Sanmateopeaceaction

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We believe that conflict doesn't have to result in violence or war at home or abroad. All action begins at the local level and activism begins with education. Join us at one of our free monthly events, view a topical film or listen to engaging Bay Area activists, educators and social justice advocates working to reduce militarism at home and abroad. Lively Q & A follo ws. Free refreshments and wheel chair accessibility.

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Sunday, April 18: Author and Activist Phyllis Bennis to Talk About Sanctions

Whether imposed on Iraq, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, Russia, China or anywhere else, sanctions have in modern U.S. history been regarded in peace-activist circles as a weapon of war. This war tactic is certainly not conducted with actual offensive weapons, though such weapons might be present in “threat mode” to enforce sanctions. But whether they are called “targeted” or “economic” sanctions, the damage they do to mostly civilian populations is comparable to that of guns, bombs or missiles. Poverty, hunger and disease replace wounds, and the scars are less visible but just as painful in their own way.

What justification is used for the practice of sanctions? What are their effects on governments and their people? How might they be used in upcoming U.S. foreign policy? And how should people in Peace Action and similar groups react to them?

On Sunday, April 18, longtime activist and author Phyllis Bennis will be the guest speaker for PASMC’s next meeting on the Zoom platform. She will speak about sanctions, address these questions, and try to answer more of yours. We will begin at 4:30 PM. Here is the link to the event:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3289220486

Phyllis Bennis is a fellow of the DC-based Institute for Policy Studies, where she directs the New Internationalism Project focusing on the Middle East, U.S. wars and United Nations issues. Phyllis co-founded the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and now serves on the national board of Jewish Voice for Peace. She has written and edited 11 books, including the just-published 7th updated edition of her popular Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer, Before & After: U.S. Foreign Policy and the War on Terrorism, and Challenging Empire: People, Governments and the UN Defy U.S. Power.

We look forward to seeing you on April 18 for a closer look at a harsh side of U.S. foreign policy, from foreign-policy authority Phyllis Bennis.

Sunday, May 23: Michael Klare on U.S.-China Military Tension

For generations, the U.S. and China have been at odds over one thing or another. The ideological divide between a capitalist and a communist government can make such a situation seem inevitable, though only if one or the other (or both) insists on an antagonistic relationship – typically termed a “cold war”.

In the case of these two “superpowers”, the stakes have been raised on a variety of levels; during the last U.S. administration the focus was on trade and our respective economies – that and China human rights was the subject of our September 2020 meeting. But lurking in the background has been, going back to the Obama administration, the notion of U.S. military action and threats. We have heard about an “Asia pivot” with not just economic and political but also military implications. Considering both nations possess a nuclear arsenal, such implications are by no means to be taken lightly.

Writers, scholars and activists Michael Klare and Joseph Gerson, feeling a sense of the danger and the need to raise awareness about this U.S. stance toward China, last fall co-founded the Committee for a Sane U.S.-China Policy. On Sunday, May 23 at 4 PM, Michael Klare will be our guest on the Zoom platform to address that policy. Michael will discuss the current military rivalry between the U.S. and China in the Asia-Pacific region. His talk will cover the risks of war and nuclear escalation…and what we all can do to prevent such an outcome. We will put the Zoom link on our Facebook page, and send it to our email listserve. (If you are not on our list, send an email to smpa@sanmateopeaceaction.org to get the link or to get on the list.)

Michael Klare is the Defense Correspondent of the Nation magazine, writing regularly on U.S. military affairs. He is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Washington DC-based Arms Control Association, focusing on the impact of emerging technologies on the future of war. He taught peace and world security affairs at the Five Colleges of Western Massachusetts for 33 years until retiring in 2019.

We hope you’ll be on hand for a knowledgeable speaker telling this emerging story about the U.S. and China.