Dick’s Newsletter 2026

Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice,  Ecology,  and Democracy https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2026/09/omni-ukraine-war-anthlogy-38-september.html What’s at Stake:   In these 38 anthologies this one war provides a rich mine of studies of the  causes and solutions of wars.   Preventing and stopping wars have been the great themes of the United Nations, and these anthologies provide their substance.        A sub-set of the subject, particularly well-illustrated by this war, is the question of when the war began.  Once that is established, numerous other topics are clarified.  But what if the two sides disagree, as they often do, over the starting date, and as […]

Compiled by Dick Bennett https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2026/07/omni-sovietrussophobia-anthology-9-july.html What’s at Stake: In his Preface to J. W. Fulbright’s book, The Arrogance of Power, Francis Wilcox describes Fulbright’s concept of “two Americas”: “One is the America of Abraham Lincoln and Adlai Stevenson, the other is the America of Theodore Roosevelt and the modern superpatriots…a dominant strand of democratic humanism and a lesser but durable strand of intolerant puritanism.”  Our ask is to make sure the dominant strand prevails, but the current trend is toward “a more strident and aggressive American policy.”  This warning was written in 1966. CONTENTSPart I: SovRussophobiaPart II: Peacemaking Part I: […]

Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, Ecology, and Democracy https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2026/07/omni-nato-anthology-3-july-17-2026.html What’s at Stake: NATO is a war institution that thrives upon fear and loathing of (Soviet) Russia, normalises militarism, encourages increased military spending, diverts resources from diplomacy and human welfare into weapons.   These anthologies on NATO bring activists, researchers, parliamentarians, and peace advocates from across the globe to explore the NATO crisis, the changing world order, and how we can build a future based on diplomacy, cooperation, and human security instead of war preparations CONTENTS NATO ANTHOLOGY #3 EXPANDING NATO:  Early History Edward Lozansky.  “How Bill Clinton […]

Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2026/07/omni-interdependence-day-anthology-8.html #7 https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2025/07/omni-interdependence-day-anthology-7.html#6 https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2024/07/omni-interdependence-day-anthology-6.html #5 https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2023/07/omni-interdependence-day-5-july-4-2023.html #4 https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2020/07/omni-interdependence-day-international.html What’s at Stake:  US birthdays celebrate freedom from domination by the British monarchy, and FREEDOM as its fundamental principle.   But the Declaration of Independence exalts the value of equality, asserting that “All men are created equal,” and “all individuals are endowed with unalienable rights, including Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”  The most lamentable irony of our history is how this extraordinary idealism was deeply undermined by the Constitution that excluded enslaved people, women, and Indigenous people, and has […]

Compiled by Dick Bennett https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2026/06/omni-israel-and-us-attack-on-iran.html What’s at Stake:  Preventing a war, and then if that fails, stopping it, are the paramount values of the UN Charter and the foundation of all of OMNI’s anthologies on the Culture of War.   See the opening two articles. CONTENTS CONTEXTS OF IRAN WAR What’s at Stake:Historians for Peace and Democracy  Art Hobson. Trump’s 2018 Action:  “Will Iran Build a Nuclear Bomb? History:RICK STEVES’ TRAVEL DOCUMENTARIES:  IRAN Walt Zlotow.    “Tortured US history with Iran goes back 73 years, not 47.”Scott Anderson.  King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution, A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation. Ludis.  […]