While citizens and officials of the U.S. and Iraq alike struggle with how to stop the killing in Iraq and the families of victims and survivors prepare to mark the fourth anniversary of September 11th at home, the call for peace has become passionate and nonpartisan. Some have turned their grief to action, preparing to go before Congress in support of a Department of Peace so that we can be as skilled at building peace as we are at fighting wars. But what does peace look like and how do we attain it?

Africa and South America, Asia and Eastern Europe, Palestinians and Israelis have struggled for generations with questions of how to build peace. What have they learned? U.S. Americans have become a vital part of assisting in these regions too. Whether religious, academic, government leaders or citizens drawn by their own experience of loss – they have begun to identify the building blocks of peace.

• After losing her son in the tragedy of September 11th, one woman travels the world to meet with other victims and families of terrorist attacks – uniting to work for peace as an end to terror.
  
• Taking advantage of a tenuous ceasefire one group enters the heart of Sri Lanka with resolution strategies to diffuse the deep polarization on both sides of the conflict and create a lasting grassroots peace.
  
• An organization working in Israel and Palestine unites women in their grief and loss across borders to find solutions to ongoing conflict.

It takes a high cost to maintain the dominance gained by war. Yet the peacebuilders caution that it takes as much or more effort and commitment to maintain a lasting peace. In the balance, which one saves more lives and makes for a better world?

Can we avoid war? Do we know enough about peace to prevent another war in this world of terrorism? Do we really want peace? What does it take, and cost to build peace? What peace building efforts are working? What does peace look like? Why are women considered essential in the peace process? Is peace a static achievement or a dynamic goal that must be constantly strived for and maintained? Can conflict ever be truly eliminated – or is the way we handle conflict what really matters? What is the proposed Department of Peace? What does justice have to do with peace? Why is war seen as a way to achieve justice and peace an impossible dream? What is the difference between peace building, peacemaking and peacekeeping? Why is there more coverage of conflict than solutions? Does it make sense for the experts on war to handle the peacebuilding?

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