David Bryant is the retired vicar of the Lastingham group of parishes in Yorkshire, and an occasional contributor to the Guardian's “Face to Faith” column SOF 46 / March 2001 WORKS #1 In the first of an occasional series on the practice of faith FRANK BOULTON describes the work of the Oxford Research Croup - and tells you how to become a FROG give peace a bank The Oxford Research Group (ORG) works for reconciliation between traditionally suspicious major powers by encouraging dialogue between senior government decision-makers in friendly, non-threatening environments.
The Group has established a high reputation among government officials - including British - for its research into the ways decisions are taken at the highest levels, particularly in the field of arms and defence, and into the nuclear industry. It is especially, but not solely, concerned about nuclear weapons, and is working to help release the present log-jam in the UN Conference on Disarmament and encourage the full implementation of the NonProliferation Treaty, Fissile Materials Cut-off Treaty, and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
Recently, and particularly since the election of President Bush, it has focused attention on the “son of star wars” programme, the National Missile Defense System, which Bush is pushing and for which the US needs British co-operation in the updating of the Fylingdales base in Yorkshire.
ORG has hosted informal productive meetings away from the usual trappings of the international conference circuit, attended by senior politicians and civil servants from all the nuclear nations - declared and undeclared.
In the past three years five of these meetings have been held at Charney Manor, the Quaker retreat centre near Oxford, while others have been held in India, Malaysia and China.
Reports on specific topics are produced regularly as “Current Decisions Reports”, and copies are available on request. Since the Group’s foundation in 1982, 24 such reports have been issued on subjects including Global Security: the View from China (December 1995); Next Steps in Nuclear Disarmament (No First Use; ABMs; Fissile Material Cut-Off: July 1997); Managing Plutonium in Britain (September 1998); Asia-Pacific Security in the 21st Century (March 2000) and Collective Security (March 2000). It has also published several books, including most recently Britain in the 21st Century — Re-thinking Defence and Foreign Policy, edited by Ian Davis and John Gittings (Spokesman, 1997).
ORG runs a small office near Oxford on a tight budget with a small number of core staff of divergent backgrounds who have developed a closely co-ordinated approach . Its director, Scilla Elworthy, trained as a social scientist; her PhD thesis from Bradford University is on Britain’s nuclear weapons policy. She has been a consultant to UNESCO on women’s issues, and research SOF 46 / March 2001 director of the Minority Rights Group in France. She is a Quaker, and her most recent book is Power and Sex (Element Books, 1996).
The Group benefits from a Council of Advisors, including Dr Frank Barnaby (on technical and scientific issues). Frank is a nuclear physicist who has worked at Aldermaston and was Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute from 1971 to 1981.
Other advisors include General Sir Hugh Beach; Professor Adam Curle; Lord Habgood, former Archbishop of York; Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat (Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 1995) and Margarita Papandreou.
The amount of work achieved by the core group relative to its size reflects the degree of trust which has developed over time, although changes in the world picture are met by taking on new staff and challenges.
One initiative in 1999, in response to the Kosovo Crisis, was to pursue its contacts with credit card companies to develop ideas on how global financial operations could assist in systematic multilateral cooperative efforts for the prevention of violence and war. This initiative is called “Give Peace a Bank”. ; The operations of the ORG are not cheap; to keep afloat with all the initiatives costs about £400 a day. The Group is funded by grants from several foundations including the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, the Polden-Puckenham Charitable Foundation, the Network Foundation and the Ford Foundation. It also receives grants from many smaller organisations including Quaker meetings and other churches. Funds are not sought from the National Lottery or from commercial or governmental organisations.
For £25 a year “Friends of the ORG”, or FROGS, get invited to informal seminars twice each year, and can receive copies of the Annual Report and other ORG publications at a 25% discount. Anyone can become a FROG by contacting us at the address below. There is still a shortfall so donations from individuals or groups would be most welcome. As the ORG is a registered charity (No: 299436), suitable arrangements for tax relief can be made.
All donations will be acknowledged. The most recent Annual Report and further information can be obtained by writing to ORG at 51 Plantation Road, Oxford OX2 6JE or by emailing org@oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk. Or visit our website at www.oxfordresearchgroup.org.uk.