Resources for Teachers and Students
Prepare: José Ramos-Horta won the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1996, sharing the award with Carlos Filipe Ximenes,
for "their work toward a just and peaceful solution
in East Timor." East Timor was a tiny, South Pacific
Island, a former Portugese colony, which was invaded and
annexed by Indonesia in 1975, and freed from Indonesian
control in 1999. Ramos-Horta's curriculum
vitae can be viewed on the Nobel website.
Read:
José Ramos-Horta's Architects
of Peace essay is excerpted from a journal article titled,
"End Poverty, Secure Peace." In it, he makes the
argument that revenge is easy, but forgiveness requires
courage.
Explore: An eighteen-minute
video of José Ramos-Horta speaking at the
Nobel Centennial Symposium can be accessed online. In it,
he talks about the role of international pressure in bringing
about the right of self-determination for the people of
East Timor.
Write: Subsequent to East Timor's emergence as an
independent nation, José Ramos-Horta has actively
supported independence movements in countries such as Tibet,
countries that were once independent but that have been
annexed or colonized by larger countries without the assent
of the people involved. How many such situations exist worldwide
today? Compile an annotated listing of as many such instances
as you can find. Annotations should include such details
as dates of initial occupation, response of the world community
(especially such organizations as the United Nations and
the International Monetary Fund), and the current status
of independence movements. (Hint: a good way to begin your
research might be to investigate "independence movements"
using an internet search engine.)
Extend:
In his Architects of Peace article, José Ramos-Horta
wrote of a group of Nobel Peace Prize recipients establishing
the Commision of Nobel Peace Laureates for Arms Control.
Numerous of the persons featured in Architects of Peace
have joined with this effort, which has resulted in the
"Framework
Convention on International Arms Transfers."
Individuals who agree with the framework convention can
add their names to the growing list of persons supporting
this movement.
Additional Resource: East Timor became an independent
nation in 2002, at which time it changed its name to Timor-Leste
and joined the United Nations as that organization's
191st member. As a young country, it still requires
significant international support to establish itself. Many
of these efforts are coordinated by the United Nations,
and details can be found on their website.
Biography of José
Ramos-Horta
Reflections on
Working Towards Peace
