What we used to call “the peace movement” is facing an extraordinary array of problems in 2022. The war in Ukraine is escalating and combatants are talking about the use of nuclear weapons. How to address the escalating conflict, debates about root causes, understanding imperialisms etc. are subject to debate even among the left. US military spending has at least tripled since the dawn of the new century and the culture and economics of militarism is penetrating US society now perhaps more than ever. A new Cold War is being discussed with the United States escalating tensions, not only with Russia but with China as well. And voices from the Global South are raising demands that progressives envision international relations in a new way; not just in terms of “great power” conflict but violence and exploitation from the Global North against the Global South.
Harry Targ, former coordinator of the Purdue University Committee on Peace Studies, activist with the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS), member of the steering committee of Wisconsin Peace Action, and essayist at Diary of a Heartland Radical, will address the issues facing the peace movement today and how that movement or movements have responded. Time will be allotted for participants to share their experiences and ideas about revitalizing the tradition of peace movements.