"Every gun that is fired, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it."
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Considered from a historical perspective, we are well along the path to the goal of a warless world (see How Far We Have Already Come).

What we need now is a qualitative, not quantitative, change. Our goal must evolve—not to reduce the number of wars, not to mitigate the physical and psychic damage of wars, not even to make the world a more peaceful place—but to end war. Period. We must keep this objective passionately in mind and never accept less. If we accept less, we'll achieve less.

Men and women of good will are already working to realize this goal. Their labors are the focus of some of the cornerstones discussed on this website and these individuals work in the hope that their efforts will reduce the chances of war. They might not realize that they're all part of a collective effort to end war forever, but surely quite a few sense that their efforts are a part of something larger than what is in their immediate view.

The first cornerstone upon which to build is the belief that the goal is achievable.

Embrace the Goal

We're already making progress in four other areas:

Spread Democracy

Ensure Essential Resources

Promote Nonviolent Conflict Resolution

Foster Connectedness

We devote enormous resources—money, manpower, and thought—to a fifth essential cornerstone. While it is essential, alone it can never end war.

Provide Security and Order

Two additional cornerstones are not yet widely recognized as critical to the success of this campaign of hope:

Enlist Young Men

Empower Women

The final cornerstone will complete the foundation. To bring an end to war, the major nations of the world must shift their economies from ones based on war to ones based on ending war.

Shift Our Economies

Click on the links below for answers to additional essential questions.

How long it will take to succeed.

How far we have already come.

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The Nine Cornerstones of The Great Change

Considered from a historical perspective, we are well along the path to the goal of a warless world (see How Far We Have Already Come).