Editorial Letter, Alliance for Peacebuilding

Dear Readers,

The peacebuilding field is at a crossroads in the United States and beyond. The field has been devastated by sweeping, sudden cuts to overseas aid budgets, the dismantling of institutions dedicated to resolving conflict, and the subsequent displacement of a skilled peacebuilding workforce. At the same time, the world continues to experience record-high numbers of violent conflicts, with those conflicts becoming increasingly internationalized and interstate in nature. The Global Peace Index for 2026 reported that global peacefulness declined further for the 12th straight year and estimated that the global economic impact of violence increased by 3.2 percent from the previous year.

To support the peacebuilding field in meeting this challenging moment, the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP)—a network of nearly 300 member organizations, headquartered in Washington, D.C.—recently launched the Future of Peace and Security Project. We believe our field must widen its aperture to address broader challenges, expand partnerships across fields, and renew grassroots engagement, as we recently explained in an article for Peace Policy, a publication of the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. Through this project, we hope to bring forth new ideas and a broader-based coalition that can make the case to political leaders for renewed investments in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.

In March 2026, AfP partnered with the Kroc Institute and former leaders of the U.S. Institute of Peace to convene a conference entitled “American Peacebuilding at a Crossroads: Lessons, Risks, and the Road Ahead.” Some 400 advocates, former diplomatic and military leaders, practitioners, and scholars came together to reaffirm that the United States has a strategic and moral imperative to invest deliberately in peace capacities, expertise, and institutions for the future. We began discussions about how to rebuild, innovate, and transform peace work for the future to achieve better results and meet new challenges, including those involving artificial intelligence (AI) and political polarization. We continue to facilitate those discussions toward the goal of articulating a bold peace policy agenda for future political leaders.

As part of that ongoing project, we are delighted to collaborate with the Peace Science Digest, a project of the War Prevention Initiative of the Jubitz Family Foundation, on this special issue on the “Future of Peace.” This issue includes eight essays that elevate research, ideas, and perspectives on how the landscape for peace work is evolving and opportunities to marshal innovation, partnerships, and connections. The essays highlight evolving challenges for the future of peace, including the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), environmental degradation, and global power shifts. Essays highlight concrete ways that a wider swath of non-governmental actors can help shape future peace agendas, including those from the private sector, civil society, and historically marginalized communities.

Peace research has become more sophisticated than ever in recent decades, yet it is still too often diffused and disconnected from the practical needs of practitioners, policymakers, grassroots activists, and communities in war-torn societies at all levels. We must bridge those gaps if the collective field is to grow and adapt to meet the challenges ahead. We need more intentional spaces for all stakeholders in the peace ecosystem to engage, challenge each other, and build shared agendas. This special issue models the diversity of voices and range of dialogue we need for the future of peace and security.

Despite the mounting challenges we face, the mood at the March conference was surprisingly positive and forward-looking. Peacebuilding advocates are already beginning to forge new connections and initiatives. There is a clear recognition among some bipartisan leaders in the U.S. Congress that dedicated structures for building peace will be essential for the future of the United States—both abroad and at home. It is easy to be cynical, but we must use this moment of acute disruption as an opportunity to come together to reimagine, reenergize, and reorient peace work for the future we want. The future is now, and together we can shape it.

Onward,

Liz Hume

Executive Director, Alliance for Peacebuilding

& Advisory Board Member, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies

Peter J. Quaranto

Senior Fellow for the Future of Peace and Security, Alliance for Peacebuilding

& Visiting Professor of the Practice, Keough School of Global Affairs

Works Cited

Hume, Liz, and Peter J. Quaranto. 2026. “The Opportunity: Can the Peacebuilding Field Meet the Moment?” Peace Policy: Solutions to Violent Conflict, No. 63, March. https://doi.org/10.7274/31843000

Institute for Economics & Peace. 2026. “Global Peace Index 2026: Identifying and Measuring the Factors that Drive Peace.” June. https://visionofhumanity.org/resources

Keough School of Global Affairs. 2026. “American Peacebuilding at a Crossroads: Lessons, Risks, and the Road Ahead: March 2026 Conference Summary Report.” University of Notre Dame, March. https://keough.nd.edu/assets/654988/american_peacebuilding_at_a_crossroads_conference_report.pdf

Rustad, Siri Aas. 2026. “Conflict Trends: A Global Overview, 1946–2025.” PRIO Paper. https://www.prio.org/publications/14802