Edy Korthals Altes

Altes, Edy Korthals

Altes, Edy Korthals

Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science; Former President, World Conference of Religions for Peace
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Fellow, World Academy of Art & Science; Former President, World Conference of Religions for Peace

Edy Korthals Altes is a former Dutch diplomat, with a degree in economics, who served as Deputy Permanent Representative at the European Ecumenical Commission (EEC) in Brussels, and as Ambassador in Warsaw, and finally Madrid. He resigned in 1986, in connection with his public stance on the arms race. Since then, he has been an outspoken proponent of global peace and security, inter-religious cooperation, and had a spiritual renewal as Vice Chairman of the Dutch chapter of the Pugwash Movement (1987-’95), Chairman of the Section International Affairs of the Netherlands Council of Churches (1990-’96), Co-president, EECOD (European Ecumenical Commission on Development, 1991-’93), Member, EKD Advisory Commission for Development Affairs (1992-’97, Germany) and President of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (1994-’99), Honorary president 1999-2004. He is currently a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science.

ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR

The Heartbeat of our Global Responses
Edy Korthals Altes
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract The WAAS Interim report 2020 on Global leadership is an impressive document. Those who contributed have done a heroic job in systematically digesting a vast input from various sources. However, it falls short in a key area: the heart is missing. The pragmatic approach of the interim report, with its recommendations, is without any doubt of great importance, but it is not enough. The global challenges confronting us are mostly manmade. Human motivation is of...
Our Endangered World Needs a New Paradigm
Edy Korthals Altes
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract Our world is confronted with formidable challenges, even endangering the continuity of human existence. Most of these dangers are manmade, the outcome of a misplaced attitude towards man, matter and nature. This is rooted in a false paradigm based on the autonomy of man ignoring Transcendence. There is an urgent need for a new paradigm along the lines of Albert Einstein’s vision that man is a part of the Whole. Urgently needed, therefore, is a spiritual awakening...
Quo Vadis? Cultural Reorientation – Our Shared Journey Four Key Words – One Direction
Edy Korthals Altes
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract This article is an urgent plea for a cultural reorientation. The present financial-economic crisis is symptomatic of a culture which has lost its bearings. The economy reigns supreme. The present economic model is however not sustainable at a global scale. How do we break the stranglehold of the economy on our culture? Two things: a realistic appraisal of the present predicament and a broadly shared view on a sustainable and more liveable world. Is there in our...