An urgent appeal to the world public opinion: Stop the war before it is too late!

Many distinguished intellectuals, activists, working people, trade unionists and politicians from all five continents have just pointed out, by signing an appeal to world public opinion, the enormous nuclear, ecological, social and economic dangers for all humanity provoked by the conflict in Ukraine and the unleashed Cold War.

The appeal, drafted by the Initiative for the revival of the Bandung spirit (of the Non-Aligned Movement) and the Delphi International Initiative for the Defense of Democracy, is calling for an immediate end of hostilities in Ukraine and the beginning of negotiations, accompanied by the stopping of the arming of Ukraine and the lifting of sanctions against Russia. The full text follows.  

The very composition of the list of signatories, who come from the South and from the North, the East and the West of our world, reflects the need for the unity of humanity in addressing its common and critical questions and challenges. No country and no region of the world, however powerful they may seem, can solve the problems they are facing, based exclusively on themselves.     

It is impossible to win a world war after 1945. Even a prolonged Cold War will most probably assure the destruction of human civilization, if not of humans themselves, through ecological factors and the social and economic undoing of whole societies and continents. But, to terminate the war, the legitimate interests of all sides must be recognized.  

All signatures bear for us the same weight, irrespective of the position of their holders in society. Often those of “ordinary people” are more important, because they need (and usually have!) more courage, since they do not enjoy the relative protection recognized personalities benefit from. 

Still, we feel obliged, for reasons of a moral quality, to express our deep gratitude to the former United Nations special Rapporteur for the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order and a world-recognized authority on international law, Alfred de Zayas; to a leading representative of the Indian science and intelligentsia, the founder and honorary chairperson of the Indian Development Research Institute, Gabeshana Chakra and former head and founding member of the Institute of Chinese Studies of India, Distinguished Professor at the Council for Social Development Professor Manoranjan Mohanty; to the “father” of modern Homeopathy, recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (often referred to as the “Alternative Nobel prize”), Honorary Professor of eight universities and a senior associate member of the Royal Society of Medicine (UK) George Vithoulkas; to the veteran of the US anti-war movement, former Professor of Quantum Mechanics and researcher at Princeton and CERN, Bruno Vitale, as well as to all those distinguished and courageous individuals who supported this initiative.

The spirit of our appeal is best symbolized in its signing by Dr. W. H. D. Ulrich Schneider, the Secretary General of the International Federation of resistance fighters (FIR), which unites people who fought, guns in their hands, Nazism and Fascism.

We point out the importance of the fact that a small – for the time being – number of very courageous politicians from western countries have supported this initiative. They include the MP, President of the Socialist Party of Cyprus EDEK, Marinos Sizopoulos, the MP, former General Secretary of the AKEL Party of Cyprus Andros Kyprianou, the members of the European Parliament Clare Daly and Mike Wallace from Ireland and Tatjana Zdanoka from Latvia, the Swiss journalist and deputy, former President of the Grand Conseil of the Geneva canton Guy Mettan and the former Senator Lee Rhiannon from Australia.

We hope they are just the pioneers and many more will come and add their voices in opposing the war, especially as its impact on western countries and the whole world keeps growing.

Many more people than those signing the appeal have expressed to us their agreement to the main lines of the appeal, explaining they feel impossible for them to sign it, given the unpredented “irrational passion and hysteria” reigning now in all the West, a leading intellectual wrote un his answer to our request.

We spoke of courage because it certainly takes a lot of it to defy the unprecedented political and intellectual atmosphere being imposed now on all Western countries to terrorize and silence any person who disagrees with the relaunching of the Cold War, by describing him/her as some sort of “Putin’s” or “Russia’s agent”, thus deterring any discussion and any debate of his ideas before it begins.

It is an oxymoron that freedom of opinion and the right to information, that is the foundations of democracy, are abolished in the name of its defense. A new “witch hunt” has been unleashed across western states, against any person expressing reservations about the official political line, often with “arguments” and characterizations that have little to distinguish them from those used by Senator McCarthy (and we hope they will not attain the level of those used by Attorney General Vyshinskiy). Even Russian music and literature is being excommunicated while, for the first time since the persecution of Jews and the Roma, people are being persecuted in today’s Western Europe on the sole criterion of nationality and citizenship. We are descending into a new and more dangerous Middle Ages, and we must stop this descent before it is too late.

The text of the appeal is as follows:

An Urgent Appeal to the World Public Opinion: Stop the war before it is too late!

The war in Ukraine is continuing, unabated for more than four months now, causing vast destruction of life and property of the people of Ukraine and enormous damage to the global economy affecting the lives of millions of people the world over due to rising prices and energy crisis, and above all steadily increasing global tensions pushing humanity to the brink of a nuclear war.

The Russian military intervention in Ukraine was an evident response to the measures taken by the Kyiv regime and its armed far-right militias against Russians, Russian speaking population and other citizens of Ukraine, to the non-implementation of the Minsk agreements and to the continuous aggressive expansion of the NATO alliance inside the former USSR.

But even if we dismiss altogether the Russian arguments and if we accept fully the US and NATO’s arguments regarding the Ukrainian crisis, the Western response to the Russian intervention by arming Ukraine massively and by imposing unprecedented sanctions against Russia, is totally disproportionate. This policy, while not helping the peoples of Ukraine, is comporting very high risk of nuclear, ecological and socio-economic global disasters.

The prolongation of the Ukrainian conflict is increasing the risk of a nuclear world war by accident, by miscalculation or by provocation and the subsequent annihilation of humanity.

It is clearly impossible to tackle the burning challenges of our time such as climate change, hunger, and other existential threats to humanity in an atmosphere of international hostility. All the gains achieved since the end of the Second World War seem to be at stake today and the level of cooperation among nations and peoples has reached a stunning low at this moment. The continuation of this conflict gets us closer to the point of a collapse of human civilisation as the recent UN report warned us about (GAR2022: Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction).

The sanctions and counter-sanctions have already had devastating social and economic effects on the majority of the countries of the world.

By now it is clear that all those measures cannot help Ukraine to win a war impossible to win from its very beginning. They are contributing to the killing and migration of the Ukrainian youth and to the destruction of its country.

This is why we consider of utmost urgency to call for an immediate ceasefire and start of negotiations accompanied by the lifting of sanctions and a halt to the arming of Ukraine.

We call on the world’s public opinion, all social movements, intellectuals, trade unions, religious communities and governments to act firmly in this direction and to coordinate their efforts.

There is no more important task for humanity now than to stop our descent into open world war and the collapse of Civilisation!

Bandung Spirit Collective and the Delphi Initiative for the Defence of Democracy

https://bandungspirit.org/ and http://www.defenddemocracy.press/

Working group:

Isaac Bazié, Professor, Comparative Literature, African Studies, Université du Québec à Montréal, Burkina Faso/Canada

Beatriz Bissio, Professor, History, Political Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Uruguay/Brazil

Bruno Drweski, Professor, Geopolitics, Central and Eastern European Studies, INALCO National Institute of Languages and Civilisations, Paris, Poland/France

Darwis Khudori, Professor, History, Oriental/Asian Studies, Université Le Havre Normandie, France/Indonesia

Dimitris Konstantakopoulos, Journalist and writer, Defend Democracy Press, Athens, Greece

Manoranjan Mohanty, Former Professor, Political Sciences, Chinese Studies, University of Delhi, Council for Social Development, Institute of Chinese Studies, India

Yin Zhiguang, Professor, Political Sciences, International Relations, Fudan University, Shanghai, China/UK

Cosigned by:

Ibro Abdou, Directeur de ISEP, Institut de Stratégie, d’Evaluation et de Prospective, Niamey, Niger

Asvi Warman Adam, Professor, BRIN Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional, Jakarta, Indonesia

Shirin Akhter, Associate Professor, Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

Sayf Alaydrus, Student, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia

Annamaria Artner, Habilitated College Professor and Senior Research Fellow, Milton Friedman University and Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Institute of World Economics, Budapest, Hungary

Francis Arzalier, Historian, President Collectif Communiste Polex, Saint-Denis, France

Ellen Elizabeth Barfield, Full-time Volunteer Justice and Peace Activist, Veterans For Peace, War Resisters League, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

David Barkin, Profesor Distinguido, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana- Unidad Xochimilco, Ciudad de México, Mexico

Fikret Başkaya, Professor, President of the Free University, Istanbul

Anice Benjelloun, Business Professional, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

Matyas Benyik, Social Scientist and Activist, ATTAC Hungary Association, Budapest, Hungary

Georges Beriachvili, Professor, Stanislas High School, Paris, Georgia/France

Jean-Louis Bertrand, France, Informaticien, Editor, Casalabriva, France

Reiner Braun, Executive Director of the International Peace Bureau (IPB), Germany

Heriberto Cairo, Professor, former Dean of the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain

Yücel Candemir, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey

Russell Caplan, UCU Trade Union and Labour Party, London, UK

Suchetana Chattopadhyay, Professor, Department of History, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India

Anuradha Chenoy, writer, Professor, former Dean of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, former chairperson and director of the Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies, India

Clare Daly, Member of the European Parliament, Ireland

James De Burghe, Author, Member, Society for Anglo- China Understanding (SACU), Manifesto Group, Great Britain, China

Radhika Desai, Professor, Department of Political Studies, Director, Geopolitical Economy Research Group, University of Manitoba, Canada

János Debreceni, Activist, Organisers for Left, Budapest, Hungary

Alfred de Zayas, Professor, former (first) UN rapporteur on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Switzerland

Ousmane Diakité, Gestionnaire du Sport, Centre d’Appui à la Scolarisation des filles, Caracas, Mali

Bartłomiej Jarosław Doborzyński, Worker, Bookmark, Gdańsk, Poland

Klaus Dräger, former policy advisor of the GUE/NGL on employment & social affairs, Germany

Alan Freeman, University of Manitoba, Canada/UK

Leo Gabriel, Journalist and Anthopologist, Member of the International Council of the World Social Forum, Austria

Maria Gardner, Art Lecturer, UK

Philippe Gendrault, Independent Health Professional, San Francisco, USA/France

Fengzhan Geng, postdoc Researcher in the University of Kassel, Germany/China

Dimosthenis Georgopoulos, economist, sociologist, statistician, Greece

Manas Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India

Harald Grünberg, Activist, Marxistisches Forum Partei Die Linke, Berlin, Germany

Hall Greenland, Writer, Australia

Mamdouh Habashi, Socialist People’s Alliance Party, Politburo member, World Forum for Alternatives, Vice President, Egypt

Asha Hans, Chairperson, Development Research Institute, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

Frances Hasso, Professor, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

Odile Hélier, Anthropologist, la France d’en bas

Victor Hugo, Comisión por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, CDDH, Ecuador

Magdy Imam, Former Professor, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany/Egypt

Costas Isychos, former alt. Minister of Defense, member of the Network for the Defense of Humanity, Greece  

Earl Jackson, Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA/Taiwan

Kwon Keumsang, Suwon Family & Women Center, Suwon, South Korea

Hiiock Kim, Activist, The Alternative Culture, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Soyoung Kim, Professor, Korea National University of Arts, Seoul, South Korea

Peter Koenig, former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), Switzerland

Sanoop Sajan Koshy, Research Scholar, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India

Dmitriy Kovalevitch, Marxist group ‘Borotba’ (Struggle), Ukraine

Tamás Krausz, Professor, Head of the Department of Eastern European Studies, Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

Marios Kritikos, member of the General Council of ADEDY, the Trade Union of Greek Public Servants, Greece

Andros Kyprianou, Deputy, former General Secretary of the AKEL Party, Cyprus

Annie Lacroix-Riz, Emeritus Professor, Contemporary History,  Université Paris VII-Denis Diderot, France

Angela Lee, Festival Director, Producer, Film Critic, The Chuncheon SF Film Festival/CCFF, Chuncheon City, South Korea

Mi-Jeong Lee, Lecturer and Artist, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Korea/Canada

Denis Lemercier, Maître de conférences retraité, Université de Caen, France

Lin Chun, Professor, London School of Economics, China/UK

Pierre LeBlanc, Journalist and Activist, Canada

Michèle Leclerc-Olive, honorary researcher CNRS (HDR), member of the laboratoire Institut de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les enjeux Sociaux (IRIS), President of CORENS (Collectif Régional pour la Coopération Nord-Sud – Hauts de France) and of CIBELE ((Collectif Régional pour la Coopération Nord-Sud – Ile de France), France

Jeffrey Lever, Visiting Fellow, Law Department, London South Bank University, UK

Marie Lynam, GMB trade union and Labour Party, London, UK

William Mallinson, writer, former British diplomat, Professsor of Political Ideas and Institutions, Universita degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi, Greece/UK

Rasigan Maharajh, Chief Director, Institute for Economic Research on Innovation, Tshwane University of Technology, Tshwane, South Africa

Birgit Mahnkopf, Professor (Retired) on European Politics, Institute of Political Economy (IPE) at Berlin School of Economy and Law, Berlin, Germany

Michel Marti, Retired railway worker, CGT trade unionist, Yellow Vest since the beginning, France

Charles McKelvey, Substack Writer, USA/France

Guy Mettan, Journalist & Deputy, Grand Conseil, Geneva, Switzerland

Dragana Mitrovic, Professor, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Political Science, Serbia

Paolo Motta, Architect, Territorial Planner, Private expert & researcher, IASQ International Association Social Quality, Amsterdam, Italy/Spain

Francisco Nemenzo, Professor Emeritus and former President, University of the Philippines, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines

Gerardo Otero, Professor, School for International Studies, Simon Fraser University, USA

Seema Mehra Parihar, India (Professor, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi) Gerardo Otero, Professor, School for International Studies, Simon Fraser University, Canada

Mausoléo Pascal, Nurse (retired) France

John Philpot, senior criminal litigation attorney, specialized in international criminal law, Canada.

Mazin Qumsiyeh, Professor, Bethlehem University, Palestine

Kostas Raptis, Linguist, Journalist, Greece

Magda Refaa, Researcher and Activist, University Paris 8, Paris, Egypt/France

Marta Restivo, Front Office, Un’altra storia, Florence, Italy

Pamela Richard, Office Manager, Peace Action WI, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Lee Rhiannon, former Senator, Australia

John Riddell, essayist, historian, editor, translator and activist, Canada

Danielle Riva, Utopie Critique, France

Florien Rochat, former Director of the Centre d’étude, de recherche et d’information sur les mécanismes à l’origine du maldéveloppement (CETIM), Switzerland

Louis Roussel, Psychoanalyst, San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, USA

C. Saratchand, Professor, Satyawati College, University of Delhi, India

Dr. Ulrich Schneider, Secretary General of the International Federation of Resistance Fighters (FIR), Germany

Eddy Sebahi, Teacher, UDL, Lyon, France

John Sharkey, Retired Worker, Activist, Member, Bain Apartments Housing Co-operative, Inc., Toronto, UK/Canada

Masaki Sakiyama, Professor, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan

Helena Sheehan, Emeritus Professor, Dublin City University, Ireland

Mahendra Singh, Associate Professor, University of Delhi, India

Marinos Sizopoulos, MP, President of the Socialist Party EDEK of Cyprus. 

Stéphane Soejoso, Retired Manager, France

Yunus Soner, political scientist /journalist, Turkey

Jeffrey Surovell, Writer, Adjunct Associate Professor – CCE, Social Science & Cultural Studies, Pratt Institute, USA

Eka Swadiansa, Architect, Practitioner & Researcher, Office of Strategic Architecture/OSA, Surabaya, Indonesia

Yanuardi Syukur, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Universitas Khairun, Ternate, and President of Rumah Produktif Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia

Narender Thakur, Associate Professor, University of Delhi, India

Dr. Oscar Ugarteche, SNI III/CONACYT, Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas, UNAM, México DF, Mexico

Nisar Ul-Haq, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Social Science, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India

Evaggelos Vallianatos, historian and environmental strategist (at the US Environmental Protection Agency for 25 years), Greece/USA

Jean-Paul Vanhoove, Activist, Agenda des Actions Africaines, Courbevoie, France

Bruno Vitale, former research fellow at Cern and at the Princeton Advanced Studies, former Professor of Quantum Mechanics at the University of Naples, Italy/USA

Professor George Vithoulkas, recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (the “alternative Nobel prize”), Director of the International Academy of Classical Homeopathy (Greece), Honorary Professor of the University of the Aegean (Greece), of the State University of Chuvash Republic (Russia), of the Kyiv Medical University (Ukraine), of the Pontifical Javeriana Medical University (Colombia), of the Kyiv Medical Academy (Ukraine), of the Dnipro Medical Institute of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (Ukraine), of the National Educational Centre for Traditional and Complementary Medicine (Russia), of the All-Russia Scientific Research Center for Restorative and Resort Medicine (Russia), senior associate member of the Royal Society of Medicine (UK), Greece

Mick Wallace, Member of the European Parliament, Ireland

Wang Hui, China, Professor, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Marguerite Warner, Canada (Member, Peace Alliance Winnipeg)

John Webster, Labour Party, member, UK

Fernando Ximenes, editor of Delinking Magazine, member of Komite Esperansa, Timor Leste

Tatjiana Zdanoka, Member of the European Parliament, Latvia

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Economist, Schiller Institute, Wiesbaden, Germany

Xueping Zhong, Professor, Tufts University, Medford, USA

Siphamaandla Zondi, Director, Institute for Pan-African Thought & Conversation, co-Director, Institute for Global African Affairs, Professor, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Johannesburg, South Africa