Roadmap for peace

One of my favorite activist peace organizations, American Friends Service Committee, has posted this "Roadmap for Peace" which contains very simple directives to refocus our country on a peace-first initiative. In simple, plain language, they are sending this plan to our leaders in the US. Please read the plan and sign on!
Thanks, and blessings to each of you.


Roadmap for Peace (http://www.roadmapforpeace.org)

We agree: Our current foreign policy hasn’t worked.

We need new thinking — ideas that advance human dignity and opportunity. Ideas that lay a deeper foundation for lasting security.

And the United States can lead the way.

With AFSC leadership, more than 30 movers and shakers — think tanks, faith-based groups, nongovernmental organizations, and others — built five key principles to lead our next administration.

We’re at a crossroads. These principles form our roadmap for bold steps into a more peaceful, more secure future.

We call on the next U.S. President and administration to engage in a new foreign policy based on these five core principles.
The five core principles

1.Our nation should invest in peace.

Our country should invest in diplomacy, development, and conflict prevention — cost-effective ways to improve national and global security.

2. Military force should be the LAST option.

The military is not an effective relief agency. The government needs a strong civilian foreign assistance and crisis response team.

3.Give diplomacy a chance.

With a highly skilled diplomatic corps, the United States can prevent conflict and restore its international reputation.

4. Be a part of global peacebuilding efforts.

We must work with renewed commitment in international institutions and partners to address major global conflicts and challenges, such as nonproliferation, climate change, migration, public health, and poverty.

5 Create justice through good development and trade policies.

The nation’s interests, and the world’s, benefit from trade and development policies that alleviate poverty, treat men and women equally, and protect the environment.