Page 10 RAIN Summer 1986 ACCESS~· Security Alternatives l_ I /J ~ ~ ~ ~ /; L \, ~ ( ( - FROM: Beyond the Bomb (Illustration by Ed Koren) To End War: A New Approach to International Conflict, by Robert Woito, 1982, 755 pp., $12.95 from: The Pilgrim Press 132 West 31 Street New York, NY 10001 Ending war is a task of such great magnitude that a person naturally feels powerless in the face of it.· On the other hand, it has become clear that we must end war (and soon!) or war will end us.· The question-what can I do?-which is asked rhetorically and emphasizes the futility of any undertaking, can be changed to: what can I do? If this latter question appeals ,more to you, this book is a good pla~e to begin. If you've already begun, it's a good place to learn some things you didn't know. This is the sixth e~ition of a work first publish·ed in 1967 as an annotated bibliography. It's much more now. Robert Woito, Director of the World Without War Council-Midwest, in Chicago, contends that "although conflict between people and groups is in the nature of things, organized mass violence is ·not." The six conditions essential to a world without war are enumerated as: law, community, development, disarmament, human rights, nonviolence. An extensive annotated bibliography cover~ these subjects as well as prevalent concerns in world politics-power, military strategy, the , national interest, and nationalism. Each section has an introduction which gives an· analysis of the topic. The problems raised are always accompanied by specific, practical solutions. The book includes a list of world affairs organizations, with a short descripti9n of each, and listings of international peace institutes and American peace studies programs in universities. Most of the obstacles· to creating a world without war have been theoreti- . cally ad,dressed fo great detail, and the practical steps that need to be taken are also known. Now it remains for us to take those steps. -Johnny Stallings Johnny Stallings is active in the Portland Greens. Beyond the Bomb: Living Without Nuclear Weapons, by Mark Sommer, 1985, 180 pp., $7.95 from: Expro Press The Talman Company 150 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10011 Relatively brief and very readable, ·this book begins to bring together many pieces of the peace puzzle that are not commonly known. In a sense, the title is misleading, seeming to. suggest a n·arrow preoccupation with eliminating nuclear arsenals, as if nuclear weapons could be removed in the same way we cut out the bad part of ap apple, leaving · the rest int~ct. However, Sommer's "field ·guide to alternative strategies for building a stable peace" takes us far beyond the relatively familiar territory ·of nuclear disarmament. Sommer surveys 10 different approaches that seek to. lead us "beyond the Bomb," devoting a chapter to each: 1. alternative defense ("protec.tion without threat"), 2. alternative security ("not by arms alone"), 3. world order ("as if people mattered"), 4. disarmament ("the road not taken"), 5. nonviolence ("strengths of the weak"), 6. peace research ("beyond 'permanent pre-hostilities"'), 7. economic conversion ("swords into services"), 8. negotiation ("tying is winning"),' 9~ game theory ("ni~e guys last longest"), and 10. alternative futurism ("toward more practical utopias"). He concludes by responding to Robert Fuller's provocative question, "Is there a better game than war?" (i.e., can we find something in peace to provide the exilaration, social unification, and glory that war seems to bring?), and discussing the psychological fallout of living with the Bomb. Somm~r discusses several prominent thinkers, think tanks, and organizations in each chapter, liberally sprin,kling the text with quotations. Although the book attempts no tidy synthesis or Unified Peace Plan; a fair am~unt of convergence emerges among various approaches that may have had little or no previous contact with each other. · The puzzle pieces may not all fit neatly together, but putting them side by side like .this suggests the outlines of a new peace gestalt. If you're looking for new approaches toward a more peaceful world, start here. -FLS \
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