WE SHALL BEAT OUR SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES

The Peace and Security Program of the Institute for Policy Studies includes the Economic Coversion Project (ECP) dedicated to educating the public on the need and the means for an orderly transfer of military resources to civilian use.

The end of the Cold War gives us an unprecedented opportunity to reverse the arms race, build a new foundation for international security, and reorient billions of dollars in the defense budget to our neglected domestic needs. What holds us back are the millions jobs and the economic health of whole communities and whole sectors of our economy that are currently dependent on military spending.

The key to breaking this impasse is a comprehensive program of economic conversion, emphasizing planning for alternative production, before the cuts and the layoffs occur. Replacing the stimulus of military spending will also require investments that will open up alternative markets for defense contractors and promote sustainable economic growth.

New Reports from ECP

Recent studies from ECD include: A Tale of Two Markets: Trade in Arms and Environmental Technolgies, From Private to State Capitalism: How the Permanent War Economy Transformed the Institutions of American Capitalism and US Conversion after the Cold War, 1990-1997.

Upcoming Conference

The 1999 International Grassroots Summit on Military Base Cleanup is designed to help grassroots community and nationally-based activists cope with the problems associated with overseas military activities and advance the cause of U.S. responsibility for base cleanup. The program will allow activists and advance the cause of U.S. responsibility for base cleanup. The program will allow activists from host nations to exchange information, to network, and to craft a common agenda which they will then present to the media, to Congres and to the United Nations. Activists attending the Summit will leave better able to advance their interests at home and be part of an international grassroots action plan to secure the toxic and hazardous materials cleanup of American military bases overseas.

The ECP Report Archives

ECP issues various briefing papers, other reports, and longer monographs on conversion-related topics including infrastructure and economc conversion.

Rebuilding America's Means of Production

A special ECP publication showing the tradeoffs between necessary industrial investment and military programs, and between infrastructure investments and military programs.

Organizations & Publications

A list of organizations working on conversion issues and related publications.

Government Resources

This page includes links to an array of administrative programs relevant to economic conversion within the White House, Executive Agencies and the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Labor and Transportation. Links to major Congressional sources are also included.

The New Economy

Published quarterly up until the Fall of 1995, The New Economy reported on developments in the direction of these goals, as the process unfolds in government, industry, academia and in forums of independent political action.

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