The Brilliant Art of Peace presents lectures delivered by seventeen of the world's most eminent thinkers, including several Nobel laureates, during Kofi Annan's tenure as secretary general of the United Nations.

Sun Tzu, author of 'The Art of War', believed that the acme of leadership consists in figuring out how to subdue the enemy with the least amount of fighting a fact that America's Founders also understood, and practiced with astonishing success. For it to work, however, a people must possess both the ability and the willingness to use all available instruments of power in peace as much as in war. US foreign policy has increasingly neglected the instruments of civilian power and become overly dependent on lethal solutions to conflict. The steep rise in unconventional conflict has increased the need for diplomatic and other non-hard power tools of statecraft. The United States can no longer afford to sit on the proverbial three-legged national security stool ("military, diplomacy, development"), where one leg is a lot longer than either of the other two, almost forgetting altogether the fourth leg information, especially strategic communication and public diplomacy. The United States isn't so much becoming militarized as DE civilianized. According to Sun Tzu, self-knowledge is as important as knowledge of one's enemy: "if you know neither yourself nor the enemy, you will succumb in every battle." Alarmingly, the United States is deficient on both counts. And though we can stand to lose a few battles, the stakes of losing the war itself in this age of nuclear proliferation are too high to contemplate.

In 1967, Sir David Khalili finished his military service in Iran and travelled to study in the United States with $750 - his remaining royalties from a book he wrote when he was just 14. Over the course of the next five decades he single-handedly, piece by piece, assembled eight of the finest art collections in their field, ultimately becoming one of the world's greatest collectors, about whom Queen Elizabeth II once said: 'It is scary how much this gentleman knows about art.' For the first time, Sir David shares his extraordinary journey: one that has taken him through the souks of North Africa, the auction houses of Europe and the United States, the bazaars of South Asia, and far beyond. Through a riveting collection of real-life adventures, he reveals his collecting strategy, business ethics and what motivates him to continuously collect, conserve, research, publish and exhibit the treasures in his collections. Through his story, Sir David questions how the undeniable power of art can be harnessed to foster greater peace and unity worldwide. No one is better placed to enlighten us.

The inspirational teachings in this collection show that the real way of the warrior is based on compassion, wisdom, fearlessness, and love of nature. The teachings are drawn from the talks and writings of Morihei Ueshiba, founder of the popular Japanese martial art of Aikido, a mind-body discipline he called the "Art of Peace," which offers a nonviolent way to victory in the face of conflict. Ueshiba believed that Aikido principles could be applied to all the challenges we face in life—in personal and business relationships, and in our interactions with society. This is an expanded version of the original miniature edition that appeared in the Shambhala Pocket Classics series. It features a new introduction by John Stevens, recently translated doka, didactic "poems of the Way," and Ueshiba's own calligraphy.

This new translation of the strategy classic The Art of Warrestores the authentic meaning of the original work by showing how finding balance rather than doing battle is the true means to overcoming adversity. The Art of Peaceis drawn from the ancient Taoist work The Art of Warby Sun-tzu-it is, in effect, the Tao of Peace. This version brings an entirely fresh yet textually sound interpretation to the many translations of The Art of Warby emphasizing the true slant of the original text: balance over conflict. By newly translating Sun-tzu's strategy classic, Philip Dunn provides the peaceful warrior with methods of getting in touch with the inner and outer nature of silence and vigilance that has been forgotten over millennia of war.

A ground-breaking history of the arts of peace, from Confucius and Ancient Greece through to the 21st century, opening an alternative window on history to show the strength of the case for peace which has been argued from ancient times onwards.

This workbook contains over 130 exercises in the form of surveys, questionnaires, inventories, and journal entries, to help students make some or all of these stress-reducing skills part of their daily routine, and achieve balance. Available in print and electronically as an Express PDF.