“I am writing to congratulate Dr. Mofid and all his colleagues for organizing a very important conference on a timely issue at a critical juncture in the life of our global community. I wish I could be present at the meeting and had the opportunity to engage in the important dialogue that will be undertaking at the event. The global scene is increasingly uglier with respect to a more just human living condition. However, efforts of colleagues like you give us hope that things could change for better, and for that I am grateful”.

Hooshang Amirahmadi, Professor and Director, Center for Middle Eastern Studies Rutgers University, NJ, USA
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“As the twentieth century closed and the new world reality emerged post-1989, globalization became the new buzzword.  On entering the 21st century, we are already increasingly aware that in our fragile interdependent world, including every human being in development and taking environmental sustainability seriously are imperative. The global and local are increasingly enmeshed: the global is local, and vice-versa, in our complex world. A new focus on rediscovering and supporting the ‘Common Good’ is not before time. While I sincerely regret not being present, may I wish the conference well and may the participants’ deliberations bear practical fruit.”

Rt. Hon. John Battle MP (Leeds West, UK); Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry, 1997; Minister of State, Foreign Office, 1999-2001; Advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair on Inter-faith matters, 2001-2007
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‘May I send my very best wishes to all participants in the Conference on ‘Globalisation for the Common Good’ to be held in Istanbul in July. I am sorry not to be with you, but, sadly the dates clash with teaching and other commitments. The programme looks fascinating and highly significant. Istanbul is a good place to meet as Turkey has a vital contribution to make to the international and to the interfaith community. The visit to Konya, as I know from my own visit there, will be inspiring. May all that you do affirm the words of Rumi that ‘The religion of love is apart from all religions. For lovers the only religion and creed is God.’
 
Rev Dr Marcus Braybrooke,
President of the World Congress of Faiths
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“It is with great pleasure that I am sending these greetings and salutations to the participants of the Istanbul Conference on the theme “Globalization for the Common Good”.   Unfortunately other commitments prevent me from joining you.  In my view, this is a highly significant event. Globalization today has many meanings, and not all of them are salutary.  We have a globalization of the market, a globalization of weapons and “terror wars”, and a globalization of hatred and ill will.  But we have very little in terms of a globalization for the “common good”.  Here a major effort is needed to save humanity from disaster.  All the great world religions and all the great classical teachings of the past exhort us to work for the “common good” based on shared ethical standards and a common sense of justice.  I applaud the organizers, and especially Dr. Kamran Mofid, for their initiative, and I wish all participants a successful meeting and an enriching cross-cultural experience”.

Professor Fred DALLMAYR, University of Notre Dame (USA), Member of the International Coordinating Committee of the  “World Public Forum - Dialogue of Civilizations”, Member of the Scientific Committee of “RESET - Dialogue on Civilizations” Past President of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy (SACP)
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“On this occasion of the 6th Annual International Conference on an Inter-faith Perspective on Globalisation for the Common Good, the Asia-Europe Foundation extends its warm congratulations and sincere encouragement to the organisers. The topic of “A Non-violent Path to Conflict resolution and Peacebuilding” is one that is crucial to all segments of society, including policymakers, NGO leaders, youth and religious leaders. We are confident that this conference will be a tremendous experience for all involved, bringing a new level of engagement between the stakeholders of this very important dialogue”.

Bertrand Fort,
Deputy Executive Director, Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), Singapore
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“I send my greetings to all the participants at the Globalisation for the Common Good conference in Istanbul. It is now many years since I was there, and I wish that I could have been there with you now.   I hope your conference, held in such a place, may forward a little the prospects of Turkey in due course joining the EU, and forming a bridge between Islam and Christianity.  As the Persian poet-mystic Rumi wrote concerning the religions, ‘The lamps are different, but the Light is the same: it comes from Beyond’.  Have a good conference”.
       
Prof. John Hick, Emeritus Prof, Birmingham University (UK), and the Claremont Graduate University, California; Vice-President, the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion and of the World Congress of Faiths
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“Globalization for the Common Good is a tremendously important initiative – it should become the leading Motto in development strategies the world over! The individual consciousness which is at the heart of all actions, needs to be at the basis of globalization, so that the universal principles of existence (the common good) become the guiding line in international relations. The spirit in man, the power of vision, the ideal of love are all elements that are essential if we want to see a real flowering of humanity, the real fulfillment of the possibilities of human life. We have to find a harmonious blend of the individual and collective life so that individuals and nations can develop successfully side by side. What is needed in this crucial juncture of time when clouds are sometimes covering the sun at the horizon, are leaders like Kamran Mofid and his team who tirelessly and selflessly work to guide the changes in the right directions. Thank you and keep up the great spirit!”

Michael S. Karlen, Secretary General, Comprehensive Dialogue among Civilizations (CDAC), Geneva, Switzerland
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“Congratulations on the Conference on Globalization for the Common Good. Kamran Mofid has once again assembled an outstanding group of intellectuals who are paving the way toward a peaceful future. There is no more important task facing our globe today than spreading the idea that our own well-being (in whatever culture or nation or religion we are in) depends on the well-being of everyone else on the planet. We must replace the old ways of thinking about security as achievable through domination of the other, and move toward a new strategy for security that comes from generosity and caring for the other. We in the Network of Spiritual Progressives are leading a movement in the U.S. that seeks to encourage our country to publicly apologize for the terrible crimes committed by engaging in a war and occupation of Iraq. And after that apology to withdraw our armed forces, help fund an international force that can help rebuild Iraq, and launch a Global Marshall Plan to once and for all end global poverty, homelessness, hunger, inadequate education, inadequate health care, and to repair the global environment. As a Jew, I also support those movements that seek to end the Occupation of the West Bank and to create a peace that allows for Israel and Palestine to live together as two separate states cooperating politically and economically, and to achieve mutual reconciliation and genuine caring for each other. These projects may seem utopian to some, but a correct analysis of the global situation leads us to conclude that they are the survival necessities for the human race in the 21st century. It is precisely because this new spirit of mutual caring and generosity is at the heart of what is needed for our planet that I wish to bless your important work in Istanbul this summer of 2007. Your thinking is so very important and your ideas can provide guidance to the millions of people who wish to build a different kind of world”.

Rabbi Michael Lerner, Editor, Tikkun Magazine  www.tikkun.org
Chair, The Network of Spiritual Progressives
Author of 11 books, most recently: The Left Hand of God: Healing America’s Political and Spiritual Crisis
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 “It is my honor to send this message of support and appreciation for the Globalisation for the Common Good conference taking place in Istanbul.
The aspiration of this conference and its related endeavors is nothing less than the vision of the ancient prophets of Israel – a world that shares universal moral values while maintaining the beauty of diverse identities and cultures. In the words of the prophet Isaiah “and many nations shall go forth and say let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and he will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths…. and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation and they shall learn war no more (2v.3, 4).
Indeed a universal morality that is not constructed through respect for diversity and cultural particularity is unsustainable and even dangerous.
May your deliberations enhance a sense of appreciation of the particular characteristics of different cultures and societies together with a growing consciousness of the unity of humankind and our intertwined and inextricable responsibility for one another.”
 
Chief Rabbi David Rosen, KCSG, President, the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC), International Director of Interreligious Affairs, American Jewish Committee (AJC)
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“I wish I could be with you for the Istanbul conference of Globalisation for the Common good. This series of conferences is extremely important in providing dialoging and sharing of experience and knowledge for developing badly needed alternatives to currently extremely harmful neoliberal globalization. Now that the policies of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the International Trade Organization, along with neoliberal economic and trade policies of many governments, are under heavy criticism for their damaging economic, social and political impacts, particularly by vast popular movements in Latin America, it is most timely to undertake productive discussions of how best to transform globalization for the benefit of all people around the world. Unless we rapidly create balanced and equitable international development that emphasizes human development, with respect for the cultures and needs of all peoples, violence and terror will increase significantly, compounding the ills of much of current international economic policy. Istanbul offers a major opportunity for greatly needed advances in creating a globalization that truly is for the common good”.

Prof. Stephen Sachs, Coordinating Editor, Nonviolent Change, USA
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“As Co-founder of the Three Faiths Forum, Muslim-Christian-Jewish trialogue, I am pleased to send this message of good will on the occasion of the 6th Annual International conference “Globalisation for the Common Good, A Non-violent Path to Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding” being held in Istanbul: The City of Understanding and Reconciliation between East and West on the 5th to the 9 th July 2007.

I had the pleasure of attending the first “Globalisation for the Common Good” conference held in Oxford, together with Sidney Shipton, Co-ordinator of the Three Faiths Forum, who also attended the conference in St Petersburg, and will be making a Presentation in Istanbul.

The Three Faiths Forum stands for conflict resolution and peacebuilding between people of faith and indeed of no faith and the conferences which you have organised bringing together so many faith leaders world wide can only be for the benefit of humanity in this troubled world of ours.  I and all my colleagues and the Advisory Board of the Three Faiths Forum send you our good wishes for a successful and practical conference.”

SIR SIGMUND STERNBERG, Co-Founder, Three Faiths Forum, London, UK
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