Message from Johan Galtung

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Dear Members of Transcend–many you proposed by Dieter!–my dear friend, co-founder of Transcend in 1993 with myself and Fumiko Nishimura left us today after a short hospital stay in coma, basically due to his diabetes for many years.

Very competent in mathematics, modeling and economics he was for many years a professor in New York, till early retirement and full dedication to Transcend, first from Basel, in Switzerland, then in Germany; particularly responsible for Transcend University Press and as  board member for Transcend as a whole.

He was deeply committed to peace and expressed very often his happiness at working for peace rather than for the economic growth built into economics.  But he also found a very important in-between  field of specialization:  the economics of disarmament.  His basic work, however, was on Karl Menger and strength as being strong in oneself, not in the sense of over others.  He applied this to military power, contrasting the Swiss strategy from 1971 of very high defensive strength with neither intent nor capability to attack others, nor as reaction to attack..  Swss history goes far to illustrate  the validity of this thesis.

Dear, dear Dieter–you are deeply missed.  But my mind turns from sadness to gratitude to you for our wonderful friendship–40 good years of cooperation with no quarrel!  You often referred to yourself as phlegmatic, unperturbed by the ups and downs of reality–including our little Transcend part of it–taking problems as they came, having the long term perspective, as we gained in experience.  Countless were the dialogues between us, mutual questioning and learning, never debates to prove oneself right.

Let us celebrate your life while deploring that you are no longer among us, in deep gratitude for all you did to inspire and help–and for peace in general.

your friend  Johan

3 thoughts on “Message from Johan Galtung”

  1. Adieu, to the man of peace and master story-teller. He piloted our academic and social life in EPU, Stadtschlaining/Burg, Austria in most dignifying manner. He was ever willing to give helping hands to us the students. For any situation, he had story to tell. His stories are good weapons in promoting peace and unity in the world. Rest in peace, Dietrich. We would surely miss you.

  2. ‘Inna lillah-i wa inna alaih-i rajioun’.
    Dietrich would keep on living in the hearts of his students. I hope his legacy would be continued by his students, friends and admirers. The world desperately needs teaches and mentors like him. I trust Divine Grace in that the one who kept promoting peace all his life now rests in Eternal Peace.

  3. I knew Dieter when he was a junior faculty member at New York University. A generation older than him, I met him when I issued a call to all the New York University faculty to join a faculty seminar on Peace and Global Policy Studies. He at once introduced himself, became a valued member, and a good friend for a good many years. He introduced me to a rich body of work on peace studies, notably including the work of his mentor, Johan Galtung.

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