The peace and security community's strategic plan calls for the development and refinement of the ideas, solutions and policies that further disarmament. The PSI responded by facilitating the production of a set of issue briefs that will serve as a community-wide resource.
This effort includes connecting its members to the resources and information they need to do their own work – and to reinforce one another’s work – more effectively. Many members of the community have said they need a better understanding of key security challenges across a range of issue areas (not just in their own area of focus).
More than 20 experts in the peace and security community were asked to contribute to the suite of briefs. The briefs attempt to capture some of the best thinking in the community about solutions to critical security challenges; they are not attempts at presenting the consensus views of the community. An effort was also made to apply some of the communications guidance from the U.S. in the World handbook (www.usintheworld.org) to the briefs, in order to make our community’s ideas more accessible to non-expert audiences.
What are these issue briefs?
The issue briefs represent an effort to:
- develop a simple, easy to access, but comprehensive set of issue briefs on a broad range of major issues that are of high interest to the peace and security community (as described in “Strengthening the Peace and Security Community: A Collaborative Planning Document,” which laid out the strategy for the Peace and Security Initiative);
- provide analyses and recommendations that could inform all sectors of the community (e.g., advocacy organizations, grassroots groups, media experts, funders, etc.)
In order to make the briefs more “usable,” they are all structured in a similar way, with the following sections:
- 1 page Executive Summary
- The Challenge
- The Opportunity
- Current U.S. Policy
- Suggested Actions
- Further Reading [this section exists when contributors provided references]
- Contributors
How can they be used?
We invite organizations to adapt and adopt these issue briefs. They are meant to serve as a “meta-resource” for participants in the Peace and Security Initiative and for other related working groups and organizations. With this in mind, the papers are written without citations – and they can be quoted without citation. As such, persons and organizations are free to paraphrase and/or pull direct quotes from the text without citing PSI or the contributing authors.
We urge organizations to adapt these issue briefs for op-eds, talking points, issue alerts, fact sheets, recruiting new allies, etc. Please keep in mind that these are not consensus-based documents. Therefore, we have included diverse points of view and suggested actions.
What topics are covered and how do I access the briefs?
Click below to access the issue briefs covering the following topics:
Safeguarding, Reducing, and Dismantling Nuclear Stockpiles
Preventing Failed States and Promoting Human Security
Regulating the Global Arms Trade
Challenging “Preemption” as a Strategy for Addressing Serious Threats to National Security
What was the process for creating them?
We sought input from over 20 members of the peace and security community to either draft a paper or for expert feedback. Initial drafts were distributed at community-wide PSI meetings and community members were given numerous opportunities to provide substantive feedback. Additional editorial input was solicited from the PSI's Communications Working Group and a professional copy editor, including on how to apply communications guidance based on the U.S. in the World communications handbook -- www.usintheworld.org. Over the last year, and in the midst of competing priorities, we have overcome the challenge of reconciling conflicting feedback while appropriately articulating different approaches to issues.
Can I still offer feedback?
We are still happy to accept suggestions for the “Further Reading” section of each brief. Please send your suggestions and we will do our best to update the brief in a timely manner. Bearing in mind that these are not consensus documents, that many people have already weighed in on them, and that you are free to excerpt from them for your own purposes, we are not expecting to receive extensive feedback on the substance of the briefs or on their policy prescriptions. But if you wish to weigh in on such questions, please send your comments as well.
