia University, co-sponsored by the School of Journalism and the School of International and Public Affairs, presented this year's Middle East Journalism Awards to Akiva Eldar of Ha'aretz, Jordanian journalist Salameh Nematt, Bassam Aramin for an op-ed in The Forward, and Gershon Baskin for a column in the Jerusalem Post. Zel Lurie, the 93 year-old visionary who conceived and endowed the awards, received a special Common Ground Award to honor a lifetime of achievement.

Actress Kathleen Turner, last year's mistress of ceremonies, attended

Zel Lurie at 93

Nepal's Rolpa District

NEPAL: INVESTORS' TRIP. For those of you who would like to have a direct experience of our work, we invite you to join a group of our funders who will travel to Nepal from March 24 through April 4 to visit our projects and to take in this breathtaking country. Veteran staff members will lead the group. Participants in past investors' trips testify that they have enjoyed profound, even life-changing experiences. (If you are interested in joining the group, please contact Jane Shaw at jshaw@sfcg.org or Susie Dillon at sdillon@sfcg.org.)

PLEASE INVEST IN OUR WORK. At this time of year when helping others seems so natural, we ask you to reach deep and support our work. In this way, people like yourself – presumably both comfortable in your life and committed to building a better world – can contribute to transforming conflict in some of the most challenging areas of the planet. We need your help to maintain and expand our programs. Please invest before the end of the year by clicking here:
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=3923.