We Can Build the World We Want with a More Peaceful U.S. Foreign Policy

Note from the CREDO team: This June, Win Without War is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO community will help Win Without War build a more progressive and just U.S. foreign policy that values people and the planet over war and profit.

Read this important blog post from Annika London, Senior Digital Associate, Win Without War below, then click here to visit CREDODonations.com to cast your vote to help determine how we distribute our monthly grant to this organization and our other amazing grantees this June.

At this point, it is clear that current U.S. foreign policy is not only astoundingly inadequate in addressing the real security threats we face — pandemics, climate change, social inequality and more — but also certainly causes and exacerbates these threats as well. 

Over and over, the U.S. government has prioritized the Pentagon’s bloated budget and weapons contractors’ profits over the needs of communities at home and abroad. It has centered violence and war profiteering over building true security and honoring human rights, especially for people most impacted by U.S. actions abroad who live in fear of drone strikes in Iraq, Syria, and Somalia, or see their chance at a decent quality of life chipped away by blanket sanctions in Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela. 

But that’s where a group like Win Without War comes in. For almost two decades, our team has worked to democratize U.S. foreign policy and provide progressive alternatives, so that we can achieve more peaceful, just, and common sense policies that ensure that all people can find and take advantage of opportunity equally and feel secure.

The end of the Trump administration was an opportunity to double down on our commitment to this mission, but the reality is that our work is critical no matter who is in the White House. This year, we’ve organized to prevent direct U.S./Russia military confrontation resulting from war in Ukraine while protecting communities at risk, including LGBTQ+ people and, African and Middle Eastern diasporas. We also continue to work to avoid war with Iran and support a return to diplomacy with Iran, by defending the Iran nuclear deal  in Congress and pushing back against Trump’s failed “maximum pressure” sanctions strategy that has resulted in the unnecessary suffering of millions of Iranians.

Looking ahead, we will continue to push back on the misguided notion touted by weapons manufacturers and the gun lobby that a near-trillion dollar budget for weapons and war along with weak checks around human rights and safety will ultimately make people in the United States or across the globe safer. And we will not stop challenging the hypocrisy of U.S. policy as it picks and chooses which human rights it will value and which human lives are deserving of dignity and security solely based on whether it can turn a profit or gain more power from such actions. 

Transforming U.S. foreign policy is a monumental task, but it is how we will finally end our endless wars, get accountability and justice for those impacted by U.S. militarism and violence, and truly achieve peace and security. This is a mission that takes more than one person, organization, or even generation — we look forward to making this transformation happen alongside a collective of other organizations, activists, and community leaders, and we hope you’ll join us too!

Please don’t forget to vote on this month’s CREDO grantees, and learn more about our work and take action with us at www.winwithoutwar.org.