About the War Prevention Initiative

Vision:

Our vision is a world beyond war by 2030 and humanity united by a global system of peace with justice.

Mission:

Our mission is to advance the global peace system by supporting, developing and collaborating with peacebuilding efforts in all sectors of society.

Underlying assumptions:

• Nonviolence is more effective than violence.
• A global peace system is evolving.
• Poverty, employment, energy, education, the environment and other social and natural factors are interconnected in peacebuilding.
• Peace Science and Peace Education provide the path to a more just and peaceful world.

Core values:

Nonviolence – We promote strategic and principled nonviolent solutions over any kind of armed conflict.

Empathy – We view social problems through the eyes of others and respectfully communicate with each other in the pursuit of mutual understanding.

Planetary loyalty – We consider ourselves global citizens, living in harmony with humanity and nature.

Moral imagination* – We strive for a moral perception of the world in that we: (1) imagine people in a web of relationships including their enemies; (2) foster the understanding of others as an opportunity rather than a threat; (3) pursue the creative process as the wellspring that feeds the building of peace; and (4) risk stepping into the unknown landscape beyond violence.

Areas of focus: 

• We support the development of effective strategies to convince Americans that the United States should not promote war, militarism or weapons proliferation, but rather embrace conflict resolution practices that have been shown to prevent, shorten, and eliminate war as viable s alternatives to local, regional and global conflicts.
• We support Rotary International’s focus on peace by aiding the Rotarian Action Group for Peace with human, logistical and content-related resources.
• We further the understanding of a global peace system through public discourse.
• We convene national and international experts to engage in ongoing constructive dialog on war prevention issues via our Parkdale Peace Gatherings.
• We employ the framework of multi-track-diplomacy in our search for peacebuilding opportunities.
• We engage peace professionals and peace scientists to further our understanding of peacebuilding.
• We support the peace community and the broader public by sharing information and resources.

*This concept was developed by peace and conflict studies scholar and practitioner John Paul Lederach in his book "The Moral Imagination. The Art and Soul of Building Peace".