By the undersigned organizations, including World BEYOND War, October 5, 2026
Washington, DC — A just released People-First Foreign Policy Pledge is calling on Congressional candidates of all parties to commit to three popular, common sense foreign policy positions if they want to win a midterm election and deliver the change people want and need.
The Pledge, which has been signed by dozens of national organizations and foreign policy experts, urges candidates to:
- End the Iran War and All Endless Wars.
- Cut the Pentagon Budget and Abolish ICE.
- Stop All Arms and Other Support for Israel and Other Human Rights Violators.
The Pledge notes these positions are broadly popular across party lines and will “advance the safety, security, and well-being of people” in the United States and globally.
Supporting these positions will help the country break from a status quo that has “killed, injured, and displaced tens of millions, squandered trillions of tax dollars, and caused devastating environmental damage.”
Signatories include national organizations such as About Face: Veterans Against the War, Rising Majority, American Friends Service Committee, RootsAction, Dissenters, National Iranian American Council, Madre, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action, World BEYOND War, Veterans for Peace, among others.
Individual signatories include foreign policy experts such as Dr. Van Jackson, Phyllis Bennis, Dr. Khury Petersen-Smith, Dr. Ivan Eland, Col. (Ret) Lawrence Wilkerson, Dr. Miriam Pemberton, Norman Solomon, Dr. Nikhil Pal Singh, Jose Vasquez, Dr. Heidi Peltier, and John Cavanagh.
“Being opposed to endless wars and masked federal agents kidnapping people off of our streets are now firmly bipartisan issues,” commented Brittany DeBarros, Organizing Director of About Face: Veterans Against the War. “The people …want candidates that actually represent our ideals, and it’s time for politicians to get with the program if they want our support.”
“As polling shows, voters are way ahead of officeholders on crucial issues of war and human rights,” said Pledge signatory Norman Solomon, national director of RootsAction and author of War Made Invisible. “Candidates would be wise to catch up.”
By committing to end endless US wars, cut the budgets of the Pentagon and ICE, and stop US support for Israel and other human rights abusers, the Pledge says, “Congressional candidates can adopt winning positions and help transform our country into one we can be proud of.”
The Pledge stresses it is just the beginning of the change our foreign policy needs to put people first, not war profiteers. In explaining why he signed, Dr. Van Jackson, a former Obama administration official and foreign policy expert, wrote, “No peace, no democracy or equality. A people’s foreign policy is one that addresses what ails the people—economic insecurity, racial and wealth inequality, and an unaccountable machinery of warmaking.”
The Pledge’s full text and initial signatories are below and at www.peoplesforeignpolicy.us.
The People-First Foreign Policy Pledge
There are three foreign policy positions that all Congressional candidates, regardless of party, should pledge to support if they want to win a midterm election and deliver the change people in the US want and need.
Each is common sense, with broad support across Democrats, Republicans, and independents. Each prioritizes the safety, security, and well-being of our country and the world over those profiting off war. Each breaks from a status quo that has killed, injured, and displaced tens of millions, squandered trillions of tax dollars, and caused devastating environmental damage. The three positions are:
- End the War in Iran and All Endless Wars.
- Cut the Pentagon Budget and Abolish ICE.
- Stop All Aid to Israel and Other Human Rights Violators.
End the War in Iran and All Endless Wars.
Transforming our country’s future begins with ending the disastrous, illegal war on Iran and the endless wars that have hijacked the nation since 2001. The Iran war is the most unpopular in US history. Recent polling shows nearly 60 percent of US adults—including 90% of Democrats, 63% of independents, and 22% of Republicans—oppose it. People are angry that this war of choice has raised gas and grocery prices, wasted tens of billions of dollars, and killed and injured tens of thousands.
Cut the Pentagon Budget and Abolish ICE.
President Trump has requested the largest military budget in US and world history for the next fiscal year: $1.5 trillion. Nearly 2 in 3 adults oppose this 60% increase over this year’s already bloated budget. People understand that sending money to the Pentagon strips money from health care, education, and other needs while enriching weapons makers and giving Trump money to wage new wars against Cuba, Greenland, or China. People are similarly opposed to militarizing US streets having witnessed the brutal, deadly effects of ICE and the domestic deployment of the military. Nearly three-quarters of Democrats, half of independents, and a quarter of Republicans support abolishing ICE.
Stop All Aid to Israel and Other Human Rights Violators.
Support for Israel has declined dramatically across the political spectrum. People are sick of sending US arms and taxes to militaries violating human rights, including Israel’s, which has killed more than 73,000 Palestinian children and adults in Gaza. Stopping military aid and other support for Israel and other human rights violators, such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, is an obvious, mainstream position.
Time for Change
These three positions are just the beginning of the change our foreign policy desperately needs to start to put people first, not war profiteers. By committing to end endless US wars, cut the budgets of the Pentagon and ICE, and stop US aid to Israel and other human rights abusers, Congressional candidates can adopt winning positions and help transform our country into one we can be proud of.
We urge everyone nationwide to join us in demanding candidates support these three positions and ensure they become realities. Our future and our world’s future are at stake in the midterms.
Signed (as of October 4, 2026),
Organizations
About Face: Veterans Against the War
American Friends Service Committee
Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security
Dissenters
Hindus for Human Rights Action
MADRE
Muslim Counterpublics Lab
National Iranian American Council
Network to Dismantle the Military Industrial Complex
Rising Majority
RootsAction
Task Force on the Americas
The Ruckus Society
United for Peace & Justice
US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action
Veterans For Peace
War Prevention Initiative
Women Cross DMZ
World BEYOND War
Zero Hour
Individuals
* Affiliations are for identification purposes only and do not imply organizational endorsement of the Pledge.
Aaron Miller, AFA – CWA Human Rights Chairperson
Alice Slater, World BEYOND War, Board Member
Dr. Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Angela Marino, Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
Annie Bird, Red Thread Lab
Ashley Gate, freelance journalist
Dr. Barbara Ransby, author, historian, activist
Christine Ahn, founder/strategic advisor, Women Cross the DMZ
Cynda Collins Arsenault
Dr. David Vine, Transition Security Project/former Professor of Anthropology, American University (2006-24)
Dr. Robin Broad, American University
Dr. Zoltán Grossman, Geography / Indigenous Studies, The Evergreen State College
Dr. Dylan Kerrigan
Hanna Homestead
Dr. Harjant Gill
Dr. Heidi Peltier, Director of Programs, Costs of War
Dr. Ivan Eland, Director of the Center on Peace and Liberty, The Independent Institute
James M Rine
Dr. Jane Murphy, History Department, Colorado College
Janene Yazzie, Diné human rights and Indigenous Rights advocate
Dr. Jean Jackson, Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, MIT
John Donnelly
John Cavanagh, co-author, Water Defenders: How Ordinary People Saved a Country from Corporate Greed
John Feffer, Director, Foreign Policy in Focus
John V. Whitbeck
Dr. John Willoughby, Emeritus Professor, Economics, American University
Dr. Jonathan K Osorio, Professor of Hawaiian Studies
Jose Vasquez, Executive Director, Common Defense
Dr. Khury Petersen-Smith
Dr. Kyle Kajihiro, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of Hawai’i
Col. USA (Ret) Lawrence Wilkerson
Leslie Cagan
Linda Burnham
Linda Helland
Lindsay Koshgarian
Dr. Lisa Rofel, Jewish Voice for Peace
Loan Tran, Rising Majority Action Front
Dr. Manissa Maharawal, Department of Anthropology, American University
Marcia Olivo, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ)
Marcy Winograd, Co-Chair, Central Coast Antiwar Coalition
Matt Howard, About Face: Veterans against the War
Max Elbaum, Editorial Board Member, Convergence Magazine
Dr. Melanie Brazzell, Restore Oakland
Melanie Bush, USSEN
Michael T. McPherson, Veterans For Peace
Michel Legendre, Activist
Dr. Miriam Pemberton, Author, Six Stops on the National Security Tour
Nana Gyamfi, human rights attorney
Dr. Natalie Chwalisz
Nick Braydon Squires, Doctoral Candidate, University of Oregon
Dr. Nikhil Pal Singh, New York University
Norman Solomon, National Director of RootsAction
Phyllis Bennis
Dr. Rob Rosenthal, John Andrus Professor of Sociology, Wesleyan University
Rosemary Ndubuizu
Dr. Roxanne Dunbar, Retired professor of history
Samantha C. Hamilton, Senior Staff Attorney, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta
Sara Donnelly
Dr. Sasha Davis
Shoko Oshiro
Steve Morse, Labor Working Group, Veterans For Peace
Summer Mullins-Ibrahim
Talya Lockman-Fine
Dr. Tiara R Naputi, Associate Professor, Global & International Studies
Tim Hirschel-Burns
Dr. Van Jackson, Center for International Policy
Wayne Tanaka
About the People-First Foreign Policy Pledge
The People-First Foreign Policy Pledge was drafted by an ad hoc group including Christine Ahn, Samer Araabi (Center for Constitutional Rights/AROC Action), Linda Burnham, Leslie Cagan, Dissenters, Matt Howard (About Face), Michael T. McPherson (Veterans For Peace), Loan Tran (Rising Majority Action Front), and David Vine (Transition Security Project).
The post “People-First Foreign Policy Pledge” Signed by National Organizations, Foreign Policy Experts Urges All Congressional Candidates to Back Three Common-Sense Positions appeared first on World BEYOND War.
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