Register for this event here.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) turns 70 years old in 2019 and it will mark it by holding its annual summit meeting in Washington, D.C., on April 4, on the same date of the anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Significantly, this was also the date on which one year earlier he delivered his seminal speech “Beyond Vietnam,” in which he called to overcome the triple evils of militarism, racism, and extreme materialism.
A series of counter-actions are being organized in parallel to the NATO Summit. Events will take place throughout the week, from March 30 through April 4. On April 2, RLS–NYC will co-sponsor the international conference “No to NATO; Yes To Peace & Disarmament Counter-Summit,” with the participation of Rev. Graylan Hagler, Medea Benjamin, Anna Ochkina, Peter Kuznick, and others.
International Peace Movement Conference
April 2 Washington, D.C.
9 am – 5 pm
St. Stephen & the Incarnation Episcopal Church, 1525 Newton Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20010
CONFERENCE AGENDA
09:30-09:45 Welcome
Kristine Karch, No to war – No to NATO (Germany)
Andreas Gunther – Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (New York)
09:45-10:45 Panel 1
Moderation: Kristine Karch
70 years of NATO – 70 years of Militarism and War
Prof. Peter Kuznick, American University (Washington)
Global NATO of today (worldwide alliance, European militarization)
Reiner Braun, Co-President International Peace Bureau (Berlin, Germany)
Hypocrisy: Martin Luther King’s Triple Evils & NATO
Rev. Graylan Hagler – Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ (Washington)
10:45-11:330 Panel 2
Moderation: Kristine Karch
21st century NATO US, Europe & Russia: Economic, Imperial & Authoritarian Forces Driving the New Era of Confrontation
Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies, (Washington)
Anna Ochkina, Institute of Globalization and Social Movements (Moscow, Russia)
Alexander Neu, Member, German Parliament (Germany)
11:45-12:30 Panel 3
Moderation: Kristine Karch
Unified & Independent E.U. Military? And it’s Relationship to NATO, U.S. & Russia
Kate Hudson, CND (UK) via video
Alain Rouy, Movement de la Paix (France)
Lucas Wirl, No to war, No to NATO (Germany)
Medea Benjamin, Code Pink (USA)
12:30 – 1:30 Lunch
1:30 – 03:00 Workshop Session
A Deadly Connection: Nationalism, Authoritarianism & Economic Forces Internal and external militarization and the increase of violence
NATO: 70 Years of Militarism, nuclear weapons, foreign basis & A 21st Century Global Alliance and the next NATO summit
Marion Küpker & John LaForge & Reiner Braun
Women & Resistance, Pictures of Masculinity
Kristine Karch
Moving the Money from the Military to Addressing Human Needs: Intersectional approaches to resistance
Driving Forces of the New Era of Confrontation: U.S., NATO & Russia, China – Imperial, Authoritarian & Economic, regime change (Venezuela) and the European militarization
Joseph Gerson & Anna Ochkina
Automated Warfare: robots, cyber & arming the heavens
Bruce Gagnon
3:00-3:15 Coffee Break
3:15-3:45 Common Security – The Alternative to NATO
Joseph Gerson, AFSC/CPDCS (Cambridge)
3:45-4:15 Global NATO, Special focus on Latin America
– Lecture with discussion, Speaker: NN Latin America
4:15-5:45 Panel about Resistance
Moderation: Kevin Martin;
Panelists: Kristine Karch, Anna Ochkina, Medea Benjamin, Reiner Braun, Ann Wright, David Swanson
5:45-6:00 Closing Remarks – Kevin Martin
Download program here.
