Editorial Letter, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies

Dear Readers,

The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies is pleased to partner with the War Prevention Initiative of the Jubitz Family Foundation and the Alliance for Peacebuilding on this special Peace Science Digest issue.

Today, it is hard to imagine a future of peace. The entire international system is under a significant amount of stress. Many of us are deeply worried about what the future portends: shifting global power dynamics, persisting wars in the Middle East, new arms races, internationalized wars, and disruptions fueled by artificial intelligence, climate change, and political fragmentation. New conflicts are mounting worldwide as our old systems for managing them are declining. Amid these dynamics, those of us who study and work for peace have an urgent responsibility—and an opportunity—to ask ourselves tough questions and reconsider our strategies.

I’m grateful to the authors in this issue, especially my Notre Dame colleagues, for offering fresh perspectives and ideas for adapting peacebuilding to address current challenges. We have advanced a great deal in our understanding of the causes and conditions of peace over recent decades, which can provide a basis for crafting new solutions. The work done by the Peace Accords Matrix at Notre Dame, as described in one of the articles, provides one great example. Now is precisely the moment to elevate and scale this learning, at the same time as we reimagine the global institutions and systems for promoting peace.

The Kroc Institute is marking its 40th anniversary on our journey to being one of the world’s leading centers for research, teaching, training, and service to build sustainable peace. Our founders, the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., and philanthropist Joan B. Kroc, believed that averting war (especially nuclear war) and transforming cycles of conflict required dynamic collaborations among scholars, visionaries, and practitioners. Those kinds of collaborations are needed more than ever to face our current challenges. We at the Kroc Institute and the broader Keough School of Global Affairs remain committed to doing what we can to support that collaboration.

A future of peace is still possible. Together, we can help forge it.

Sincerely,

Asher Kaufman

John M. Regan, Jr. Director

Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies