The Case for Approaching Global Issues Systemically: Militarization and Development

Traditionally, peace psychologists have approached the issue of international peace and conflict separately from the issues of environmental destruction and Third World development. International security, however, is increasingly becoming a matter of environmental security, and both forms of security will depend progressively on the outcomes of development, and in particular, Third World development. The Task Force on Peace and Sustainable Development will examine the connections among these three global issues and articulate the importance for peace psychologists to deal with them systematically. In this article, we discuss the relationship between militarization and Third World development, arguing that international peace is jeopardized by Third World arms accumulation and expenditure, which simultaneously hinders sustainable development in the Third World.