Compassion and Cooperation are Part of the Human Condition
The belief that human competition and violence are the result of evolutionary adaptations is a false one.
The Importance of Structures of War and Peace
The War System is made up of interlocked structures which make war normative.
How Systems Work
Systems are made up of interlocked beliefs, values, technologies, and above all, institutions that reinforce each other.
An Alternative System is Already Developing
Beginning in 1816 with the creation of the first citizen-based organizations working to end war, a string of revolutionary developments has occurred.
Nonviolence: The Foundation of Peace
There are many modern instances of the successful use of nonviolence.
Outline of an Alternative Security System
(This is section 17 of the World Beyond War white paper A Global Security System: An Alternative to War. Continue to preceding | following section.)
Common Security
(This is section 18 of the World Beyond War white paper A Global Security System: An Alternative to War. Continue to preceding | following section.)
Demilitarizing Security
“Conflicts typical of the contemporary world cannot be resolved at gunpoint. They require not a recalibration of military tools and strategies but a far-reaching commitment to demilitarization.”
Shift to a Non-Provocative Defense Posture
A first step toward demilitarizing security could be non-provocative defense, which is to reconceive and re-configure training, logistics, doctrine, and weaponry so that a nation’s military is seen by its neighbors to be unsuitable for offense but clearly able to mount a credible defense of its borders.
Create a Nonviolent, Civilian-Based Defense Force
Civilian-based defense deploys a powerful coercive force that does not require military action.
Phase Out Foreign Military Bases
Withdrawing to an authentic defense of a nation’s borders is a key part of demilitarizing security, thus weakening the ability of the War System to create global insecurity.
United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) is guided by the vision of promoting global norms of disarmament and oversees efforts to deal with weapons of mass destruction and conventional arms and the arms trade.
End the Use of Militarized Drones
The problems with drone attacks are legal, moral, and practical.
Phase Out Weapons Of Mass Destruction
Weapons of mass destruction are a powerful positive feedback to the War System, strengthening its spread and ensuring that wars that do occur have the potential for planet-altering destruction.
Conventional Weapons
The world is awash in armaments, everything from automatic weapons to battle tanks and heavy artillery. The flood of arms contributes both to the escalation of violence in wars and to the dangers of crime and terrorism.
End Invasions and Occupations
The occupation of one people by another is a major threat to security and peace, resulting in structural violence that often promotes the occupied to mount various levels of attacks from “terrorist” assaults to guerrilla warfare.
Realign Military Spending, Convert Infrastructure to Produce Funding For Civilian Needs (Economic Conversion)
Spending on a militarized national “defense” is astronomical.
Reconfigure The Response to Terrorism
A professional field of peace and conflict studies scholars and practitioners is continuously providing responses to terrorism which are superior to the so-called experts of the terrorism industry.
Dismantle Military Alliances
Military alliances like NATO are a positive reinforcement of the War System, reducing rather than creating security.
Managing International and Civil Conflicts
The reactionary approaches and established institutions for managing international and civil conflicts have proven to be insufficient and often inadequate.
Shifting To A Pro-Active Posture
Only a pro-active posture will help strengthen the Alternative Global Security System.
Strengthening International Institutions
A body of very functional international law has been developing for centuries and needs to be further developed to be an effective part of a peace system.
Reforming the United Nations
Reforming the United Nations can and needs to take place at multiple levels.
Reforming the Charter to More Effectively Deal with Aggression
The United Nations Charter does not outlaw war, it outlaws aggression.
Reforming the Security Council
The composition and methods of the Security Council are antiquated and only minimally effective in keeping or restoring the peace.
Forecasting and Managing Conflicts Early On: A Conflict Management
The UN needs to become far more proactive in foreseeing and preventing conflicts where possible, and quickly and nonviolently intervening in conflicts that have ignited in order to put out the fires quickly.
Reform the General Assembly
Several recommendations exist to make the GA more effective.
Strengthen the International Court of Justice
The ICJ or “World Court” is the principal judicial body of the United Nations.