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Peace = Prosperity.

Peace = Prosperity.

by Natalie Pace.

Q&A with Dr. Gary Becker, esteemed University of Chicago economist and Nobel Laureate, on how freedom, democracy, war, terrorism, riots and gangs affect a nation's prosperity.



Peace Activists John Lennon and Yoko Ono in Greenwich, CT 1973. Photo Reprinted byPermission of: Bob Gruen. BobGruen.com.

When perusing the 2007 Index of Economic Freedom, there is one thing that strikes you. There is very little correlation between how "free" a county is and what it's Gross Domestic Product growth will look like. China and India, ranked 119th and 104th out of 157 countries, and evaluated as "mostly unfree," have some of the highest GDP growth rates in the world, at 10.1% and 8.1% respectively, in 2004. Meanwhile, "free" countries, like the United Kingdom (#6) and Australia (#3) have moderate growth, at 3.1% and 3.6% GDP growth rates in 2004. The real GDP growth rate of the U.S. in 2007 is predicted to be 2.9% (source: U.S. Treasury Dept.)


According to renowned economist and Nobel Laureate Dr. Gary Becker, who spoke at the 2007 Milken Global Conference in April, there is almost zero correlation between political systems and GDP growth rate. China and India are not exceptional; there are many other examples of countries that grew very rapidly under non-democratic political systems or military regimes. For instance, Chile grew rapidly under Pinochet. South Korea and Taiwan grew rapidly under military regimes.


While there is no measurable correlation between political systems and growth rates, according to Dr. Becker, there is significant causation between prosperity and democracy. Dr. Becker says, "Look at the examples I mentioned, Chile, South Korea and Taiwan. All of these counties grew rapidly under non-democratic regimes and converted to thriving democracies. When countries grow significantly, there are strong pressures within the country to move to a more democratic regime."

As a modern example of that continued trend, Dr. Becker noted that China has made important moves in the direction of freedom. The Chinese people today are free to say and do things that they would never have been able to say or do 15 years ago. Dr. Becker predicts that China will continue to experience growth, as well as the evolution toward a more free and open economy.

And indeed, China has made strong moves recently to open up its banking to foreign investment. Citigroup announced on May 10, 2007, that Citigroup China would roll-out two new investment products -- Structured Investment Accounts -- for the Chinese consumer that would allow him/her to invest in equities or currencies, with a principal protection feature. Just a few years ago, all banks in China were state-owned enterprises.

China owns half a trillion dollars of investments in U.S. T-Bills -- $479 billion -- but the government is also developing an appetite for U.S. equity (source: Treasury Department). On May 21, 2007, it was announced that the Chinese government is buying a $3 billion non-voting, minority stake in the Blackstone Group, a private equity group. Lou Jiwei, head of the working group of the State Investment Company, said "We are very pleased to be able to make the State Investment Company's first investment in such a well-respected firm as Blackstone." (Blackstone just bought Equity Office Properties and has filed plans to go public in an Initial Public Offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission.)

Editor's Note: For more insight into "China's Evolution Toward Freedom," including how and why it is occurring, read Natalie Pace's Q&A with Dr. Charles Zhang, Chairman and CEO, Sohu.com. Dr. Zhang is one of the most respected Chairman/CEOs in mainland China, as well as in the U.S. You can read the article in the archived NataliePace.com ezine, vol. 4, issue 1.

Another phenomenon worth looking into is the relationship between peace and prosperity. South Korea, Taiwan and Japan are historic examples of economies that soared after a period of war, a trend that seems to be repeating today in the former war-torn regions of Bosnia, Croatia and Albania. According to the 2007 Index of Economic Freedom, Eastern Europe is also experiencing some of the strongest economic growth rates in the world today. (By the way: Notice how closely correlated the tax rate is with GDP growth rates.)

Country GDP Growth Rate in 2004 Freedom Ranking Tax Rate

Albania 5.9% Moderately free. #66 20%

The Czech Republic 4.7% Mostly free. #31 24%-32%

Estonia 7.8% Mostly Free. #12 23%

Slovenia 4.2% Mostly free. #58 25-50%

Peace and Prosperity
Do the seeds of prosperity thrive in the aftermath of war? If prosperity seeds the ground for democracy, what fertilizes the soil for prosperity? Is it peace? What is the cost of violence on society? Why does a country like Albania experience great growth in the aftermath of war, whereas an area like South Central Los Angeles is still largely neglected by big business, 15 years after the 1992 Los Angeles riots?

How worried should we be about the threat of terrorism? Will the labor uprisings in Macao threaten the continued growth of that Chinese municipality and those companies, like Las Vegas Sands and Wynn, which have major investments in the island? How does an investor evaluate the ability of a former war-torn region (like Croatia) or a region hit by natural disaster (like New Orleans or Sri Lanka) to prosper once peace, security and rebuilding are initiated?

On Tuesday, April 24, 2007, I sat down with Dr. Gary Becker to discuss the relationship between prosperity and peace, riots, terrorism, natural disaster and more. Dr. Becker won his Nobel Laureate for expanding the study of economics to new areas of human behavior and relations. Throughout his esteemed career, Dr. Becker has immersed himself in the academics of prosperity - what conditions make countries and companies more conducive to productivity and growth. As you can see from his comments on democracy and economic growth, the findings are not always what you might think!



Natalie Pace: I'm interested in examining the relationship of peace to prosperity, Dr. Becker. The incredible growth that we've seen in the former war-torn region of Eastern Europe seems to indicate that peace seeds the ground for prosperity. Is there empirical evidence that countries thrive in peace?

Dr. Gary Becker: We've known that for over 150 years. The history of both natural and man-made disasters over the last century-and-a-half generally supports John Stewart Mill's observation of the "great rapidity with which countries recover from a state of devastation, the disappearance in a short time, of all traces of mischief done by earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and the ravages of war."

Is terrorism in a different category? War, hurricanes, earthquakes -they have a definitive end, whereas terrorism has become an ongoing threat.

Terrorism creates fear. After an attack on a bus, the response to terrorism is far greater than any reasonable response would dictate. People respond by not wanting to travel by bus, even if the likelihood that they'll be attacked is low. The less frequent the rider or the lower the education of the potential rider, the more likely s/he will respond by not wanting to travel.

Common sense tells you that it is hard to sell oranges in a marketplace that is under attack. Is there a risk quotient attached to investments in regions of conflict, like Israel or the Middle East?

Countries that are more vulnerable to violence have less opportunity for good business because property isn't safe.

What is the estimated cost of the Iraq War?

The estimated cost of the war in Iraq is $600-$800 billion so far and cumulative into the future, when you consider the ammunition, soldiers' lives, veteran's services, recruitment costs, etc.

No wonder Peter Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office, said that "the U.S. government is becoming a health insurance firm with a side business in defense." Why do some countries and neighborhoods recover more quickly after war and riots? Civic leaders in South Central Los Angeles are still complaining that the neighborhood was never rehabilitated after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, and progress in Afghanistan has been slow.

Drugs destroy a lot of neighborhoods. Neighborhoods with a history of violence make it very hard for peaceful business to thrive. After a riot, it is very hard to recover.

Why is it so hard to attract business into gang areas?

You can just go live and do business in another less violent neighborhood.

Is that similar to what we are seeing now in the migration from Western to Eastern Europe? There are riots occurring in France, which has a GDP growth rate of 2.1%, and companies are relocating to Eastern Europe, where some countries are growing at three times that of France. Young people are willing to work harder for less pay in Estonia, which is experiencing 7.8% growth rate.

The principle is the same. With the formation of the European Union, you can move across the borders.

In our global economy, would your research suggest that the brightest and most motivated individuals will leave the violent war-torn regions, and seek work in the more peaceful, free community with the most developed property rights and stability?

Yes.

So -- bottom line -- peace is good for business, right?

When war ends, there is a very rapid recovery. As long as people retain the knowledge and skills they had before the war, there are good business opportunities directly after a war.




Dr. Becker is the University Professor, Department of Economics, and Sociology Professor, Graduate School of Business, The University of Chicago. To keep track of Dr. Becker's continuing research and commentary, visit his website and blog. To hear more of his recommendations for strengthening the U.S. economy, listen to his panels from the 2008 Milken Global Economic Conference. To read more of his insights on how communities can transform to prosperity out of violence and/or disaster, read The Economics of Disaster Management in the June NataliePace.com ezine.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.




by Ishmael Beah.

This is part of our ongoing series on peace = prosperity.

Excerpt reprinted with permission of Sarah Crichton Books (an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
Reprinted with permission. © Sarah Crichton Books Farrar, Straus and Giroux

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah is the gripping story of a child's journey

through hell and back.

There may be as many as 300,000 child soldiers, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s, in more than fifty conflicts around the world. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. He is one of the first to tell his story in his own words.

In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a riveting story. At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. Eventually released by the army and sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain his humanity and to reenter the world of civilians, who viewed him with fear and suspicion. This is, at last, a story of redemption and hope.

Chapter One excerpt:
There were all kinds of stories told about the war that made it sound as if it was happening in a faraway and different land. It wasn't until refugees started passing through our town that we began to see that it was actually taking place in our country. Families who had walked hundreds of miles told how relatives had been killed and their houses burned. Some people felt sorry for them and offered them places to stay, but most of the refugees refused, because they said the war would eventually reach our town. The children of these families wouldn't look at us, and they jumped at the sound of chopping wood or as stones landed on the tin roofs flung by children hunting birds with slingshots. The adults among these children from the war zones would be lost in their thoughts during conversations with the elders of my town. Apart from their fatigue and malnourishment, it was evident they had seen something that plagued their minds, something that we would refuse to accept if they told us all of it. At times I thought that some of the stories the passersby told were exaggerated. The only wars I knew of were those that I had read about in books or seen in movies such as Rambo: First Blood, and the one in neighboring Liberia that I had heard about on the BBC news. My imagination at ten years old didn't have the capacity to grasp what had taken away the happiness of the refugees.

The first time that I was touched by war I was twelve. It was in January of 1993. I left home with Junior, my older brother, and our friend Talloi, both a year older than I, to go to the town of Mattru Jong, to participate in our friends' talent show. Mohamed, my best friend, couldn't come because he and his father were renovating their thatched-roof kitchen that day. The four of us had started a rap and dance group when I was eight. We were first introduced to rap music during one of our visits to Mobimbi, a quarter where the foreigners who worked for the same American company as my father lived. We often went to Mobimbi to swim in a pool and watch the huge color television and the white people who crowded the visitors' recreational area. One evening a music video that consisted of a bunch of young black fellows talking really fast came on the television. The four of us sat there mesmerized by the song, trying to understand what the black fellows were saying. At the end of the video, some letters came up at the bottom of the screen. They read "Sugarhill Gang, ÔRapper's Delight.'" Junior quickly wrote it down on a piece of paper. After that, we came to the quarters every other weekend to study that kind of music on television. We didn't know what it was called then, but I was impressed with the fact that the black fellows knew how to speak English really fast, and to the beat.

Later on, when Junior went to secondary school, he befriended some boys who taught him more about foreign music and dance. During holidays, he brought me cassettes and taught my friends and me how to dance to what we came to know as hip-hop. I loved the dance, and particularly enjoyed learning the lyrics, because they were poetic and it improved my vocabulary. One afternoon, Father came home while Junior, Mohamed, Talloi, and I were learning the verse of "I Know You Got Soul" by Eric B. & Rakim. He stood by the door of our clay brick and tin roof house laughing and then asked, "Can you even understand what you are saying?" He left before Junior could answer. He sat in a hammock under the shade of the mango, guava, and orange trees and tuned his radio to the BBC news.

"Now, this is good English, the kind that you should be listening to," he shouted from the yard.

While Father listened to the news, Junior taught us how to move our feet to the beat. We alternately moved our right and then our left feet to the front and back, and simultaneously did the same with our arms, shaking our upper bodies and heads. "This move is called the running man," Junior said. Afterward, we would practice miming the rap songs we had memorized. Before we parted to carry out our various evening chores of fetching water and cleaning lamps, we would say "Peace, son" or "I'm out," phrases we had picked up from the rap lyrics. Outside, the evening music of birds and crickets would commence.

On the morning that we left for Mattru Jong, we loaded our backpacks with notebooks of lyrics we were working on and stuffed our pockets with cassettes of rap albums. In those days we wore baggy jeans, and underneath them we had soccer shorts and sweatpants for dancing. Under our long-sleeved shirts we had sleeveless undershirts, T-shirts, and soccer jerseys. We wore three pairs of socks that we pulled down and folded to make our crapes* look puffy. When it got too hot in the day, we took some of the clothes off and carried them on our shoulders. They were fashionable, and we had no idea that this unusual way of dressing was going to benefit us. Since we intended to return the next day, we didn't say goodbye or tell anyone where we were going. We didn't know that we were leaving home, never to return.

To save money, we decided to walk the sixteen miles to Mattru Jong. It was a beautiful summer day, the sun wasn't too hot, and the walk didn't feel long either, as we chatted about all kinds of things, mocked and chased each other. We carried slingshots that we used to stone birds and chase the monkeys that tried to cross the main dirt road. We stopped at several rivers to swim. At one river that had a bridge across it, we heard a passenger vehicle in the distance and decided to get out of the water and see if we could catch a free ride. I got out before Junior and Talloi, and ran across the bridge with their clothes. They thought they could catch up with me before the vehicle reached the bridge, but upon realizing that it was impossible, they started running back to the river, and just when they were in the middle of the bridge, the vehicle caught up to them. The girls in the truck laughed and the driver tapped his horn. It was funny, and for the rest of the trip they tried to get me back for what I had done, but they failed.

We arrived at Kabati, my grandmother's village, around two in the afternoon. Mamie Kpana was the name that my grandmother was known by. She was tall and her perfectly long face complemented her beautiful cheekbones and big brown eyes. She always stood with her hands either on her hips or on her head. By looking at her, I could see where my mother had gotten her beautiful dark skin, extremely white teeth, and the translucent creases on her neck. My grandfather or kamor teacher, as everyone called him was a well-known local Arabic scholar and healer in the village and beyond.

At Kabati, we ate, rested a bit, and started the last six miles. Grandmother wanted us to spend the night, but we told her that we would be back the following day.

"How is that father of yours treating you these days?" she asked in a sweet voice that was laden with worry.

"Why are you going to Mattru Jong, if not for school? And why do you look so skinny?" she continued asking, but we evaded her questions. She followed us to the edge of the village and watched as we descended the hill, switching her walking stick to her left hand so that she could wave us off with her right hand, a sign of good luck.

We arrived in Mattru Jong a couple of hours later and met up with old friends, Gibrilla, Kaloko, and Khalilou. That night we went out to Bo Road, where street vendors sold food late into the night. We bought boiled groundnut and ate it as we conversed about what we were going to do the next day, made plans to see the space for the talent show and practice. We stayed in the verandah room of Khalilou's house. The room was small and had a tiny bed, so the four of us (Gibrilla and Kaloko went back to their houses) slept in the same bed, lying across with our feet hanging. I was able to fold my feet in a little more since I was shorter and smaller than all the other boys.

The next day Junior, Talloi, and I stayed at Khalilou's house and waited for our friends to return from school at around 2:00 p.m. But they came home early. I was cleaning my crapes and counting for Junior and Talloi, who were having a push-up competition. Gibrilla and Kaloko walked onto the verandah and joined the competition. Talloi, breathing hard and speaking slowly, asked why they were back. Gibrilla explained that the teachers had told them that the rebels had attacked Mogbwemo, our home. School had been canceled until further notice. We stopped what we were doing.

According to the teachers, the rebels had attacked the mining areas in the afternoon. The sudden outburst of gunfire had caused people to run for their lives in different directions. Fathers had come running from their workplaces, only to stand in front of their empty houses with no indication of where their families had gone. Mothers wept as they ran toward schools, rivers, and water taps to look for their children. Children ran home to look for parents who were wandering the streets in search of them. And as the gunfire intensified, people gave up looking for their loved ones and ran out of town.

"This town will be next, according to the teachers." Gibrilla lifted himself from the cement floor. Junior, Talloi, and I took our backpacks and headed to the wharf with our friends. There, people were arriving from all over the mining area. Some we knew, but they couldn't tell us the whereabouts of our families. They said the attack had been too sudden, too chaotic; that everyone had fled in different directions in total confusion.

For more than three hours, we stayed at the wharf, anxiously waiting and expecting either to see our families or to talk to someone who had seen them. But there was no news of them, and after a while we didn't know any of the people who came across the river. The day seemed oddly normal. The sun peacefully sailed through the white clouds, birds sang from treetops, the trees danced to the quiet wind. I still couldn't believe that the war had actually reached our home. It is impossible, I thought. When we left home the day before, there had been no indication the rebels were anywhere near.

"What are you going to do?" Gibrilla asked us. We were all quiet for a while, and then Talloi broke the silence. "We must go back and see if we can find our families before it is too late."

Junior and I nodded in agreement.



Excerpted from A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. Copyright © 2007 by Ishmael Beah. Published in February 2007 by Sarah Crichton Books, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC. All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2001-2003 Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

http://alongwaygone.com/

You can make a difference for children worldwide. UNICEF depends entirely on voluntary contributions for all of their work. You can donate, or purchase UNICEF cards and gifts, or become a volunteer. Go to http://www.unicef.org to Support UNICEF, the organization which helped to rehabilitate Ishmael Beah.

All Deepak is Saying is Give Peace (and Business) a Chance.

All Deepak is Saying is Give Peace (and Business) a Chance. by Natalie Pace



Photo: Deepak Chopra, author of The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore

On March 11th, 525 peacemakers flocked to the capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica to hobnob with spiritual leaders, attend Presidential ceremonies and brainstorm strategies for promoting, in the words of Deepak Chopra, "a new world where hope, social justice, peace and a sense of the sacredness of life prevail." For the next three days, Americans, Mexicans, Europeans, Asians, Australians, Africans and even a few Texans spent time in small groups envisioning what the world needs now, what actions need to be taken to bring about the new vision and how they could network to support one another in an Alliance for a New Humanity. Spiritual gurus like Deepak Chopra (the president of the Alliance), the eloquent Marianne Williamson (bestselling author and Chair of The Peace Alliance), President Oscar Arias Sanchez (the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize winning President of Costa Rica), Baltazar Garzon (the Spanish judge who was responsible for nailing Pinochet) and other respected academics, authors, policymakers and even business leaders lead provocative debates by day, and celebrated the lush Costa Rican heritage by night.

In fact, Costa Rica was the perfect place for such a global conference, as well the leaders of the Alliance knew. Costa Rica is a groundbreaker in many regards. The country has no military, having disarmed its army in 1949. The former military headquarters is now a Museum of Peace. Money that would have been diverted to defense is poured into education. As a result, Costa Ricans are very well educated and about one out of ten people speak English almost as well as Spanish. (Learning English is compulsory, as is education, in Costa Rica.) Electric service abounds – reaching 97% of the territory! And recently, Costa Rica became the first Central American country to establish diplomatic relations with China. On October 24, 2007, President Arias of Costa Rica and President Hu Jintao of China agreed to cooperate on technologies, investment, culture, public health and agriculture.

Costa Rica is known for protecting their rainforests, for electing a Nobel Peace Prize winning President, for their educated citizens, for their spectacular beaches and for pura vida – enjoying a grand life. The cultural mix of African, Spanish and Indian makes for some of the most beautiful people in God’s creation. (I overheard a woman comment that she’s surprised that everyone isn’t half-Costa Rican -- the men and women are so beautiful.) So does peace work flawlessly when given a chance?

Peace appears to work amazingly well, especially when you consider how literate the people of Costa Rica are – in the fine arts, in addition to basic math and language skills -- compared to their neighbors. However, there are some unique factors that play into Costa Rican peace, which are not the case in war-torn countries. Costa Rica doesn’t have any rare, expensive natural resources – like diamonds, oil or gold – and the citizens feel that the United States has their back if they were to be invaded. It’s much easier to walk the back alleys of the world in daylight without anything of value glistening on your neck, and a big security guard a few paces behind you.

Marianne Williamson suggests that countries like the U.S. don’t need to disband their armies (yet) to start actively promoting peace now. As the Chair of the Peace Alliance, an organization with the goal of putting a Department of Peace in the United States government, Marianne is not proposing either or. According to Williamson, the United States needs both -- a department of peace and a department of defense.

"What a Department of Peace will do is give a more sophisticated analysis of what constitutes peace, of what it would take to wage peace in as meaningful and sophisticated a way as we now know how to wage war," Marianne proclaimed to a crowd of peacemakers last February, who seconded her thoughts with a standing ovation. "We must do more than fight our enemies. We must create more friends," she said.


Deepak Chopra speaking at the National Peace Museum in San Jose.

Peace starts with personal interaction -- even at a peace rally. It wasn’t all good times and Hallelujah in the group dialogs at the Human Forum in Costa Rica. Two brothers complained that there was too much politicizing and flagrant promotion of Costa Rica real estate for sale. "I thought that this was going to be more spiritual," they said. One panelist, Sam Keen, called for an end to all business now, saying, "The best thing the business community can do is commit suicide." In a discussion on how to influence the "influencers," an American man called business leaders "monsters," who were in the business of "profiteering for greed."

Since half of the audience was made up of business leaders (who understand the responsibilities of running a business), there were more than a few uncomfortable moments before the presupposed myths of business and money as "bad," which were held by a very vocal minority, began to be deflated. One person received a standing ovation when she called for a capital markets solution to the inhumane conditions of raising cattle, which might be contributing to the greenhouse gas effect. "If you want to stop ranchers from raising cattle, simply stop eating meat!" she said. In solidarity, the conference leaders asked for vegetarian meals to be served the following day.

Those calling for an end to all business were probably not aware that I was sent to the conference to represent business by an enlightened investment banker, a senior executive at his company, who believes that capital solutions have been responsible for many of the social innovations that we most love. He believes something even more radical -- that creative banking, for example, Mike Milken’s high yield bonds, can contribute to the "democratization of capital." This particular executive protects the people he employs, feels personally responsible for their livelihoods, promotes the interests of his customers and works to ensure that the corporation is sound so that shareholders – regular folks, like you and I, with a pension plan -- continue to benefit from their investments.

Speaking under anonymity, the investment banker wrote to me by email:

Money and business are not evil. Enlightened spiritual architects must be cautioned to not blame commerce for the structure of society. Money is a storage of potential energy. It is a transactional "battery". We don't blame batteries for the poor direction of flashlights; we shouldn't blame money for the poor direction of people.



Deepak Chopra with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez and Culture Minister María Elena Carballo.
Photo Credit: Erika Rand

When influencing the business leaders and policymakers, another attendee counseled that, "They are parents. They are people who care." She recommended that promoters of peace and sustainable living sit down and meet with business and governmental leaders as fellow souls, and that individuals should be quick to thank fast food companies that switch to paper packaging over Styrofoam. Deepak Chopra would agree. In an interview with me, the bestselling author said, "You start by giving recognition to organizations and communities that are nurturing the environment that are using wisdom-based economies for their affluence."

And thus, having 525 tourists infuse capital into Costa Rica, supporting a state of peace by spending their money on food, hotels and by shopping in the malls, is in perfect alliance with the mission of the Human Forum. Whether the attendees understood it or not, the money brought into Costa Rica from their conference plays a role in ensuring that a country dedicated at its core to natural existence, preservation of rain forests and promoting peace among its neighbors continues to flourish. As Deepak Chopra said, "Costa Rica could serve as a model, as a microcosm for what could happen in the rest of the world."

By the end of the three days, it felt as though business leaders had infused greater tolerance into the peacemakers and the peacemakers were learning to employ best business practices to achieve their ends. All in all – it was just another day at the office, full of give and take, push and pull, frustration and insight, and, ultimately, celebration and a spark of new ideas. They came thinking that peace began with an end to business as usual, and left singing, "All we are saying is give peace and good business practices a chance."






Deepak Chopra is the President of The Alliance for a New Humanity, the founder of the Chopra Wellness Center and the author of more than 40 books. You can access more information on Deepak Chopra, on The Third Jesus, on the Chopra Center and on the Alliance for a New Humanity, at Deepak Chopra’s website, DeepakChopra.com.

For more information on Marianne Williamson and Marianne’s new book, The Age of Miracles, go to Marianne.com. For more information on the Peace Alliance and the Department of Peace bill that is currently before the House of Representatives, go to ThePeaceAlliance.org.

To find out more about vacationing in beautiful Costa Rica, with their white-sand beaches and rain forests, go to VisitCostaRica.com.



Other articles of interest in our ongoing Peace = Prosperity series:
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on Peace and Fairness in Iraq. Exclusive Interview with Natalie Pace. Vol. 4, issue 9.

Peace = Prosperity. Q&A with Dr. Gary Becker, esteemed University of Chicago economist and Nobel Laureate, on how freedom, democracy, war, terrorism, riots and gangs affect a nation's prosperity. By Natalie Pace. Vol. 4, issue 6.

The Economics of Disaster Management. By Dr. Gary S. Becker. Vol. 4, issue 6.

Stars Shine on Marianne Williamson’s Peace Plan. by Natalie Pace. NataliePace.com archived ezine, vol. 4, issue 3.
Steven Tyler, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Smart, Deepak Chopra, Reverend Michael Bernard Beck, Frances Fisher, Denise Brown and Marianne Williamson entertain, inspire and educate Marianne’s Peace Alliance conference attendees to become citizen lobbyists on behalf of House Bill number 808, calling for a U.S. Department of Peace!

Spiritual Gurus Weigh in on The Department of Peace Bill. By Natalie Pace. NataliePace.com archived ezine, vol. 4, issue 3.

China's Evolution Toward Freedom. A candid interview with one of the most respected CEOs in mainland China, Dr. Charles Zhang, Chairman and CEO, Sohu.com. By Natalie Pace. NataliePace.com archived ezine, Vol. 4, issue 1.

Gap's Inc(RED)ible Campaign to Empower Africa. By Natalie Pace. Featuring (PRODUCT) RED. Vol. 3, issue 12.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on Peace and Fairness in Iraq.

Exclusive Interview with Natalie Pace.



Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (ret.) Photo by Steve Petteway, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States.

The War in Iraq is one of the most divisive subjects of our day, and one that no political leader has an easy solution for. As the authors of the Iraq Study Group Report noted, "No one can guarantee that any course of action in Iraq at this point will stop sectarian warfare, growing violence, or a slide toward chaos." However, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of billions of dollars committed and a war that has entered its fourth year without abatement, a pathway to peace and prosperity must be forged and death, violence, destruction and mayhem must be curtailed.

It's hard to imagine a peace and prosperity when car bombs are exploding every day, and frankly, as you can easily imagine, the smart flee. As Dr. Gary Becker (Nobel Laureate economist) pointed out in an interview with me last May, the brightest and most capable are the first to emigrate when a country falls into a chronic period of war. So, how do you entice the professionals and entrepreneurs of Iraq to stay and rebuild and create jobs? How do you make it safe enough for them to stay?

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (ret.), one of the experts of the Iraq Study Group, knows more than a little about promoting peace, prosperity and equality Equal-Pay-No-Way . For 25 years, she was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, one of the most powerful women in the United States and in the world, and she had to crack a glass ceiling The-New-Road-to-the-Top (without violence) to get there.

In the 1950s, as a woman who graduated in the top 3% of her law class at Stanford B-School-Isnt-What-It-Used-To-Be , Justice O'Connor had difficulty getting an interview above the level of secretary, though her male colleagues found jobs easily enough. In 1981, Justice O'Connor did have the last laugh on those law firms that refused to interview her, however, when she became the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court in the U.S. Justice O'Connor served the public good on our nation's highest court until last year, when she retired to spend more time with her ailing husband, John.

So, given her involvement with the Iraq Study Group, as well as her legacy as a public servant, I asked Justice O'Connor for her insights on what the U.S. should be doing to promote democracy in Iraq, end the war, and bring our soldiers home. What, if anything, can the U.S. do differently? What is the best way to bring together the warring factions in the country? Is there anything that the average American citizen can do to help? How can Americans prevent discrimination against women and non-Muslims in Iraq and against Middle Easterners in the U.S. and throughout the world? After four and a half years of U.S. involvement on Iraqi soil, it certainly doesn't seem like sending more soldiers is doing the trick.

Justice O'Connor openly shared her wisdom and insight, by email, on strategies for promoting peace, prosperity and equality both at home and abroad. While Justice O'Connor didn't offer a panacea for peace, her comments about Iraq, and what is needed to establish security and promote peace and prosperity in that country and at home in the U.S., are bold, astute and candid.



Natalie -- Given your legacy in justice in the U.S., you have come across the circumstances and stories of despair and reform that most of us will never see, across an evolutionary timeline that has fostered greater personal freedoms, particularly with regard to gender and race. (Ed's Note: Justice O'Connor was born in 1930, before the civil rights movement established greater freedoms and parity for women and people of color in the United States.) What, in your experience, lays the foundation for transformation of the individual and the community out of hardship, violence and turmoil and toward peace and prosperity, both in the home and in the community?

The foundation for transformation of an individual is different than for an entire community. An individual can move, obtain a job, find a friend or mentor and can begin life anew. But for a community to overcome violence, turmoil, and hardship requires efforts of many people over an extended period of time. Leadership is required and much hard work and commitment by many to overcome major community ills.

You've retired from the Supreme Court, but I've never seen a busier retired person! It is clear from the number of committees that you serve on, many of which are nonprofit, that you have a strong sense of service and calling. What would you say to the average person who wishes to take a more active role in promoting peace and prosperity in the world? How can s/he indeed be, as Gandhi said, "the change they wish to see" when s/he may not know exactly where to begin?

I learned long ago from a Stanford professor that a single, dedicated individual can effect remarkable changes on a family, a community, or a nation. Normally the work will begin with a good idea and a sense of dedication and, in time great changes can be brought about. It is sometimes the person at the bottom of the ladder who can best envision the needed change. Anyone can begin work at the lowest level and with dedication achieve remarkable results.

What is the next stage of social and/or judicial reform that you believe is important for the United States of America and/or the world at large?

In this country I would like to do more to educate all our citizens, young and old, about our courts and judicial systems, state and federal. We need people to appreciate the necessity for an independent judiciary Ñ one which applies the Constitution and laws as they are written and as they must, without fear of retribution from the legislative and executive branches. Our nation's youth must be taught civics and government so that they will grow up to be useful participants in society.

You were a member of the Iraq Study Group, and participated in a deep, broad analysis of U.S. policy in Iraq. Is there anything that you saw or experienced in Iraq that gave you the most hope and optimism for a positive outcome in the country?

As a member of the Iraq Study Group I learned little that made me optimistic. The situation in Iraq is dire.

What do you think is the one of the most important things that Iraqis can do for themselves and their country, and how can Americans best support their efforts?

I hope the Iraqi people can bring about laws and policies to reconcile the Shias and the Sunnis and allow both to work and hold office and positions in government. Laws to regulate the oil resources and permit fair distribution of oil revenues to all the citizens would be helpful.

Has the President established a Senior Advisor for Economic Reconstruction in Iraq, as the Iraq Study Group Report called for? Have you seen progress toward better organizing the reconstruction effort and better husbandry of the funds that have been allocated?

I do not know the answer to this question.

Iraq and Afghanistan have a very different social structure than the U.S., particularly with regard to rights of the individual. Do you have any comments on what kind of role that the Western world should play in influencing traditional societies where people of a certain gender, race and/or religious creed are prevented from fully participating in society?

Education of young people is our best hope of avoiding discrimination on the basis of race, gender or religion.

In my interview earlier this year with Dr. Gary Becker (Nobel Laureate, Economics), Dr. Becker noted that individuals with knowledge and skills tend to flee war-torn regions and migrate to more peaceful communities, where land and life is more secure. Are you optimistic that the recommendations from the Iraq Study Group can create a peaceful country that will attract back the skilled, educated and motivated for the rebuilding and reconstruction efforts of their own country?

As of now only some of the Iraq Study Group recommendations are being carried out. It is uncertain whether any course of action in Iraq can create a peaceful nation at peace within and with its neighbors. It is also uncertain when or if the better educated citizens will be motivated to return to Iraq.

What do you think is the single-most important challenge facing Americans today?

There are several crucial challenges for the U. S. today. Reaching a consensus on our action in Iraq is necessary. We cannot continue as we are. We must address the problem in the U. S. of some 40 million people without health insurance.

We must address global warming and ways to become energy independent.

Where do you find your greatest source of optimism about the future of the U.S. and our world?

Americans are basically good people and optimistic. Our people are our greatest source of optimism.

Have you heard of the Bill in the House of Representatives to establish a U.S. Department of Peace? Would you care to comment on this bill? It is backed by many of the world's spiritual leaders, including Deepak Chopra Gerald-Levin-on-Fear , Marianne Williamson, and more. The bill proponents state that a U.S. Department of Peace will give the best practices of peacebuilding a seat at the table of power in Washington. As the Peace Alliance chairperson, Marianne Williamson says, "What a Department of Peace will do is give a more sophisticated analysis of what constitutes peace, of what it would take to wage peace in as meaningful and sophisticated a way as we now know how to wage war."

No. I have not heard of the proposal.

Editor's Note: To learn more about the Bill to Establish a U.S. Department of Peace, go to http://www.thepeacealliance.org. Find out more about the Peace Alliance's September Walk for Peace at the Calendar section at NataliePace.com.

What do you think is the key to success for any personal or professional venture?

A clear objective, dedication and hard work.

Thank you again, Justice O'Connor, for participating in our series on Peace and Prosperity.

Sandra Day O'Connor once remarked that she hopes her tombstone will read, "Here lies a good judge." In reality, however, Justice O'Connor's achievements are far too numerous to list. She is a hard-working person of integrity, a mother, a wife (married 55 years to husband, John), the first woman to become a Supreme Court Justice, and one of the most powerful and influential women in the world. If the gods are willing, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will continue to break new ground and glass ceilings for many years to come.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is an Associate Justice (Ret.) of the United States Supreme Court. Sandra Day O'Connor was nominated by President Reagan on July 7, 1981, and took the oath of office on Sept. 25, 1981. She retired on January 31, 2006.

Justice O'Connor currently serves as Chancellor of the College of William and Mary and on the Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation, the Executive Board of the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative, the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and the Advisory Committee of the American Society of International Law, Judicial. She is an honorary member of the Advisory Committee for the Judiciary Leadership Development Council, an honorary chair of America's 400th Anniversary: Jamestown 2007, a co-chair of the National Advisory Council of the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, a member of the Selection Committee of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum and a member of the Advisory board of the Stanford Center on Ethics. She also serves on several bodies of the American Bar Association. Whew! And, in 2006, she was a member of the Iraq Study Group, which presented President Bush with bipartisan analysis and recommendations for Iraq - which was my reason for contacting her.

Other articles of interest in our ongoing Peace = Prosperity series:

Peace = Prosperity. Q&A with Dr. Gary Becker, esteemed University of Chicago economist and Nobel Laureate, on how freedom, democracy, war, terrorism, riots and gangs affect a nation's prosperity. By Natalie Pace. NataliePace.com, Vol. 4, issue 6.

The Economics of Disaster Management. By Dr. Gary S. Becker. NataliePace.com, Vol. 4, issue 6.

Stars Shine on Marianne Williamson’s Peace Plan. by Natalie Pace. NataliePace.com archived ezine, vol. 4, issue 3.

Steven Tyler, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Smart, Deepak Chopra, Reverend Michael Bernard Beck, Frances Fisher, Denise Brown and Marianne Williamson entertain, inspire and educate Marianne’s Peace Alliance conference attendees to become citizen lobbyists on behalf of House Bill number 808, calling for a U.S. Department of Peace!

Spiritual Gurus Weigh in on The Department of Peace Bill. By Natalie Pace. NataliePace.com archived ezine, vol. 4, issue 3.

China's Evolution Toward Freedom. A candid interview with one of the most respected CEOs in mainland China, Dr. Charles Zhang, Chairman and CEO, Sohu.com. By Natalie Pace. NataliePace.com archived ezine, Vol. 4, issue 1.

Gap's Inc(RED)ible Campaign to Empower Africa. By Natalie Pace. Featuring (PRODUCT) RED. Vol. 3, issue 12.

China's Evolution Toward Freedom.

by Natalie Pace.

A candid interview with one of the most respected CEOs in mainland China, Dr. Charles Zhang, Chairman and CEO, Sohu.com.



Dr. Charles Zhang Ringing the Opening Bell at NASDAQ © Copyright 2006, The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. Reprinted with permission

Sohu.com is one of the most trafficked sites in the world, and Dr. Charles Zhang, as the Chairman and CEO of the publicly traded company, is as respected and influential in Asia as Dr. Eric Schmidt (Google's CEO) is here in the U.S. As with many Internet CEOs, Dr. Zhang has lofty ideas about how his company will innovate and leave the competition in the dust, attract more visitors, and perhaps license the patented technology, as a result. Unlike most other Internet entrepreneurs, Dr. Zhang consistently delivers up results. So, what innovation is going to blow the world out of the water in June 2007? Read on to find out.

Under the aegis of Dr. Zhang, Sohu.com was listed on the NASDAQ in the U.S. back in 2000, became the official website of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and is now preparing to become a major Internet-based broadcasting company, with streaming video, ala YouTube. As China ramps up to show its best face to the world in 2008, Sohu.com will surely play a big role in Chinese speaking communities around the globe. The company continues to post steady growth, and is on track to ring up 30% higher full-year revenues over last year. By as early as June 2007, the site is poised to become a major broadcaster in China, according to Dr. Zhang.

On December 5, 2006, I spoke with Dr. Zhang, discussing streaming media video, why grey hairs don't belong in the Internet company's boardroom, the new "Confucius" economy in China and more. Dr. Zhang's candid insights on the amazing transformation of the Chinese economy and what inspired the shift toward a more open market in the minds of former Communist officials, allays fears of a "conspiracy" and reveals instead the honest birthing of a nation evolving toward greater freedom. Discover what Dr. Zhang believes to be the most important contributions to the evolving mindset of government officials below.



Natalie Pace: Please describe the main areas that your company makes money these days for our readers?

Dr. Charles Zhang: Sohu.com is a portal. The portal provides news -- political, real estate, entertainment, sports - with a wide range of content every day. We have become the main source of news in China. We are also like Yahoo and Google, with search, email, participating in message boards and clubs and communities. Recently blogs have become very popular, and with broadband, there is video content. Sohu.com has become a multi-media platform and an interactive community platform.

So, you're looking to be the Chinese portal for social networking and video content - ala YouTube and MySpace - in addition to being a news provider and the official website of the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

Yes, eventually. It's the future of News Corp, Time Warner, YouTube, Yahoo and Sohu.

And yet the technology is very expensive. Myspace and YouTube are two of the fastest growing businesses in the United States. Getting them to turn a profit, when there is so much cost associated with the technology of running these media-rich sites, is the trick.

Yes, but in China, there is streaming media technology, which is leading the world. We haven't allowed individuals to upload in China yet, so there was more incentive to develop the streaming technology.

Are you concerned that another Chinese website or a startup might beat Sohu to the punch, like YouTube jumped into the market and beat all of the major US portals in under 18 months of doing business?

In China, the startups have all kinds of challenges because of language problems. In the U.S., with YouTube and MySpace, there is no language problem. With experienced persons on the board and management of these startups in the US, you can quickly rise up to dominance, and it is very hard for the traditional company, like Yahoo, to catch up. In China, the new startups have a high fatality rate because of the language issue, access to capital, investor relations and board management.

What are the new "policy changes" with the mobile providers and how will that affect Sohu revenue going forward?

The most important application of the mobile phone is really point-to-point -- sending messages. We have nothing to do with that. That is provided by the operators. We make money on the value added services - like ring tones and jokes. I think until there is more wealth, a bargain-basement mobile network is widely established, and advertising or other value-added services emerge, the wireless revenue will stay flat, or decline for a while. It is a less important part of our business, and only a quarter of our revenue now. Our business continues to be centered around the personal computer, with wireless and brand advertising. There are so many people here, so we are able to sell advertising. The mobile screen is too small for advertising.

However, with phones becoming handheld computers, advertising and other revenue has got to be just around the corner.

The sheer size of the mobile usage is enormous. The number of mobile handsets is at half a billion. Most of the exposure to the mobile phone is 12 hours a day. You're probably by your PC only two hours a day. The PC has a more rich application, but we are experimenting with how to integrate it seamlessly to your phone. Reading, writing your blogsÉ The PC is like the aircraft carrier in the war, and then you have the F-16. The mobile phone is like the F-16. When you leave the ship, you are still communicating with the ship, and all of the activity that you set up there.

What is your traffic like?

We have 250 million page downloads per day. It includes Sohu.com, and six other websites.

What new products are you launching?

We are launching a new version of the search engine, Sogou, version 3.0, which is more powerful than the existing one. We'll retrieve 10 billion pages, and also a much more relevant and intelligent search than the existing one by the Google search engine. This is not just stand-alone search. It will also power Sohu, so that the text communities and the search engine will help to create multi level text and improve the reading experience.

Hmmm. A new search engine sounds interesting, but slightly 2004. What about social networking and video?

Blogs are our MySpace strategy. Young people will use their blog as their own space. They will do their search and see their music, everything, on their blogs. We have this seamlessly integrated platform on a person's blog.

When do you plan to launch videos?

By June next year, we will create a good YouTube experience. For the last three years, we have become a technology driven company. Our focus on technology will demonstrate its strength and power. It's almost like a submarine that will emerge from the ocean in June of next year.

That's a very strong statement. So you've been navigating under the radar, so to speak, but may actually blow the competitors out of the water in June?

In the early years, we were good at marketing and brand building. We introduced China to the US, but we were weak on the Internet technology. Over the past few years, we've hired the best minds in China. This program will show our strength in June.

Will the U.S. companies be impressed enough with your streaming video technology to license it?

We are leading in China in video streaming. This technology is leading the world, and could be used by U.S. companies. YouTube costs so much because of bandwidth, storage and capacity. This would be eliminated by video streaming.

YouTube is free and doesn't have any advertising on the site. How will video streaming generate revenue for Sohu?

The streaming technology gives us the opportunity to be the PC driven, telecom and broadcasting platform that will replace the television. Because of the relatively less competitive nature of Chinese TV, which is state-owed, that gives us the opportunity to become a major broadcasting company.

Will video streaming and Sohu as the "major broadcasting company" be up and running for the 2008 Beijing Olympics? (Editor's note: Sohu.com is the official website for the Beijing Olympics.)

Definitely we will broadcast web casts of the Beijing Olympics on the website. Besides that, we'll have the function to generate maps, and offer hotel reservations and registrations around the world. 2007 will be a year with many Olympic related events, and the whole of China is really excited. Our cameras will be broadcasting many important events. One of the events is the passing of the torch. We'll report this all of the way, including many exciting, important places, and the selection of the runners. We'll report the sports events through three means: one is text-based media -- articles; secondly through interactivity, with blogs and communities; and third is the broadcasting. Our camera will film and capture all of these athletes talking and everything behind the scenes.

What has been your greatest challenge or disappointment and/or what would you have done differently?

We went public in the US in 2000. I think the biggest problem for an Internet company from China listed on the NASDAQ is that the traditional school of thought management to an Internet company doesn't apply, in terms of management, what kind of management is important, and what kind of background and training management should have. The costs, quarterly earnings, business model -- all of these traditional management styles apply to the Internet. But I don't think it should be like that. I think, especially across cultures, the NASDAQ and public companies' requirements and the investors' opinions, here in China are regarded as holy and serious. The people don't ask why, they just do it. People just do those things in hiring, in corporate environment. Everyone is trying to learn from U.S. companies, and hire people with grey hair and people who talk business and time span, but these go against the Internet company. This is missing the point. You are spending time on things that are secondary. What are most important are product and the user experience. When you have a product that is 10% better than the competition, that will affect the user base and you will become 10 times more popular than the other one.

Wow. You're right. You've just described the success of MySpace.com and their hip, young executive team.

If you care for this quarter and the next, and the other company creates just a better product, they will become ten times bigger! This is the biggest challenge for an Internet company in China, and in the US. I don't know much of what is going on with Yahoo, but I think Yahoo has a problem with its technology. If you look at China and the most competitive companies now and what they were doing five years ago, you have all these mistakes that were made and corrected. We are still in existence. Many companies make short-term mistakes and are just all gone. The Internet company is a different animal simply because of this exponential networking fact, and it should be managed differently.

What quality do you possess that has most lead to your success?

I'm a good person. I treat people fair. I have a team who really work hard for me and are very loyal. Second of all, I think through things very deeply. I try to understand things in a very broad framework -- from social phenomena, society, people behavior -- and I also try to understand myself. That enables me to identify and to understand why we were successful in becoming very famous and such a powerful brand. It gives me the ability to meditate and to change. It's why I want to change the company into a Technology-driven company. I have to make sure the [other] influence gets gradually erased -- the influence of the short-term talkers -- including restructuring the board and hiring the right people who understand this philosophy. Am I spending time meeting reporters and clients, or our engineers and our users to understand the product better?

You were one of the first mainland Chinese companies to become listed on the NASDAQ. Clearly, you are on the leading edge of the political and social change occurring in China. What prompted China to open up to a market economy?

The Internet demands China's freedom so much beyond people's imagination. This advancement basically means that everyone has access to information. This gradual education and change of habits happened everywhere, not only in the private sector, but with government officials, too. The government has a rule that if you are 60 years old, you have to retire, so the government leaders are very young. The officials are the same age as we are. They are very open-minded and they are trying to learn.

You've called the new focus of the Chinese government "Confucius." How does a Confucius government differ from Communism and Capitalism?

In China, everything works in harmony. We have moral obligations to the country, and it's like a big family. The market economy and Capitalism are really the common assets of humankind. Confucius is more of a philosophical approach -- how this person benefits versus society versus the collective group -- whereas the West is based on individualism. Even Communism was imported from the West. In the 1920s, when the Communist party was established in China, it was Mao and a group of Chinese intellectuals trying to save China. They just jumped onto the Communist Theory. Even then, it was still a Confucius government, where the individual is still considered as part of a collective nation.

How does this cultural ethos affect your management style and the productivity of the average worker?

In terms of commitment, first of all, the people are so diligent and are working so hard. The Confucius culture is one that you have to work hard to be recognized by your parents, ancestors, country and the Emperor. Confucius people are very driven. You don't persuade them to work hard; they automatically work hard. There is less individualism, and more self-sacrificing. But you have to understand that you don't solve things in a black and white way. You have to be delicate and subtle and care for people's feelings and try to solve things given a very important time frame. Deng Xiaoping did not argue that this government was Communism or Capitalism. He just did it and let time tell. It's like Eastern medicine: you look at the whole body. You try to see the whole system and let time work things out.

While the markets are opening up, there is still criticism about human rights and the freedom of the press in China. You are providing so much news. Do you worry about censorship and/or being arrested for publishing the wrong thing?

I'm not concerned about so-called freedom of the press. The freedom we enjoy is so much more than it was ten years ago. Now it is too much. We should ask the Internet companies to have a social responsibility. There is too much violence.



Other articles of interest:
China Surpasses U.S. Internet Usage. Sohu.com Weaves the Most Promising Asian Worldwide Web. By Natalie Pace, NataliePace.com CEO and founder. from volume 3, issue 4 NataliePace.com archived ezine.

Sohu: You can Do Better Than Baidu With Other Google Acquisition Targets. Article and Stock Report Card by Natalie Pace. from volume 4, issue 1 NataliePace.com archived ezine. from volume 2, issue 9 NataliePace.com archived ezine.