Peace Economy Transitions

Building peace requires undermining the economic foundations of war. In the U.S., those foundations are built on a military budget as large as that of the next seven countries put together, and representing a majority share of the federal discretionary budget. Those who profit from the excessive concentration of federal resources on the military have been careful to spread those resources across the country, weaving military contracting into the economies of communities and congressional districts across the country.

IPS’ work on behalf of a peace economy has three parts: First, writing, speaking and organizing in support of a shift of federal spending from military to civilian priorities; second, working on models of community transition from defense dependency to alternative economic foundations; and third, building a digital archive of materials on peace economy research and advocacy from the Cold War, post-Cold War, and post-9/11 periods to inform and inspire future work in the field.