War

Fighting for Peace: the battles that inspired generations of anti-war campaigners
Now the threat of nuclear war looms nearer again, we share the experience of eighty-year-old activist Ernest Rodker, whose work is displayed at The Imperial War Museum. With Jane Shallice and Jenny Nelson he discussed a recent history of the anti-war movement.

Empire en vogue
Nadine El-Enany examines the imperial pretensions of Britain's post-Brexit foreign affairs and trade strategy

Chilcot inquiry: don’t mention the oil
The Chilcot inquiry kept the oil industry and private interests free from scrutiny. Greg Muttitt and David Whyte report

Are nuclear weapons being transported through your town?
Ahead of a series of public meetings, Matt Hawkins calls on local communities to join the disarmament movement

Arms fair protesters put weapons industry on trial
The protesters who blockaded the DSEI arms fair should never have been on trial, writes Lisa Butler – it's the weapons trade that is in the wrong

If I had a hammer…
In 1996, ten women peace activists faced ten years in prison for taking hammers to Hawk jets – but were found not guilty after arguing their crime was necessary to prevent a greater one. One of the women, Andrea Needham, tells their story in this extract from her new book

Jeremy Hardy thinks… about Trident
'Nuclear weapons cannot be seen purely as a source of jobs'

Rebuilding Kobanê
Tom Anderson and Eliza Egret report from the war-torn city of Kobanê and meet those trying to rebuild what Daesh and US bombs have destroyed

Paris attacks and the climate summit: we can and must become stronger from this
Untimely acts of war have a long history of destroying blossoming social movements. We must make the links, argues Kara Moses: oil is the common factor between terrorism and climate change

The one thing that won’t stop terror is more war
Provoking retaliation is a key part of the jihadists' strategy, writes Alex Nunns – we need a different approach

Before you go to Calais… How to make your help for refugees effective
Lots of people now want to help the refugees in Calais – but turning up unannounced with a van-load of stuff can do more harm than good. Kate Bradley looks at the best ways to make a difference

Retelling Alice’s story: how an anti-war feminist was framed for murder
Kitty Webster talks to author Sheila Rowbotham about a new edition of her play on the anti-war feminist Alice Wheeldon

A tiny nation’s big challenge to Trident
The Marshall Islands – with a population of a mere 70,000 – is taking a stand that could force a change in UK policy and ultimately benefit the whole world, writes Dan Barron

Militarising Communities: The Armed Forces Community Covenant
Vron Ware reports on how the Armed Forced Community Covenant is a crucial part of the creeping militarisation of UK society

We can’t just tweet in the face of genocide
Ewa Jasiewicz, activist with London Palestine Action, explains how you can join the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel's massacre and occupation

Resisting the UK’s political and military support for Israel
Andrew Smith, from Campaigns Against Arms Trade, explains how the UK are arming Israel

Guerrilla woolfare
As knitter-activists plan to stretch a seven‑mile scarf between two atomic weapons plants, Cynthia Cockburn considers how women worldwide bring feminism to the fight against militarism

Our lives are militarised
The PR strategy of placing soldiers at civil society events is examined by Sam Walton in a new Quaker Peace & Social Witness briefing.

Summer anti­war events and exhibitions
The radical centenary of the first world war will include actions, films and workshops

Putting the arms industry on trial
Sean Douglas and other activists are prosecuting two companies that promoted torture equipment in the UK

Shirkers and conchies: how governments tried to silence WWI resisters
Peace activists faced enemy treatment but left a legacy of perserverance, writes Tim Gee

The path of peace
More than a tactic, nonviolence is a philosophy for transformation, writes Satish Kumar

Lest we forget
Thousands of Britons opposed and struggled against the first world war. Adam Hochschild celebrates their memory

Drone wars
Michelle Zellers spoke with Medea Benjamin, author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control and founder of the US-based anti-war group Codepink, who was arrested in May for interrupting Barack Obama’s speech on his drone programme

Jeremy Hardy thinks… about war
'The thing we should know by now is that unpicking their motives doesn’t really help to demolish their case'

February 15, 2003: The day the world said no to war
Phyllis Bennis argues that while the day of mass protest did not stop the war, it did change history

That Cuba feeling
Fifty years ago this month the world came close to nuclear Armageddon. Paul Anderson looks back at the Cuban missile crisis and anti-nuclear campaigning since

Iran in the crosshairs again
Sabre rattling against Iran is nothing new, but that doesn’t mean the threat of war isn’t real. Phyllis Bennis analyses the situation in the wider Middle East

Breaking the silence
Michael Pooler discovers how former IDF soldiers are opening up about life in the occupied territories.

‘War is a racket’: Lessons of 9/11
Ross Eventon discusses the shortcomings of media comment on the last decade of US empire