Center for Peacemaking Practice Lunch - Dr. Tatsushi Arai

Center for Peacemaking Practice: Tuesday Lunch Series

Speaker: Tatsushi Arai

Visiting Scholar, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University (GMU)

Noon-2:00 pm, October 16 (Tuesday)

GMU Arlington Campus

3330 N. Washington Blvd. (5^th Floor, Truland Building), Arlington, VA 22201

The seminar will explore two different subjects. The first half will focus on the presenter’s research agenda at SCAR, and the second half on his applied practice. Each of the two presentations will be followed by open discussion.

First Half (12:15-1:15pm): A Buddhist Approach to Conflict Transformation

Buddhism is a faith tradition and worldview that seek to actualize constructive potential inherent in life by fusing into the underlying law of the universe of which human life is part. Buddhism, like other religious traditions, offers a promising ground for reflective practice in conflict transformation and peacebuilding. However, despite the urgent need to articulate and apply a coherent system of Buddhist thinking that helps transform direct and structural violence in Buddhist-majority societies, the depth of policy-relevant research conducted in this area is far from adequate. This gap is likely to pose a policy challenge to the United States and the West as they interact more deeply with Buddhist worldviews in Asia, including China. Given this background, Dr Arai’s inquiry at SCAR will explore questions such as: What would a Buddhist theory of structural violence and peace look like and how would it apply to conflict-affected Buddhist societies?; What would a Buddhist approach to reconciliation look like and how would it compare to reconciliation inspired by Abrahamic religions?; How will lessons learned from this inquiry inform how to facilitate dialogues between Buddhist and other civilizations in the age of globalization?

Second Half (1:15-2:00pm): Syria – Toward Functional Coexistence

Functional coexistence is an adversarial relationship that falls short of direct military confrontation, yet paves the way toward a sustained, evolving process of pragmatic interactions between conflict parties that neither trust nor recognize each other. A possible vision of Syria in the foreseeable future is functional coexistence that builds on pragmatism, political will, and holistic and creative thinking. With this vision as a framework of thinking, Dr Arai will summarize preliminary results of his ongoing interviews and dialogues with regional experts and stakeholders in the conflict and explore possible political processes of functional coexistence both inside and outside Syria.

Speaker Bio: Dr Tatsushi (Tats) Arai joined SCAR as a Visiting Scholar in July 2012. His area of inquiry and applied practice at SCAR includes the role of Buddhism in conflict transformation and public policy, and an Interactive Conflict Resolution (ICR) process aimed at promoting historical reconciliation in China-Japan relations and in East Asia. Dr Arai is an Associate Professor of Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation at the School for International Training (SIT) Graduate Institute in Vermont, a Research Fellow of the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research in Hawaii, and an advisor and member of four international NGOs. As a trainer, mediator, and dialogue facilitator, Dr Arai has extensive practical experience in East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, the African Great Lakes, and North America. His recent publications include Creativity and Conflict Resolution: Alternative Pathways to Peace (Rougtledge, 2012). Dr Arai received his PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from GMU in 2005.