The Future of Peace begins from a simple observation: peace has always been oriented toward the future. Whether seeking to prevent violence, transform conflict, expand justice, strengthen institutions, or reshape relationships, work on peace is ultimately concerned with creating the conditions under which different futures become possible.
Today, the conditions shaping those futures are changing rapidly. Armed conflict is becoming more frequent and more deadly and military spending continues to reach record levels. Institutions established to prevent conflict, uphold international law, and support cooperation are facing sustained political challenge and, in many cases, deliberate erosion. Political, technological, ecological, economic, and social transformations are challenging many of the assumptions that have long informed peace research and practice.
But, this is not only a story of crisis and challenge. Longstanding efforts to prevent violence, expand justice, and strengthen cooperation continue, and new ideas and new actors are emerging across a wide range of fields, including many that do not describe themselves as contributing to “peace.” The Future of Peace asks what these changes mean for how we understand, imagine, and pursue peace today. Rather than advancing a singular vision of peace or prescribing a single path toward it, the program explores the changing conditions under which more peaceful futures become possible. It serves as a space for reflection, connection, and experimentation, bringing diverse perspectives into conversation, synthesizing insights across traditions, and strengthening the ideas, relationships, and capacities through which people collectively imagine, navigate, and build more peaceful futures.
