The 20th century with its two world wars has shown that the technological development of weapons has made it less and less possible to resolve political conflicts by violent means. It was Mahatma Gandhi who expressed this stage of the modern world when he remarked after the dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that “unless … the world adopts non-violence, it will spell certain suicide for mankind”. Our world of today is even more in need of nonviolence if we realize with Pope Francis that we are currently living in a “third world war fought piecemeal.” Empirical studies have shown that nonviolent resistance is twice as successful and significantly more sustainable than violent struggles. Gandhi also understood that world religions have an important potential to foster nonviolence. This panel will explore this potential for nonviolence from different religious perspectives. Wolfgang Palaver will open it by introducing Gandhi’s understanding of nonviolence in view of current global challenges. Adnane Mokrani will discuss the necessary reforms in Islamic theology to go beyond just war thinking. Stefan Silber will reflect on a postcolonial theology of nonviolence from a Christian perspective indirectly following Gandhi’s nonviolent fight for India’s independence. Debora Tonelli will discuss the relationship between nonviolence and fraternity, a topic that stands now also at the center of an ongoing dialogue between the Catholic Church and important Muslim leaders.Chair: Wolfgang Palaver (Universität Innsbruck)Speakers:Wolfgang Palaver (Universität Innsbruck), The Stage of Our Current World from the Perspective of Gandhi’s Concept of NonviolenceAdnane Mokrani (FSCIRE) , Going Beyond the Just War Theory by Reforming Islamic ThoughtStefan Silber (Universität Vechta), A Postcolonial Theology of NonviolenceDebora Tonelli (Fondazione Bruno Kessler), From Nonviolence to ‘Fraternity’: The Culture of Dialogue as a Human and Spiritual Development