SUMMARY
Resting on a convincing body of evidence that violence is not a necessary component of conflict among states and between states and non-state actors, World BEYOND War asserts that war itself can be ended . We humans have lived without war for most of our existence and most people live without war most of the time . Warfare arose about 10,000 years ago (only 5% of our existence as Homo Sapiens) and spawned a vicious cycle as peoples, fearing attack by militarized states, found it necessary to imitate them; and so began the cycle of violence that has culminated in the last 100 years in a condition of permawar . War now threatens to destroy civilization as weapons have become ever more destructive . However, in the last 150 years, revolutionary new knowledge and methods of nonviolent conflict management have been developing that lead us to assert that it is time to end warfare and that we can do so by mobilizing millions around a global effort .
Here you will find the pillars of war which must be taken down so that the whole edifice of the War System can collapse, and here are the foundations of peace, already being laid, on which we will build a world where everyone will be safe . This book presents a comprehensive blueprint for peace as the basis of an action plan to finally end war .
HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZEDAND HOW TO USE IT
This book begins with a provocative Vision of Peace which may seem to some to be utopian until one reads the rest of the book which comprises the means for achieving it. The first two parts of the book present an analysis of how the current war system works, the desirability and necessity of replacing it, and an analysis of why doing this is possible. The next part outlines the Alternative Global Security System (AGSS) that challenges the failed system of national security and replaces it with the concept of common security - no one is safe until all are safe.
The AGSS relies on three broad strategies for humanity to end war: 1) demilitarizing security, 2) managing conflicts without violence, and 3) creating a culture of peace. These are the interrelated components of our system: the frameworks, processes, tools and institutions necessary for dismantling the war machine and replacing it with a peace system that will provide a more assured common security. Strategies for demilitarizing security are directed at reducing dependency on militarism. At first glance these strategies seem to be only focused on undoing the present system. However, they also establish normative principles for pursuing and achieving security. Strategies for managing conflict without violence are focused on reforming and/or establishing new institutions, tools and processes for assuring security. These are the most outwardly functional components of our system. Strategies forcreating a culture of peace are the most visionary, potentially transformative, and future oriented. These strategies are concerned with establishing social and cultural norms , values, and principles necessary for sustaining a thriving peace system and the means to spread it globally. The remainder of the book addresses realistic steps an individual or group can take, highlighting the efforts of World BEYOND War to accelerate the transition, and ending with a resource guide for further study and action.
This book is an essential learning tool for those curious about and committed to the abolition of war. It is also an invaluable resource for policy recommendations and citizen action for a more peaceful world order. It is designed for personal study, group discussion, and/or classroom use. We encourage you to read it from cover-to-cover, although you may also easily jump in at any point.
AGSS is a dynamic, living resource: while we have documented here significant research and experimentation on alternative approaches to security, and our knowledge and experiences continues to expand rapidly, we are still confronted by a dominating war system. New thinking and knowledge must be continuously developed , so we invite you to treat this as a shared project. As you explore the alternative vision presented here, you are encouraged to formulate your own ideas on the most effective and ethically consistent strategies and institutions as the foundations of a global security system. We also firmly believe that by encouraging learners to formulate their own solutions and map out systems for common security, we are more likely to encourage ownership and political action to bring the new system into being. Citizen action is absolutely essential for the transformation of the present system. So, beyond assessing the alternatives presented, we invite you to consider (and share with us) the actions we might take, as individuals or collectively, to advance possibilities for change.
As noted above, while this book is based on the work of many experts in peace research, political science, and international relations, as well as on the experience of many activists, it is an evolving plan that will change as we gain more and more experience . The challenges outlined in the first part are real, interconnected, and tremendous . Sometimes we dont make the connections because we dont see them . Sometimes we simply bury our heads in the sand the problems are too big, too overwhelming, too uncomfortable . The bad news is that the problems wont go away if we ignore them . The good news is that there is reason for authentic hope.1 The historic end of war is now possible if we muster the will to act and so save ourselves and the planet from ever greater catastrophe . World BEYOND War firmly believes that we can do this .
STUDY WAR NO MORE JOIN OUR ONLINE LEARNING COMMUNITY
Study War No More is our free, online learning guide designed to support further study of this book. Developed in partnership with the Global Campaign for Peace Education , the guide can be used for independent study or as a tool for facilitating dialogue and discussion in classrooms (secondary, university) and with community groups. Study War No More presents several discussion topics, each featuring guiding questions to support deeper inquiry of essential topics. Study War No More also helps to bring this book to life: each discussion topic includes an introductory video from one of our study and action partners leading global thinkers, strategists, academics, advocates and activists who are already developing components of an alternative global security system. Some of these study and action partners will be introduced throughout this book.
Join Study War No More, our online learning community here:
www.globalsecurity.worldbeyondwar.org
PREFACE TO 2018-19 EDITION
This 4th edition of World BEYOND Wars blueprint for ending war represents another dynamic evolution in our thinking about what comprises A Global Security System and the strategies, new models, and visions necessary for getting us there. This book guides our work and has emboldened members of our community to become active participants and changemakers who are challenging the old system and laying the foundations for the new.
Each year we invite and encourage feedback on A Global Security System: An Alternative to War - henceforth AGSS with the hope and intention of clarifying our vision and making the blueprint easier to follow. Much of our feedback this year came from participants in our intensive online courses, many of whom found it challenging to visualize and articulate the whole system. The necessary complexity of a systemic framework of this scope can lead to confusion. Thus this edition takes on this call for clarity. Many of the changes youll find in these pages are structural: some parts have been moved so as to be more logically situated within the framework and a few redundancies have been deleted. Most significant in our attempt at clarity is the addition of a
