United States Peace Alliance
We recognize that the world is interconnected and that everything influences the whole. As a consequence, there is no “them and us.” There is only us, and the welfare of others, indeed of all life, is our own welfare.
Therefore, we must seek ways to consciously connect and build a culture of peace, a culture of respect, cooperation, compassion, nonviolence, and wholeness in human relations with all life. Indeed, all our systems of foreign policy, education, politics, business, health, and social welfare can and must be united in seeking, teaching, and living peace.
“My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.” - President George Washington
The Peace Alliance has organized thousands of citizens in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Guam and in 300 congressional districts across the country. These local and statewide grassroots organizations are working together to build support for a federal, cabinet-level Department of Peace. The purpose of the Department will be to research, facilitate, and strengthen support for new and on-going nonviolent solutions to domestic and international conflicts by addressing the underlying root causes of violence in society, developing and extending peace education programs, and establishing a national peace academy.
There is a long history, back to antiquity, about peace and the use of nonviolent conflict resolution approaches in human societies. The slide show, Governing Ourselves in a Culture of Peace, traces that history, with special attention to the United States and the current legislation in Congress to establish a cabinet-level Department of Peace.
“I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that the people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.” - President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Already, peace building and conflict transformation technologies are being developed and put into practice around the world in a wide range of conflict situations within and between countries. The time has come to educate ourselves and help create the necessary infrastructure for peace in our culture.