On May 3, 2014, peace and justice activists gathered to mark the 100 year anniversary of World War I, and to explore the state of peace, war, and international affairs today. The conference featured esteemed speakers from organizations and universities around the world.

Here are some videos of much of the conference proceedings below, which include Question and Answers as well:

Copies of many of the talks from the conference, as well as other relevant (and useful!) documents, are available for download below.

Asia-Pacific pivot: a futile campaign to reinforce U.S. hegemony

In January, 2011, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a major U.S. foreign and military policy initiative: the diplomatic, economic and military pivot to Asia and the Pacific. This speech on the pivot by Joseph Gerson of AFSC’s Peace and Economic Security Program was prepared to help build peace movement capabilities to prevent war and to build shared security solutions to Asia-Pacific tensions.

Text of Panel Lecture by John Burroughs: The Limits of the Moral Imagination

John Burroughs is the Executive Director for Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy.

Text of Lecture by Irene Gendzier: The Middle East and SW Asia: Resource Wars, Imperial Overstretch and Regional Realignments

Irene Gendzier is Professor Emeritus at Boston University

Text of Lecture by Joseph Gerson: The U.S. "Pivot" to Asia & the Pacific

*Dr. Joseph Gerson is Director of Programs and Director of the Peace & Economic Security Program of the American Friends Service Committee, Northeast Region. He is convener of the Working Group for Peace and Demilitarization in Asia and the Pacific and a member of the Board of the International Peace Bureau. E-mail: JGerson@afsc.org

This presentation was first made at Facing the Dangers of Great Power War: A Conference on the Centenary of World War I, New York, May 3. It was also given at the Peace Event Sarajevo 2014, Sarajevo, Bosnia, June 7, 2014

Article by Akira Kawasaki and Celine Nahory

The following article by Akira Kawasaki and Celine Nahory reflects the essential content of Kawasaki-san’s speech at the Facing the Dangers Conference on May 3, 2014.

Akira Kawasaki is Executive Committee member of Peace Boat.

Celine Nahory is Coordinator of Global Article 9 Campaign to Abolish War.

Text of Lecture by Michael Klare: Geopolitics and War

Michael Klare is a professor of Peace and World Security Stuies based at Hampshire College.

Text of Lecture by Fr. Paul Lansu: The Risk of Great Power War: Regional European Perspective; How to Prevent a Possible Second Cold War?

Fr. Paul Lansu is Senior Policy Advisor for Pax Christi International and Vice President of the International Peace Bureau.

Text of Lecture by Andrew Lichterman: Looking Forward, Looking Backward: World War I, Today’s Risk of Great Power war, and Nuclear Disarmament.

Andrew Lichterman is a lawyer and policy analyst for the Western States Legal Foundation, based in Oakland, California. This is the text of a presentation delivered at “Facing the Dangers of 21st Century Great Power War: A Conference on the Centenary of World War I,” held May 3, 2014, in New York City. The conference was sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee, Peace and Economic Security Program, International Peace Bureau, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung—New York Office, and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms and its U.S.

Text of Lecture by Zia Mian: Remembering World War I and What It Means

Zia Mian - a physicist and peace activist at Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security – at the 2014 conference: Facing the Dangers of 21st Century Great Power War.

Powerpoint Presentation by Paul Walker: From Ypres to Damascus: Lessons of Chemical Weapons Abolition

Paul F. Walker, Ph.D. is the Director for Environmental Security & Sustainability for Green Cross International

Text of Presentation by Emira Woods

Emira Woods is the Global Client Principal for Social Impact Programs at ThoughtWorks, a technology firm commited to social and economic justice. From 2003 to 2014, she was co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, and an expert on U.S. foreign policy with a special emphasis on Africa and the developing world. 

Call from May 3rd Conference

May 3, 2014 Conference Agenda: Facing the Dangers of 21st Century Great Power War: A Conference on the Centenary of World War 1

Conference Speakers and Agenda : Facing the Dangers of 21st Century Great Power War

Speakers and Chairs include: Akira Kawasaki, Alicia Godsberg, Anderw Lichterman, Arielle Denis,  David Webb, Emira Woods, Erhard Crome,      Götz Nuneck, Irene Gendzier, Jacqueline Carasso, John Borroughs, Joseph Gerson, Judith LeBlanc, Lisa Clark, M. V. Romana, Michael Klare, Paul Lanso, Paul Walker, Reiner Braun, and Zia Mian.