On 30 October 2018, Singapore Soka Association (SSA) co-organized the Fourth Annual Ikeda Peace and Harmony Lecture with the Wee Kim Wee Centre of the Singapore Management University (SMU). Attended by close to 150 people, guest speaker for the lecture was Dr. Parag Khanna, one of the leading thinkers of geo-politics in the world and international best-selling author of six books.In his introduction to the lecture entitled, ‘Pax Urbanica? The Meaning of Cities for Diplomacy & Peace’, Dr Khanna spoke about the dialogue between SGI President Ikeda and Dr Arnold Toynbee that was published in the book “Choose Life”.
Dr Khanna recalled how that the dialogue between the two men resonated with him as it brought back fond memories when he started reading the works of Dr Arnold Toynbee at the age of 19 years old and how it grew to have a huge impact on his course of work.
In his lecture, Dr Khanna discussed how the world is transiting from a Westphalian system towards one more fluid and how authorities accrued the processes of domestic devolution and international network formation could lead to a Pax Urbanica, an age of peace among cities.Professor Elvin Lim, Dean of Core Curriculum, SMU and Director of Wee Kim Wee Centre, gave the Opening Remarks prior to the lecture and moderated the lively Question and Answer session following Dr Khanna’s lecture.
(Named in honour of Soka Gakkai International President Daisaku Ikeda, this five-year annual lecture series seeks to put into action President Ikeda’s untiring conviction that dialogue is the surest path to peace. The lecture series aim to address and discuss ways in threat and difficulty can be transformed into cooperation and growth.)
