An international seminar on military spending organized by the International Peace Bureau in collaboration with the Institute for Policy Studies.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009
United Methodists Building
100 Maryland Ave., N.E., Capitol Hill
(across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court Building; closest Metro stop is Union Station on the Red line, Metro is recommended as parking is very limited on Capitol Hill).

This meeting is intended as a smaller, more expert group for a more focused discussion, and to engage with decision makers. IPB’s ‘Disarmament for Development’ program has at its core the work of challenging budget priorities. We aim to exchange perspectives on how the budget debate is going on in different places–especially given the economic crisis–and hopefully seed a new, or at least a strengthened, network of activists willing to engage witht his issue over the medium term. This seminar is also a part of the program of the IPB Annual conference (Nov. 14-18) which includes a two-day weekend conference at Georgetown University under the title, ‘Rolling Back Militarism: A Task for the Global Movement.’ Please see http://www.ipb.org for more information.

PROGRAM

9.30 – 12.00 am : The USA

Chair & introduction: John Feffer, IPS

- Overview of US military spending – Frida Berrigan, New America Foundation

- Public financing and accountability – Bob Edgar, President and CEO, Common Cause

- A civil society perspective on conversion: Miriam Pemberton, IPS

- Discussion: How we work on this issue

LUNCH

1.15 – 4.30 pm: The rest of the world

Chair and introduction: Miriam Pemberton, IPS

- NE Asia-Pacific Freeze campaign: John Feffer, IPS

- Reports from civil society groups : Reiner Braun, Germany, Pierre Villard, France, Hiroshi Taka, Japan, Rolf Lindahl, Sweden TBC, Alexander Harang, Norway TBC, Yeshua Moser, US-Canada-Thailand

- Building a sustainable network : Colin Archer, IPB

- Discussion and next steps

Please let us know if you plan to attend.

For further information, please contact:
Colin Archer, IPB (Geneva): mailbox@ipb.org
George Friday, Peace Action (Washington) – Conf. Coordinator: ippn@igc.org