Demilitarizing Security

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Essay ‘Un-Contest’ on Peaceful Elections

The War Prevention Initiative (WPI) is seeking submissions for an essay “un-contest” on peaceful elections.

Perspectives on Feminist Foreign Policy: Revealing New Narratives, Challenging The Status Quo

Read our summary report of our feminist foreign policy essay “un-contest” where we published 11 essays from emerging thought leaders around the world.

Photo credit: Free Nature Stock

Selected Essays Announced in Feminist Foreign Policy Essay “Un-Contest”

The War Prevention Initiative is pleased to announce 11 essays on feminist foreign policy selected for publication.

Gaza and Israel: A Violent Year and the Urgent Need to Stop the Killing

Introduction  We mark a somber milestone: one year has passed since the onset of the relentless violence in Gaza, leading to unimaginable death and suffering. We are thinking about all Israelis and Palestinians whose lives and communities were shattered by the events of last year. A ceasefire is about saving lives; every minute that passes … Read more

Justifying Violence with the “Less-than-Lethal Paradigm”

The “less-than-lethal paradigm” is a military strategy aimed at managing the popular perception of violence by using less deadly and more concealed methods to justify imperial actions in a way that aligns with the principles of liberal democracy.

How Indiscriminate Counterterrorism Can Backfire

While Israel’s use of selective counterterrorism, in the form of punitive house demolitions, did not have a clear impact on Palestinian public opinion, Israel’s use of indiscriminate counterterrorism, in the form of precautionary house demolitions, resulted in more “radicalized” political attitudes among Palestinians from the same district.

Special Issue: Decolonial and Indigenous Approaches to Environmental Peacebuilding

Environmental peacebuilding emerged from the convergence of multiple fields—like political science, environmental science, peace and conflict studies, and ecology—concerned with how the natural environment shapes conditions for peace and conflict. Read our special issue on the topic here.

Conversations on Indigenous and Decolonial Approaches to Environmental Peacebuilding: Interview with Dr. Diana Arbelaez-Ruiz

We conducted a series of interviews with experts to gain deeper insight into Indigenous and decolonial approaches to environmental peacebuilding. Here, we have Dr. Diana Arbelaez-Ruiz.

Conversations on Indigenous and Decolonial Approaches to Environmental Peacebuilding: Interview with Dr. Theresa “Isa” Arriola

We conducted a series of interviews with experts to gain deeper insight into Indigenous and decolonial approaches to environmental peacebuilding. Here, we have Dr. Theresa “Isa” Arriola.

Genuine Security as an Alternative to U.S. Militarization of Oceania

U.S. control over the Pacific Ocean constitutes a form of colonial empire sustained by militarization and environmental exploitation.

Decolonial Environmental Peacebuilding in Colombia

In the context of a campesino community in southwestern Colombia, the coca leaf, widely known as the primary ingredient for cocaine, is commonly associated with illicit markets and violence but can be a source of environmental peacebuilding.

Children as Agents of Militarization in the Donbas Region of Ukraine 

Children participate in militarization processes through everyday practices at their schools that commemorate military history and sacrifice and celebrate Donbas regional identity, thereby helping to legitimate these proto-republics and their military activities. 

War Diminishes Global Economic Growth

War is expensive and destructive, affecting long-term economic growth through population changes, fewer investments, and worsening educational outcomes. 

Local Peace Agreements as a Means to Dissolving Armed Conflict

Armed conflict and peacemaking are best understood not in terms of a hierarchical relationship between local and national levels but instead as a “mesh” of different “conflictscapes.”