Needs No Introduction

Dr. Charles Burton is Associate Professor of Political Science at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. He has worked at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, and has been a consultant at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs. He has also written several books about China and the Koreas.  http://www.brocku.ca/politicalscience/people/Charles_Burton.html

The Future of the Forum session was recorded by Kim Elliott at the 5th annual World Social Forum, held in Caracas in February 2006. Speakers included Marco Berlinguer, John Holloway, François Houtart, Francine Mestrum, Thomas Ponniah, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Teivo Teivainen, Virginia Vargas and Hilary Wainwright. The session was organized by the Network Institute for Global Democratization For more commentary on the future of the World Social Forum, see: http://www.yachana.org/research/dollarsandsense.pdf http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060306/blanding/2 http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br

Robert Fisk is Middle East correspondent for The Independent. he spoke about his new book, The Great War For Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East (Harper Collins), his experiences as a foreign correspondent, and the role of journalists in contemporary conflicts. http://www.independent.co.uk/ note: the question and answer segment of the lecture was not recorded by request of the lecturer.

Jeff Halper is the Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House demolitions (ICAHD) and a Professor of Anthropology at Ben Gurion University. He has lived in Israel since 1973. Jeff has researched and written extensively on Israeli society and he has been active in the Israeli peace movement for many years. As the Coordinator of ICAHD, he has forged a new mode of Israeli peace activity based on non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to the Israeli Occupation authorities and in close cooperation with Palestinian organizations. (courtesy www.jewishpeacefellowship.org) A Call for Morally Responsible Investment: A Non-Violent Response to the Israeli Occupation is an international conference for CROs (Church Related Organizations) and NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) presented by Canadian Friends of Sabeel (http://www.sabeel.ca) and numerous co-sponsors dedicated to a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A campaigner for peace and economic justice, Walden Bello is professor of sociology and public administration at the University of the Philippines. He is also executive director of the Bangkok-based research and advocacy organization, Focus on the Global South. Professor Bello is the author of many books including, Dilemmas of Domination: the Unmaking of the American Empire and The Future in the Balance: Essays on Globalization and Resistance. For more information: Focus on the Global South: http://www.focusweb.org/  Political Science at York U: http://www.arts.yorku.ca/politics/index.html

TBD.