Abstract
The practice of Sustainable Diplomacy will be determined by the ability of its proponents to engage people on the ground across a broad section of the population. Disputes and pacts between national governments often do not reflect the concerns of the populations they represent. For this reason, one of the principal goals of Sustainable Diplomacy is to move from the established vehicle of individual diplomacy to the practice of systemic diplomacy, which embraces dialogues, peoples, organizations, and concerns that are often ignored or marginalized at the national level. Sustainable Diplomacy therefore envisions a greater role for NGOs, for those who speak with a religious voice, and for many other groups and individuals who work to forge connections across barriers that are only now being named.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Muhyi-D-Din Ibn Al-Arabi, Shajarat al-Kawn, trans. A. Jeffery (Lahore, Pakistan: Aziz Publishers, 1980), 34. All subsequent commentaries by Ibn al-’Arabi on the Tree of Being will be drawn from this text. It should be noted that while this text is widely attributed to Ibn al-’Arabi, such an attribution does not represent a consensus among scholars.
Evan Eisenburg, in his book The Ecology of Eden, writes, “‘So [God] drove out the [human]: and [God] placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.’ The Tree of Life is the inner core of the world-pole: the heart of the heart of the world. [The hu]man must be prevented from reaching — and ruining — the source of life.” See Evan Eisenburg, The Ecology of Eden (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998), 97. Eisenburg goes on to write: “What exactly is the fiery sword? Is it our awe of the wilderness? Our fear of its rigors and dangers? Our discomfiture in the face of its unearthly beauty? Whatever it is, it is the best friend we have. For only by keeping our distance from wilderness — some wilderness at least — can we keep from fouling the wellspring of our own life.” Ibid.
Writes Richard: “This is the utopia of those prevented from eating and drinking and from leading a secure life, those without money. Now in Revelation this is the ultimate life, guaranteed by God beyond death and oppression … In the new Jerusalem there now appears the tree of life that God offered in [God’s] life-giving design for humankind in Genesis 2:9. When humanity chooses the project of death, it loses access to the tree of life (Gen 3:34). At this point the tree of life is now seen to be producing fruit twelve times a year. God’s project of life for humankind is achieved in the church. The leaves from these trees serve as medicine to heal the nations that were sick as a result of Babylon’s idolatry.” Pablo Richard, Apocalypse: A People’s Commentary on the Book of Revelation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1995), 164–165.
Richard Gillespie, Spain and the Mediterranean: Developing a European Policy Toward the South (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000), 45.
Copyright information
© 2004 David J. Wellman
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wellman, D.J. (2004). The Conflict Over Natural Resources: The Tree of Life and the Tree of Being, the Consumption of Natural Resources, and the Fish Wars. In: Sustainable Diplomacy. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403980977_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403980977_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-52806-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4039-8097-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)