Access to Resources and Wars of the Future
When you drink your next glass of water or eat your next meal, ponder this: there are people dying across the world because of a lack of access to clean water and food. While the earth may be described as the blue planet, only less than 3% of all water is potable. Communities from Delhi to Los Angeles are facing acute water shortages, and water resources could be the source of global conflicts within our lifetimes. While the Green Revolution has increased food production in the short term, it has also raised food prices and disenfranchised poor people.

Dr. Vandana Shiva has been named the foremost environmentalist of all the developing countries. In her most recent book, Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit, Dr. Shiva states:

"Whether it is in Punjab or in Palestine, political violence often arises from conflicts over scarce but vital water resources," says Shiva. "In some conflicts, the role of water is explicit, as is the case with Syria and Turkey, or with Egypt and Ethiopia. ... [But] those who control power prefer to mask water wars as ethnic and religious conflicts."

In her session, Dr. Shiva will explore the causes of global food and water shortages, the ramifications of these shortages, and what our dharma is in regards to these issues.

There are so many problems in the world. Poverty… extinction… hunger…war. The Eastern traditions are contemplative, but is it actually selfish to embark on a personal quest for enlightenment through yoga, meditation, and the like? Is the ascetic on the mountain top meditating for years actually doing any good for the world? Is personal quest for enlightenment selfish when there is so much "real-world" work that needs to be done to help better the lives of those around us?

What is the balance between helping society and striving for enlightenment?

The United States is still facing international backlash for its unprecedented actions in starting the war against Iraq. Was the US justified in going to war? What constitutes a just war? What happens if the cause is just but global support does not exist? Or if the cause is just but the means are not appropriate? What are the proper rules of engagement?

Rama Jois is a Chief Justice of India, an accomplished lawyer, and a prolific author. His works include Dharma: The Global Ethic and cover topics like dharma for the government, dharma for judges, and conduct during and after war.

Time and money are both limited commodities. Since there are extremely limited resources for education, educational goals have to be well thought out to best provide knowledge for society. Currently, most students in both the East and the West study modern sciences such as physics and biology. But in the process, we have neglected to teach and learn ancient "sciences" such as Vedic astronomy and astrology. Are we going to lose this knowledge? And if were to reinsert them back into our curriculum, how far would we go? What education would we be replacing? Education in modern sciences is key to technology and societal progress. Would we be moving backwards by focusing on ancient knowledge? What balance of modern fundamental science and Vedic arts is appropriate? And what value does this ancient knowledge bring to modern society?

MM Joshi is the Indian Minister for Human Resources Development. His efforts to include Astrology as a University level science have been vociferously criticized as a waste of education resources. He will discuss the trade-off between knowledge systems and why he thinks it is so important that Vedic knowledge be taught in schools.

The Muslims and Jewish in Palestine and Israel. The Muslims and Hindus in Pakistan and India. The Taliban. The Muslims and the Christians in Sudan.The Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. The Crusades. The Inquisition. The recent Gujurat riots.

Religions conflicts are at the root of many of today's global conflicts.
Whether it is Hindus and Muslims in India, Jews and Muslims in the Middle East, or even the religious right in the United States, institutionalized religions everywhere seem to be causing conflicts. Religious affiliation divides humanity into groups, fomenting differences and providing putative cause for violence. Perhaps the institution of religion itself is fundamentally flawed, and that formalizing spirituality into a "church" will always lead to these conflicts.

Bawa Jain is a leader in the interfaith movement, creating and participating in global events that unite religious leaders from diverse faith traditions to address critical issues concerning the peace process. He will explore this question about the institution of religion is a negative force in society.

Should we support President Bush in his efforts to increase free trade?

Globalization has promised to make the world a better place by lowering costs, increasing competition, and increasing the productivity of developing nations. Free trade is supposed to allow developing nations to compete with developed nations on items they can make cheapest, such as textiles and agricultural products. However, free trade in developing countries has increased the divide between the rich and the poor, making the rich, who have access to world markers, richer, and poor, who now have to pay world prices with weakening local currencies, more destitute. Through globalization, more money flows from poor countries to rich ones than ever before.

Critics of globalization contend that World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies hamper development and place these nations under crushing debt, subject to wild swings in the currency market, while exposing workers to the whims of multinational corporations and promoting environmental degradation. Will globalization ultimately fulfill its promise of a better world, or will it continue to produce the massive protests of Non-Governmental Organizationsthat we now see when global trade bodies meet? How should trade barriers be liberalized in the most efficient and fair manner, if they should be liberalized at all? And what can be done to remove debt burdens of countries and individuals that currently suffer from them?

Swaminathan Gurumurthy is a spirited critic of the impacts of free trade and IMF reform on developing countries. K. Sastry is an economic scholar who has consulted for the IMF. Together, moderated by Jatinder Kumar, they will discuss the pros and cons of free trade.