PsySR’s Global Violence and Security Initiative strives to highlight the essential contributions of psychology to reduce military violence and to improve global security. We give a voice to psychological perspectives on the issues of war and peace with justice. Through education, collaboration and advocacy, we add to the public discourse about major threats to humanity from war, nuclear, biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and oppression. We explore root causes of, and optimal responses to, global violence.
We bring special attention in each activity to motives, emotions, perceptions and defense mechanisms that are often critical but unrecognized in the preparation or conduct of war. We work to understand the particular social-psychological factors in the forces of militarism and corporate globalization. We work to prevent the development and use of weapons of mass destruction, to reduce military budgets, to curtail production and use of landmines, and to increase protection from hazardous military wastes. We oppose weapons sales to oppressive governments and the militarization of outer space.
Positively, we encourage active nonviolent alternatives to war including tension-reduction and conflict resolution strategies, diplomacy, cultural exchange, empowerment of displaced victims of conflict, support for the United Nations and support for multilateral treaties such as the Comprehensive Test Ban and the International Criminal Court.
Join PsySR's Global Violence and Security Initiative Today!
Interested PsySR members are encouraged to join this Initiative. For more information about the initiative’s current focus and future plans, please contact co-chairs Marc Pilisuk (mpilisuk@saybrook.edu) and Diane Perlman (ninedots@aol.com).
A PsySR Member Perspective: Marc Pilisuk on Who Benefits from Global Violence?
Military, economic, and environmental violence in the era of globalization cause immense suffering and ultimately threaten the existence of life as we know it. We seem to struggle endlessly, and sometimes even effectively, over whether a particular war should be continued or ended, whether some displaced victims of globalization will be fed and treated humanely, whether modest measures--less than what is needed--will be adopted to save our increasingly warmer and more toxic environment, whether some scandalous rip-off by one or another contractor will end.
As citizens we have negligible power, however, to bring certain crucial items to the public agenda: Can we prevent--rather than merely respond to--the heart-wrenching suffering that surrounds us? Should war and military preparedness continue? Should all people have the right to derive resources from their own communities sufficient to sustain healthy lives before wealthy conglomerates are permitted to usurp those resources? Will electoral and legislative processes be made free from the influence of big money? Could the vast resources used to promote enmity be used to promote empathy instead? Read More »
A PsySR Member Perspective: Kathleen Malley-Morrison and Lauren Groves on Governmental Aggression
Governments, like individuals, have shown a capacity for inhumanity to man, for as long as they have been in existence. Even within today’s constitutional democracies, governments carry out acts of aggression that would constitute criminal conduct if performed by civilians. Invasions of other lands, capital punishment, torture, violations of international treaties, disavowals of international human rights agreements, police or military violence against their own citizens, and killing foreign civilians during wartime are all examples of governmentally sanctioned aggression and violence.Read More »
The Challenge and Urgency of Nuclear Disarmament
There are over 25,000 nuclear weapons in the world today. At least 5,000 of them are targeted at cities and on hair trigger alert, ready for launching in 15 minutes. In the name of security, humans have created a system of weapons capable of destroying life on Earth many times over. Despite agreements and treaties committing nuclear weapons states to the elimination of nuclear weapons, the United States funds research, development, and production of nuclear weapons--and threatens the use of these weapons in polices that provoke proliferation, rather than preventing it.Read More »
Links and Resources to Learn More and Take Action
Center for Defense Information
CDI provides expert analysis on various components of U.S. national security, international security and defense policy. CDI promotes wide-ranging discussion and debate on security issues.
Center for Global Peace at American University
The Center for Global Peace provides a framework for programs and initiatives that advance the study and understanding of world peace grounded in a search for a just and sustainable world order.
Global Security Institute
The Global Security Institute is dedicated to strengthening international cooperation and security based on the rule of law, with a particular focus on nuclear arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament.
Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy
The mission of IMTD is to promote a systems-based approach to peacebuilding and to facilitate the transformation of deep-rooted social conflict through education, conflict resolution training and communication.
International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution
The ICCCR is committed to developing knowledge and practice to promote constructive conflict resolution, effective cooperation, and social justice. To advance this objective, ICCCR partners with individuals, groups, organizations, and communities to learn to resolve conflicts constructively so they may develop just and peaceful relationships.
Iraq Veterans Against the War
IVAW was founded by Iraq war veterans to give a voice to the large number of active duty service people and veterans who are against this war, but are under various pressures to remain silent. IVAW’s strategy is to mobilize the military community to withdraw its support for the war and occupation in Iraq.
Ploughshares Fund
A public grantmaking foundation, Ploughshares Fund pools contributions from individuals, families and foundations and directs those funds to initiatives aimed at preventing the spread and use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and other weapons of war, and preventing conflicts that could lead to the use of weapons of mass destruction.
TRANSCEND
TRANSCEND is an international peace and development network for conflict transformation by peaceful means, founded by Johan Galtung.
United for Peace and Justice
United for Peace and Justice is a coalition of more than 1400 local and national groups throughout the United States who have joined together to protest the immoral and disastrous Iraq War and oppose our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building.
Win Without War
Win Without War is a coalition of national organizations representing broad constituencies that aim to keep America safe. The coalition advocates that international cooperation and enforceable international law provide the greatest security for the United States and the world.