Stop the Next War Now: Effective Responses to Violence and Terrorism

Medea Benjamin · Jodie Evans

Nov 2010 · New World Library

About this ebook

Violence begets violence — so believes the majority of people around the world who have stood up in protest against war. Stop the Next War Now is a reflective look and call to action to end violence, by acclaimed peace activists, experts, and visionaries, including Eve Ensler, Barbara Lee, Arianna Huffington, Janeane Garafalo, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Hong Kingston, and many more. The book shares expert insight on the issues and powers-that-be that encourage war, including the media, politicians, global militarization, and the pending scarcity of natural resources. A powerful, smart, and passionate work, this book aims to educate and reflect on the effectiveness of peace movement activities and offer hope — through shared ideas, action steps, and checklists — to transform a culture of violence to a culture of peace. How can people humanize each other, ask the authors, and act as responsible global citizens? With vitality, joy, and a dash of CODEPINK-style humor, Stop the Next War Now insists that the time is ripe for the first-ever global movement to put an end to war — and tells readers what they can do about it.

About the author

Medea Benjamin is the founding director of Global Exchange and cofounded codepink with Jodie Evans. She also helped bring together the groups forming United for Peace and Justice. Medea has traveled several times to Afghanistan and Iraq, where she organized the Occupation Watch Center. At the start of 2005 she accompanied military families whose loved ones had been killed in the war to bring a shipment of humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people. In 2000, she was the Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. Her campaign mobilized thousands of Californians around issues such as paying workers a living wage, providing universal health care, and building schools, not prisons. Medea is a key figure in the antisweatshop movement, having spearheaded campaigns against companies such as Nike and Gap. In 1999, Medea helped expose indentured servitude among garment workers in the U.S. territory of Saipan, which led to a billion-dollar lawsuit against seventeen retailers. She is the author or coauthor of eight books, including the award-winning Don’t Be Afraid, Gringo, and helped produce TV documentaries such as Sweating for a T-Shirt.

Jodie has worked on behalf of community, social-justice, environmental, and political causes for more than thirty years. Her book Twilight of Empire: Responses to Occupation includes her journal entries for trips to Iraq. She serves on the boards of Rainforest Action Network, Drug Policy Alliance, Bioneers, the Garden Project, Community Self-Determination Institute, 826 LA, and the Circle of Life Foundation. A mother of three, Jodie is a harpist, gardener, and potter when not working to end war.