At a time when the world needs peace more than ever before, it has been extremely distressing to see that some groups and opinion-makers in the west who were earlier known to stand for peace are now speaking increasingly in militarist tones. The change has been most evident in the context of the debate over the Ukraine policy of western[Read More…]
As threats of war, weapons and violence increase at many levels in a deeply troubled world, the peace movement, in all its nobility and good intentions, is found to be too weak to respond adequately to these big challenges. Far too many people are paid to work full time for weapons and wars than for disarmament and peace–in fact the[Read More…]
A Gazan Ph.D. candidate studying in India, Mohammad Abunahel steadily refines and updates a map on the World BEYOND War website, dedicating a portion of every day to continue researching the extent and impact of USA foreign bases. What is Mohammad Abunahel learning, and how can we support him? On the few occasions when a government moves toward converting property[Read More…]
There are many definitions and/or understandings of war. However, from the very academic point of view, war can be understood as an armed conflict between at least two sides usually but not necessarily states fought usually for some (geo)political goals. The focal conceptual idea of war is the use of force between large-scale political subjects like states, empires, or coalitions.[Read More…]
I was born on July 20, 1944, amid a vast global conflict already known as World War II. Though it ended with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 before I could say much more than “Mama” or “Dada,” in some strange fashion, I grew up at war. Living in New York City, I was near no[Read More…]
Disturbing events in recent months have led to a deepening divide of the world between two fast consolidating power blocks, one led by the US and the NATO and the other by China and Russia. Nothing could be more disturbing for a world already faced by life-threatening problems—instead of getting together for united world action to resolve the most serious[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. – Matthew 5:9 In a brilliant Op-Ed published in the New York Times, the Quincy Institute’s Trita Parsi explained how China, with help from Iraq, was able to mediate and resolve the deeply-rooted conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia,[Read More…]
In a world defined by competition over cooperation, and the acquisition of arms prioritised over the pursuit of diplomacy, the threat of a nuclear weapon being used is higher than it has been in generations. Promising national security, the modern state has come to regard nuclear weapons as an irresistible force for peace strategic stability and a more tranquil future.[Read More…]
After the cold war shadow of several decades, the best hopes of ending superpower rivalry appeared around the early 1990s. The assurances given to Gorbachev by top western leaders appeared (deceptively, as it later turned out) to lead in this direction. China, it appeared, could not just live with the increasingly globalized world but prosper in it. United Nations agencies[Read More…]
For most of human history justice and peace have been the biggest concerns, the most important issues determining welfare and safety of our world. Those who understood this, and they were always a thoughtful and honest minority, therefore decided to work for justice and peace. The most thoughtful among them also understood the close linkages between peace and justice and[Read More…]
“The men who have most injured and oppressed humanity, who have most deeply sinned against it, were according to their standards and their conscience, good men; what was bad in them, what wrought moral evil and cruelty, treason to truth and progress, was not at all their intentions, in their purpose, in their personal character, but in their opinions.” Robert[Read More…]
Europe is passing through critical times when a lot of caution as well determination is needed to avoid the possibility of large scale destruction. Hence this is a time for all those committed to a future of peace for Europe and for world to unite, setting aside all relatively less significant differences for the time being, to ensure that the[Read More…]
Intellectuals do not have a monopoly on culture, on values, or on truth, much less on the meanings attributed to any one of these “domains of the spirit,” as they used to be termed. But intellectuals should also not shrink from denouncing what they see as destructive of culture, values, and truth, notably when such destruction claims to be carried[Read More…]
In Europe, North America and a few other countries that feed themselves with information from the western media, it can have escaped no one’s attention that we are actually on the march towards World War III. The similarities with the 1930s are terrifying: Multiple fronts of military activity are opening up; one in Ukraine and two more on the way[Read More…]
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Washington, DC Sunday for the ‘March Against the War Machine’ rally, with a number of prominent speakers from across the political spectrum of U.S. calling on the U.S. government to end its military support of Ukraine in favor of diplomacy, and slashing the Pentagon budget to address numerous domestic issues. The anti-war event held at[Read More…]
As the nuclear “Doomsday Clock” inches towards midnight, peace, anti-war and Climate Crisis activists took the streets today across the country to protest their “Rage against the War Machine” demanding substantive de-escalation of the Russian-Ukraine war and calling for “Not one penny for war in Ukraine” while emphatically calling for substantive changes to reverse the climate crisis. Participants in the[Read More…]
As the prospects of world peace worsen and those of a war much beyond Ukraine increase, the role of Europe becomes increasingly important. Europe was at the center of the enormous destruction caused by both the world wars. As the possibilities of a third one increase, can Europe compensate by being the peacemaker this time? Certainly Europe, with all its[Read More…]
The hell of human suffering, evil and oppression is paved with good intentions. The men who have most injured and oppressed humanity, who have most deeply sinned against it, were according to their standards and their conscience, good men; what was bad in them, who wrought moral evil and cruelty, treason to truth and progress, was not at all in[Read More…]
I like to sing and what I like best is to do so at the top of my lungs when I’m all alone. Last summer, taking a walk through the corn fields in New York’s Hudson River Valley with no one around but the barn swallows, I found myself belting out a medley of tunes about peace from my long-ago,[Read More…]
While peace and environment protection have always been important, now these have acquired the greatest urgency in the form of survival issues as basic life nurturing conditions are threatened now as never before by the most dangerous weapons and wars on the one hand and a range of very serious environmental problems led by climate change on the other hand.[Read More…]
Peace activists take on the Pentagon and its corporate outposts. Days after a U.S. warplane bombed a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, killing forty-two people, twenty-four of them patients, the international president of MSF, Dr. Joanne Liu walked through the wreckage and prepared to deliver condolences to family members of those who had been killed. A brief[Read More…]
If 2022 was witness to a worsening of the most high-risk problems facing our planet, can 2023 bring a true message of hope? The dawn of a new year is a time for hope, but to give more meaning to this hope, some important decisions should be announced by world leadership regarding peace and co-operation for a protective world. Clearly[Read More…]
Russia’s war upon Ukraine should remind us that violent international conflicts not only persist, but constitute a plague upon the world. Over thousands of years, wars have brought immense suffering to people around the globe. In addition to the widespread annihilation of human life, wars have produced vast material losses, including the destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, entire cities, the[Read More…]
In all ages wicked men tried to plot Against God’s Way, but they never Succeeded and were covered with shame In ways unexpected. The righteous see good in God’s Word, and their goal is the Good Great teachers were sent to all nations, to warn against Evil And guide to the Right. The penalty for Evil comes in many unexpected[Read More…]
At a time of increasing threats to world peace, a need often felt has been re-emphasized with increased urgency—our deeply troubled world should have a much stronger, much more broad-based peace movement, which works with continuity, instead of merely responding to crisis situations. Christmas may be just the right time to plan for this. To make the peace movement much[Read More…]
Two statements made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stolenberg on December 9 (quoted in The Telegraph, UK, next day), have attracted much attention. “I fear that the war in Ukraine will get out of control and spread into a major war between NATO and Russia.” “If things go wrong, they can go horribly wrong.” Although the NATO chief also said[Read More…]
“Pity the nation whose people are sheep And whose shepherds mislead them Pity the nation whose leaders are liars Whose sages are silenced And whose bigots haunt the airwaves Pity the nation that raises not its voice Except to praise conquerors And acclaim the bully as hero And aims to rule the world By force and by torture… Pity the[Read More…]
There is increasing realization that prolonging or escalation of Ukraine conflict can bring very high risks for the entire world. Elsewhere in the world, many less talked about conflicts in the Horn of Africa, in Nigeria and elsewhere are aggravating very serious situations of starvation and starvation deaths, making it impossible for relief workers to reach those in dire need[Read More…]
Looking Beyond the Obvious Lens of Human Consciousness Cop 27 has just ended in Sharm el-Shaikh (Egypt) without any candid measures to deal with a readily available “Time Bomb”, of climate change affecting all and everything that is living on Earth. Nations and leaders made promises at COP 26 Glasgow Conference but never took practical steps to lower the fossil[Read More…]
If humanity is to survive in the face of climate change, nuclear proliferation, and international political conflict, we must muster the courage to act with conviction and unity. On every level, starting at the individual and rising to the nation state, we must adopt the mindset with which world leaders approached the enormous task of ensuring global peace following the[Read More…]
The focal questions about war In dealing from both theoretical and practical points of view about war, at least six fundamental questions arise: 1) What is war?; 2) What types of war exist?; 3) Why do wars occur?; 4) What is the connection between war and justice?; 5) The question of war crimes?; and 6) Is it possible to replace[Read More…]
Since the end of the Second World War in 1945, there has been no other year when the possibility of a Third World War has been discussed as much as in the year 2022, mostly in the context of the Ukraine War and USA-Russia relations, but to a much lesser extent also in the context of Taiwan and USA-China relations.[Read More…]
The peace movement is extremely important for our increasingly troubled and violent world, particularly at a time when the world leadership is strangely getting less and less cautious about the world being led into the most dangerous situations. Those who contribute sincerely and honestly to the peace movement, standing for truth in difficult conditions, are among the most noble persons[Read More…]
The war in Ukraine provides us with yet another opportunity to consider what might be done about the wars that continue to ravage the world. The current Russian war of aggression is particularly horrific, featuring a massive military invasion of a smaller, weaker nation, threats of nuclear war, widespread war crimes, and imperial annexation. But, alas, this terrible war is[Read More…]
“…The greatest revolution of our time is, therefore, a procedural revolution, removal of injustice through a mode of action characterized by justice. The question here is not so much the contents of justice as the mode to achieve it. Constitutional and orderly processes are often not enough. They are then transgressed by the use of weapons. In order that it[Read More…]
In the middle of the increasing proliferation of arms and weapons in most parts of the world, a small window of hope is still provided by the partial success of some campaigns to check the use of some of the most painful weapons. These efforts were led by a broad-based campaign to ban the use of landmines. Wounds caused by[Read More…]
If the single most important feature of the present phase of human history is to be identified, then clearly it is that this phase is the most dangerous in human history. The year 2022 appears to be confirming this more than several previous ones. Several serious human-made environmental problems led by (but by no means confined to) climate change threaten[Read More…]
Leaders who could not Lead to Human Unity, Peace and Sustainable Future-Making The political adversaries against universal peace and brotherhood are propagating a new era of catastrophic fault lines for a Third World War. The ongoing eight months old disastrous conflict between Russia, Ukraine and the West is dissolving human relationships of reason, truth and honesty. The global leader’s mental[Read More…]
Democracy in all its forms are products of working class struggles against feudalism, colonialism, imperialism and capitalism. These struggles are integral for the establishment of various forms of democracy across the globe. The working people have played a major role in the deepening of democracy, democratic institutions and civil societies. The ideals of equality, liberty, human-animal rights and justice are[Read More…]
Humanity has reached a tipping point. It is time for governments, international institutions and people everywhere to take stock and act with renewed urgency. The Ukraine conflict is inflicting death, injury, displacement and destruction, exacerbating a global food crisis, driving Europe into recession, and creating shock waves across the world economy. The Taiwan conflict is threatening to escalate into outright[Read More…]
People everywhere appear to be wearied with the way things are in the world today. Present-day society is experiencing a profound breakdown and the minds of peoples of the world are in a state of utter confusion. From Black Sea to Korean peninsula to the Middle East to China Seas, from the Arctic to Indian Ocean, our planet is manifesting the signs of an “angry beast”. There is so much of violence and destruction everywhere. Age-old institutions are collapsing, traditional ways are[Read More…]
Egoistic Leaders are Misleading the Humanity Leaders create leaders. But most contemporary leaders are not good readers of history as they never learnt any lesson from their own wrong thinking and actions. Late Robert Fisk (“The only Lesson we ever learn is that we never learn.” 3/19/2008: Independent.co.uk), described them as “dead enders”, claiming “mission accomplished” when they did nothing[Read More…]
“….Human nature is at least in part wicked and in part foolish, how can human beings be prevented from suffering from the results of their wickedness and folly? ….Men simply do not see that war is foolish and useless and wicked. They think on occasion that it is necessary and wise and honourable, for war is not the work of[Read More…]
Many eminent persons, individually and in groups, have been trying to convince the world leadership to give much more attention to environment protection, particularly to checking climate change. This is very well justified by the seriousness of the environmental crisis. While fully supporting this, it must be asserted that peace and disarmament are even more important. One compelling reason is[Read More…]
by Kathy Kelly and Matt Gannon “No War 2022, July 8 – 10,” hosted by World BEYOND War, will consider major and growing threats faced in today’s world. Emphasizing “Resistance and Regeneration,” the conference will feature practitioners of permaculture who work to heal scarred lands as well as abolish all war. Listening to various friends speak of the environmental impact[Read More…]
As our world spirals toward the catastrophe of nuclear war, there has never been a greater need for a new global balancing, a rejection of great power war, exploitation, and aggression. Now more than ever, we need to reject the brutal unipolar agenda of the United States, the dividing up of the world between hostile powers, and the suppression of[Read More…]
The wise men of the establishment are again telling us that hopes for lasting peace are a delusion. They declare that human nature makes it impossible, that war is built into our genes. They point to research by evolutionary biologists that indicates our closest genetic relatives, the chimpanzees, make war. Therefore war must be part of our heredity. “We’ve always[Read More…]
All those who are committed to peace are once again passing through a sad phase of introspection regarding why they cannot be effective enough to check what is very clearly a very alarming phase of further drift towards militarization, that too at a time when the world can least afford it due to very serious worries relating to pandemic and[Read More…]
Splintered lies the ethics, In varying degrees Which both have bent The Pandavas less, the Kauravas more Oh, when will this bloodletting end …? (‘Andha Yug’, Dharamveer Bharati) 1 The Russia-Ukraine war shows no signs of ending. However, there continue to be constant statements, discussions, and write ups from leaders, diplomats, experts, officials, scholars and ordinary citizens on various aspects[Read More…]
It was an Earth Day to remember. On a beautiful sunny spring day, our local citizen coalition Reject Raytheon in Asheville, NC pulled off a three-part demonstration for the protection of the earth and earthlings and against the US military-industrial complex. We rallied, we paraded, and we performed a direct action. The event on Friday, April 22, began at 10[Read More…]
by Roger McKenzie and Vijay Prashad War is an ugly part of the human experience. Everything about it is hideous. War is most obviously the act of invasion and the brutality that goes along with its operations. No war is precise; every war hurts civilians. Each act of bombardment sends a neurological shudder through a society. World War II demonstrated[Read More…]
Experts in peace and conflict studies explain the scientific evidence that societies can choose peace, and that warfare is also a choice, not a necessity. Humanity’s future existence hinges on cooperation on a global scale. The greatest existential threats we face are worldwide problems that stem from the man-made climate disaster—and the massive decline in biodiversity, pollution, worsening storms, fires[Read More…]
As most readers know, whenever the US seeks to force a nation to accede to its wishes, a spokesperson will say, “All options are on the table,” meaning the use of military force is at least a possibility if not likely. Seldom, however, will one ever hear a US spokesperson say, “The use of military force has been taken off[Read More…]
It is becoming increasingly clearer by the day, and confirmed further by COP 26 deliberations, that the climate change crisis cannot be resolved without accompanying strong commitment to peace and justice. At a time when it has become increasingly important to explore all sources of potential reduction of GHG emissions, how can we expect to succeed when possibly[Read More…]
“And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.” (Howard Zinn, late American historian and distinguished[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies President Biden and the Democratic Congress are facing a crisis as the popular domestic agenda they ran on in the 2020 election is held hostage by two corporate Democratic Senators, fossil-fuel consigliere Joe Manchin and payday-lender favorite Kyrsten Sinema. But the very week before the Dems’ $350 billion-per-year domestic package hit this[Read More…]
The increasing conflict in many parts of the world and the near ruin of several once prosperous and well-resourced countries in recent times due to war, invasion and civil strife has re-emphasized the need for a strong and effective world peace which is unbiased and independent and can work with continuity. This should be created from bottom to top and[Read More…]
At the High Line, a popular tourist attraction in New York City, visitors to the West side of Lower Manhattan ascend above street level to what was once an elevated freight train line and is now a tranquil and architecturally intriguing promenade. Here walkers enjoy a park-like openness; with fellow strollers they experience urban beauty, art and the wonder of[Read More…]
Denis Halliday is an exceptional figure in the world of diplomacy. In 1998, after a 34-year career with the United Nations—including as an Assistant Secretary-General and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq—he resigned when the UN Security Council refused to lift sanctions against Iraq. Halliday saw at first hand the devastating impact of this policy that had led to the[Read More…]
Written by Sonja Scherndl and Adam Parsons Imagine what could be achieved if just a portion of the money spent on military expenditures were pooled into a global fund, and redirected towards ending hunger and massively investing in public health systems. **** If nations had a referendum, asking the public if they want their taxes to go to military weapons[Read More…]
What will be our future like beyond the compelling horizon of COVID-19 Pandemic and its aftermath? Are ‘We, the People and Humanity’ going to be learning for global unity and consciousness of One Humanity to cope with immense problems arising from unpredictable socio-economic, medical, humanitarian and political imagination terrified by the dreadful threats of unknown future? Any rational answers would[Read More…]
Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies The Biden presidency is still in its early days, but it’s not too early to point to areas in the foreign policy realm where we, as progressives, have been disappointed–or even infuriated. There are one or two positive developments, such as the renewal of Obama’s New START Treaty with Russia and[Read More…]
The need for working with wider unity for creating a world based on justice and equality is increasing further in these troubled times. One reason is that the forces of inequality led by the biggest billionaires and multinational companies have become very strong. Secondly, the environmental crisis has taken life-threatening forms and to check this crisis a path of sustainable[Read More…]
Written by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Joe Biden will take command of the White House at a time when the American public is more concerned about battling coronavirus than fighting overseas wars. But America’s wars rage on regardless, and the militarized counterterrorism policy Biden has supported in the past—based on airstrikes, special operations and the use of proxy[Read More…]
On Gandhi Jayanti 2019, a group of 50 people, 35 of them Adivasis from different parts of India, set out on what they called a ‘World Peace March’ – the plan was to walk all the way to Geneva, crossing seas by flight and getting permission to cross international borders on foot. They started from the Gandhi Samadhi in[Read More…]
We will keep missing out if we insist on relying solely on our intellect, acquired knowledge, reason and intelligence; human potential encompasses much more. I am fascinated with the insights the evolution of science provides, particularly astronomy, cosmology, quantum physics and medicine. Medical research and technology opened the doors to the insides of our brains, considered by ourselves superior and in many[Read More…]
The weather here in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark is always shifting. It’s rainy and windy now. In another minute the sun would be out giving a little respite to the cold of this late winter or early spring weather. Come rain or sunshine they are outside the parliament house in Copenhagen, protesting against the involvement of Danish troops in[Read More…]
Fascism appeals directly to the lowest human emotions. Fascism calls up the devils of tribalism and nationalism. Therefore it is fundamentally antisocial and destructive. At the same time, the low, emotional appeal of fascism has led to its political success
January 1, 2017: This New Year’s Eve, 750 heavy wooden crosses were distributed to a gathering of Chicagoans commemorating the victims of gun violence killed in 2016. Rev. Michael Pfleger and the Faith Community of St. Sabina Parish had issued a call to carry crosses constructed by Greg Zanis. The crosses, uniform in size, presented the name and age[Read More…]
Brian Terrell, December 25, 2016: Since Pope Paul VI proclaimed January 1 a “World Day of Peace” in 1967, popes have issued statements for peace for that day. On December 8, in this most perilous of times, Pope Francis published the fiftieth World Day of Peace declaration for 2017, catching the church and the world by surprise with its call[Read More…]
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (from “The Sermon on the Mount”) [Interviewer’s Note: A man who has published more than 150 books and 1500 articles on peace and related issues; the founder of TRANSCEND: A Peace, Development and Environment Network; a man who has worked as a mediator with the U.N.[Read More…]
Today, human greed and folly are destroying the global environment. As if this were not enough, there is a great threat to civilization and the biosphere from an all-destroying thermonuclear war. Both of these severe existential threats are due to faults our inherited emotional nature. From the standpoint of evolutionary theory, this is a paradox. As a species, we are[Read More…]
There is a long history of anti-war and peace activism. Much of this activism has focused on ending a particular war. Some of this activism has been directed at ending a particular aspect of war, such as the use of a type of weapon. Some of it has aimed to prevent a type of war, such as ‘aggressive war’ or[Read More…]
“The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion” (Thomas Paine) “Most Americans go along with unaccountable murder, torture, and detention without evidence, which proclaims their gullibility to the entire world. There has never in history been a population as unaware as Americans. The world is amazed that an insouciant people[Read More…]
Notes on two recent sensations 
A shocking picture of health apathy….. 
Railway accident in Odisha- Are the Railways ready for high-speed trains? Who is to be blamed? 
Teaser of Film on Savarkar: Lies Galore 
Preserving India’s Heritage: The Power of International Collaboration for Natural and Cultural Conservation 
Looking for Home in an Overheating World – If Emissions Continue, Will We All Be Migrants Someday? 
From Ploughshares to Swords—Sudden Militarism of Those Who Once Stood for Peace 
Transreality 
Australia stands to benefit from India only if Indian democracy survives, not from rallies 
Whether Rhetoric or Serious, Arab Diplomacy Can’t Be Ignored! 
Unleashing the Power of Sports: How Sporting Events Drive Tourism Growth 
Black Panther and the need to dream for a better world 
Mexico’s Zapatistas Warn Chiapas Is on “the Verge of Civil War” 
Why distress from railway accidents may be much higher than is commonly believed 
Stop Plastic Pollution as We Commemorate 50th World Environment Day 2023 
Modi Regime should be Called to Account for the Deadliest Triple Train Collision at Balasore 
Thoughts on World Environment Day 
Nuclear Fusion: Eternal Energy = Eternal Damnation 
Why There Should Be A Treaty Against the Use of Weaponized Drones 
Protests in Germany after Anti-fascists sent to five years in prison 
Women Wrestler’s Protests: Exposing Beti Bachao Slogan 
Inauguration of Parliament Building: Coronation Ceremony? 
FBI appears to be continuing investigation of Julian Assange 
And We Are Much More Than Our Uterus. (In Solidarity With the protesting wrestlers) 
Strike ends in Belsonika with reinstatement of 10 suspended workers 
A Man Without a Strategy: How Netanyahu Is Provoking Armed Intifada in the West Bank 
The Ancient Patterns of Migration 
Seven Reasons Why the Present Phase of Imperialism is the Most Dangerous Ever 
Unmasking Tourism’s Roadblocks 
Metro authorities humiliating ordinary commuters 
PLI Scheme- Do subsidies to profit-earning private manufacturers yield commensurate societal benefits? World Environment Day in India: Doing Justice with the Day 
Ben Roberts-Smith: The Breaking of a Plaster Saint 
Do we All need Religion? An Introspection 
Obama, Kissinger and the Nobel Peace Prize 
The Politics of Erdogan and Western Anxieties 
The Compulsion to Intervene – Why Washington Underwrites Violence in Ukraine 
Just War and Just War Theory 
Stolen Heirloom or poppycock 
‘Simply Inconceivable’ to Dump Fukushima Water in Pacific, Critics Say After Latest IAEA Report 
Our beloved K.P.Sasi is no more. Filmmaker, cartoonist, writer, mentor, friend and above all tireless activist championing the cause of every underdog, Sasi breathed his last, mid-afternoon this Christmas day – after battling a medical condition for months. I remember the last time I met him, almost exactly a month before he passed away, at the ayurvedic healing center in[Read More…]
