Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 January 2010
Dealing with a question of this breadth may seem an impossible task. Furthermore, it would certainly not be intelligent to claim to have found the solution to the problem of peace and humanity. The first mark of intelligence is precisely knowing one's limits, and it is clear that we can only try to guess at potential answers to such a vast question; to do this we would need to look at the past so as better to understand the future.
1 The name “International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement” was adopted in 1986. Until then the designation “International Red Cross” had been used. The notion of Movement as such came into being in 1986 and was incorporated in the new Statutes.
2 The League of Red Cross Societies changed its name in November 1991 and is now the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (hereinafter the Federation).
3 Tansley, Donald, Final Report. An Agenda for Red Cross Google Scholar, Joint Commission for a Re-evaluation of the Role of the Red Cross, Geneva, 1975, 129 pp.
4 “Fundamental Guidelines for the Contribution of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to a True Peace in the World” were adopted by the Second World Red Cross and Red Crescent Conference on Peace (Aaland/Stockholm, September 1984).
5 The Rivonia trial opened on 29 October 1963 and ended on 12 June 1964 with life sentences for six South Africans including Nelson Mandela.