Global Action International Network
The core program statement of Global Action to Prevent War is constantly undergoing revision, update, and improvement. Organizations and individuals reading the statement for the first time are invited to send comments and suggestions to the Coordinating Committee. Revised drafts, published every 3-6 months, take into account suggestions from supporters and changes in the world. This keeps the program statement up-to-date, relevant, and open to input from members of an ever-expanding coalition. Until all phases of the Global Action program have been implemented, Global Action will be "a coalition-building network-in-formation," inviting the active participation of old and new supporters-and gradually evolving from a campaign to a global movement.
The basic structure for creating a global movement is provided by the Global Action International Network, a worldwide association of groups and individuals who support Global Action to Prevent War.
GAIN offers a capacious umbrella for coalition-building. It allows individual and organizational members of the Network to work for diverse goals while identifying themselves as part of a much larger global movement.
GAIN welcomes organizations that relate to the Global Action program in different ways:
l Like efforts by groups such as the Hague Appeal for Peace, Earth Action, or the European Conflict Platform, which have multi-issue campaigns to prevent war.
l Allied efforts by groups such as Abolition 2000 (advocating government commitment to talks on abolishing nuclear weapons by the year 2000) or the campaigns against land mines or small arms.
l Component efforts by groups working for intermediate goals included in the Global Action platform, such as cuts in military forces and spending, limits on arms trade, education and training in nonviolent conflict resolution, or increased use of international courts.
l Related efforts in fields which would benefit from the success of Global Action to Prevent War, such as humanitarian aid, refugee relief, third world development, human rights, the environment, economic justice, groups concerned with women's issues and with preventing domestic and youth violence, and businesses seeking stable markets and currencies for international finance and trade.
Participants in GAIN are urged to identify themselves as GAIN "Members" (for like, allied, and component efforts) or "Affiliates" (for related efforts) on their letterhead or Web site, or in their literature by adding the phrase, "Member of GAIN, the Global Action International Network," or "Affiliate of GAIN, the Global Action International Network." This can have an enormous impact on the progress of Global Action to Prevent War. It instantly brings brand-name recognition to the campaign, and it quickly signals the strength in the numbers of organizations that support Global Action goals.
At the same time, Global Action "brand-name" recognition has the potential to bring greater public, political, and financial support to participating organizations, without any significant investment of money or time, because members of the public understand that when coordinated, various campaigns have a much greater chance of success. Individually, these campaigns are likely to be too narrowly based to carry the day; but when taken together, their tremendous potential for change become self-evident.
Groups and individuals can choose their own degree of involvement in GAIN. "Mailing list only" indicates an interest in being informed about Global Action. Members and Affiliates, who support the general thrust of the Global Action program, can participate in GAIN Councils and use the public areas of the GAIN web site. Greater degrees of participation can involve education or lobbying on components of the Global Action program or the program as whole, input into the evolving program, or becoming a Network node for Global Action activity and support.
1 Major weapon systems comprise combat aircraft and armed helicopters, tanks, armored personnel carriers, heavy artillery and missiles, and naval ships over 1,000 tons.
2 There are about 20 military "middle powers" which would cut by 25 percent: Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Poland, and Ukraine in Europe; Japan, India, Pakistan, North and South Korea, and Taiwan in Asia; and Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, and Syria in the Middle East. All other countries (about 170), which have very small armed forces, would cut by 15 percent.
Originally published in the February/March 1999 issue of Boston Review