#40 About AFWW and Shift

#40 About AFWW and Shift Chapt. Synopses: 10-13 (July 2015)

"Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Regrettably, as of this writing - 2015 - the organization Martin Luther King, Jr. knew would be necessary to take down the global war machine is not yet in place.

Over several years, a series of forty newsletters has been created as part of an effort to galvanize creation of a global movement with the kind of organization, savvy, and power to which Dr. King was referring. The newsletters are a product of an extensive website and project, A Future Without War.org (AFWW), created by evolutionary biologist, futurist, and peace advocate Dr. Judith Hand.

The newsletters are archived on the AFWW website.

A Future Without War.org is based on and is dedicated to providing knowledge from biology, anthropology, archeology, and history to support four truths fundamental to ending war:

First, our species could put in place an enforceable global peace system: in essence, an agreement to reject the use of war to resolve differences. Within their borders the United States of America and the European Union are examples of peace systems on a sub-global scale, the former between various states and the latter between various countries. Other examples of peace systems are presented in a Science article entitled Life Without War by anthropologist Douglas P. Fry.

No genetic barrier prevents the formation of such a system globally. Rather, sufficient will to build and maintain one must arise among a critical mass of Earth's leaders and ordinary people from all nations. The United Nations is a start in the right direction, but is at this time not structured or supported adequately to accomplish the task.

Second, to prevent backsliding into war, crucial behaviors, beliefs, and forms of social organization and leadership that either hinder or foster war must change: for convenience and clarity to guide discussion of these pivotal issues, Dr. Hand grouped them into nine "cornerstones," depicted in the logo above and explained on the website. Ending war permanently will not be easy. With sufficient will it is, however, possible: our species has accomplished many things that were not easy.
Third, ending war permanently will entail an historic paradigm shift in how our species chooses to resolve conflicts: nonviolent means must be used to the total exclusion of - to the unequivocal rejection of - the use of physical force in all circumstances. Using violence against other humans must become unacceptable, legally and socially.
Fourth, because women are the half of our species most geared by nature to use a variety of behaviors that foster social stability - including the avoidance of use of physical violence whenever possible - building and most particularly maintaining a war-free future requires that leadership of our societies be composed of women as well as men. Sexually egalitarian leadership in all of the Earth's communities capable of provoking a war is a necessary condition for the maintenance of a future without war once a global peace system is in place. Men alone cannot end war, temporarily or permanently, nor can women: as described in this essay, Locked in the Embrace of Male Biology, male/female partnership is the key to success.

In the essay To Abolish War Dr. Hand explores many facets of why we make war and what kinds of efforts would be required to create a movement with sufficient organization and vision to permanently dismantle the war establishment.

AFWW newsletter readers are teachers, activists, scholars of war, students, and a diverse variety of global citizens with a compelling interest in war, and most especially, the potential for freeing us from it.

Dr. Hand's book Shift: The Beginning of War, The Ending of War has two major divisions. The first half covers the origins of war. The second half explores what would be required to end war permanently, and how a coordinated effort that would have the powerful organization needed to bring down the war system that Dr. King spoke of could come into being. Shift is available at Amazon.com and as a Kindle download.

Two previous newsletters provided synopses of chapters 1-9 of Shift.
Chapters 1-4 are in newsletter # 38.
Chapters 5-9 are in newsletter #39.

The purpose of this series of three newsletters is to offer synopses of the book's content so readers can decide if the material is sufficiently relevant that they may wish to purchase it....for personal use, to give as a gift, to recommend to others interested in ending war, to use as a textbook.

What follows are synopses for the book's final chapters, 10-13

PART I I- How We Can End War

Cornerstones of a Campaign to End War
The principle put forward and explained in Chapter 10 is that to create a just, ecologically sustainable, and peaceful future, ending war is foundational: the rationale is that by ending war, and through the process of doing so, we establish a social/cultural/mental environment that makes it possible to accomplish other desired goals. Many of these other goals address the proximate causes of war. These challenges are grouped into nine ending-war cornerstones: Embrace the Goal, Empower Women, Enlist Young Men, Foster Connectedness, Ensure Essential Resources, Promote Nonviolent Conflict Resolution, Provide Security and Order, Shift our Economies, and Spread Liberal Democracy. How each cornerstone relates to the goal of ending war is briefly described, and examples of organizations already dealing with them are provided. Stressed is that because of our biological nature, once we reach the goal of a global absence of war, we must continue to attend to all cornerstones to avoid backsliding.

Hope: We Can Change and Change Rapidly

In Chapter 11 reasons to believe that ending war is possible are presented. It begins with a consideration of two sophisticated cultures: the Minoans of ancient Crete and the modern Norwegians, cultures that illustrate features that characterize nonviolent and/or nonwarring but sophisticated cultures and illustrate that we do not need to return to a Hunter-Gatherer lifestyle to end war. Reasons are given why our time in history is uniquely poised to end war because of six major historical changes; these go back roughly 700 years to the Enlightenment and include invention of the Internet. Several examples of recent rapid human social transformations make the case that we could accomplish this huge shift in two generations or less from the time we resolve to do it.

Pulling Elements of the Plan Together

All previous chapters lead to Chapter 12, a call to action to embrace a mechanism called F.A.C.E. Elements of a plan are given for a way to unite a critical mass of global citizens with the organizational power Dr. King spoke of, a movement with enough clout to directly take on and dismantle the war machine (however long it takes).

First, we need to bury the "just war" concept. To abolish war, the time must come when our species adopts a new paradigm (worldview) that says that all wars are unjust.

The chapter then explores five major barriers to success; these factors will shape our choices for how to proceed.

Two complimentary approaches to massive social transformation, namely Constructive Program (the work of the cornerstones) and Obstructive Program (direct, nonviolent action against the war machine) are described. An argument is made that Constructive Programs alone, although they are overwhelmingly the most common efforts being used by people seeking to end war, they have insufficient force to dismantle the war machine. The means by which we carry out Obstructive Program - the strategy and tactics of nonviolent social protest/struggle - are reviewed.

A mechanism developed and successfully used by the International Committee to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is described that can unite massive numbers of people and organizations into shared action (called "massively distributed collaboration" or "collective impact"). This provides the structure and operation of the ending-war movement. It is tentatively named F.A.C.E. - For All Children Everywhere - because perhaps the only goal that can unite all people regardless of national boundaries, religion, race, gender, or political philosophy is a biologically based, shared love for and the desire to care for our children.

The campaign strategy of F.A.C.E. is to collectively attack weak points of the war machine and, as the movement gains strength through the years, to steadily take the war machine apart. Very importantly, the campaign also functions as an awareness vehicle...to let the people of the world know that this great change is possible and that it has begun. Weak points of the war machine that could be good places for the movement's initial combined focus are suggested (e.g., actually eliminating all nuclear weapons, establishing treaties to halt the sale of war weapons across national borders, establishing an "ending war" organizing hub within the United Nations that can coordinate the actions of F.A.C.E. partners).

The chapter ends by reviewing key biological factors working for and against us as we take on this exciting and profoundly important challenge, and four critical keys to remember if we are to prevent backsliding.

Quotable Quote

"No peace can endure if women are not afforded a central role."
John Kerry, United States Secretary of State
Marach 6, 2014

A Good Book

War, Peace, and Human Nature: The Convergence of Evolutionary and Cultural Views.
Edited by Douglas P. Fry. 2013.
Chapters from a wide range of scholars look at war through the lenses of anthropology, archaeology, sociology, political science and more to understand the causes of war the the potential for peace.


A Good YouTube Video

The Evolution of a Global Peace System.
20 min.
A video based on historian Kent Shifferd's book From War to Peace and produced by the War Prevention Initiative of the Jubitz Family Foundation. It outlines over 20 historical events and trends that are part of the progress we have already made toward a global peace system and the emergence of a global spirit that is reaching out for peace.

A Future Without War
Believe in it.
Envision it.
Work for it.
And we will achieve it.

QuickLinks
These three quick links are to Dr. Hand's core articles on paradigm shift:
To Abolish War
Shaping the Future
Paradigm Shift: Swift and Enduring

More Links:
How Long Ending War Would Take
Why Women Are the Key to Security
The Nine Cornerstones
AFWW Newsletter Archives

Summing It All Up
Chapter 13 offers a brief review of how natural selection worked to end us up where we are now, pointing out that we did not consciously choose war: the dictates of biology and needs to survive and reproduce have delivered us to this state. Now, however, we have sufficient knowledge of why we make war that we can, if we choose, alter our societies in ways that will foster its elimination. This includes changing attitudes as well as changing laws and customs, something our cultures have done many many times before: this campaign lies within our demonstrated abilities. Stressed is that the key to success will be partnership between men and women as leaders, activists, and citizens so that male and female built-in biological proclivities work for us, not against us. We have nobility within us. Our time in history is uniquely poised to make manifest this Great Shift to a future without war - and make it last.

About A Future Without War

We want to provide newsletter readers with a reminder about our extensive website, www.afww.org. The materials can be a reference for personal use, something to share with friends or colleagues who doubt that it would ever be possible to abolish war, and as thought pieces to stimulate discussions, for example, by your students, a book group, or peace activist organizations. You will find on the site:

A Mission Statement
An Action Plan
Keynote Speech - Åbo University, Vaasa, Finland 2014 - "War is Not Inevitable"
Capstone Essay: "To Abolish War"
"Overview" Essays - 7 essays explaining the core rationale for why it is reasonable to believe we could abolish war if we make it a priority.
"Cornerstone" Essays - 9 essays explaining each of the broad categories of "good works" that we need to attend to simultaneously in any campaign to abolish war and maintain that state into the future.
"The Books" - a Table of Contents, reviews, and FREE download of Women, Power, and the Biology of Peace, links to purchase that book and also A Future Without War: the Strategy of a Warfare Transition"
A Link to the AFWW Blog
A Map of Nonviolent Cultures
A Video of Dr. Hand
Several Movie and Book Reviews
Archives of AFWW Newsletters
Links to over 150 Organizations involved in some aspect of the campaign to abolish war
Miscellaneous AFWW Essays

These are titles of and links to current Miscellaneous AFWW Essays

A Future Without War

Newsletter #40

#40 About AFWW and Shift Chapt. Synopses: 10-13 (July 2015)

Back to Top