The people of Earth continue to suffer at the hands of warmongers. These individuals, overwhelmingly but not solely men, are so powerfully driven to control or dominate other people - or the resources of those people - that they are willing to kill, or have others kill for them, to achieve that goal.

Vladimir Putin, the current President of Russia, is such a man, and in this year he used his military forces to annex the peninsula of Crimea, a region of the country of Ukraine. At this writing he threatens to extend his domination to even more land in the eastern region of that country. Many people fear he has even broader acquisition objectives.

As disgusting as this action is, the world's response to this naked aggression suggests serious cause for hope. On "Face the Nation," for example, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's (somewhat paradoxical) response was "You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pre-text," and "We want a peaceful resolution through the normal processes of international relations" (Meet the Press).

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's response to this taking of Crimea, when she contacted the United States President Barack Obama, was reputed to be that she said that Putin was "living in another world" and was "not connected to reality." What she meant by this was never clarified, although one German government representative said that she meant simply that she felt that Putin had "a very different view about Crimea."

But many in the world press, and on talk shows, ran with very different interpretations. The most unlikely of these was that she meant that Putin is literally unhinged, certifiably out-of-contact-with-reality insane. But the more interesting and relevant interpretation by some was that she meant something along the same lines as Secretary of State Kerry: that Putin was mentally living in a different century, a time when using military force to invade and annex another country using the threat of killing was "business as usual" of a past age, was no longer acceptable, and was no longer, or at least should not be, our human reality.

Unfortunately, though, many warmongers still are among us and many of them, like Vladimir Putin, are armed to the teeth.

It is offers hope, however, that the world community, here and there, is experiencing a remarkable and potentially profound shift in viewpoint. Secretary Kerry's statements and the interpretations offered to explain Chancellor Merkel's comment strongly suggest that at the very highest levels of government, in at least some parts of the globe, there exists a growing belief that humans can move into a new reality...in fact, that developed nations have already done so. That Homo sapiens has matured. That "business as usual" that includes war has become maladaptive and we intend to live with each other without the destruction of the works of our hands, the waste of urgently needed resources, and the tragic suffering and loss of lives that are the result of war.

That we can and fully intend to live in peace!

What would have to happen to fully realize such a stunning, and positive transition on a global scale - the actual end to war itself? Is it realistically possible for this generation to lay the foundation for and begin building upon a foundation of enduring peace?

A global peace system is the mechanism by which we can achieve the enduring abolition of war. Arguably most global citizens are not aware thatpeace systems already exist (examples described below). Awareness of their existence has been growing, and factors that enable the establishment and maintenance of them are being studied (examples described below).

What is needed now is for a critical mass of the war-weary global community to use this knowledge to push for construction of a global peace system that enables a working future for the entire globe - for humanity's future - that is warless.

Perhaps the best, and mercifully short, general introduction to peace systems is a paper by the anthropologist Douglas Fry in the journal Science (336:879-884, 2012): "Life Without War." Fry first lists a number of cultures having peace systems. He then describes the features of three such societies and by doing so lays out features that peace systems share. The highlighted systems are ones of the Iroquois Great League of Peace, 10 Brazilian tribes, and the European Union. This is real-world study of what makes peace possible between non-angelic people living in non-utopian societies. It can bring our thinking down to earth.

In their book Opting out of War: Strategies to Prevent Violent Conflict, Mary Anderson and Marshall Wallace offer examples of thirteen communities around the world that opted out of the violence surrounding them. These non-war communities predicted the cost of violence on themselves and their families and found options to prevent their community from being sucked in. They embraced the goal of rejecting war, and careful study of how they managed to do so under difficult conditions also provides insights into what characterizes a society that chooses to live in peace.

The following is a list of selected reference books. They constitute a "must read" resource to be thoroughly digested and absorbed by anyone, or any group, with a serious interest in ending war.

Each book author, or set of authors, brings a unique viewpoint to this subject. They present views of historians, an anthropologist, an artist, political scientists, an evolutionary biologist, a sociologist, a reproductive scientist, a philosopher, psychologists, and peace activists.  

Taken in sum, these resources provide more than enough that we need to know in order to construct a global peace system.

English, J.J. 2007. Collapse of the War System. Developments in the Philosophy of Peace in the Twentieth Century. Ireland: Saor-Ollscoil Press in association with Choice Publishing.

Faure-brac, Russell. 2012. Transition to peace: A defense engineer's search for an alternative to war. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse.

Fry, Douglas P.  2006. The human potential for peace: an anthropological challenge to assumptions about war and violence. New York: Oxford University Press.

    2007. Beyond war: the human potential for peace. New York: Oxford University Press.

Goldstein, Joshua. 2001. War and gender. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    2011. Winning the war on war: the decline of armed conflict worldwide. New York: Dutton.

Hand, Judith. 2003. Women, power, and the biology of peace. San Diego, CA: Questpath Publishing.

       2014. Shift: The Beginning of war, the ending of war. San Diego, CA: Questpath Publishing.

Hinde, Robert & Rotblat, J. 2003. War No More. Eliminating Conflict in the Nuclear Age. Stirling, VA: Pluto Books.

Hudson, Valerie M., Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill, Mary Caprioli, and Chad F. Emmett. 2012. Sex and world peace. NY: Columbia University Press.

Irwin, Robert A. 1988. Building a peace system: exploratory project on the conditions of peace. Washington, D.C.: Expo Press.

Myers, Winslow. 2009. Living beyond war: a citizen's guide. MaryKnoll, NY: Orbis Books.

Pinker, Steven. 2011. The better angels of our nature: why violence has declined. New York: Viking.

Potts, Malcolm and Thomas Hayden. 2008. Sex and war. Dallas, TX: Benbella Books.

Shifferd, Kent D.. 2011. From War to Peace: A Guide to the Next Hundred Years. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.

In 2014, the founder of A Future Without War, Dr. Judith Hand, delivered a keynote speech at Åbo University in Vaasa, Finland at a conference the theme of which was "To Abolish War." This speech focused on two subjects: why we live in a moment in history that is uniquely poised to actually bring an end to war and establish a foundation for an enduring peace, and how that goal can be pursued and ultimately achieved within two generations, or even less.

The speech does the following:

• Explains why our time in history is different and posed for success while people who preceded us could not succeed.
• Puts the concept of a major social (paradigm) shift - a Nonviolence Revolution - into a broad historical context so we see how such a shift will fit into the story of human history on earth.
• Explains why a movement to end war can be the engine driving a Nonviolence Revolution.
• Describes the basics of how a global campaign to end war could be structured and work.
• Describes the two types of actions needed for success - Constructive and Obstructive Programs - and lists suggested "interest clusters" or cornerstones of Constructive Programs that are necessary for ending war and absolutely essential for building an enduring peace system.

We want to provide newsletter readers with a reminder about our extensive website,  www.afww.org. The materials can be a reference for personal use, something to share with friends or colleagues who doubt that it would ever be possible to abolish war, and as thought pieces to stimulate discussions, for example, by your students, a book group, or peace activist organizations. You will find on the site:

• A Mission Statement
• An Action Plan
• Keynote Speech - Åbo University, Vaasa, Finland 2014 - "War is Not Inevitable"
• Capstone Essay: "To Abolish War"
• "Overview" Essays - 7 essays explaining the core rationale for why it is reasonable to believe we could abolish war if we make it a priority.
• "Cornerstone" Essays - 9 essays explaining each of the broad categories of "good works" that we need to attend to simultaneously in any campaign to abolish war and maintain that state into the future.
• "The Books" - a Table of Contents, reviews, and FREE download of Women, Power, and the Biology of Peace, links to purchase that book and also A Future Without War: the Strategy of a Warfare Transition"
• A Link to the AFWW Blog
• A Map of Nonviolent Cultures
• A Video of Dr. Hand
• Several Movie and Book Reviews
• Archives of AFWW Newsletters
• Links to over 150 Organizations involved in some aspect of the campaign to abolish war
• Miscellaneous AFWW Essays

These are titles of and links to current Miscellaneous AFWW Essays 

• Is Ending War Possible? - An Action Plan for a Nonviolent Campaign to End War Permanently 
• The Myth of the Savage Savage Needs Debunking
• Locked in the Embrace of Male Biology: A Block to Positive Paradigm Shift 
• To Date, Nonviolence Movements Were "Before Their Time." Now They Are Poised to Change History 
• A Symphony of Transformation - San Jose, Costa Rica 2008 - Conducted by The Alliance for a New Humanity 
• Women's Global Security Summit - New York - 2007 
• Essential Human Goodness 
• Origins of War and Human Destiny 
• Changing the Biological Chemistry of Nonviolence Movements: Women on the Frontlines 
• Rick Santorum is a U.S. Presidential Candidate - and a Warmonger 
• Capstone Essay: "To Abolish War" 
• Sarah Palin and Why All Women are Not Progressives 
• Corporations are People? - If so, Democracy is Doomed 
• Darwin, Gandhi, Obama, and Berkeley University's Greater Good Science Center all Agree - Humans are Basically Good 
• World Peace Map - Nonviolent Cultures
• What Makes Us Happy Will Help Us End War 
• Liberian Women Demand and Get Peace! 
• Budgeting and War 
• "Capitalism: A Love Story" - An AFWW Review 
• Obama Wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize - Controversy in America 
• Women, Poverty, Economic Development - "Half the Sky" 
• The Unveiling of Ardi - How Old Is War? 
• Shaping the Future: a Proposal to Hasten a Global Paradigm Shift for the Security and Well-being of All Children Everywhere 
• A Cultural Paradigm Shift: Swift and Enduring 
• The Mutilation of Wonder Woman 
•  Gort, Climate Change, Ending War  
•  Balancing Oxytocin and Testosterone - the Key to Ending War
•  Drone Warfare and Moral Choice 
• !War is Obsolete! 
•  Book Review - The Moral Molecule: the Source of Love and Prosperity - Dr. Paul Zak 
•  Dismantling the War Machine