Advancement in science and technology has radically changed our society and has ushered us into the era of a global society. Due to these changes, the stage of human existence has expanded to a global scale by eliminating the boundaries of narrow territorial spaces.

Accordingly, the focus on human bonds is moving from nation-states to a global society. This new global era opens a new chapter in human history in which peace, security and prosperity for all on earth can become a reality. Nevertheless, mammonism and the belief in the omnipotence of science and technology are still prevalent, and human beings continue to pursue their blind self-interest and egoism.

In this process, human dignity is being impaired and the human spirit itself is in danger of withering away. So long as the human society is dehumanized, human civilization and institutions cannot properly serve humankind; rather, they will degrade, dictate and threaten to control human beings.

In these circumstances, there are many critical challenges confronting humankind in contemporary society. The gross imbalance between population and food, the depletion of natural resources, pollution, the self-aggrandizement of science and technology, distortions of social values and norms, the moral decadence in mass society, the dependence on terrorism as a solution to social problems, and the constant threat of nuclear war, though considerably diminished by the demise of communism in Eastern Europe and Russia, are only a few of the global problems facing the world today. Without solutions to these problems, the future of humankind will be in jeopardy.

Given this, the supreme tasks of humankind in the 21st century are:

First, the reconstruction of human society for a better world, through restoring and upholding the human spirit.

Second, the reinstatement of humans and their spirit as the masters of civilization by liberating them from purposeless science and technology, the deity of technology, and obsolete institutions.

Third, the utmost exertion of our efforts for the creation of a new civilization, in which everyone on earth can enjoy happiness and security, through good will and cooperation among nations in the spirit of human familism.

In implementing these critical tasks, the piecemeal approach of today is still insufficient. I believe that appropriate solutions to these problems can only be found in holistic approaches, and by taking the whole as well as the parts intoconsideration.

The world's civilization is going through cyclic changes. At the moment, the dynamics of world civilization is centering in East Asia, shifting from Europe and North America. As it is moving towards the Pacific Basin, civilizations are progressing into one global community, which harmonizes the spiritual and material realism of human life. We must be keenly aware of our profound duty as academicians and intellectuals to usher in this new era, one in which we are to depart from our "partial culture", (i.e., either spiritual or material culture as we have had in the recent past) and move toward the creation of a new integrated culture.

The Graduate Institute of Peace Studies was established to play a vital role in the creation of a new global society, one that will be spiritually beautiful, materially affluent and humanly rewarding-a society which "ought-to-be." The Institute's purpose is to educate and train able and peace-oriented inter-national leaders for the future of mankind.