Global Action to Prevent War

The BRC has supported the Global Action program by disseminating information and providing space within our publications. The article below appeared in the BRC Spring/Summer 1999 newsletter and includes contact names, addresses, and Web sites for further information. The views of the Randall Forsberg, can also be explored through our book entitled Abolishing War: Dialogue with Peace Scholars Elise Boulding and Randall Forsberg.

No More Killing Fields

Randall Forsberg

Global Action to Prevent War is a comprehensive phased program for the next quarter-century to move to a world in which deadly conflict is rare, brief, and small in scale. The means for doing this already exist. What Global Action provides is an integrated program and timeline for advances in conflict prevention, conflict resolution, peacekeeping and peace enforcement, disarmament, and the implementation of criminal law regarding genocide and crimes against humanity. These measures will be coordinated with efforts to promote human rights, economic well-being, and environmental protection.

Phases of Change

The Global Action program proposes these phases of change:

• Reduce internal warfare by greatly strengthening a reformed United Nations, universal-membership regional security organizations, and institutions to protect human rights and enforce the rule of law on genocide and crimes against humanity. At the same time, begin to reduce the risks of major international war with talks on cuts in military forces, military spending, and arms holdings, production, and trade; build confidence with a commitment to provide open information on these elements of armed forces and not to increase them while talks are under way.
• Further reduce the risks of major international war by making substantial global cuts in armed forces and military spending and in arms production and trade and by mandatory submission of international disputes to the International Court of Justice. Further reduce the risks of internal warfare by continuing to strengthen U.N. and regional conflict-resolution capabilities and the international courts, using a tax on international financial transactions to support these activities.
• Deepen confidence in the international community's ability to prevent war with a watershed commitment by participating nations, including the major powers, not to deploy their armed forces beyond national borders except in multilateral actions under the auspices of the reformed UN or its regional counterparts.
• Complete the process of making war rare and brief by permanently transferring to the reformed UN and regional security organizations the authority and capability for armed intervention to prevent or end war and genocide. To support this shift, expand the individually-recruited all-volunteer forces of the UN and regional organizations and make another round of deep cuts in national armed forces. The remaining national forces, at most one-third the size of today's largest forces, will be limited to defense of national territory and will be restructured to focus exclusively on this role.
• In a final phase of change, national armed forces will be cut back to defense of borders, coasts, coastal waters, and air space; UN and regional security forces will have the police functions of guarding against rearmament and against transnational violence by terrorists or criminal syndicates.

That future world where arms are minimal and defensively oriented and armed conflict is rare, brief, and small in scale can be characterized as a world where war has been abolished.

To learn more about Global Action or to join the Global Action International Network, visit the Web site www.globalactionpw.org or e-mail info@globalactionpw.org. You may also contact the following individuals:

Ambassador (Ret) Jonathan Dean , Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), 1707 H Street NWm Suite 600, Washington, DC 20006-3919. Tel. 202-223-6133; fax 202-223-6162; email: jdean@ucsusa.org.

Dr. Randall Caroline Forsberg , Institute for Defense & Disarmament Studies, 675 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139. Tel. 617-354-4337; fax 617-354-1450; email: globalactionpw@idds.org.

Dr. Saul Mendlovitz , Dag Hammarskjold Professor of International Law, Rutgers University, World Order Models Project (WOMP), 123 Washington Street, Suite 510, Newark, NJ 07102. Tel.973-353-3281 OR 353-5074; email: mtodd@kinoy.rutgers.edu.