Published: Sunday, 29 July, 2007, 02:28 AM Doha Time
By Clarence Lusane
WASHINGTON: Some of the world’s most respected and venerable leaders have recently stepped forward to help take care of our global village.
Last week, coinciding with the 89th birthday of former South African President Nelson Mandela, the ‘Elders’ group was unveiled in Johannesburg, South Africa. It consists of global statesmen and stateswomen from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
Constituting collectively hundreds of years of political and diplomatic experience of the highest order, the group seeks nothing less than a transformation of the world by taking on some of its toughest issues, such as Aids, global warming, war and other concerns. By asserting its moral and political authority, the star-studded group hopes to turn around a world that has become stubbornly brutal for billions.
In addition to the legendary Mandela, the group includes such eminences as former president Jimmy Carter, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former Irish president and human-rights activist Mary Robinson, and Nobel-winners Bishop Desmond Tutu, imprisoned Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and microfinance pioneer Mohamed Yunus.
The group is the brainchild of British billionaire Richard Branson and rock musician Peter Gabriel. Branson approached Mandela in 2001 about the concept, and along with Gabriel has raised $18mn to get the project going for at least the next three years.
The individuals in the Elders are not constrained by narrow political ambitions, popularity polls or nationalist sentiments. Many have spoken out passionately against the Iraq war and the global war on terror as violations of international law and human rights standards.
Carter’s most recent book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, breaks a tradition of US leaders’ refusal to speak out about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Aung San Suu Kyi is currently under house arrest in Burma for her efforts to bring democracy to that nation.
Reportedly looking more frail than expected and using a cane at the July 18 gathering, Mandela’s role will likely be circumscribed and somewhat limited in a physical sense. But he clearly is a first among equals. As he approaches the 45th anniversary of his arrest on August 5, which led to 27 years of an unjust imprisonment, the sheer weight of his legacy and lifelong commitment to social justice is inspiring even to this group of luminaries.
More than 20 years ago, then-Republican Dick Cheney voted against a US House of Representatives resolution calling for the release of Nelson Mandela from jail. Now, Cheney enjoys the scorn of the global community, while Mandela holds the status of the world’s most respected statesman, a status further cemented by the formation of the Elders.
Change can occur sometimes more rapidly than can ever be imagined.
– The Progressive Media Project/MCT
* Clarence Lusane is associate professor in the School of International Service at American University in Washington; he wrote this for
Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues. Readers may write to the author by e-mail: pmproj@progressive.org.
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