M E D I A T I O N
Over the last 30 years, William Ury has served as a negotiation adviser and mediator in conflicts ranging from corporate mergers to wildcat strikes in a Kentucky coal mine to ethnic wars in the Middle East, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union. With former president Jimmy Carter, he co-founded the International Negotiation Network, a non-governmental body seeking to end civil wars around the world. During the 1980s, he helped the US and Soviet governments create nuclear crisis centers designed to avert an accidental nuclear war. In that capacity, he served as a consultant to the Crisis Management Center at the White House. Most recently, Ury has served as a third party in partnership with international organizations such as The Carter Center and The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva in helping to end a civil war in Aceh, Indonesia, helping to prevent one in Venezuela and as a consultant on creating a peace accord in Nepal.
As a means to address the conflicts that continue to plague humanity, William Ury has either founded or works closely on a variety of global initiatives.
N E W S
Abraham's Quest: The Common Link Between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the Journey Towards Peace
University of California Television
June 2, 2008
William Ury explores ways that programs like the Abraham Path
Initiative, which he chairs, can serve as a bridge to a lasting peace
in the Middle East and how the story of Abraham has the power to
inspire cross-cultural exchange and mutual understanding.
Less Talk, More Walk: The Abraham Path Comes to Jordan
By Ramsey G. Tesdell
7iber, November 24, 2007
A description of the Abraham Path in Jordan published in 7iber, a community-driven online magazine based in Jordan.
O caminho do patriarca
By Adriana Dias Lopes
Veja, October 17, 2007
Um projeto internacional recria o trajeto percorrido pelo personagem biblico Abraao, numa tentativa de integrar os povos do Oriente Medio.
Walking in Abraham's Footsteps
By Jon Spayde
Utne Reader, March/April 2007
How retracing a prophet's journey could advance Middle East peace.
Tracing Abraham's Path to Mideast Peace
By Ilene R. Prusher
Christian Science Monitor, Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Follow
the path of two researchers as they retrace the footsteps of Abraham in
the hope that people will rediscover their common roots.
From Turmoil to Tourism
From "A World of Possibilities," a part of the Mainstream Media Project, 2006
Embedded in the conflicting cultures of the Middle East is the common genesis of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism in the form of their spiritual ancestor, Abraham. A modern-day initiative seeks to reopen the path of Abraham.
The Electronic Politicos: A Google for Global Politics
By Jeff Chu
Time Magazine, May 5, 2004
"Many of our problems are global: climate change, terrorism, trade. You can't solve them all in one country alone." This was the idea that led to e-Parliament, an Internet forum open to the world's 25,000 democratically elected national legislators. Created in 2001, e-parliament is already having an impact. "In March 2003 Norwegian M.P. Ingvild Vaggen Malvik became the first to turn an e-Parliament discussion into potential law," Chu writes. "As the e-Parliament grows, good ideas about government could prove contagious.
Global Initiatives
The Global Negotiation Project (GNP), formerly the Nuclear Negotiation Project and Project on Preventing War. Directed by William Ury with Associate Director Joshua Weiss, the project engages in a number of activities at the global, international, and intrastate conflict levels including: research and writing, teaching and training, and peacebuilding projects.
Abraham Path
Initiative
The Abraham Path is a route of cultural tourism that retraces the
journey made by Abraham (Ibrahim) through the heart of the Middle East
some four thousand years ago. Three and a half billion people � over
half the human family � trace their history or faith back to Abraham,
considered the father of monotheism. The Abraham Path honors this
shared cultural heritage by linking together into a single itinerary of
outstanding interest and beauty the ancient sites associated with
Abraham and his family.
The centerpiece of the Abraham Path is a long-distance walking trail,
beginning in the Turkish city of Sanliurfa, where many believe Abraham
to have been born, and in the nearby ruins of Harran, where Abraham is
said to have heard the call of God to 'go forth.' Initially covering a
distance of 1,200 kilometers, the Abraham Path will pass through some
of the finest landscapes, historic sites, and holy places of the Middle
East before culminating at Abraham's tomb just south of Jerusalem in
the city of Hebron/Al-Khalil. Eventually the route will extend to
encompass Abraham�s travels to and from Egypt, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
The e-Parliament has been created to address two major problems facing humanity: a global democracy gap and a problem-solving gap. The project links national members of parliaments and congresses from around the world via the Internet and other technological mediums in a virtual forum to address global or transboundary issues. The e-Parliament continues its work on an energy efficiency campaign calling for a one-watt global goal for energy usage by appliances in standby mode. This concept has already generated legislative initiatives in Brazil, Norway, and the European Union. Through the project's on-going "ideas bank," members are sharing effective ways in which different national legislatures have addressed comparable problems. In September 2005 the e-Parliament held its first global hearing on space weapons.
Reuniting America is a network of organizations, associations, and individuals engaged in transpartisan dialogue. The focus for ReunitingAmerica is to reconnect with the original vision conceived of for this country by our founding fathers; to bridge/engage across the polarization that exists in our country and heal that divide; to encourage constructive dialogue versus combative debate, and to build trust and increase integrity between all parties.
No more critical challenge faces each of us, and all of us together, than how to live together in a world of differences. So much depends on our ability to handle our conflicts peacefully - our happiness at home, our performance at work, the livability of our communities, and, in this age of mass destruction, the survival of our species.
The Third Side offers a promising new way to look at the conflicts around us. The Third Side is the community - us - in action protecting our most precious interests in safety and well-being. It suggests ten practical roles any of us can play on a daily basis to stop destructive fighting in our families, at work, in our schools, and in the world. Each of our individual actions is like a single spider web, fragile perhaps but, when united with others, capable of halting the lion of war. Although the Third Side is in its infancy in our modern-day societies, it has been used effectively by simpler cultures for millennia to reduce violence and promote dialogue.
The Third Side is a website that offers ideas, resources for you to begin making changes in your life today, and stories of the Third Side in action.