FAQ

How do you define and measure world peace?

Our working definition of world peace is "an end to politically organized deadly conflict." Said in another way, peace is an effective process among the family of nations to solve conflicts nonviolently and to adhere to practices of peaceful safety. Peace is constructive conflict.

How will organizations that profit from war ever let peace happen?

For us, there are no losers in world peace. It is important to include everyone in its success. This includes giving peace contracts to current weapons manufacturers and helping with education and job reallocation of that shifting industry.

Certain corporations or people may actively work against world peace. If there were not forces moving us toward war, we would not have it today. However, organizing and collaborating for peace will eventually win over these people. The practices of peace safety progressively reduce the sphere of influence of evil people to the point where they can no longer create war. Their actions to harm others then become a matter for the police.

Will politicians who just want power ever give us peace?

This is a question loaded with assumptions. Politicians are individuals who want safety for themselves and their families as much as anyone. Politicians generally want to look good, stay in power, and serve their respective countries. Although  there are many unfortunate exceptions to this, the practice of peace safety will include ways for easing leaders out of power that work for everyone.

What if 80 percent of conflicts are solved in the next five years—is that still failure?

To us personally, yes. If in the United States slavery had ended in all but one state, would that be emancipation? Our goal is a fundamental shift and agreement in how we treat our conflicts among the family of nations. As of this writing there are seventeen politically organized deadly conflicts going on around the world. Our objective within five years is to have that number at zero and a standard process of peace-as-safety practices in place.

Don't we need to solve all basic needs first in order to create world peace?

Great organizations are already working to provide the basic needs of humanity like food, shelter, healthcare, and education. Meeting basic needs is synergistic with practices of peace as safety. It will be easier to provide for these needs in a world where the family of nations has agreed to constructive conflict. As an organization we believe that we can have world peace even before basic needs are met.

Don't people need to have an inner spiritual transformation before the world can be peaceful?

We have had many years of millions of people working for their inner spiritual transformation. Different spiritual, consciousness, and self-development movements have been going on for decades. It is time to reap the fruits of all of this work. We do not believe that there is a further condition of spiritual transformation necessary to have world peace. What has all this transformation been for? If you look at it another way, where is the boundary between inside "peace" and outside "peace"? Can you really have peace inside knowing that the brutality of war is taking place now and the threat to you personally is increasing? In a world where the family of nations has agreed to prevent and solve conflicts through peace-as-safety practices, what would be available for your life? What could you no longer make an excuse about? Or complain about? It seems to us that the outer transformation of world peace also facilitates the transformation of inner peace. It is a lot easier to meditate or commune with the earth when you know you are not going to be raped or killed.

Isn't war just human nature?

It was thought that the accepted institution of slavery was human nature. It had been going on since recorded history and was endorsed by every major religion. Yet slavery has been, if not completely eradicated, completely delegitimized. Likewise with war, education about human rights and the brutality of war has been emerging for generations: gaining momentum from the horrors of World War I that resulted in the Geneva Convention; outrage about the Holocaust that was an impetus for the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights; subsequent and currently ongoing atrocities that continue to remind us of the cost of legitimate war on our planet. As humans we have differing views and will always have conflict, but the capacity to negotiate is more of an innate human trait than to kill. Some of the most optimistic people we have spoken to about creating peace in five years are survivors of war from Israel, Rwanda, Kenya, Palestine, Nigeria, and Lebanon. The same generation that endured brutal genocide in Rwanda created changes in their educational system to eliminate tribal rivalries, as well as to constitutionally guarantee women at least 30 percent of government offices. Everyday people in Lebanon who had lived through civil war spoke out to prevent it again in 2008. There is already momentum toward handling international conflicts through more efficient means than war. War is a cultural phenomenon that is politically organized violence; we can have peace in the same way, through a cultural phenomenon that is politically organized peace practices. The danger of war will always be a potential, just as we can imagine a return to institutional human sacrifice and slavery.

What level are you working at—grassroots or heads of state?

We are working on all levels, from a committee of global leaders starting to create the Global Peace Treaty and standards of peace-as-safety practices to large networks of businesses and individuals contributing to plans within the P:5Y model.

Is world peace in five years possible?

Of course it is possible. People have been working on world peace for hundreds of years, and the current political trend is toward constructive conflict. P:5Y is leveraging these serious efforts to speed up the process that is inevitably going to happen. Many other things that were once thought to be impossible have occurred in the world. If you doubt that, consider these five "impossible" changes that have occurred in the world: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of apartheid in South Africa, women's rights in America, the computer revolution, and genetic engineering. Though five years may seem short, it is the culmination of hundreds of years of effort.

Who is going to create peace in five years?

You are. We are. Every person who promises peace and takes on a peace project. The 1,000+ committed organizations, peace groups, and mediators who have already been working in this area, with added businesses and network resources. We have set up an organization to coordinate this effort, P:5Y.

What does the organization P:5Y actually do?

We provide infrastructure for the effective process of creating peace in five years: the process, the website, and coordination. We help you and millions of others answer the question: What is the most effective commitment I can make, and action I can take, to create world peace in five years? We do this with the website, this book, and media outlets. We do this by putting you in contact with other peacemakers, by using a team of experts in what is most effective, by focusing efforts, by honest communication, and by anything else we can think of.

We accept your commitment, help hold you accountable, measure your results, and report on the aggregate of all the results.

We provide you access to a personal practice of peace, planning materials, and a process that aligns your life with your highest values and frees your attention for the creation of world peace. We offer workshops in this process, if you have time for them within your commitments and our five-year deadline.

We coordinate global and local action to allocate the resources that you and millions of other people provide so that our efforts succeed.

We maintain a media and marketing presence to put our goal and deadline in the public eye of every country.

We work behind-the-scenes with high-level government officials, diplomats, corporations, and individuals to increase our effectiveness. We work with media and ordinary citizens to educate, pressure, and change groups and government as necessary. Our goal is always to create effective collaboration for world peace by 2014.

We identify and communicate the promise that each country holds for the world, and we help the citizens of that country deliver on their promise.

What is the overall strategic plan to create peace by February 14, 2014?

The four strategic principles are: Make peace user-friendly; reposition world peace; invite and include everyone; and increase collaboration.

The six tactical modules are: a Global Peace Treaty, standards for peace safety, national plans for peace, implementation tools, grassroots action, and media services.

The procedural action plan is as follows:

Inspire -> Discover -> Commit -> Collaborate -> Measure -> Communicate

We will inspire millions of people around the world with the message that peace in five years is possible. We will help people discover what kind of peacemaker they are and the most effective commitment to world peace they can make. We will commit ourselves to defined, measurable activities and help other individuals and other groups involved in P:5Y commit themselves to and collaborate on measurable activities suitable for the kind of peacemaker they truly are. We will measure our progress toward peace, alter our activities and strategies in response to these measurements, and communicate our results to the world at large.

How can I contribute?

P:5Y is for people contributing from their strengths aligned with their values. Look at what your life is already about and how it can be for peace in five years. Log onto www.P:5Y.org to see how your skills and passions can contribute to current projects. Make a donation on P:5Y.org, either to P:5Y, or to an affiliated project.

I am already involved in worthy causes and/or world peace. Do I have to stop supporting them in order to do P:5Y?

There are no conditions of any kind attached to "doing P:5Y." P:5Y is about collaboration. Many causes and NGOs are already collaborating with P:5Y. Where you put your efforts is entirely up to you. In order to achieve peace in five years, we need the expertise, commitment, and contributions of individuals as well as organizations. If your greater inspiration is to place the abundance of your resources in some cause other than P:5Y, then go with your greatest inspiration. You may wish to turn your attention to P:5Y for this period of five years, while the entire world is involved in working toward peace, then return to whatever cause most moves you, knowing you can contribute more effectively in a peaceful world. In other words, if you want world peace at all, the time is now.

Is my contribution important?

Yes. P:5Y needs all kinds of peacemakers. Acknowledgment, recognition, and appreciation are part of achieving any great goal, and certainly P:5Y will recognize any contribution you make as part of the measurement on the website. But the ultimate importance of world peace in five years, and your relationship to it, rests with you as an individual.

How do I get involved?

If you are asking this question, then you are already inspired and ready for the next step in the P:5Y process: discover what kind of peacemaker you are and what  the most effective commitment you can make is. Our website at www.P:5Y.org can guide you. There are people who have committed to accept phone calls to help you through the task; you can find their phone numbers on the website.

What about ongoing peace after 2014?

Part of the P:5Y plan is to create a Global Peace Treaty in which countries adhere to certain practices of ongoing peace safety. We assert that the process of creating peace in five years will remove the context of war as an acceptable course of action just as the legitimacy of slavery and human sacrifice has been removed. One of the core P:5Y teams is looking at long-term global safety solutions.

How do I talk about peace?

Talk about peace from your own heart, and with specific numbers, dates, and what your accountability is. Help people who are inspired by you to continue with the process to discovery, commitment, collaboration, measurement, and communication.

How do I find or start a peace team?

Reread the chapter on peace teams. Go to www.P:5Y.org and click on the link to peace teams. You will find guides and a locator for peace circles that may already be in your area.

What kind of peacemaker am I?

Reread chapter 12. The discovery phase of the process is to discover many things about peace in five years, including what kind of peacemaker you are, how your current circumstances and skills put you in a position to contribute, and what the most valuable and effective contribution is that you could make.

What is the state of peace and war, and where do I go to get updates?

There are many websites with information about the state of the world with regard to peace and many other issues. Our two favorites are www.sipri.org and www.icg.org.

What is a DharmaMix? Where can I get free DharmaMix songs about P:5Y?

Go to www.DharmaMix.com and click on the link for peace in five years. A DharmaMix is spoken words mixed over music for an inspirational and entertaining way to learn about peace in five years. Peace DharmaMixes are free; for a subscription fee you may have access to DharmaMixes in many other areas: relationships, finance, world leaders, politics, parenting, diet, and other personal and global areas of human life. DharmaMix LLC is a for-profit social venture business dedicated to peace in five years. It is owned by the authors of this book.

There also may be some DharmaMix downloads available on this website from time to time. Check out the Media menu for more information.

What is a "peace buddy"?

A "peace buddy" is a trusted friend with whom you can share and explore your deepening relationship to peace in five years.

What is "The Pledge"? Do I have to take it?

The Pledge is the text of our original commitment to create peace in five years, made on February 10, 2008. We were in a strategic planning session for our transformational media company when we entered a conversation about world peace that resulted in the Pledge. The text reads: "By Feb 14th, 2014 I will have created world peace as measured by The Economist newspaper."

Anyone with an account on this website can take the Pledge right here. To do so:

1. Click on My account under My P:5Y.
2. Click on the Peace Commitments tab.
3. Click on the My Peace Pledge checkbox, and "sign" your Pledge with the date you make your Pledge.
4. Press the Save button.

You do not have to take the Pledge. Your relationship to the Pledge is completely personal. We believe that the Pledge is a powerful tool to cement your commitment to world peace.

What do you mean by "self-expression"? Aren't you asking me to do something for you?

What we mean by "self-expression" is that our wish for you is to discover your most aligned contribution that reflects your passions and strengths and to ally with P:5Y from that place. We are asking you to do something for you, and for all of us on the planet, such that there are no losers. Václav Havel, the famous playwright and founding president of the Czech Republic, describes in his book The Power of the Powerless (M. E. Sharpe, 1985) a politics derived from "living within truth." It is not a system of politics; it is an alignment with the truth of who you are and allowing your political expression to arise from that. This is the politics of the individual.

My community has all kinds of problems—shouldn't I start there?

Your attention and passion have a natural range. Your most passionate commitment might be to your family, or your neighborhood, or your country, or the globe. World peace will be created through concentrated, cooperative, effective, intelligent, coordinated action from inspired commitment. If you are most inspired by working within your community, find out how that work can spread to the whole globe to create benefits for all of humanity. Do what you do best for world peace.

I want world peace, but I already feel overwhelmed with my life without adding the world's problems. What should I do?

Align your life with your deepest purpose. If your life is habitually overwhelming, then you probably do not have excess resources to devote to creating peace in five years. Only make commitments that you can responsibly keep with a minimum of drama. It is best for you to put your life into order, to simplify and clarify it, so that you have room for world peace. However, there isn't a lot of time with our five-year deadline to work on your life, so if you want to contribute authentically to world peace, get your life in order now, to a point where you feel able to contribute.

Having said that, there is nothing that has to happen first in order for you to make a commitment to world peace in five years. Find your strengths, your best areas of contribution, and find a way to contribute.

Do I have to change my whole life around to create peace in five years?

That depends on the commitment you make to create peace in five years. Five years in a human life is a long time, so it does not seem like a good idea to unbalance your life to make your peace commitment—that might be unsustainable. On the other hand, making a commitment to world peace with a deadline might be the inspiration you have been yearning for to make the bold changes in your life so that it feels more in balance. It's up to you.

Is P:5Y in my interests?

Good question—what are your interests? Write out your interests and commitments and ask yourself whether they are affected by peace or war. For most humans, safety for themselves and their family is a primary concern.

Do I make a difference as to whether we have peace in five years or not?

We don't know if you make a difference or not. Because your commitments are measurable, you can measure the precise difference you make with your contribution.

If you make a monetary contribution, P:5Y is structured so that you may make it to support someone with a specific commitment, so that your contribution then becomes tied to that person's or that organization's effectiveness in achieving their milestone. If your commitment is to make a general monetary contribution to P:5Y, then the measurement of your making a difference is in whether we achieve peace in five years.

What is a "commitment" precisely?

A "commitment" is a promise made to someone who will hold you accountable, with a deadline for accomplishment before 2014, and a measurable result completed when the result is reported back to P:5Y on or before the deadline.

I'm a person with some influence—a movement leader, CEO, politician, author, actor, celebrity, teacher, philanthropist. What can I do that is most effective at creating peace in five years?

If you are a prominent person, then your leadership is greatly needed to create world peace in five years. Please contact the P:5Y office at vip@P:5Y.org to arrange a phone call with the right person. We work with many prominent people, and we very much want your support. We welcome the conversation.

What do you mean by "leadership" and "followership"?

We are all leaders and followers. Be clear about what you lead—what you are accountable for is another way to put it—and what you follow. Only you can bestow your leadership and followership.