A world beyond war – what’s there to gain, and how is it possible?

Talk of the Bay from KSQD

A world beyond war - what's there to gain, and how is it possible?

00:00 / 53:33

Host Len Beyea talks with 3 members of the Board of Directors of the international organization World Beyond War.

World BEYOND War is a global nonviolent movement to end war and establish a just and sustainable peace.

World BEYOND War was founded on January 1st, 2014, when co-founders David Hartsough and David Swanson set out to create a global movement to abolish the institution of war itself, not just the “war of the day.”

From the World Beyond War website: “There is no such thing as a “good” or necessary war… If we don’t use war to resolve international conflicts, what can we do?… Our work includes education that dispels myths, like “War is natural” or “We have always had war,” and shows people not only that war should be abolished, but also that it actually can be. Our work includes all variety of nonviolent activism that moves the world in the direction of ending all war.”

John Reuwer is a retired emergency physician whose practice convinced him of a crying need for alternatives to violence for resolving tough conflicts. This led him to the informal study and teaching of nonviolence for the last 35 years, with peace team field experience in Haiti, Colombia, Central America, Palestine/Israel, and several US inner cities. He worked with the Nonviolent Peaceforce, one of very few organizations practicing professional unarmed civilian peacekeeping, in South Sudan, a nation whose suffering showcases the true nature of war that is so easily hidden from those who still believe war is a necessary part of politics. He currently participates with the DC Peaceteam.

As adjunct professor of peace and justice studies at St. Michael’s College in Vermont, Dr. Reuwer taught courses on conflict resolution, both nonviolent action and nonviolent communication. He also works with Physicians for Social Responsibility educating the public and politicians about the threat from nuclear weapons, which he sees as the ultimate expression of the insanity of modern war.

Alice Slater serves as the UN NGO Representative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. She is on the Board of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, the Global Council of Abolition 2000, and the Advisory Board of Nuclear Ban-US, supporting the mission of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its work in realizing the successful UN negotiations for a Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. She began her long quest for peace on earth as a suburban housewife, when she organized Eugene McCarthy’s presidential challenge to Johnson’s illegal war in Vietnam in her local community. As a member of the Lawyers Alliance for Nuclear Arms Control, she travelled to Russia and China on numerous delegations engaged in ending the arms race and banning the bomb. She is a member of the NYC Bar Association and serves on the Peoples Climate Committee-NYC, working for 100% Green Energy by 2030. She has written numerous articles and op-eds, with frequent appearances on local and national media.

Barry Sweeney is based in Ireland, but is often in Vietnam and Italy. His background is in education and environmentalism. He taught as a primary school teacher in Ireland for a number of years, before moving to Italy in 2009 to teach English. His love for environmental understanding led him to many progressive projects in Ireland, Italy, and Sweden. He became more and more involved in environmentalism in Ireland, and has now been teaching on a Permaculture Design Certificate course for 5 years. More recent work has seen him teaching on World BEYOND War’s War Abolition course for the last two years. Also, in 2017 and 2018 he organized peace symposia in Ireland, bringing together many of the peace/anti-war groups in Ireland. Barry is currently living in Vietnam, although he still continues his role of Country Coordinator for World BEYOND War in Ireland.