World Peace Foundation

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World Peace Foundation

The WPF is an operating foundation affiliated with the Fletcher School. It aims to provide research for non-violent futures.

The World Peace Foundation was established by Edwin Ginn, a Boston-based publisher of educational texts and an advocate for international peace. Created initially as the International School of Peace on July 12, 1910, the WPF was tasked with educating a global audience about the ills of war and promoting international peace. In 2011, the World Peace Foundation established a program at The Fletcher

School at Tufts University, the first graduate-only school of international affairs in the United States, under Executive Director Alex de Waal. In line with the educational and practical vision of its founder, today the Foundation aims to provide intellectual leadership on issues of peace, justice and security. We believe that innovative research and teaching are critical to the challenges of making peace around the world, and should go hand in hand with advocacy and practical engagement with the toughest issues. As the Foundation enters its second century, our underlying theme is reinventing peace for the globalizing world. The WPF does not make grants to outside organizations and individuals.

05/29/2026

Nearly two decades ago, peacemaking activities in and set the bar for “African solutions to African problems.” Today, the move from hard-won consensus to durable has proven catastrophic, with both countries in turmoil.

Join us for a book launch hosted by the Geneva Graduate Institute on Executive Director Alex de Waal and Willow Berridge’s new book—The Sudans: Africa’s Search for Peace, Democracy, and Two Viable States. The Sudans tells the story of the African Union’s efforts to make peace in the Sudans between 2009 and 2013. It details the work of the AU High-Level Panel to resolve the war in Darfur, promote democracy in Sudan, and steer the independence of South Sudan.

Date: Thursday, June 4
Time: 6:00-7:30 PM CEST
Location: Maison de la paix, Auditorium A2 and Online
Register here: https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/communications/events/peace-sudan-impossible-dream-reflections-experience-african-peacemaking

05/28/2026

have changed in size, place and nature over the centuries. The World Peace Foundation’s “history and future of famines” project charts this–and our new interactive map visualizes the famines over time and geography.

Link in bio.

05/27/2026

Join us for a panel discussion of our latest book Diagnosed the System: Lessons from the Pandemic in Massachusetts , with author and Research Director Bridget Conley and two people whose stories are highlighted in the book, 2ruTH7 and Angelia Jefferson.

Detailing the first year of the pandemic inside Massachusetts’ state prisons, this book argues that the history of the pandemic inside prisons exposed both the cruelties of and the power of change when it is led by directly impacted people.

Date: Friday, May 29
Time: 5-6:30 PM
Location: 36 Gaston St., Boston
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/covid-diagnosed-the-system-lessons-from-the-pandemic-in-ma-prisons-tickets-1987532160194

05/21/2026

We’re excited to share the updated Transnational in Dataset, along with a new interactive map of conflict and external support in the Horn of Africa. Together, they show how transnationality is a major feature of armed conflicts in Africa and that most so-called “civil wars” in Africa are more correctly described as internationalized internal conflicts.

These tools make it easier to trace where support comes from, who receives it, and how conflict patterns have changed over time. They offer a more accurate picture of the Horn of Africa’s wars and a stronger basis for and .

Link in bio

05/20/2026

Our new Future of Peace project explores questions on how is imagined, who shapes that vision, and what it takes to build more just and nonviolent futures in a world marked by , , crisis, and political upheaval. We need to rethink the limits of our existing frameworks.

Through and dialogue, this program brings together , practice, and reflection on the challenges and possibilities of peace today. We look forward to sharing the ideas and conversations ahead.

Link in bio.

05/18/2026

We’re pleased to announce The Sudans: Africa’s Search for Peace, Democracy, and Two Viable States, a new book on the African Union’s ambitious peacemaking effort in the Sudans from 2009 to 2013 by Executive Director Alex de Waal and Willow Berridge. It examines what the achieved, where peace efforts faltered, and what these lessons mean for and today.

Link in bio

05/15/2026

The history of the pandemic cannot be fully understood without examining prisons, jails and detention centers. Read Bridget Conley’s second essay based on research from her book “COVID Diagnosed the System”.

Link in bio.

05/13/2026

In her new essay, Bridget Conley asks why it matters to publish a book about the in Massachusetts’ prisons now.

The answer lies not only in documenting the harms of COVID-19 behind prison walls, but in understanding what the pandemic exposed: the false promise of separation between prisons and society and how care can provide footholds for alternative futures.

Read the full essay: https://worldpeacefoundation.org/blog/why-publish-a-book-about-the-pandemic-in-massachusetts-prisons-now/

05/12/2026

Famines do not all unfold the same way, and that distinction matters for and response. This blog draws on recent research by Daniel Maxwell, Paul Howe, and Executive Director Alex de Waal to show why famine trajectories vary, why near-misses are just as important as full-scale crises, and why timely, differentiated action can save lives before conditions reach catastrophe.

From cliff-edge collapse to stepwise deterioration and dangerous double-dip patterns, the piece makes a clear case: famine is a system with interacting parts, not simply an event. Recognizing that trajectory early is essential to preventing mass and excess .

Link in bio

05/06/2026

This week, the Disrupting Peace podcast is bringing you a bonus episode from our friends at rePROs Fight Back, a podcast fighting for reproductive health, rights, and justice, hosted by Jennie Wetter, who is the Director of the rePROs Fight Back initiative at the Population Institute.

In this episode, “Feminist Foreign Policy: Centering Dignity, Equity, and Justice Worldwide,” Jennie speaks with Jill Montilla and Spogmay Ahmed, who work with the Feminist Foreign Policy Collaborative, about why a framework that disrupts colonial, racist, patriarchal, and male-dominated power structures is critical.

Listen to the episode here: https://pod.link/1759500826/episode/MWE4NDY0OGMtZjMwMC00ZDhhLTg5YjQtNDA5NzhlYmY0MGZm

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114 Curtis Street
Somerville, MA
02144

Website

http://worldpeacefoundation.org/

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