How about a Peace Leadership School?

I worked at the Stanley Foundation when I addressed this "think piece" to the education director at the Iowa Peace Institute on March 7, 1991--during the first Gulf War. Nothing came of it, but I still like it whenever I reread it. This is an an EXCERPT. You can read the full text at http://friendlywork.com/peace-school.html.


The Persian Gulf War and its aftermath present a "teachable moment" for peace educators. Iowans should take advantage of the current interest, however fleeting it may be, to originate an ongoing program of peacemaker education and training for our citizens--a program which in time could become, without apology, a direct alternative to military training. [...]

From the outset, the Peace Leadership School should be an intentional alternative to military-type training. This alternative character, however, should not be posed in a reactionary, confrontational, or oppositional mode. That is, the means should should be consistent with the desired ends. Thus, the Peace Leadership School should humbly seek answers to universal questions: What can societies do instead of going to war? How can nonviolent conflict-resolution methods gain adoption? Or, as Gene Sharp puts it, how can we "transarm" to "nonviolent struggle" and "nonviolent defense"? How can the acceptability of war be reduced and its practice curtailed? These are questions that soldiers and veterans and military theoreticians all profess to care about. Supporters of war often claim to be realists who are just doing what must be done until the pacifists can figure out what to do instead. Those who would teach peace should acknowledge this challenge and find in it a compelling mandate. [...]

Local involvement in the military effort is highly visible, even in small towns, even in peacetime. Even in Iowa, which ranks very low among the states receiving "defense" dollars, National Guard armories and reserve facilities dot the landscape, and local economies are grateful for infusions of payroll. Reservists and Guard members train for war outside of their regular work or school hours (earning the label "weekend warriors"), and they undergo periodic intensive training, usually at a "summer camp." During natural disasters and civil emergencies, units are mobilized and members serve at state expense. Their contributions are local, concrete, and understandable.

All over Iowa there are many opportunities for citizens to experience this kind of training and service. Because of its high visibility, easy entry, and a tradition of respectability--and because many incentives and inducements are offered to potential recruits--training for warfare is well established and well accepted in our state.

Training for peacemaking, in contrast, enjoys relatively very little public understanding and support. What few opportunities exist for peace training must be sought out and paid for by the participants. Rarely does this activity benefit from public or private subsidy. And, however acceptably it may be viewed, peace training is considered a volunteer pastime. And what's the point, really? Where's the demand for this service?

While grassroots military training is commonly viewed as a laudable form of service to society, it is also widely viewed as an acceptable means of income supplement and education opportunity for the poor and disadvantaged. For any who would make a comparison, the message is clear: "You get paid to train for war (and there are other benefits), but you have to pay if you want to study peace." On an evaluation form from our recent Justice & Peace Studies conference--which got very high ratings from participants--someone wrote: "Make the conference less expensive for students (say $10) $25 is too much!"

But what if we did have peace troops--unarmed conflict-interveners, dispute-resolution specialists, disaster-responders, community-developers, and justice-builders? What if they got paid for their service, both at home and across the globe? What if they earned education benefits or advanced career opportunities? What if peace preparations generated local income? What if communities had local training facilities? Would we be so quick to support war if our neighbors and relatives were serving in a peace force that would have failed if war began?

If any place has the resources and inclination to start finding out, it should be Iowa--The Peace State.