War, Peace and Real Security Programs

National Radio Project is committed to examining war, and peaceful alternatives to war and government-sanctioned violence. We explore U.S. foreign policy as it relates to domestic priorities, and the effects of war on people and the environment worldwide.

We collaborate with advocacy groups and analysts to provide a platform for their voices to be heard. Our work broadens public debate. We believe it is only through the promotion of people's critical thinking and civic engagement that a democracy can fully and honestly operate. We seek to highlight hopeful solutions as part of exploring what peace and real security could mean.

Please support our editions of Making Contact on war, peace and real security issues.

Possible upcoming topics include: Peace and Non-Violence, United States Foreign Policy, Nuclear Weapons Proliferation, Military Conflicts, Global Economics, Food Security, the "War on Terror," Human Rights, as well as the intersections of globalization and environmental issues.

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Programs are listed below - click through to descriptions for guest contact information and audio files.

12-08 Blood, Freedom and Oil: 5 Years in Iraq
March 19th 2008, marks the 5th anniversary of the day the US officially invaded Iraq. It's the defining event of our time. We hear from people on many sides of the conflict; Iraqis who've lost family members, an oil expert, and Americans who want to "stay the course until the job is done." View full description

04-08 Paradise Lost: Military Training in Makua Valley
Native Hawaiian and Making Contact intern Samson Reiny reports on what happens when the military takes over historically sacred land and on how people are fighting back to reclaim this once pristine area. View full description

02-08 Resisting Illegitimate Authority in Today’s Political Context
Radical thinkers, military resisters and longtime movement activists reflect on the past 40 years of resistance movements in the US, where we are today, and what to do next. View full description

51-07 Investing in Insecurity Along U.S. Borders
In 2006, the Bush Administration’s Secure Border Initiative outsourced the surveillance of all U.S. land borders to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. We will visit the Boeing security site in Arizona and we’ll talk to “No One is Illegal” organizer, Harjap Grewal. View full description

49-07 Iraq, Iran, Pakistan: Dahr Jamail and David Barsamian in Conversation
Independent journalists, Dahr Jamail and David Barsamian, explore the ongoing war in Iraq, potential attacks on Iran, and the militarization of Pakistan. View full description

39-07 The Iran Agenda
Is Iran developing nuclear weapons? Does the U.S. plan to bomb Iran? What do the people of Iran think about U.S. policy? Independent producer and book author Reese Erlich looks at the Bush administrations efforts to overthrow the government of Iran. View full description

31-07 War Made Easy: Norman Solomon on Media and Militarism
We talk with media critic Norman Solomon and hear excerpts from the powerful documentary narrated by actor Sean Penn, "War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death." Norman is one of the founders of National Radio Project which produces Making Contact, and he will be participating in a benefit screening. View full description

30-07 The Growing Iraqi Refugee Crisis
Since 2003, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been forced to flee their war-torn country to neighboring countries. Correspondent Dahr Jamail takes us to the streets of Damascus, Syria where we hear from the Iraqi refugees and the organizations trying to assist them. View full description

28-07 Tour of Duty: Soldiers Visit Southern Military Bases
A group of veterans load onto school buses in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and head south. They are off to talk with soldiers, not about fighting war but about stopping war. View full description

21-07 Women Rising XII: International Changemakers - Journalists in the Crosshairs
Profiles of three independent journalists: Giuliana Sgrena, Italian journalist, kidnapped by Iraqi resistance fighters while on assignment, then shot by US soldiers on her release; María Suárez, founder, FIRE: Feminist International Radio Endeavor of Costa Rica; Sarah Olson, US journalist, broke the story of Army Lieutenant Ehren Watada's refusal to deploy to Iraq. View full description

13-07 Many Lines of Fire: Women at War
Female Iraq war vets on their experiences and points of view on military power politics, and the price paid by women seeking to serve their country. View full description

11-07 Brothers at Odds: The U.S. Army vs. Lt. Ehren Watada
Aaron Glantz explores events and issues surrounding the court martial of Lt. Ehren Watada, the first Army officer to be tried for publicly opposing the Iraq war. View full description

04-07 Civil War in Burma, Karen Women in Exile
Burma is torn by civil war and run by a military junta. The Karen tribe won't surrender until there is peace and a separate state for their people. This documentary features refugees from the Karen Women's Organization. View full description

03-07 Are We Fighting Bush's War on Sin?
Author and professor Ira Chernus, examines the connections between conservative religious doctrine, "moral values," and the Bush Administration's national security policies. View full description

49-06 Liberty and Justice for... Whom?
Since the passing of the Patriot Act, many things have changed in the U.S. A look at Bush Administration policies that many contend undermine basic human rights and civil liberties. Has the War on Terror become a War on Freedom? View full description

39-06 Syria and the Search for Middle East Peace
Reese Erlich interviews Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on how Syria had been fighting terrorism with the U.S until our government tried to overthrow Assad’s government. Also: Syria’s role in Middle East peace. View full description

32-06 War and Life in Iraq
Aaron Glantz and Iraqi journalist Salam Talib offer a unique window into daily life for the 25 million people who call Iraq home. View full description

28-06 Dissenters or Deserters?
On this edition, we hear from several U.S. soldiers who made a choice to put their futures on the line. First, by joining the U.S. military, and next by refusing to fight the war in Iraq. View full description

27-06 The War on Torture: U.S. Policy Exposed
On this edition, is the U.S. practicing inexcusable torture or are these instances of overzealous intelligence gathering by a nation at war? View full description

23-06 Daniel Ellsberg - Truth-telling in a Time of War
Marking the 35th Anniversary of the release of the Pentagon Papers series, Ellsberg delivers a speech on civil disobedience, advocating for people to blow the whistle and go to jail in order to save lives. View full description

21-06 Nuclear Ambitions and Double Standards
The recent US/India nuclear power deal, scientists speak out against the Bush administration's nuclear weapons policy, and mainstream media's take on a possible US attack on Iran. View full description

19-06 Iraq and the Changing Peace Movement
Where the anti-war movement is heading - Iraqis and Iraqi Americans share their views on the war, and how the state of Wisconsin is using its political pull to bring the troops home from Iraq.View full description

12-06 Nuking the Neighborhood
Imagine your own government blowing nuclear bombs up near your hometown: What would it do to your community, and could anything be done to stop it from happening in the first place?
View full description

01-06 Women Rising VI: International Changemakers - Whistleblowers
Three courageous whistleblowers in the United States: Cindy Sheehan (military families and peace activists vs. the war in Iraq), Leuren Moret (depleted uranium) and Sibel Edmonds (FBI counterintelligence cover-up). View full description

49-05 Marketing the Military
The military's efforts to counteract recruitment dropoffs, including advertising aimed at parents and how Army recruiters fill the ranks... plus a military high school and counter-recruitment in high schools. View full description

42-05 Make Levees, Not War
Protesting the occupation of Iraq and the militarization of U.S. society in Washington, DC. View full description

36-05 Chile's 9/11
Chilean Exiles in the US reflect on the coup of Sepember 11, 1973, and how music transformed their experience of terror into artistic expression. View full description

34-05 On the Ground in Iran
Is Iran developing nuclear weapons, and should the U.S. launch a military strike? View full description

31-05 The Past, Present and Future of Nuclear Weapons
Nuclear weapons, and an update on international efforts toward nuclear disarmament. View full description

27-05 War|Games
Video games, movies, and war. View full description

26-05 Refusing to Fight
Iraq war veterans - how their personal experience transformed their convictions about war. View full description

21-05 Remembering Marla Ruzicka
Marla's life and work, through the words of some of her many friends and colleagues. View full description

05-05 Many Minds in an Army of One
Soldiers and military families talk about the Iraq War. View full description

50-04 Hiroshima and its Legacy Today
Japanese and American atomic bomb survivors, and today's anti-nuke activists talk about how the Hiroshima bombing set the moral and political tone for future aggression. View full description

40-04 Unauthorized Disclosure - Blowing the Whistle on Government Crimes
Former federal employees who jeopardized their careers to expose official wrongdoing and Daniel Ellsberg's latest whistleblowing activities. View full description

38-04 Reaching for Peace in the Holy Land
Israeli women defending Palestinian human rights near Jerusalem, Palestinian high school girls in Ramallah, and a school at Israel's only integrated Jewish and Palestinian village. View full description

23-04 ElectionWatch '04: War on Terror
How communities most impacted by Bush's war on terror will vote in the 2004 elections, and how the Patriot Act and the war in Iraq are playing a role in the election year. View full description

16-04 Courage Under Fire: Resistance to War
Resistance to genocide in Rwanda in 1994, World War II Japanese American activism, and the legacy of draft-registration resistance and conscientious objection since the Vietnam War. View full description

11-04 War Against Women, Women Against War: A Report Back From the World Social Forum
The disproportionate impacts that fundamentalism, colonization and corporate globalization have on women.View full description

09-04 Legacies of War
The aftermath of military conflicts, including extremely high unemployment, environmental illness, limited access to resources and an absence of democracy. View full description

03-04 Women Rising II: International Change Makers - Women in Peace and Antimilitarism
Profiles of four women involved in peace activism. View full description

38-03 The Power of Women's Peacemaking
Some of the ideas behind women's movements to reclaim the power of peacemaking, including cross-border organizing, and direct action against war-makers. View full description

37-03 The Fifty Year Stand-Off: North and South Korea
The legacy of the Korean War and the on-going U.S. military presence. View full description

33-03 Out of Bounds: War and International Humanitarian Law
International Humanitarian Law - how it applies to depleted uranium weapons and humanitarian aid in Iraq, and an important war crimes case in Guatemala. View full description

27-03 Code Red: Status of the Constitution
How FBI data collection without probable cause and secret detentions and deportations of thousands of Arab and Muslim men are in conflict with the Constitution. We'll also hear about Patriot Act II, which expands the government's data collection powers. View full description

23-03 Occupied with Peace: Jewish Responses to the Mideast Conflict
Viewpoints of Israeli Jews and Jewish Americans who are part of an international peace movement, and an American activist who put her life on the line in the Occupied Territories. View full description

22-03 Stand-Off in South Asia: The India/Pakistan Conflict
India, Pakistan, and challenges ahead in South Asia. View full description

19-03 The New Global Peace Movement
The anti-war movement and its significance for the future. View full description

17-03 Patriot Act Uncovered: The War on Civil Liberties
The impact of the expanded wiretap and surveillance powers of the USA Patriot Act, new levels of security and surveillance at the Canada-U.S. border, and a U.S. citizen held in federal detention on a terrorism-related conspiracy charge. View full description

16-03 Global Assault: Environmental Consequences of U.S Military Actions
The environmental record of the U.S. military, depleted uranium weapons used in the first Gulf War and environmental fall-out from Gulf War II. View full description

15-03 Capital Gains: Gulf War II
How much control Iraqis will have over their land and assets when what the government is calling "Operation Iraqi Freedom" is over. View full description

14-03 Just War? U.S. Invasion of Iraq
The U.S. push toward war, and plans to develop and potentially use so-called mini-nukes. View full description

13-03 War, Death and Taxes
War-tax resisters and the Senate's repeal of the so-called death tax. View full description

11-03 Hoods in the Night: Colombia's Conflict and the Civilian Population
The civil conflict in Colombia - what life is like for communities, and how heavy U.S. financial and military support is affecting the situation. View full description

05-03 The Spoils of War: Economic Interests of War in Iraq
Economic interests that are behind the war against Iraq. View full description

02-03 Beyond the Dream: MLK and the Anti-War Movement
A look at Martin Luther King’s stance against the Vietnam war and its relevance today - including what he called the triple evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism. View full description

47-02 Job Security: Labor Rights and the U.S. War on Terrorism
national security and labor rights. View full description

45-02 Surrogate Forces: U.S. Foreign Military Training
U.S. training programs for foreign armies, and a new recruitment push by the U.S. military. View full description

43-02 The Threat of Peace: Questioning War Against Iraq
Does Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons in the past justify going to war against Iraq? View full description

38-02 Leading the Way: Post 9/11 Student Activism
Emerging anti-war movement and some of the challenges students face in this post 9/11 era. View full description

37-02 Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Terrorists
Does there have to be a trade-off between constitutional rights and investigating terrorist threats? View full description

34-02 Ripple Effects: Consequences of the U.S. War on Terrorism
A crackdown on dissidents in Malaysia, a stronger U.S. foothold in the oil-rich Caspian Sea region, and questioning the U.S. commitment to the rule of international law. View full description

33-02 In the U.S. Cross Hairs: Iraq and the Threat of War
U.S. policy on Iraq, its impacts on the Iraqi people, and whether the U.S. is justified to go to war there. View full description

32-02 The First-Half Amendment: Freedom of the Press and War
Syndicated columnist Norman Solomon on the media and the first amendment since September 11th. View full description

31-02 Above the Law? The U.S. and the International Criminal Court
U.S. government opposition to the ICC and what the establishment of the court could mean for victims of sexual violence in wartime. View full description

27-02 Let's Go to Mazar: A Chronicle of Life in Afghanistan after War
A special documentary that chronicles life after the end of the war.View full description

24-02 Military Maneuvers: Women Uncovering War
The links between organized violence, sexuality and power, and the ways militaries manipulate women for war. View full description

22-02 A History of Resistance: The People of Palestine
The long history of resistance to colonialism and the current conflict over the Occupied Territories. View full description

19-02 Collateral Damage? The Toxic Legacy of War
Some impacts of war on the environment and human health. View full description

16-02 What is Security? Budget Cuts Make Way for War
The ways the Bush administration plans to spend billions of tax dollars on what it calls security. View full description

51-01 War: An Enemy of the Poor
A look at some unseen victims of war. View full description

46-01 When the Media Report for Duty: War and Truth
Pentagon restrictions on the press, self-censorship, and the role media in the United States and abroad play during times of war. View full description

42-01 As We Sow: U.S. - Arab Alliances
War, civil liberties, and U.S. intervention in the Middle East. View full description

38-01 Spending Spree: Bush and the U.S. Military
Some aspects of the Bush administration's military policy and high-level Defense and State Department appointments made of long-time Star Wars supporters. View full description

33-01 Forbidden Views: Advocating Palestinian Rights
The conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis - reactions to Palestinian viewpoints. View full description

02-01 Elusive Peace: The Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Jewish Americans and Palestinian Americans urging Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza. View full description

48-00 Toxic Trails: U.S. Military Bases and the Environment
Environmental contamination from U.S. military bases. View full description

47-00 Day of the Dead: Remembering Acteal
Author John Ross recounts the story of the Chiapas, Mexico's Acteal massacre. View full description

42-00 Beyond the Sky's Limit: U.S. Military Spending
Some of the weapons U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for, and what military spending priorities lie ahead. View full description

37-00 Truth Sanctioned: U.S. Foreign Policy on Iraq
U.S.-led economic sanctions against Iraq - the toll on the Iraqi people. View full description

07-00 Humanitarian or Orwellian? U.S. Military Policy
The U.S. track record on making peace - at some of the lasting effects of U.S. wars. View full description

04-00 Soldiers on the Streets: The Militarization of U.S. Police
Cooperation between the police and the military, and some of the implications. View full description

41-99 War Stories: The Gulf of Tonkin and Wayne Morse
Morse's role in opposing the Vietnam war and what his legacy means today. View full description

30-99 A Hidden War: Paramilitary Violence in Mexico
A "hidden war" against communities sympathetic to the Zapatista cause, waged by the Mexican government. View full description

28-99 War is Peace: U.S. Foreign Policy
The U.S. track record of fighting for human rights. View full description

15-99 Morality or Western Interests: NATO in Yugoslavia
Factors behind the U.S.-led attacks on Yugoslavia. View full description

14-99 The Arms Trade Boomerang
The expanding U.S. military budget, the corporations that benefit, and the public interests that lose out. View full description

04-99 At Any Cost: U.S. Covert Operations
The CIA's notion of democracy and its long-standing and continuing pattern of alliances with, as one guest puts it, "the vilest of vile." View full description

52-98 Statements of Mass Delusion: U.S. Policy on Iraq
The history of U.S. and British involvement in Iraq. View full description

48-98 The Nuclear Arms Race, Round Two
U.S. government has spent over five trillion dollars on nuclear weapons since 1940 - a look at what some are terming the "nuclear arms race, round two". View full description

24-98 In the Face of Violence: Peaceful Resistance
Peaceful resistance strategies in the midst of violent repression. View full description

23-98 Nuclear Hypocrisy: The U.S. and Atomic Tests
As U.S. officials scold India and Pakistan, the United States military continues to spend billions of dollars on nuclear weapons research and technology. View full description

10-98 Unofficial Channels: Dialogue for Middle East Peace
Some Palestinians and Jews who have been circumventing official negotiation channels and developing dialogue among themselves. View full description