WAR AND MILITARISM WORKING GROUP
War and Militarism Working Group
We are a small group exploring the intersections of local, regional and international armed conflict prevention and resolution, and see what our work can be to find better ways to live together on this earth. We're looking at the arms trade, gun violence, militarization of policing and foreign policy, nuclear weapons, the costs of war (including environmental), and at the role of racism, neo-colonialism/imperialism, and fossil-fuel addiction, etc. as interrelated drivers of war. For more information, please contact Janet Leslie (530-345-3429, [email protected])
From the January 2023 Newsletter
Dismantling Racism and Militarism
in U.S. Foreign Policy
Our War and Militarism Working Group is leading a series of discussions of a policy paper with the above title and discussion guide, and our next meeting is Thursday January 12, 5-6:30 pm by Zoom.
For more information and the link, please contact Janet Leslie at [email protected] or 530-345-3429. Everyone is welcome, this is an open group.
The authors, Salih Booker (Center for International Policy) and Diane Ohlbaum (Friends Committee on National Legislation), drew on the work of a diverse group exploring the nature of the system by which U.S. foreign policy is developed and legitimized, and proposing a strategy for making that system more democratic and just.
The "Dismantling Racism and Militarism in U.S. Foreign Policy" discussion paper and guide can be downloaded from www.fcnl.org/DRM. The discussion guide has 5 modules with questions and activities for each section of the paper and provides optional readings. At our first meeting 12/8/2022, we had a general discussion of Section 1: "What is the Problem?" along with getting to know each other a bit, and it will be helpful, I think, to look at those three pages again for clarity as to how we each see the problem--What is the "Racism-Militarism Paradigm" that is such a major problem in our country's foreign policy and national security system? The authors propose that our history of imperial expansion, structural racism, and economic and military domination results from a widely-shared way of looking at the world that they describe as the "Racism-Militarism Paradigm". What is our experience?
Please read or review the 7 pages of "What is the Problem" so that we can discuss it further and do the writing and sharing bit that we didn't have time for last time. There are also links to optional readings in the discussion guide that also look useful.
Janet Leslie, for the War & Militarism Working Group, Chico Peace Alliance
Dismantling Racism and Militarism
in U.S. Foreign Policy
Our War and Militarism Working Group is leading a series of discussions of a policy paper with the above title and discussion guide, and our next meeting is Thursday January 12, 5-6:30 pm by Zoom.
For more information and the link, please contact Janet Leslie at [email protected] or 530-345-3429. Everyone is welcome, this is an open group.
The authors, Salih Booker (Center for International Policy) and Diane Ohlbaum (Friends Committee on National Legislation), drew on the work of a diverse group exploring the nature of the system by which U.S. foreign policy is developed and legitimized, and proposing a strategy for making that system more democratic and just.
The "Dismantling Racism and Militarism in U.S. Foreign Policy" discussion paper and guide can be downloaded from www.fcnl.org/DRM. The discussion guide has 5 modules with questions and activities for each section of the paper and provides optional readings. At our first meeting 12/8/2022, we had a general discussion of Section 1: "What is the Problem?" along with getting to know each other a bit, and it will be helpful, I think, to look at those three pages again for clarity as to how we each see the problem--What is the "Racism-Militarism Paradigm" that is such a major problem in our country's foreign policy and national security system? The authors propose that our history of imperial expansion, structural racism, and economic and military domination results from a widely-shared way of looking at the world that they describe as the "Racism-Militarism Paradigm". What is our experience?
Please read or review the 7 pages of "What is the Problem" so that we can discuss it further and do the writing and sharing bit that we didn't have time for last time. There are also links to optional readings in the discussion guide that also look useful.
Janet Leslie, for the War & Militarism Working Group, Chico Peace Alliance
War and Militarism Working Group
We are a small group exploring the intersections of local, regional and international armed conflict prevention and resolution, and see what our work can be to find better ways to live together on this earth. We're looking at the arms trade, gun violence, militarization of policing and foreign policy, nuclear weapons, the costs of war (including environmental), and at the role of racism, neo-colonialism/imperialism, and fossil-fuel addiction, etc. as interrelated drivers of war. For more information, please contact Janet Leslie (530-345-3429, [email protected])
We are working with others on two actions this fall:
(1) "Opportunities for Peacemaking Forum" on Sunday September 18 from 1 pm to 3 pm at the Quaker Meetinghouse on the corner of Hemlock and E. 16th Street. Please come!
This event will bring together the Chico Peace Alliance, Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), Chico Advocacy Team, and Chico Friends Meeting's Witness and Service Committee and liaisons with FCNL and Friends Committee on Legislation of California (FCL). Read more.
(2) Forming a study group using "Dismantling Racism and Militarism in U.S. Foreign Policy", by Salih Booker and Diane Ohlbaum, who drew on the work of a group discussing the nature of the system by which U.S. foreign policy is developed and legitimized and proposing a strategy for making that system more democratic and just. Please join us!
The discussion guide has 5 modules with questions and activities for each section of the paper and provides optional readings. We're just forming the study group, and how it will meet will depend on those who want to participate. The "Dismantling Racism and Militarism in U.S. Foreign Policy" discussion paper and guide can be downloaded from www.fcnl.org/DRM.