As we move forward in a new decade, our mission is to build the sort of grassroots, activist presence that can significantly influence the shape of things to come. From confronting wars and militarism to promoting clean energy and sustainable alternatives to climate change, environmental destruction and resource wars, Peaceworks sees heightened, participatory activism as a necessary to our collective ability to facilitate needed change.

How can we be effective and sustain our work? While there are no unequivocal answers, we can learn a lot from the history of progressive struggles. We can also sharpen our analysis of current conditions if we view them through the lens of historic perspective.

For these reasons, Peaceworks will be offering a new class, "A People’s History of the United States: Focus on War & Peace/American Empire" beginning on February 4. Using selected readings from Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, this seven week class will provide insight into the evolution U.S. foreign policy and its impact at home and abroad.

Presented by PW Director Mark Haim, the course will explore the roots of the contemporary U.S. role in the world, American Exceptionalism and the history of progressive and peace organizing in opposition to American imperialism and wars. The sessions will run from 7-8:45 p.m. on seven consecutive Thursdays. Registration is required and a fee of $20 general enrollment and $10 for students is requested. If you're interested in enrolling or would like more information, contact us at mail@midmopeaceworks.org or by calling 573-875-0539.



Peaceworks invites and encourages your active participation in our work for peace, sustainability and a just, workable future.

One year after Barack Obama’s election we find ourselves in new terrain, and this speaks to a more nuanced approach to our work. When George Bush was in the White House, almost reflexively, we opposed virtually everything his administration did, and for good reason. As we stated immediately after the 2008 election, we look forward to supporting Barack Obama’s positions whenever we can, but we will oppose his administration’s actions when we must.

This is still our philosophy.

Yes, we have a president who has called for the abolition of nuclear weapons, but this same president has submitted the largest military budget in our history, escalated the war in Afghanistan, increased the number of troops in uniform, and stated that, while he wants to abolish nukes, he thinks it will likely not happen in his lifetime.

Yes, we have a president who speaks eloquently about the need to address climate change. Mr. Obama has also directed more resources into efficiency and renewables than his predecessor. On the other hand, he has also backed flawed climate legislation that provides hundreds of billions in subsidies and giveaways to the polluters, the oil, coal, gas and nuclear industries, big agribusiness and the utilities.

Yes, we have a president who speaks with compassion for the least among us, yet the people appointed to administer economic policy are the same cast of characters who got us into this mess and the policies coming out of Washington often seem more focused on the welfare of the big banks and investment houses than that of the average Jane or Joe and their households.

Some things have changed, for sure, but what hasn’t changed is the need for an active, engaged progressive movement to push for peace, for sustainability and for social justice.

Sadly, however, there are many who were aroused to protest the actions of the Bush administration who are not similarly engaged at the moment. Many are sitting back, seemingly content to know that we have a Democrat in the White House; one whose intentions they trust.

The reality however is that without our active mobilization, the needed changes will not be realized. The stakes are very high. Our very future hangs in the balance, and this has not changed, even though Barack Obama is in the White House.

Likewise, the powerful corporate interests that profit from war, from retrograde energy policies, from healthcare that puts patients last or from bank bailouts all are working overtime to influence the direction of public policy. Their lobbyists and their cash speak loudly.

Needless to say, their interests are not peace, sustainability, social or economic justice.

We must take it upon ourselves, therefore, to redouble our efforts.

We need more community members to participate in visible public actions, like our weekly Rush Hour Peace Demonstrations. We also are certainly in need of folks willing to work behind the scenes, coming to meetings, joining committees, helping with planning events and much more. This applies to every aspect of our work, from peace advocacy to sustainability education to safe energy promotion. It includes everything from Earth Day organizing, to arranging film screenings and speaking engagements, to petitioning, canvassing, helping with fundraising and much more.

We each need to reevaluate our commitments. We each need to decide what we can do to move things forward. We face serious, even existential, threats, like climate change and nuclear war. We face many smaller, yet quite consequential, battles over everything from human rights to specific local environmental threats.

We each would do well to take stock and see if, perhaps, we can up the level of our activism. No one can do everything, but each of us can do something. And most all of us can do a bit more than we’re doing today.



2009 began as a year of hope amid fear. Many were hopeful that the incoming Obama administration would bring long needed change. On the other hand, the economic meltdown had many worried, very worried.

As the year has progressed, the economy is still hurting badly, but no longer is in free fall. On the other hand, much of what is coming out of Washington is frustrating, to say the least. The administration has been far too eager to embrace the center. All too ready to compromise before the negotiating begins. Too eager to please powerful corporate interests. Too ready to use escalated military force, especially in Afghanistan.

Peaceworks sees many issues on which the people of this country are way out in front of our elected officials. For example, recent polls show a majority believe the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan is not worth it. And twice as many want fewer troops deployed as support the administration's increased deployments.

It's not just the war on which the people are out in front. Last November Missourians voted by a two-to-one margin to require utilities to produce a small, but gradually increasing share of their power from renewable sources. Our legislature wouldn't pass such a law, so citizens had to collect more than 160,000 signatures to put the issue on the ballot. Then the voters spoke loud and clear in favor of clean energy.

The take-home lesson of all this is that it takes active citizenship to move our progressive concerns forward. We can't sit back and wait for Obama to do it, or for Congress to act, or for our Missouri General Assembly to make the needed changes.

Peaceworks is active on multiple fronts and offers many avenues for involvement. We encourage your participation. Please contact us at mail@midmopeaceworks.org or by calling us at 573-875-0539 if you'd like to discuss becoming more active. Or stop by the Peace Nook, our non-profit storefront HQ and visit with us. We also encourage you to check out our upcoming events at left and to attend any that interest you. There is much to be done and we welcome you to be an active part of our work.



We need a peace economy. End the wars now. Eliminate nuclear threats.

Peaceworks and our allies in the Columbia Peace Coalition will be running a signature ad for peace on August 6. We invite you to add your name. Please print out the form, sign it yourself, collect the names of others, if possible, and return to us at the address listed at the bottom. Contributions to help pay for the ad are really needed and appreciated, but not required. Please get your name(s) back to us ASAP and no later than July 25.

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Peaceworks salutes the American people. The choice of Barack Obama over John McCain bodes well for our future. While Peaceworks cannot endorse candidates or work in the electoral arena, now that the election is over, we certainly can say that Obama's platform is closer to our agenda than McCain's.

This said, Peaceworks will not be an automatic cheering squad for the incoming Obama administration. But neither will we stand in consistent opposition, as was necessitated by virtually every action taken by the Bush administration. An appropriate role for an educational and advocacy group like Peaceworks is to support an administration’s actions when we can and to oppose them when we must. Moreover a major component of our work is to strive to influence their policies so that they are more likely to be ones we can support.

Historic Nature of Obama's Victory

Obama's victory is something to applaud for several reasons. First of all, for the past eight years the Bush administration had taken our country down the road to ruin. They engaged in wars of aggression while ramping up already bloated military budgets to unprecedented levels. They trampled on civil liberties and spied on the citizenry. They ignored or exacerbated pressing environmental and energy crises. Their policies accelerated the skewing of wealth distribution to favor the well heeled, while they ignored the needs of the least among us. And they generally mismanaged the economy. A McCain victory would have been a vote to continue on this disastrous course. Thankfully, the American people realized this and chose a new direction.

Read the whole article (PDF).


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