EPES Mandala Consulting was incorporated as three companies in 2004, in Europe, in America and in Africa, because this format seemed to provide the best mechanism for pursuing our work for peace and disarmament. In the short time since we registered EPES Mandala we have already carried out consulting missions in Afghanistan and Liberia under the company name, and we have been involved in discussions for a dozen other possible contracts. In the meantime we have all continued personal research and field work on disarmament issues and made our modest contributions to ongoing peace education.

During the period 2003-2005 we have become increasingly involved in global security issues and international policy debates - Henny van der Graaf has been working on the NATO Stability Pact, Tore Rose has been winding up the International Peace Forum, Dennis Brennan has been coordinating legal texts on small arms on the regional level, Robin Poulton has been synthesizing international weapon collection experience and working on African Union policy orientations.

We are a bunch of idealistic realists, with vast experience that we need to share. We have been together so often since the Malian adventure and the first Flame of Peace, that we have discovered a lot about what works and what doesn\'t work. One of the world\'s greatest conundrums is how to communicate Lessons Learned to other people. How can we share research and improve impact? How do we stop people repeating the mistakes of their predecessors?