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IPP History

The historical background to the formation of the International Peace Project is defined by the period between the ending of the Cold War, following the mostly peaceful revolutions in Eastern Europe in 1989, and the return to global conflict – the ‘war on terrorism’ – after the attacks in the United States of America on 11 September 2001.

In the intervening period between the outbreak of peace, as the Berlin Wall fell, and the renewal of war on a global scale a unique experiment was conducted. A small educational body was established in 1992, later incorporated into Leeds University, whose general editor predicted the return to global war and explained in a series of ‘Briefings’ the method behind that expectation which actually came true as the successor body, the International Peace Project, was advertising worldwide for Trustees to test that method against many others. The objectivity of that process was itself tested through an English legal case between 1995 and 2000 leading to a judicially defined framework for education aimed at peace and also the precise objects of (what became) the International Peace Project (IPP).

A Chronology is available of the key events over a 12-year period, which led to the registration of IPP as a charity under the law of England and Wales on 6 February 2004.

Why This History Matters

So what, it may be asked? Three lessons may be considered on the basis of this history:                                             

  1. Understanding the differing means to secure peace, rather than power politics and the use of armed force, may decide the direction of a conflict in the long term. If so, powerless individuals can make a difference through education. 
  2. Education is a process of objectively seeking to ascertain and disseminate the truth. If so, the ‘peace games’ can make a difference by enabling members of the public to decide which method of analysing a conflict best predicts a climate for peace or war. Thus
  3. Creating a climate for peace is an educational rather than a political purpose because an objective legal process has concluded that ‘an irenical perspective’ – that is, one aimed at peace – is the basis for education within the scope of charity. On this no legal doubt now exists. 

The importance of the legal case, called Re Prodem, as the foundation for IPP and its peace games is highlighted in the article The Law on Charity: A Layman’s Tribute reproduced with permission from Peter Southwood.

 
The IPP Trustees have also printed this article here because of its relevance to the Charities Bill going through the UK Parliament in 2005 and the potential significance of Re Prodem in helping to prevent any negative consequences that might otherwise have arisen from politicising charity in general, and education in particular, following enactment of this Bill.

Now that the Charities Act 2006 has become law its impact will be kept under review.


Updated: 31 March 2007