Conditions of Peace: An Inquiry : Security, Democracy, Ecology, Economics, Community

Starting in 1982, in the midst of the largest arms buildup in history, three dozen of the nation's most innovative thinkers on global affairs began meeting to conceive of a way to end the "war system" that has governed human society from the beginning of recorded history. Calling themselves the Exploratory Project on the Conditions of Peace, or EXPRO, these scholars and activists tried to envision a "peace system," a set of interrelated beliefs, policies and institutions that not only would eliminate war but also would address the underlying tensions and conflicts that cause war.
Conditions of Peace: An Inquiry is the culmination of EXPRO's nine years of work. The book contains original essays on five essential components of a peace system--military security, participatory democracy, ecological balance, economic justice, and community. These essays, written for the concerned citizen by Grace Boggs, Dietrich Fischer, Shea Howell, Arjun Makhijani, David Orr and Michael Shuman, are ideal for the classroom and discussion groups. In addition, an overview essay by Robert Borosage demonstrates the timeliness of EXPRO's work as Americans search for a new framework for U.S. national security policy.