Building a Nonpartisan Peace-Centered U.S. Foreign Policy and Assistance Architecture

Goal: The Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) and partner organizations are mobilizing The Future of Peace and Security Coalition to articulate and build support for a bold, non-partisan, and innovative peace-centered United States foreign policy and assistance architecture that reestablishes the U.S. as a reliable partner working to prevent and reduce global violent conflict and build sustainable peace.

Why: As the world grapples with record-breaking and increasing levels of violent conflict, policy frameworks and systems for mitigating those conflicts are breaking down and require urgent transformation and renewal. Overall, violence is costing the global economy tens of trillions of dollars annually, hurting working families, women and children, and marginalized communities around the world. In pursuit of security, the U.S. and other countries are now investing heavily in militarization, with global military spending totaling $2.63 trillion in 2025 and projected to skyrocket further.

The scale and complexity of violent conflicts are accelerating, and interstate wars are destabilizing entire regions and threatening global economic and energy security—with direct implications for Americans. The threat of a new nuclear arms race looms due to the expiration of the last nuclear treaty and the rapid pace of technological evolution, from social media to AI to new weapons. Additionally, authoritarianism is rising, civic space is shrinking, and previously stable countries like the U.S. and other Global North countries in Europe are experiencing increasing instability and political violence.

Conflict prevention and peacebuilding are needed more than ever, yet have never been sufficiently prioritized—particularly in partnership with local actors. Major bilateral donors are slashing funding and institutions for conflict prevention and peacebuilding despite evidence that such investments help reduce needs and costs of expensive military or humanitarian interventions. Multilateral organizations are facing severe liquidity and legitimacy crises, hindering their ability to manage and mitigate conflict, while those most directly impacted by conflict are being left out of critical conversations and decision-making.

What: The Coalition will advocate for investing in a new, bold, and innovative architecture for peace and security to prevent, mitigate, and resolve violent conflicts, address the dynamics and drivers that stimulate and sustain such violence, and promote human rights and dignity. We will lay out a vision for centering and prioritizing peace and prevention in U.S. laws, policies, and practices—including emerging efforts to shape the future of U.S. foreign policy, strategy, and assistance architectures.

While we will build upon the existing prevention canon of bipartisan laws adopted in recent years, especially the Global Fragility Act of 2019, the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018, and the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017, we recognize more transformative approaches are needed to meet this moment. We must acknowledge what was broken and not working, and that the former diplomatic and assistance system was slow, risk-averse, challenging for local partners, and ill-equipped to address global violent conflicts and instability. We will advance new ideas and tools to deal with emerging challenges and risks, such as those posed by AI, hybrid warfare, economic and energy insecurity, the backsliding of rights and democracy, and others. At the same time, we must continue efforts to fundamentally shift agency towards local partners closest to the conflict.

Over the next year, the Coalition will develop and launch an agenda (the “what”) and playbook (the “how”) for elected leaders and policymakers to reestablish the U.S. as a trusted partner in promoting peace and security. The agenda and playbook will provide a clear and practical vision for a peace-centered U.S. foreign policy and assistance architecture. The Coalition will make the case that a fundamental shift in how national security policy is conceived and incentivized is essential so that prevention, mediation, and long-term peacebuilding are treated not as peripheral options, but as core strategic priorities that decision-makers are expected and rewarded to pursue. A foreign policy that prioritizes future peace and security is possible, but it depends on whether we can build the political will and public demand for it.

Key principles to guide the new agenda and playbook, and related coalition advocacy efforts, include:

Diplomacy: The U.S. should prioritize and invest in developing capacities and platforms for dialogue and negotiation to solve global problems.

Prevention: The U.S. should seek to proactively anticipate and address potential threats to peace and security, reducing the use of military force and the spread of dangerous weapons systems.
Peacebuilding: The U.S. should help partners mediate and resolve conflicts around the world as a way to foster stability and forge greater cooperation, recognizing that fostering peace is a process that requires long-term commitment and multi-faceted support.
Multilateralism: The U.S. should strengthen and seek to work through multilateral institutions, alliances, and frameworks that provide collective security and help prevent and constrain war.
Local Ownership: The U.S. should prioritize partnerships with local and national organizations and support their leadership, recognizing that those most proximate to conflict are best positioned to advance sustainable peace and security.
Accountability: The U.S. should promote oversight and transparency of foreign policy to ensure decisions reflect the will and needs of the American people.

How: Working together, Coalition members will:

Strengthen and Grow a Broader Coalition: We will engage and pursue integration with partners in other fields and sectors (e.g., arms control, democracy, health, education, technology, the private sector) while expanding connections to broader civic organizations and networks doing everyday peacebuilding work in the U.S. and globally (e.g., Rotary Clubs, Peace Corps alumni, diaspora networks, other social and faith communities). The Coalition will work to connect with aligned movements to amass wide, cross-sectoral support for peacebuilding.
Outline a Vision, Agenda, and Playbook: We will develop and launch a “Future of Peace and Security Playbook” in 2027 that outlines the why, what, and how to operationalize a non-partisan peace-centered foreign policy. This will include concrete recommendations for future leaders in the U.S. Congress and the Executive Branch, including shaping the debates on foreign policy in the forthcoming presidential campaigns. The Coalition will conduct and highlight analysis of conflict trends and risks that underscore the need for this new playbook and agenda.
Build and Make a Better Case: We will develop unified, widely amplified, and sustainable communications strategies and narratives to improve messaging and communications, making the case for peacebuilding and prevention amongst diverse constituencies. The goal is to develop resources and tools to build broader citizen support and new champions for the field, learning from AfP’s peace and framing narrative research. We will survey Americans and test approaches and messages that mobilize the wider public.

AfP is providing the institutional home and leadership for the Coalition. By officially joining the Coalition, member organizations express their support for the overall goals and principles of this shared endeavor, agree to be publicly listed as part of the Coalition, and commit to have staff actively participate in and contribute to Coalition working processes as much as possible. There is no financial commitment associated with joining the Coalition.