Beyond War (distinct from World Beyond War) is a movement founded in 1984. It seeks to end war, on the premise that, in the broad view, the continued practice of war will ultimately lead to a global catastrophe.
Beyond War aims to end war by addressing the psychological and philosophical roots of human war making behaviors in preference to political causes. It is based on the observation credited to Albert Einstein: "With the unleashed power of the atom, everything has changed, save our modes of thinking, and thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe". [1] Beyond War sprang into being during the early 1980s in the Palo Alto area of California, among a group drawing primarily from academia, the computer industry and marketing. From the very start, the Beyond War group strongly held the conviction that "Life is at a crossroads. One direction leads to death, destruction, and possibly the extinction of life on earth. The other direction opens new possibilities for the human species; a world where all people have the opportunity to satisfy their basic human needs, where life has meaning and purpose." [2] Due to this sense of imminent, climactic danger, the principle of commitment is foundational to the movement, in which leaders and serious volunteers have taken time off from their work to give a year or two of full-time volunteer help.
Fanning out across the United States and a number countries including Canada, England, Sweden, Israel, and Germany, the Beyond War volunteer coordinators brought with them the "Interest Evening" and "Orientation" presentations. Employing an array of video, literary, philosophical, religious and marketing psychology approaches, the introductory "Interest Evening" culminates with the famously simple but effective "BBs demonstration". In this, the presenter, having described in graphic detail the devastating effect of a single thermonuclear detonation on a modern city, asks the participants to close their eyes and listen as 10,000 BBs, representing each of the 10,000 thermonuclear devices in the world, are poured into a large tin bucket. [3] Participants, often visibly shaken, are typically asked to commit to a six-part vow "to build a world beyond war". The vows are divided into three guiding principles and three core practices. [4]
The guiding principles are:
The core practices are:
In all these principles, the Beyond War movement remains notable for its ability to remain staunchly non-partisan politically, and non-sectarian in the religious sense. In keeping with its global perspective, it attempts, with varying but generally substantial degrees of success, to avoid identification with any nation, political ideology, religious creed etc. The aim is to be inclusive due to the guiding principle #2—"We are one on this planet".
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the widespread perception that the threat of nuclear war was no longer imminent and the essential goals of Beyond War had been met, the founders met and decided to radically expand the goals of the movement. It was to become even more inclusive and the name was changed to Global Community, with a very philosophical and internationalist leaning, also embracing environmental and social concerns not originally found in the single minded concern with war and weapons of planetary scale mass destruction. This meeting was held without consulting the 24,000 membership worldwide, who were spectators on the sidelines of the momentous events of the years between 1989 and 2001, which included the breakup of Soviet communism, the first Gulf War and the September 11 attacks.
However, with concern mounting about the direction of the "war on terror", and boosted by a certain amount of outrage at the second U.S. led assault on Iraq, taking place in March 2003, a group of long time Beyond War/Global Community members based in Portland and Eugene, Oregon, were roused to action. [5] They had come to the conclusion that the goals of the original movement had not been met and that the danger of a global Armageddon had actually increased since the rise of the "war on terror" and the failure of the U.S. and Russia to continue to dismantle nuclear weapons below the level 7,000. With the full cooperation and assistance of the Global Community Board, the curriculum was updated and the use of web based technology adopted. By 2009, the membership had returned to approximately 2,000.
The Beyond War Foundation and Stanford University Center on Conflict and Negotiation [6] worked together to bring to the California redwoods Palestinian and Israeli citizens leaders who then forged and signed the historic Framework for a Public Peace Process document. [7] By 1993, government negotiators were clarifying their own plea for mandatory citizen relationships and creativity of People-to-People Programs in Annex VI of the 1993 Oslo Accords. [8] The 1991 Framework immediately inspired the 1992 birth of the sustained Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group in the United States.
The Beyond War Award [9] was created in 1983 and ran for eight years (1983-1990) to honor the great efforts of humankind as it moves to build a world beyond war. The award attracted national and international attention through the nominating and selection process.
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion reactions, producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb types release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter.
Nuclear disarmament is the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons. Its end state can also be a nuclear-weapons-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated. The term denuclearization is also used to describe the process leading to complete nuclear disarmament.
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other efforts to resolve the broader Arab–Israeli conflict. Public declarations of claims to a Jewish homeland in Palestine, including the First Zionist Congress of 1897 and the Balfour Declaration of 1917, created early tensions in the region after waves of Jewish immigration. Following World War I, the Mandate for Palestine included a binding obligation for the "establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people". Tensions grew into open sectarian conflict between Jews and Arabs. The 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was never implemented and provoked the 1947–1949 Palestine War. The current Israeli-Palestinian status quo began following Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Six-Day War, known as the Palestinian territories.
The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retreat of the President of the United States in Maryland. The two framework agreements were signed at the White House and were witnessed by President Jimmy Carter. The second of these frameworks led directly to the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty. Due to the agreement, Sadat and Begin received the shared 1978 Nobel Peace Prize. The first framework, which dealt with the Palestinian territories, was written without participation of the Palestinians and was condemned by the United Nations.
The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs is an international organization that brings together scholars and public figures to work toward reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats. It was founded in 1957 by Joseph Rotblat and Bertrand Russell in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, Canada, following the release of the Russell–Einstein Manifesto in 1955.
The World Peace Council (WPC) is an international organization with the stated goals of advocating for universal disarmament, sovereignty and independence and peaceful co-existence, and campaigns against imperialism, weapons of mass destruction and all forms of discrimination. Founded from an initiative of the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties, WPC emerged from the bureau's worldview that divided humanity into Soviet-led "peace-loving" progressive forces and US-led "warmongering" capitalist countries. Throughout the Cold War, WPC operated as a front organization as it was controlled and largely funded by the Soviet Union, and refrained from criticizing or even defended the Soviet Union's involvement in numerous conflicts. These factors led to the decline of its influence over the peace movement in non-Communist countries. Its first president was the French physicist and activist Frédéric Joliot-Curie. It was based in Helsinki, Finland from 1968 to 1999, and since in Athens, Greece.
The Israeli–Palestinian peace process refers to the intermittent discussions held by various parties and proposals put forward in an attempt to resolve the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Since the 1970s, there has been a parallel effort made to find terms upon which peace can be agreed to in both the Arab–Israeli conflict and in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict. Some countries have signed peace treaties, such as the Egypt–Israel (1979) and Jordan–Israel (1994) treaties, whereas some have not yet found a mutual basis to do so.
Since the 1960s, the United States has been a very strong supporter of Israel. It has played a key role in the promotion of good relations between Israel and its neighbouring Arab states—namely Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, along with several others in the 2020 Abraham Accords—while also holding off hostility from other Middle Eastern countries such as Syria and Iran. Relations with Israel are a very important factor in the U.S. government's overall foreign policy in the Middle East, and the U.S. Congress has likewise placed considerable importance on the maintenance of a close and supportive relationship.
The Arab–Israeli conflict began in the 20th century, evolving from earlier Intercommunal violence in Mandatory Palestine. The conflict became a major international issue with the birth of Israel in 1948. The Arab–Israeli conflict has resulted in at least five major wars and a number of minor conflicts. It has also been the source of two major Palestinian uprisings (intifadas).
A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peace. Some of the methods used to achieve these goals include advocacy of pacifism, nonviolent resistance, diplomacy, boycotts, peace camps, ethical consumerism, supporting anti-war political candidates, supporting legislation to remove profits from government contracts to the military–industrial complex, banning guns, creating tools for open government and transparency, direct democracy, supporting whistleblowers who expose war crimes or conspiracies to create wars, demonstrations, and political lobbying. The political cooperative is an example of an organization which seeks to merge all peace-movement and green organizations; they may have diverse goals, but have the common ideal of peace and humane sustainability. A concern of some peace activists is the challenge of attaining peace when those against peace often use violence as their means of communication and empowerment.
Albert Einstein (1879–1955), a German-born American scientist, was predominantly known during his lifetime for his development of the theory of relativity, his contributions to quantum mechanics, and many other notable achievements in modern physics. However, his political views also garnered much public interest due to his fame and involvement in political, humanitarian, and academic projects around the world.
Harold Henry Saunders served as the United States Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research between 1975 and 1978 and United States Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs between 1978 and 1981. Saunders was a key participant in the Camp David Accords, helped negotiate the Iran Hostage Crisis, and developed the sustained dialogue model for resolving conflicts Saunders later launched the Sustained Dialogue Institute, which uses the sustained dialogue model to address racial and other issues in the United States and abroad.
The Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group is a non-violent conflict resolution group established in 1992 in San Mateo, California. Its first meeting was held in a local neighborhood residence. As of September 2019, the group remained active and continued to meet monthly in members' homes. The one-to-one, face-to-face method of conflict resolution, modeled by this dialogue group, was increasingly looked to globally by educators, researchers, journalists, activists, trainers, and strategists including the U.S. Department of State, which distributes the dialogue group's instructive films in Africa.
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts, or to anti-war books, paintings, and other works of art. Some activists distinguish between anti-war movements and peace movements. Anti-war activists work through protest and other grassroots means to attempt to pressure a government to put an end to a particular war or conflict or to prevent it in advance.
The Madrid Conference of 1991 was a peace conference, held from 30 October to 1 November 1991 in Madrid, hosted by Spain and co-sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union. It was an attempt by the international community to revive the Israeli–Palestinian peace process through negotiations, involving Israel and the Palestinians as well as Arab countries, including Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
China's Special Envoy on the Middle East Issue is a special diplomatic position appointed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The Special Envoy focuses primarily on facilitating the Arab-Israeli peace process, although at various times, the Special Envoy has also addressed other major issues including the conflict in Syria.
Gershon Baskin since August 2021 is the Director of the Holy Land Bond a new investment fund aimed at investing in housing projects for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, integrated housing projects for Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in Israel's "mixed cities" and employment and industrial zones that are either cross boundary Israeli Palestinian, or for Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel. Baskin is also the Director of the newly formed International Communities Organization - Middle East Branch, which is connected to the UK based International Communities Organization - ICO.
Partners for Progressive Israel is an American non-governmental organization and registered 501(c)(3) dedicated to the achievement of a durable, secure, and just peace between Israel and its neighbors, including a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Partners for Progressive Israel is devoted to civil rights in Israel and to human rights throughout the area under Israel’s control, as well as to social justice, equality, religious freedom, and environmentalism. Partners for Progressive Israel seeks to deepen American Jews’ understanding of the complexities of Israeli society in order to enhance their advocacy for a progressive Israel.
The Washington Summit of 1973 was a Cold War-era meeting between United States president Richard Nixon, United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union Alexei Kosygin that took place June 18–25. The Cold War superpowers met at the White House to discuss issues regarding oceanography, transportation, agricultural research, cultural exchange, and most significantly, nuclear disarmament. The Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War was signed during the summit. The summit has been called a high-water mark in détente between the USSR and the US. The summit was originally intended to run until June 26, but ended a day early.