We Need A Department of Peace

It sounds whacky at first, but it’s a brilliant idea. 54 U.S. Representatives from 22 states are co-sponsors of legislation that proposes to create a Department of Peace. Amnesty International, the National Organization for Women, and Physicians for Social Responsibility are just a few of the groups that support the legislation. The new department would be cabinet-level within the executive branch of the federal government, led by a Secretary of Peace. Whereas the Secretary of Defense naturally provides a strong voice for military spending, and often for the use of military force, the Secretary of Peace would provide a counterbalance, arguing for peacemaking expenditures and activities that would strengthen the peace and prevent conflicts from arising in the first place. At a time when America has a horrendous reputation as the world’s bully, creating this new department would send a tremendous message that we are undertaking a concerted effort to raise the importance of human rights and conflict prevention in our national policy.

Yet the department would be far from symbolic. Sponsors envision streamlined and best-practice regulations to promote peace in our communities, addressing domestic violence, child abuse, and mistreatment of the elderly; strengthening and extending programs aimed at reducing drug and alcohol abuse; reforming rehabilitation and punishment policies; curbing gang violence, racial and ethnic violence, and violence against gays and lesbians. Moreover, the department would help communities and school districts create pragmatic conflict resolution programs. We would, quite literally, train a new generation of Americans how to resolve conflicts through peaceful means.

Internationally, the department would provide expertise to the president and the other cabinet officials in the areas of human rights and the prevention and de-escalation of conflicts. It would also administer reconstruction and soldier demobilization efforts in war-torn societies; train and deploy civilian peacekeepers; monitor and strengthen arms embargos; sponsor international peacemaking conferences; and improve the United States’ standing in the world by fostering greater contact between American and foreign communities.

The proposed bill would ensure that the new department’s budget equal at least 2% of the amount received by the Department of Defense. This is one of those ideas that is so plainly good, so timely and just, that the Congress will almost certainly fail to pass it in the foreseeable future. But we should support the legislation, commend the legislators who are backing it, and urge that the bill be reintroduced time and again until it becomes law. The Department of Peace is too good an idea to ignore.

You can sign a petition of support and find out more about the proposal at www.thepeacealliance.org.