July 24, 2007

Some of the world’s most respected and venerable leaders have recently stepped forward to help take care of our global village.

On July 18, coinciding with the 89th birthday of former South African
President Nelson Mandela, the “Elders” group was unveiled in
Johannesburg, South Africa. It consists of global statesmen and
stateswomen from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.

Constituting collectively hundreds of years of political and
diplomatic experience of the highest order, the group seeks nothing
less than a transformation of the world by taking on some of its
toughest issues, such as AIDS, global warming, war and other concerns.
By asserting its moral and political authority, the star-studded group
hopes to turn around a world that has become stubbornly brutal for
billions.

In addition to the legendary Mandela, the group includes such
eminences as former President Jimmy Carter, former U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former Irish President and human-rights
activist Mary Robinson, and Nobel-winners Bishop Desmond Tutu,
imprisoned Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and microfinance
pioneer Muhammad Yunus.

The group is the brainchild of British billionaire Richard Branson and
the rock musician Peter Gabriel. Branson approached Mandela in 2001
about the concept, and along with Gabriel, has raised $18 million to
get the project going for at least the next three years.

The individuals in the Elders are not constrained by narrow political
ambitions, popularity polls, or nationalist sentiments. Many have
spoken out passionately against the Iraq War and the global war on
terrorism as violations of international law and human rights
standards.

Former President Carter’s most recent book, “Palestine: Peace Not
Apartheid,” breaks a tradition of U.S. leaders’ refusal to speak out
about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

Aung San Suu Kyi is currently under house arrest in Burma for her
efforts to bring democracy to that nation.

Reportedly looking more frail than expected and using a cane at the
July 18 gathering, Mandela’s role will likely be circumscribed and
somewhat limited in a physical sense. But he clearly is a first among
equals. As he approaches the 45th anniversary of his arrest on August
5, which led to 27 years of an unjust imprisonment, the sheer weight of
his legacy and lifelong commitment to social justice is inspiring even
to this group of luminaries.

More than 20 years ago, then-Rep. Dick Cheney voted against a U.S.
House of Representatives resolution calling for the release of Nelson
Mandela from jail. Now, Cheney enjoys the scorn of the global
community, while Mandela holds the status of the world’s most respected
statesman, a status further cemented by the formation of the Elders.

Change can occur sometimes more rapidly than can ever be imagined.

Clarence Lusane is associate professor in the School of International
Service at American University in Washington, D.C. He is the author of
several works, including “Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice: Foreign
Policy, Race and the New American Century” (Praeger, 2006). He can be
reached at pmproj [at] progressive [dot] org.