Dismantling the War Economy

DISARM: Dismantling the War Economy Committee grew out of the six year Campaign by the same name. It was launched in 1999 with clearly stated goals. The emphasis was to be on dismantling the war economy (the war profiteers, especially in the nuclear industry), and building an economy for peace. Around this we would develop resources on disarmament issues. We would relate to the United Nations disarmament efforts through Reaching Critical Will, and we would closely follow disarmament legislation in the U.S. Congress and work for forward progress in demilitarizing the U.S. foreign policy, as well as the economy.

We succeeded in meeting our organizational goals, but certainly not our larger goal of dismantling the war economy! So we are continuing to continue, even though we are now an issue committee with very restricted budget. We are actually expanding our range, to include supporting Branches in any disarmament related or anti-war projects they wish to pursue.

We now issue a bi-monthly DISARM UPDATE, available on the web with current information and resources for action. Branches and members contribute materials for posting. The UPDATE is a channel for active communication and cooperation on every aspect of our work to achieve the WILPF (and UN Charter) goal of general and complete disarmament in a warless world. The DISARM Leadership Team is available to assist Branches with any actions or programs relevant to WILPF DISARM issues.

We also continue to focus on three of the major projects developed during the 1999-2005 Campaign years. Access background information below:

• EYE ON CONGRESS: Track your own Senators and Representatives and inform them on disarmament and military budget issues using our weekly alerts. Download the annual flyer on the military budget and unmet human needs.
• Mil-CORP ConneXion: Expose the military-industrial complex and work for a peace economy. Download pages from our MIl-Corp ConneXion Manual, 2005 edition. This 200 page manual is useful as a study guide or as an action resource, or both.
• ABOLITION: Abolish nuclear weapons, all weapons of mass destruction, and war itself. Background resources on nuclear weapons, missile defense, weapons in space, bio-weapons, the UN disarmament treaty process, and the U.S. military and non-military budgets.
• A fourth project, the Listening/Peace Policy Project, is now dormant but can be reinvigorated whenever there is interest.

If we had become a Campaign in 2005-08 we would have emphasized Developing a Sane National Budget Consistent with International Law even while we continued with our three successful earlier projects.Although we failed to gain Campaign status we are also gathering resources in these areas. We seek to build on the prior work of two pioneering WILPF members: Jane Midgley and Ann Fagan Ginger. Jane Midgley's work with WILPF on the Women's Budget, and her new book on Women and the U.S. Budget provide a foundation for the first, and Ann Fagan Ginger's ground breaking contributions as a peace lawyer give us both inspiration and guidelines for the second.