One Big Peace Conference and Open Borders
David Swanson / World BEYOND War

(October 16, 2026) — Approximately once a day for forever, so approximately 365 times a year, someone proposes to me the same good idea. Hey, they suggest, I’d like to organize one big peace conference and create one big peace movement to unite everyone and be stronger instead of fractured.

I have several answers. First and foremost is: hell yeah, great idea, do it! do it! do it!

Another answer is: there are reasons the 364 other people who’ve said this to me this year have not actually done it, just like the 365 who thought of it last year. It costs lots of money. It’s harder to get people to a conference than to a rally or a protest. There are language barriers. Whoever is in charge of organizing it will be assumed by others to not be totally welcoming of their views.

There will be at least some truth to that, since no two people completely agree on everything. If you have this one big conference for everyone in a physical location, as 90 percent of you with this idea want, it will be closer and easier to get to for some people than for others. Maybe we should attempt a regional one for some people. Etc. Etc.

But once a year, I like to focus on a different answer, this one: I don’t have time to do yours for you because I’m already doing it.

In 2014, a bunch of us created World BEYOND War to be one big global peace movement based only on Earth and nowhere more specific, to oppose every side of every war, to oppose every manufacturing of every weapon, to oppose every scrap of war propaganda and war culture no matter its origin, to abolish the entire war business in toto as a global nonviolent educational and activist movement collectively run by a global board.

We now have a large and growing staff (14) and board (17) and advisory board (19) and list of active chapters (56) and affiliates (125) engaged in opposing war and promoting peace night-and-day, year-in and year-out. We’re not yet nearly what we need to be, but we are a good step forward from “Hey, I’ve got an idea!” And we have an annual conference online for everyone.

Of course, no conference will meet exactly the detailed vision of any single person. But you’re all invited to make this one yours. It is the reason I can’t stop and start over with your idea for one, so why not at least check it out? It’s a gathering and strategizing bonanza with dedicated activists from locations in dozens of countries, plotting as a global movement to abolish the most horrible thing humanity does to itself. Want to come?

Each year, we focus on a particular theme closely tied to ending all war. This year’s conference, which is coming up soon on October 23-25 on Zoom (Register here) is looking at borders, including how wars form them, what they do and do not prevent, how borders are militarized against the victims of war transforming them into enemies in a new sort of war, and how borders creep inward militarizing whole societies.

We’ll be considering the prospects for a world beyond war and borders. What would that mean? What would it look like? What steps are already being taken to get there?

The mythical world of “open borders” that rightwing politicians falsely accuse liberal politicians of favoring: what is that world in the words of people who actually do favor it, and why is it not frightening so much as enticing? This conference will include panel discussions, breakout rooms where we can all share, artistic performances, and the growing solidarity and power of one big growing peace movement. You should come.

 

What I Just Told a Rightwing U.S. Media Outle
David Swanson / DavidSwanson.org

(October 16, 2026) — • Potential Escalation: Does this military buildup suggest that the Pentagon is preparing for a major escalation against Iran, potentially after the November 3 midterm elections, or could these deployments primarily serve a deterrent purpose?

The U.S. president has indicated desperation and frustration, and has threatened escalation and even nuclear escalation (nothing less would eliminate a whole civilization etc). Continuing the war or ending it as things stand is a political disaster for him.

Some leading Democrats and many media outlets, rather than pressing him to end the war, have focused on denouncing whatever deal he might make to do so. Obviously any deal will be worse for Trump and Western oil companies than never having created the war or never having torn up the previous deal. For the rest of us, and for the people of Iran, and for the rule of law, any deal would be better than more warfare, but when did this president ever care about those things?

Of course, he could threaten, but his words lack credibility. Even with a show of force, his lack of credibility, combined with the anger of the Iranian government, could mean that more threats change nothing. So, there is every risk of a major U.S. escalation, relying on U.S. media outlets to pursue ratings and to improve their opinion of a war in proportion to the number of members of the U.S. military killed in it.

• Military Implications:What would a major escalation mean for the U.S. military in terms of personnel, operational commitments, resources and the risk of a prolonged regional war?

It would mean a real struggle in both houses of Congress over both a proposed supplemental spending bill for the war and over the National Defense Authorization Act, with many Congress Members of both parties, but especially Democrats, torn between U.S. public opposition and the militarism of campaign funders, think tankers, lobbyists, media outlets, etc.

• Global Economic Consequences:How could renewed large-scale hostilities affect the global economy, particularly oil prices, international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and global energy markets?

An escalation could fully block the Strait including for fertilizer, eventually leading to famine. It could also, in the long run, further accelerate the non-U.S. world’s shift toward solar and wind energies that cannot be blocked in any waterway — a silver lining, but hardly a compensation to all those who would be killed directly by the war, and hardly a shining commentary on the wisdom of a species that knows what survival requires and won’t move in that direction unless driven by a self-imposed catastrophe.

David Swanson is executive director of World BEYOND War and the author of many books including the most recent title, “War Is Still a Lie.”