Peace in the Making

It takes only a moment with Paul Chappell to realize he’s an exceptional person. A graduate of West Point in 2002, he was deployed to Iraq and served seven years in the US army. In 2009, he walked away from active duty a well-respected Captain.

He then took his West Point military training and effectively turned it upside down. Today, in his current role as Peace Leadership Program Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, he teaches many of the same skills he learned at West Point. But instead of military leadership skills, he teaches peace leadership skills. It’s truly a unique perspective on “waging peace.”

Capt. Chappell recently published his fourth book, The Art of Waging Peace, in which he shares his own personal struggles with childhood trauma, racism and berserker rage, and explores the anatomy of war and peace, giving strategies, tactics and leadership principles to resolve inner and outer conflict.

Says Doug Rawlings, Veterans for Peace Co-Founder, “What I find most rewarding about this book is its honest attempt to explain nonviolence and its refreshing discussion of nonviolent direct action as a workable strategy…That, in itself, is well worth the price of admission into Chappell’s world.” The Art of Waging Peace is now available on Amazon.com.

Catching up with Mr. Chappell is no easy task as he’s often on the road conducting peace workshops. From Uganda to Oklahoma, Tennessee to Rhode Island, and back home to California, he sows the seeds for peace at every stop.

Said Steve Gelb, Professor of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego, after attending Chappell’s workshop, “I found Captain Paul K. Chappell’s three-day workshop on Peace Leadership to be a revelation…He has developed an original, compelling, honest, realistic and pragmatic educational program that will engage and benefit all who seek to work effectively for peace. The value and the need for this teaching cannot be overestimated.”

He’ll soon be leading the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s week-long summer Peace Leadership workshop, providing the inspiring training and strategic thinking needed to build an effective peace movement and help create a world without nuclear weapons. The workshop is held at the beautiful La Casa de Maria Retreat Center in Santa Barbara, California, from July 21-27, 2013. There are still a few spots available for this year’s workshop. Visit www.wagingpeace.org for more information.

Says Chappell, “Anyone who thinks ending war is naïve hasn’t put enough thought into it. What’s naïve is to think that war can continue and humanity will survive.”