Introduction

Dedication

Articles

Among Mahatma Gandhi’s boldest ideas was his dream for a Shanti Sena or ‘peace army’: that somehow cadres of men and women who were unarmed could confront attacking armies. By far the most dramatic Shanti Sena the world has ever seen was organized in what was then the Northwest Frontier Province of India by the Mahatma’s close disciple Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan; and the Khan did this not among gentle Hindus but the notoriously warlike Pashtuns, or Pathans.

What if Afghani citizens were to determine whether the U.S. military continues a surge or withdraws troops?

Peace activists know that in addition to declaring what we are against, we need to tell people what we are for.

The US has a legal and ethical obligation to the people of Afghanistan. That obligation will not be met by putting more boots on the ground. Instead, we need policies that address the grinding poverty, mass violence against women, predatory government and ongoing warfare that plague Afghanistan.

The good news in both of Mortenson’s books is this: give people schools instead of bombs.

From the Institute