Articles

Retracing Mao Zedong's epic 1934 Long March through China's Great Snowy Mountains, DEAN KING gains a new respect for the few who survived—and discovers a rugged wilderness ripe for modern adventure.

The ideas of Himalayan Consensus are catching on across the globe. See how Bolivian farmers are shunning consumerism in the hopes of saving their precious glaciers.

Internationally re-known anthropologist, Buddhist scholar, and contributor to National Geographic Magazine, Ian Baker, discusses the Himalaya region's extraordinary uniqueness, and explains how lessons from the region demonstrate the human possibilities currently threatened by an ever expanding global monoculture. In a powerful piece, Baker highlights the need to find sustainable development models in order to protect such diversity worldwide, and how Himalayan Consensus fills this void.

In the following interview for Global Atlanta, Laurence Brahm discusses the importance of preserving culture and ethnic identity upon sound and sustainable economic foundations. Brahm proposes the Himalayan Consensus as an alternative model to poverty alleviation and environmental protection, and as an approachable outlet for corporate social responsibility investments.

Authors Maheen Haider and Aasim Siddiqui highlight the work of The Organisation for Social Development Initiatives (“OSDI”) in Pakistan. With innovative programs to empower the poor by providing them economic opportunities along with the necessary skills and resources to break away from the inter-generational cycle of poverty , OSDI is a fantastic example of Himalayan Consensus principles in action. To learn more, check out the article, Fighting Poverty through Sustainable Development in Pakistan.

Creating a positive relationship between humanity and the environment has never been in the hearts of as many of the world’s diverse peoples as it is today. They are not simply concerned with living in a certain geographic location, but with living with a connection to nature. This spirit of expressing human diversity and embracing nature can be seen in the projects of Himalayan Consensus, and their ability to facilitate the teaching to traditional wisdom in culturally meaningful contexts.

Xin Dong Cheng Space For Contemporary Art cordially invites you to attend the opening of: "Searching for Shangri-la: Journey to Himalayan Consensus": An installation art interactive experience through Tibet into tomorrow. Solo Multimedia Exhibition: Laurence Brahm’s fusion medium experiment of photographs, journals, diaries and films, documenting 7 years of expeditions that led to the founding of Himalayan Consensus. What is Himalayan Consensus? Come to our opening and find out!

A lot has already been said and written about how the meeting of the Group of Twenty (G-20) leaders in Pittsburgh marks a fundamental shift in the balance of global economic power. In the coming years, as India and China flex muscle and get more voting power as part of the much-vaunted process of IMF reform, the more interesting challenge will be what these two countries can contribute to the ideology of the Washington twins that, for all their inevitable mistakes, have given the world a rigorous frame of reference. Will Brahm's new paradigm the Himalayan Consensus - that seeks a middle way between extremes - help Asia's two emerging powers - India and China - in their many differences manage the world economy?

In the event of April 2009 meeting of the Group of 20, while protesters stormed the barricades, some smashing bank windows and attacking police, the world leaders worked to devise a trillion-dollar stimulus package for the battered global economy. But for American international activist Laurence J. Brahm, the best action they could have taken would have been to pull the plug on the whole system. "People worldwide have had enough of the Washington Consensus, with its combined neoliberal economics and neoconservative politics," he writes in "The Anti-Globalization Breakfast Club." Instead, Brahm argues that "our world [must] move from its current era of violence driven by greed, shortsightedness and frustration, into a new era of peace, respect for the environment and human dignity."

Himalayan Consensus will be presented at the Asia Economic Community Forum 2009 in Incheon, Korea (Nov 11-13, 2009), with Himalayan Consensus founder Laurence Brahm as a panelist on the following themes: Global Financial and Economic Crisis: Grand Debate of 21st Century Capitalism, Political Leadership for the Creation of an East Asian Community:Round Table among Politicians and Media, and Global Value Crisis: Grand Dialogue Between Asia and the West. Check our calendar to find out more.