The initiative to promote a global good neighbor ethic as the guiding vision of U.S. foreign policy was launched by the International Relations Center (IRC) in May 2005 with events in New York City and Washington, DC. The founding document was A Global Good Neighbor Ethic for International Relations. The IRC is a non-profit policy institute located in New Mexico that was founded in 1979.
Other important documents explaining GGN include:
GGN Description
GGN Talking Points
A History to Make Us Proud
GGN Principles
The GGN Initiative has benefited from several strategy sessions and forums around the country with social justice and religious activists and with foreign policy analysts. Following a strategy session at the Pocantico center outside New York City , a GGN Launch Committee was formed, bringing other organizations and their representatives into the initiative.
The initiative publishes GGN News ezine, and produces occasional reports, such as U.S. Hegemony or Global Good Neighbor Policy. We also issue occasional media releases to highlight our GNN awards and citations, including our Global Good Neighbor commendations and the Bad Neighbor of the Week citations.
GGN is an IRC project that to date has received no program funding but relies on the support of individual donors. The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers generously produced the GGN Public Service Announcements, and Connect US provided a grant to cover the costs of PSA distribution and evaluation. We are soliciting support from individuals and organizations to move the initiative forward. You can support GGN financially by sending us a check, donating by phone using your credit card, or donating online through a secure page.
These documents represent the first step in focusing a debate that we hope will grow to include a diverse set of actors. The United States is at a crossroads that will define our future and our children's future. Our foreign policy can no longer be seen as the exclusive domain of experts. We believe the global good neighbor ethic is one that can serve as a common ground for framing debates over the appropriate roles, principles, and practices/policies of citizen movements, businesses, governments, and nongovernmental and inter-governmental organizations. We invite suggestions, comments, criticisms, and collaborators in the process of reclaiming a tradition in U.S. foreign policy and remaking it for the challenges of our time.
The good neighbor ethic is universal, and the IRC lays no copyright claim to the Global Good Neighbor concepts or language. We encourage others to adapt them as they see fit in their own education, advocacy, and political campaigns. All GGNI papers, notices of events, and strategic dialogues are indexed on our archive page.
See also:
What Others Are Saying About Global Good Neighbor
What You Can Do
For more information:
International Relations Center
P.O. Box 2178
Silver City, NM 88062
Voice: 505 388-0208
Contacts:
Kathleen Laurila
IRC Executive Director
kathleen@irc-online.org
Tom Barry
IRC Policy Director
tom@irc-online.org
