Category Archives: global

Federico Mayor: A Culture of Peace, Now More Than Ever

EDUCATION FOR PEACE .

A book review by Ángel Aguas from Noticias Obreras (translation by CPNN)

The Hour of Citizenship: Dignity, Human Rights, and a Culture of Peace
Federico Mayor Zaragoza and Emilio José Gómez Ciriano
HOAC Editions (2026)
84 pages

The recent statement by Pope Leo XIV, addressed to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See, that “war is back in fashion and the enthusiasm for war is spreading,” confirms the growing global trend of recent years. In this context, the new publication from HOAC Editions of the Catholic Workers’ Brotherhood (Hermandad Obrera de Acción Católica) champions peace as the only alternative for building a future of hope for all humanity.


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( Click here for the original version in Spanish.)

Question for this article:

What are the most important books about the culture of peace?

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This book recapitulates, in his own words, the extensive pacifist legacy of Federico Mayor Zaragoza, professor and former president of UNESCO, among many other things. When Emilio José Gómez Ciriano, university professor and co-author of the book, invited him to participate, no one knew it would be Mayor Zaragoza’s posthumous work, as he passed away on December 19, 2024.

“This work emerges as an urgent manifesto and an ethical and prophetic compass. It is not only an analysis, but a call to civic action in the face of what its authors perceive as a dangerous global drift toward militarization and the abandonment of humanist foundations…”

Culture of Peace, Now More Than Ever

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EDUCATION FOR PEACE, global

UN General Assembly Calls Upon Warring Parties of Current Armed Conflicts to Boldly Agree to ‘True Mutual Ceasefires’ during Upcoming Olympic Winter Games

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..

An article from the United Nations

Ahead of the upcoming 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the General Assembly today took note of a Solemn Appeal by the President of its eightieth session, who urged all warring parties to agree to “true mutual ceasefires” during the Games in line with the ancient principle of the Olympic Truce.

“The Olympic Truce proves that, even in times of division, humanity can still find common ground through sport,” said Annalena Baerbach (Germany), reading her Appeal (document A/80/598) into the Assembly’s official record.  “I call upon all warring parties of current armed conflicts around the world to boldly agree to true mutual ceasefires for the duration of the Olympic Truce, thus providing an opportunity to settle disputes peacefully.”

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Today’s Appeal recalls the ancient Greek tradition of the ekecheiria, translated as “Olympic Truce”, which serves as a hallowed principle of the Olympic Games, she said.  In modern times, the Assembly has taken up the related agenda item “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal” every two years, in advance of each summer and winter Olympic Games, adopting a resolution by the same name.

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Question for this article:

How can sports promote peace?

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Noting that the XXV Olympic Winter Games will begin shortly in Milano-Cortina, Italy, Ms. Baerbach cited the Assembly’s most recent resolution, which urged Member States to observe the truce individually and collectively from the seventh day before the Games’ start until the seventh day following the end of the XIV Paralympic Winter Games.  (See Press Release GA/13732  of 19 November 2025.)

“Through friendly competition, we can rise above our divisions and reaffirm our common humanity,” she said.  “The Games will bring together athletes from all parts of the world in the greatest of international sports events as a means to promote peace, mutual understanding, the rule of law and goodwill among nations and peoples — goals that are also part of the founding values of the United Nations.”

Pointing out that the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Games are on track to be the most gender-balanced in history, she added that the International Olympic Committee has decided to fly the UN flag in the Olympic stadium and the Olympic villages as a symbol of peace. 

“I welcome the leadership of Olympic and Paralympic athletes in promoting peace and human understanding through sport and the Olympic ideal,” she said, urging all Member States to demonstrate their commitment to the Olympic Truce and take concrete actions to promote and strengthen a culture of peace and harmony.

“May the implementation [of the Olympic Truce] reaffirm our shared conviction that, even in a divided world, unity remains possible and respect for our common rules means that we all win,” she said.

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DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, global, United Nations,

Spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam leads Interfaith Harmony Week

. TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from AWAZ The Voice

World Interfaith Harmony Week will be observed globally from February 1 to 7, 2026, continuing a tradition that inspires unity across faiths and nations. First proposed by King Abdullah II of Jordan at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2010, it was adopted through a UN Resolution on October 20.

The resolution affirmed that mutual understanding and interfaith dialogue are essential for a culture of peace and invited all people, regardless of belief, to celebrate through the inclusive principle of “Love of God and Love of the Neighbour,” or “Love of the Good and Love of the Neighbour.” Since the first observance in 2011, the movement has become a worldwide call for coexistence and compassion.

The 2025 observance in Delhi was a luminous reflection of India’s pluralistic spirit. Organised by the Global Peace Foundation (GPF) India, the three-day Interfaith Conclave 2025 combined India’s ancient wisdom of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam—the world is one family—with contemporary peacebuilding frameworks. Leaders from Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Jain, Sikh, and Parsi traditions gathered to reaffirm faith’s unifying role in a divided world.

The conclave opened with Dr Markandey Rai, Chairman of GPF India, invoking India’s civilizational ethos of unity beyond boundaries. Goswami Sushil Ji Maharaj, convener of the Bhartiya Sarv Dharm Sansad, recalled Swami Vivekananda’s 1893 address at the Chicago Parliament of Religions as a timeless message of harmony. Speakers such as Bhikkhu Sanghasena, Fr. Rajakumar Joseph, Imam Faizan Muneer, and Swami Sarvalokananda highlighted shared moral values—truth, service, and compassion—that transcend religious identity.

What distinguished the Delhi observance was the participation of youth and creative engagement. A pre-event poster competition, Art for Harmony, invited young artists to visualise peace, while workshops on “Skills for Interfaith Dialogue” trained students in empathy and respectful communication. Youth-led roundtables on peacebuilding showed how dialogue, when combined with action, can transform communities. These initiatives align with global best practices that link interfaith learning to arts, service, and civic participation.

Across the world, interfaith dialogue has evolved into a vital tool for peace. The United Nations promotes it through the Alliance of Civilisations and UNESCO’s intercultural programs. Regional examples abound: Indonesia’s grassroots Forum Kerukunan Umat Beragama promotes local religious cooperation;

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Question related to this article:
 
How can different faiths work together for understanding and harmony?

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Europe’s institutional frameworks like the UK Inter Faith Network support structured engagement; and Nigeria’s Interfaith Mediation Centre unites pastors and imams to rebuild communities torn by conflict.

 Such models demonstrate that spiritual traditions can strengthen reconciliation and social trust.

India’s role in this global movement remains distinctive. Its history is shaped by inclusion—Ashoka’s tolerance, Akbar’s Din-i-Ilahi, Guru Nanak’s universalism, and Gandhi’s interfaith prayers. In an era of polarisation, India’s constitutional promise of fraternity remains its guiding light. The 2025 conclave reaffirmed that harmony means not passive tolerance but active collaboration—religious leaders and citizens working together for education, the environment, and women’s empowerment.

Globally, youth have become key agents of peace. Studies show that interfaith exposure in early years nurtures empathy and reduces prejudice. GPF India’s initiatives—Youth Peace Clubs and Indo-Pacific Peace Forums—reflect this belief that harmony must grow from communities, not be imposed from above.

As the world prepares for Interfaith Harmony Week 2026, the Delhi conclave stands as a reminder that dialogue rooted in shared values can heal divisions. It also showed that interfaith cooperation is not an idealistic aspiration but a practical necessity in a world confronting identity conflicts, environmental degradation, and social fragmentation. The Indian vision of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, echoed in the G20 theme “One Earth, One Family, One Future,” gives fresh meaning to this universal movement for peace.

When Interfaith Harmony Week 2026 unfolds from February 1 to 7, temples, mosques, churches, gurdwaras, and monasteries around the world will again open their doors in friendship. In classrooms and communities, art, music, and service will reaffirm that peace begins with the heart that listens.

The lamps of faith that light Delhi and distant cities alike will remind humanity that beyond every difference lies the same yearning for goodness.

In a time when the world struggles to rediscover empathy, India’s example offers a moral compass—showing that harmony is not a dream but a daily practice. As people of every faith join hands to celebrate this week, they affirm the simple truth that when love of the good guides our actions, humanity indeed becomes one family—a message of hope for a world learning again to live as one.

The author, Pallab Bhattacharyya, is the former Police Chief of Assam.

(Editor’s note: Interfaith Harmony Week is formally supported by the Arab League.)

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global, Mideast, South Asia, TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY, ,

IPU Statement on the International Day of Peaceful Coexistence

. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION .

An article from the International Parliamentary Union

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) joins the international community in marking the first International Day of Peaceful Coexistence on 28 January 2026.

This new international day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in March 2025 through resolution A/RES/79/269, proposed by the Kingdom of Bahrain with support from the King Hamad Global Center for Coexistence and Tolerance.

At a time of toxic polarization, growing distrust and division, parliaments have a unique responsibility to promote peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies, and to fight intolerance through their legislative, oversight and representative roles.

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(Click here for the original version in French)

Questions related to this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

How can parliamentarians promote a culture of peace?

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By celebrating diversity, promoting peace education, and holding governments to account for human rights commitments, parliaments can and must create an environment in which every person is treated with dignity and respect.

The IPU’s agenda is firmly anchored in building more cohesive and just societies through parliamentary diplomacy, interfaith dialogue, and supporting parliaments to be inclusive and respectful spaces, representative of society in all its diversity.

At the 146th IPU Assembly in Bahrain in March 2023, hundreds of parliamentarians representing some 140 countries endorsed the Manama Declaration, Promoting peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies: Fighting intolerance, delivering a message of hope.

Across all its work, the IPU encourages parliamentarians to counter hate speech and divisive rhetoric, to protect freedom of expression while combating incitement to hatred, and to use their platforms to counter prejudice and misinformation.

The IPU calls on all parliaments and parliamentarians to redouble their efforts to foster dialogue, bridge divides, embrace diversity and champion a culture of peace in their constituencies, countries and beyond. 

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DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION, global

International Women’s Day 2026: Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls.

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from UN Women

On 8 March 2026, rally with women and girls around the world to demand equal rights – and equal justice to enforce, exercise, and enjoy those rights.

As we begin the second quarter of the 21st century, no nation has closed the legal gaps between men and women. Right now, in 2026, women have only 64 per cent of the legal rights that men hold worldwide. In fundamental areas of life, including work, money, safety, family, property, mobility, business, and retirement – the law systematically disadvantages women. From harmful social norms to discriminatory laws, women and girls continue to face entrenched obstacles – even pushback – to equal justice. If progress continues at its current pace, it will take 286 years to close legal protection gaps. That is not a timeline, it’s surrender.


Activists, social leaders, organizations, women and men chant slogans against gender violence during the “Vivas nos Queremos” march in Quito, Ecuador. Photo: UN Women/Johis Alarcón

Without justice systems that work for women, rights become a promise that never arrives.

International Women’s Day 2026 (IWD 2026), under the theme, “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”, marks a moment to amplify our collective determination. No matter how deeply rooted the sexism or how discouraging the politics, we refuse to step back or abandon our mandate. Instead, we climb together – for the rights and empowerment of all women and girls.

(Click here for the article in French or here in Spanish.)

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Question related to this article:

Protecting women and girls against violence, Is progress being made?

Does the UN advance equality for women?

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This year, IWD 2026 calls for action to dismantle the structural barriers to equal justice: discriminatory laws, weak legal protections, and harmful practices and social norms that erode the rights of women and girls.

What does equal justice look like? Simply put, your rights are protected and defended, and laws don’t just stay on the books – they get enforced, so that people can experience equal rights and justice. It means legally protected access to education for girls and an end to child marriage. Women’s freedom to choose to work, participate, and lead in society, including in political and justice systems. Strengthened protection and prevention to end gender-based violence in all its forms. Family, labour, and healthcare laws that do not discriminate against women. Justice systems that are free of bias, centred on survivors, and backed by zero tolerance for abuse and impunity. Legal aid that is affordable and accessible. Just to name a few.

This year’s United Nations observance of International Women’s Day will take place on 9 March and focus on equal justice, purposefully aligning with the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) (from 9 to 19 March). At CSW70, an intergovernmental forum, representatives of Member States, United Nations entities, and civil society will gather to negotiate conclusions on the theme, “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies, and practices, and addressing structural barriers.”

This International Women’s Day, join UN Women, the United Nations family, civil society, youth, media, businesses, and more, to demand “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL women and girls.” Share International Women’s Day stories and messages online with the hashtag #ForAllWomenAndGirls and follow UN Women for more information on forthcoming events.

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global, United Nations, WOMEN'S EQUALITY,

Appeal by Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel. For Peace and Unity. “Listen to the Voice of the People”

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION .

An appeal from SERPAJ, Servicio Paz y Justicia

We, the signatories of this Appeal, are protagonists of our own lives and walk alongside our peoples in their fights and hopes for a more just and fraternal world.

We express our deep concern and our strongest rejection of the attempts by the government of Donald Trump, President of the United States, to invade Venezuela. Such actions would violate international treaties, agreements, protocols, and UN declarations, flagrantly disregarding the sovereignty and self-determination of the peoples.

We likewise bear in mind the bombings of Iran by the United States and Israel, which also threaten its sovereignty.

DECISIONS ENDANGERING WORLD PEACE

Latin America is a Zone of Peace. An attack on Venezuela is an attack on the entire continent.

WE EXIGE THE IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL of the United States armed forces from the Caribbean, whose actions have provoked attacks and deaths of innocent fishermen, sinking their boats under the false pretext that the Venezuelan government is responsible for drug trafficking in the United States.

WE EXIGE President Trump to cease his threats against the governments of Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, countries that defend their sovereignty and their freedom and do not submit to the colonialism of the United States.

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(Click here for the version in Spanish or here for the version in French or click here here for the version in Spanish .)

Question related to this article:

Where in the world can we find good leadership today?

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The world is experiencing a profound uncertainty due to wars, conflicts, and hunger in various regions, factors that endanger World Peace. We are facing an unpredictable escalation: we know how wars begin, but no one knows how they end.

Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people has caused an extermination that hurts all of humanity. Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to provoke deaths and hunger in the Gaza Strip, with the support and complicity of the United States and several European countries.

We likewise bear in mind the bombings of Iran by the United States and Israel, which also threaten its sovereignty.

DECISIONS ENDANGERING WORLD PEACE

Latin America is a Zone of Peace. An attack on Venezuela is an attack on the entire continent.

WE EXIGE THE IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL of the United States armed forces from the Caribbean, whose actions have provoked attacks and deaths of innocent fishermen, sinking their boats under the false pretext that the Venezuelan government is responsible for drug trafficking in the United States.

WE EXIGE President Trump to cease his threats against the governments of Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, countries that defend their sovereignty and their freedom and do not submit to the colonialism of the United States.

The world is experiencing a profound uncertainty due to wars, conflicts, and hunger in various regions, factors that endanger World Peace. We are facing an unpredictable escalation: we know how wars begin, but no one knows how they end.

Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people has caused an extermination that hurts all of humanity. Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to provoke deaths and hunger in the Gaza Strip, with the support and complicity of the United States and several European countries.

You can sign the Appeal here.

(Editor’s note: Thank you to Alicia Cabezudo for having sent this to CPNN.)

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FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global, HUMAN RIGHTS

Peace Manifesto Update

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

In the CPNN bulletins of May and June, 2025, we announced the following Peace Manifesto 2025, saying that CPNN cannot be content to report the news for a culture of peace. We must create it.

Here is an update on the Peace Manifesto as we enter 2026.

Strategy

The overall goal is to establish a popular movement for the culture of peace linked by social media around the world that is ready to transform global governance when the present system of governance controlled by the billionaires collapses in a global economic crash

The strategy is to make the Peace Manifesto 2025 viral in all social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, WhatsApp, Telegram, Bluesky, Vkontakte, Tencent Qq, Weibo) to the point that millions of people are engaged around the world

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Question related to this article:
 
Can you help spread the Peace Manifesto on social media?

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Tactics

1. establish Activating Teams of 3 or 4 youth and students who support each other in regular contact to continue pumping out Peace Manifesto posts by social media to their media friends and networks on a regular basis for a long-term, urging them to repost in order to make the Manifesto viral.  Activating Teams should be established in all regions of the world.  

2. establish a communication system (by WhatsApp and email) linking the all of the Activating Teams to each other and to The Peace Manifesto Team in order to exchange news of what works and what does not work, and suggestions of how to improve the tactics and strategy. 

At The Peace Manifesto Team, we have finalized a Volunteer Action Agreement to be signed by us and the Activating Team Members.  This provides the guidelines for action.  We have also finalized a Certificate of Achievement to be signed by The Peace Manifesto Team and sent to each Activating Team once it has begun work. 

We would appreciate your involvement in this process as an Activating Team, and we look forward to working with you on this important initiative.  More than ever, the world needs a popular movement for the culture of peace.

You may contact us at info@activatingpeace.org

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

Julian Assange says peace prize has become “instrument of war” and sues Nobel

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article from the Peoples Dispatch (reprinted according to Creative Commons  Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange filed a criminal complaint on Tuesday, December 17, against the Nobel Foundation, accusing 30 members of the organization, including its chairwoman and executive director, of involvement in serious crimes under Swedish law. The action challenges the Norwegian Nobel Peace Committee’s decision to award this year’s prize  to far-right Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado.

Assange is requesting the immediate freezing of 11 million Swedish kronor (approximately USD 1.18 million) scheduled to be transferred to Machado, arguing that awarding the prize completely distorts the principles expressed in Alfred Nobel’s will, which stipulated that the prize should go to whoever worked for fraternity among nations and the reduction of standing armies.

In the complaint submitted to Sweden’s Economic Crimes Authority and War Crimes Unit, Assange maintains that the selection of María Corina  “converted an instrument of peace into an instrument of war.” The legal filing mentions possible crimes including misappropriation of funds, facilitation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as financing the crime of aggression. Assange argues that “Machado’s incitement of the largest US military buildup since the Iraq war makes her categorically ineligible.”

Read more: Machado’s Nobel Peace Prize “stained with blood,” social movements warn

The document lists recent public statements by the Venezuelan politician, such as explicit support for the United States’ military strategy in the Caribbean, her advocacy for military intervention in the South American country, and alignment with the offensive by Donald Trump, the US president reelected in 2024. “Alfred Nobel’s endowment for peace cannot be spent on the promotion of war,” Assange stated in the filing.

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Question related to this article:
 
Julian Assange, Is he a hero for the culture of peace?

The Nobel Peace Prize: Does it go to the right people?

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Beyond challenging the selection of María Corina, the WikiLeaks founder questions why the Nobel Foundation did not exercise the same oversight it had in 2018, when it suspended the transfer of the Literature prize. Assange notes that the administrators have a legal obligation to ensure compliance with Alfred Nobel’s will, and that any disbursement contrary to its purpose may constitute a crime.

Between war and oil: Nobel deepens international crisis

The complaint comes amid a major US military escalation in the Caribbean region. Just two days after the Nobel Peace ceremony on December 10, Trump announced that military attacks on Venezuela “would begin by land.” The deployment of more than 15,000 soldiers, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, is considered by analysts to be the largest US military deployment in the Caribbean since the Missile Crisis in 1962.

María Corina, who has been in exile since July 2024 following coup attempts against Nicolás Maduro’s reelection, welcomed the mobilization. In an interview with CBS, she declared unconditional support for Trump’s strategy and said she aspires to the Venezuelan presidency following a possible foreign intervention.

Assange

Assange’s own trajectory is also directly shaped by conflicts like those now involving Venezuela. Persecuted for more than a decade for revealing war crimes committed by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq, he spent seven years in asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London and five years imprisoned under maximum security  in the United Kingdom. Released in June 2024 following a judicial agreement with the US, he now lives in Australia, his home country.

Assange’s criminal complaint against the Nobel Foundation requests, among other measures, that the money be frozen, the medal returned, the foundation members investigated, and that the case potentially be referred to the International Criminal Court. For the activist, the 2025 prize marks a dangerous turning point: “María Corina Machado may have tipped the scales in favor of war, facilitated by the named suspects.”

First published in Portuguese at Brasil de Fato.

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FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, global

International stability, human security and the nuclear challenge: Yearbook of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

Introduction to the Yearbook of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (abridged)

In 2025 the world marks the 80th anniversary of the only times that nuclear weapons have been used in war—the bombings of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki three days later. In those eight decades, a great deal of death and destruction has been meted out in war but the taboo against using nuclear weapons has survived and grown stronger. This is, as the Nobel Peace Prize Committee noted when awarding the 2024 Peace Prize to the movement of Japanese nuclear survivors (hibakusha), Nihon Hidankyo, ‘an encouraging fact’. Nonetheless, new risks mean it is worth reviewing today’s nuclear challenge.

Nuclear weapons pose existential risk for the world population, as does ecological disruption, the impact of which on peace and stability is starting to be felt in a context in which insecurity is already on the rise for other reasons. The 2020s have so far seen more numerous armed conflicts compared to the previous three decades, with higher war fatalities and increased displacement of people. Great power confrontation has returned to levels of intensity not experienced since the end of the cold war in 1989–91, including the articulation of nuclear threats.

It can therefore be no surprise that, in 2024, global security showed no overall improvement and some deterioration compared to the previous year. Several armed conflicts—not least in Ethiopia, Gaza, Myanmar and Sudan— continued to escalate. Though the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2024 offered the prospect of an end to the country’s civil wars, a sustainably peaceful outcome was far from certain. Overall, the international capacity for peaceful conflict management continued to seem not quite up to its extraordinarily challenging tasks. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine continued, confrontation over Taiwan deepened, tensions on the Korean peninsula sharpened, and global politics were marked by increasing divisiveness and polarization sown by, among other causes of disputation, Israel’s devastating offensive in Gaza. . .

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Question related to this article:
 
Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

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New uncertainties originated in the November 2024 election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States. These played out in the first quarter of 2025 once he had taken office and quickly came to occupy the foreground in discussion of world affairs . . .

The president made explicit territorial claims for Greenland, for Canada (though the degree of seriousness of this was hard to gauge), for control of the Panama Canal, and for Gaza, as a US-owned holiday resort after expelling all Palestinians. He evinced apparent acceptance of Russia retaining territory it controlled due to its illegal invasion of Ukraine, while demanding access to Ukraine’s mineral resources, and refused to back two United Nations resolutions condemning Russia’s invasion. . . .

The second Trump administration rolled back US policy on climate change, encouraging the fossil fuel companies to turn away from any plan for an energy transition. Financial oversight came under attack with the firing of more than 12 inspectors-general responsible for fiscal propriety in federal government agencies and departments. This was part of a broader attack on the federal bureaucracy .

In the first quarter of 2025, therefore, both allies and adversaries of the USA and all those in between found themselves navigating uncharted geopolitical and economic waters. The policies and stances of the Trump administration in its first weeks may not all endure for its full four years. But some will likely persist and embed themselves deep enough in American policy that the next administration, even if it is not cut from Trumpian cloth, will find it hard to do away with them entirely. This is the complex background to discussing the nuclear challenge in the coming years. This chapter first looks at the current state of arms control (section II), then at the prospects of a new nuclear arms race (section III), before returning to the context of a world order in crisis (section IV), in order to discuss how the nuclear challenge might be addressed (section V).

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DISARMAMENT & SECURITY, global

International Institute for Peace Education 2026 Spain

… EDUCATION FOR PEACE …

An announcement from the International Institute for Peace Education

We invite all formal and non-formal peace educators, academics, activists, NGO actors, and education-focused peacebuilders to apply to join the 2026 International Institute on Peace Education from July 19-26 in Granada, Spain.

IIPE 2026 Spain will convene 60 educators from around the world for a week-long, residential, learning community experience in peace education. A rich exchange of peacebuilding research, academic theory, best practices, and actions will be shared through IIPE’s evolving dialogical, cooperative, and intersubjective modes of reflective inquiry and experiential learning.

IIPE 2026 Spain is organized by the IIPE Secretariat in partnership with a network of former IIPE participants in Spain in partnership with national, regional, and local NGOs and universities. The Institute will take place at the Colegio Mayor Jesús María of the University of Granada.

Granada: A Tapestry for Peacelearning

Granada, Spain, is a global crossroads, a historic melting pot of civilizations. Located in the Spanish region of Andalucía (part of ancient Al-Andalus), it has been the center of coexistence for multiple cultures. At various periods, the rich cultures of Europe, Africa, and the Americas have coexisted in dialogue with each other, forming a dynamic intellectual and artistic flowering that can still be seen today in the extraordinary architecture and gardens. Spain, in turn, is a European country marked by interconnectedness as its hallmark. Due to its history over the years, it has been a dynamic social and political actor in relation to the problems of the Mediterranean region, Europe, and Latin America. Today, it is an essential and fertile space where perspectives converge to understand the negotiations, dilemmas, and challenges of global peace. 

IIPE 2026 Spain at the University of Granada aims to draw out the parallel challenges of deep ecological thinking and intercultural relations. We aim to channel the spirit of Granada as a historical center of tolerance, dialogue, and intercultural symbiosis. Andalucia’s Medieval intellectual, artistic, and architectural achievements reflect a “vision of a culture of tolerance [which] recognized that incongruity in shaping individuals as well as their cultures was enriching and productive” (Menocal, 2002, p. 11).

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(Click here for a version in Spanish)

Question for this article:

Where is peace education taking place?

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Today, we recognize our interdependence and the interrelatedness of perversely complex challenges: climate crises; militarization, arms proliferation, and the use of lethal violence; and structural violence, such as discrimination, exclusion, colonialization, and domination in all its forms. These dangers are evident today in unbearable conditions of displacement and migration, climate catastrophes, and endless wars. All of these beg for vision, dialogue, and pedagogy that reaches across borders.

Pedagogy, research, and evaluation in peace education have undergone remarkable development over the past 25 years. IIPE 2026 Spain will constitute a learning community, a mini-ecosystem, in which the implications for peacelearning will be considered. Together, we hope to deepen our understanding and connect with each other through these initial questions: How has this professionalization changed peace education? Can the intersubjectivity and warmth of learning together continue with greater instrumentalization? Can we engage rational thinking and interrelate it with sentipensar, feeling-thinking that validates emotions and sentience? How does the concept of Gaia shift the ecological relational paradigm for peace? How can educational policies preserve indigenous learning and incorporate popular culture as the field advances?

In addition, the question of human relations with the more-than-human world will be raised. How might human relations evolve again so that we can reclaim the understanding that our survival depends on the health of the Earth, air, water, soil, and other living systems? New questions, new options, and new perspectives will be encouraged.

Reference: Menocal, M.R. (2002). The ornament of the world: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians created a culture of tolerance in Medieval Spain. Little, Brown.

How to Apply

Applications are invited from peace educators who are teachers and/or academics, as well as activists, NGO actors, and others involved in civil society and governance. Our goal is to bring diversity and plurality of experience to shed light on these pressing peace issues.

APPLY NOW

About the IIPE

The International Institute on Peace Education is a weeklong residential experience for educators and scholars hosted in a different country every other summer. The Institute facilitates exchanges of theory and practical experiences in teaching peace education and serves to grow the field. In serving the field, the IIPE operates as an applied peace education laboratory that provides a space for pedagogical experimentation; cooperative, deep inquiry into shared issues; and advancing theoretical, practical, and pedagogical applications. Since its inauguration at Teachers College, Columbia University in 1982, the IIPE has been hosted in 18 different countries, bringing together thousands of experienced and aspiring educators, academics, professional workers, and activists in the field of peace education from around the world to exchange knowledge and experiences and learn with and from each other in its intensive residentially based learning community.  The objectives of each particular institute are rooted in the needs and transformational concerns of the co-sponsoring host partner(s), their local community, and the surrounding region. (Click here for more information.)

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