Peace and Economic Security Program

Anticipating the Obama Administration

Obama in Gloabal Perspective: Essay for the Organization of American Historians

Obama's Election Triumph: Paradoxes of Hope. Prepared for Japan Peace Committee's Peace Journal


U.S. Peace Delegation to China

Group Photo

Between April 17 and 29, 2008 Joseph Gerson, Director of AFSC Programs in New England, led a twelve member U.S. peace movement delegation to China to learn about Chinese perspectives of U.S.-China relations and of the U.S. military build up in the Asia-Pacific Region. The Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament hosted the delegation for meetings with Chinese Party and Government officials, scholars and think tank researchers. The delegation visited Beijing, Yan’an, Xian and Shanghai. A joint AFSC- CPAPD Peace Forum was held in Beijing on April 22. Keynote speeches by Delegation members follow below. Speeches given by Chinese participants will be posted as soon as we receive the translations.

Kitty Hsu Dana – Peace Forum Opening Remarks
Joseph Gerson - China’s Rise and U.S.-Chinese Relations
Joe Volk – New ideas and New Problems in Maintaining International Peace and Security
Kevin Martin – The Untied States, China, and the Middle East
Patricia DeBoer - The Role of NGOs in Building International Peace and Security
Andrew Tomlinson – Non-Governmental organizations at the United Nations and the Work of the Quaker United Nations Office

Delegation’s Summary Statement
Meetings and Interlocutors
Bibliography: Introduction to Chinese Political History, Chinese Security Policies, and U.S.-Chinese Relations




Book Cover

New book: Empire and the Bomb
now available

Leading nuclear specialist and peace campaigner Joseph Gerson explains why atomic weapons were first built and used--and how the United States uses them today to preserve its global empire. Read more about Gerson's new book, Empire and the Bomb: How the US Uses Nuclear Weapons to Dominate the World

Empire and Nuclear Weapons Published on Wednesday, December 5, 2007 by Foreign Policy in Focus

Empire in Decline: What the Presidential Candidates Aren’t Telling Us, Sermon, Bedford, Ma. Unitarian Church, Feb. 10, 2008

Empire, The Bomb, and Common Security, Sermon, Nantucket Unitarian Church, Sept. 30, 2007

Clinton and Obama: Wed to Nuclear Terrorism

Joseph Gerson's Hiroshima World Conference Speech


End the Iraq War

We Can Overcome our Complex of Crises- Joseph Gerson's speech at the Boston "End the War" Rally - October 11, 2008

Hiroshi Takakusaki's speech at the Boston "End the War" Rally - October 11, 2008

Eyes Wide Open

Eyes Wide Open
Download Eyes Wide Open poster (PDF, 1 MB)

No Bases


Asia-Pacific Issues


Recent work for peace and economic security

U.S. Foreign Military Bases & Military Colonialism: Personal and Analytical Perspectives – by Joseph Gerson

Why I was Arrested (On Cambridge Common) For Protesting The War by Joseph Gerson

Sign and Circulate Gensuikyo’s "Call for the Swift Abolition of Nuclear Weapons"

Joseph Gerson's speech to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's Annual Conference

Zia Mian on  “Protecting the Empire: Nuclear Weapons, Military Bases and the United States”


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Information & Resources

Reports, speeches, and other resources are available in the PESP archive

Contact us:

Joseph Gerson
617-661-6130 x119
[jgerson]@[afsc.org]
(remove brackets)

Paul Shannon
617-661-6130 x123
[pshannon]@[afsc.org]
(remove brackets)

2161 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140

Biographical Sketches

Joseph Gerson >

Paul Shannon >